my thoughts on indian football .

 first off let me just me get something off my chest . i will continue with managers series but first off let me just about my motherland bharat (english name india) . there was a afc qualifier that happened this month . the game was against hongkong . india was supposed to win the game but it lost and just like any other india i too am saddened in the defeat but let me tell you i am not here to criticize or defend anybody . 

after the defeat against hongkong bhutia legend of indian football accused the current incumbent of not doing enough for indian football. first off let me tell you i had been playing football my whole life and i had seen various stages of financial struggles to financial riches of indian football . there is isl and various competetions . indian footballers make a decent amount of money and they should admit . although its not like cricket but then let me tell you they make a decent living and have a good financial security compared to old times . 

now coming to problem i think the problem is not with the system but with the player themselves . the indian players lack the ambition to be big and do something on the world stage . i think they are satisfied by living in the pond and dont want to get out because there you will have to work hard and i think they dont want to do that . i was watching facebook clips and there were guys dicussing about the football infrastructure but let me tell you compared to other countries i think india has better infrastructure . the problem lies with ambition and the hard working mentality and looking about yourself in the mirror and finding ways as to how you can  be better . practice doesnt mean that you do the same thing everyday but doing better everday and getting better at things . compared to old times there are many a avenues available to get better and i think we need to do that . the isl had been going for last 10 or 12 years but had it contributed anything or made the standard better . i dont think so . so i think instead of blaming the system its time to get better and improve so that when the next generation come it gets into that habit and we reach some where better . 

THIS IS A CONTINOUS POST ON MANAGERS . I AM GOING TO UPDATE IT REGULARLY .

 the season is over and the transfer market is open. first off what is the definition of the manager . in modern football a manager  is the one who is always crying, loathing and one who is always unsatisfied with his current squad and blames the board for not letting him spend . let me be honest but current football matches are so boring that i dont have the patience or heart to watch the boring football that is played .  i am chess student and in chess whenever a player losses or even when he wins he analyses the match and i wonder as to why these managers dont do that . from the sidelines you can see as to what is wrong and what are your pieces( players ) doing . you can correct there positions can tell that is why you are there . to be honest cant these managers look the play and see what is wrong . to be honest there had been not a single team who are pleasure to watch . they have brought the technology in the game but they havent been able to that technology properly . as i had said tactics means just defending for these managers and i havent seen anybody really put the work to coach their team as to what they need to do in the final third.  

the one thing that i had been saying is today's players are technically hopeless . there are very rare players who play from the middle of the foot and pass the ball with the perfect weight and the ball rolling sticking to the field . you always find the ball bouncing when they pass . let me tell you when you pass the player then the player receiving the pass should have to make the minimum effort to control the ball . most importantly if you pass correctly then he doesnt needs to make two touches . he can just pass the ball in one go and that makes the game more faster as well the opposition cant read the game since they dont have the time to read your pass . i can read the players foot and see where the pass is going and in that way can read the play . players nowadays are just atheltes not real players and that makes football boring . as cryuff had said playing football the easy way is the hardest thing to do . 

let me start with brazil . brazil has appointed ancelottti . i dont know as to what they see in him and what special quality  does ancelotti brings to the table . let me tell you from my experience ancelotti is a good man manager . but ancelotti is tactically great or his teams play attractive football is a dream . i dont know as to what they thought or may be they thought that since ancelotti had been lucky so may be they will get lucky . the problem with brazil is that there football is on the decline just tell me any good players from brazil after neymar. in the last two world cups the teams had all revolved around neymar and that is crux of the problem . football is a team sport and when you get depended on one player to carry the team then that becomes problem instead of a solution . there is no good midfielder nor any good flair player. vinicius is good but that stupid idiot just operates in one zone and just doesnt reads the game and is too selfish . ancelotti had not been able to correct him at real madrid then how come he can correct him in the brazil squad. let us see as to what magic ancelotti brings to the brazil team but dont get  head over heels and expect anything great . 

since i have talked about ancelotti its very correct to talk about his successor alonso . alonso is replacing amcelotti . he has already stated that he will be ditching the 3-4-3 system that he employed at leverkusen . it will be interesting to see as to what he will do with the team because let me tell you . just like his spanish roots alonso likes to control the game and play tiki taka possession football and that is what is being expected off alonso that his style will compete with alonso and that he can give a tough competetion to barca . now the trouble is that the players that he is inheriting are they able to adapt to the system . most of these players haved played on the counter with their previous managers . most importantly madrid dont have the midfielders which are required to control the game and set the tempo of the game . it would be very interesting to see as to how his team plays and the system that he deploys. the one important thing that everybody may think that mbappe will suffer from this system but let me tell you mbappe is very good technical player and having alonso in the dugout will help him .  

MAN CITY , REAL AND MUNICH.

 from last tuesday there were three big matches . wouldnt call them good matches because the level of play was very bad . i had not been writing and there is reason to that . i had posted a clip by michael owen as to how these modern footballers are not proper ballers . to be honest after doing this analyzing things for the last 15 years ( 10 years of blogging ) . when you watch the game it becomes so frustrating because so silly mistakes are made by the players and these players stand on the sidelines and dont do anything about it because i had been watching week after week . football is technical and tactical . if you not technically proficient the tactical sides makes no sense . as i had said that these players make mistakes and these so called coaches big coaches dont even try to correct it . had i been on the touch line i would be in fight every week if they made the mistake or that they would be straightened out . as i was saying if you are not technically proficient then the so called shape and combination make little sense . the most important thing is coaches take practice on how they will hold the team shape and what movement they will make but i had seen little effort being made as to how they will open up opposition defenses . i had heard from news that coaches have met with Grand masters to study tactics as to how they thing and what they do to unlock defense  . while watching the game the teams bring the ball in the final third and they just dont know on how to work and put it in the net . 

the first game i watched was the game between city and madrid . now in the first game city had everybody they wanted in their lineup . the first goal was grealish and most importantly gvardiol was amazing . he made the run and none of the two real midfielders who were in defensive positions tracked him . most importantly he used common sense which is rarely seen in footballers nowadays . i am not going to analysis of the game but talk what i feel . madrid has the front three of which vinicius operates on the left while rodrygo is on right . madrid's front three are not in cohesion . ancelotti had taught them the positional game but he hasnt fully orchestrated then offense so they have they have to improvise onfield . now gaurdiola should had looked at the game between barca and real madrid . where barca just isolated the individual player and shut him off . madrid's front three dont play off each other . let me give an example . whenever vinicius has the ball which he like to receives on the left flank. he like to run with ball and then try to find somebody in the box or do it himself . 

let me explain fully . defense is not a single person's game cause for one mistake can make the difference between winning and losing . on offense you are afforded the mistake atleast you dont loose . i was talking about vinicius . when you defend you want the opposition to cordoned and given minimum of space to work the ball ( unless they are very good at moving the ball and can play one touch football which is taught and played ). when you want to win the possession back or want to deny space to opposition then you need to make them get the ball on the flanks cause on the flanks there is little space compared than in the middle . so first make sure that the ball gets to flank and then just defend properly. in the first game city were up two goals to one and they should had killed the game but instead they  let vinicius scott free and paid the price . he had akanje against him who i rate one of the best defender in last 5 years .  

in the second game city were just poor . they didnt have a play . if you had read my earlier post then i had criticized gaurdiola . gaurdiola knows how to move the ball . he knows how to move the ball  but its the final third where he lacks the necessary creativity or say imagination because you need that . you need to analyse the players position their movement their reach. the space between the lines plus your players strength and weakness and then you have to take drills as to how what they will do when they are facing different scenario's . what i am saying about gaurdiola is also true about vincent company and every other coach .  

let me give you an example as to what i was saying . in the second game the CB asencio played a long ball to kylian mbappe . now how do you prepare for this because . if gaurdiola had prepared his players better then this would hadnt happened . when i used to play i could read the player . first thing when the player is going to pass . he has to make long pass then his body position and his posturing changes . it can be half second or less but then it is enough for me to read and correct my position as well as my team mates positions  around me . i should be able to call the play and read as to what the opposition is going and try to take measures correctly . get my team in formation and press them when the opportunity arises . i dont see that happening . there are times when i am frustrated by the lack of commitment by players and their failure to read the play . now just as you need practice about defense you need to drills about offense . you need to coach players as to what they need to do when they take the ball in the final third and how they move the ball as well as their positions . its not simple but then nothing is simple but practice makes it simple . last but not the least is the selfishness of the players is what makes me angry . when players are selfish then it teaches the younger players to be that which is not a good sign .