It has been a mixed start to the new FIH Hockey Pro League campaign for Indian Men’s Hockey team as they defeated New Zealand in the first game but lost to Spain in the second clash due to lapses of concentration in defense. Indian head coach Graham Reid wants his men to reduce the lapses in defense and also look to attack more right from the start.
The Indian team will play New Zealand and Spain for a second time and they want to be at their best in these couple of matches as they are preparing for the upcoming World Cup which will happen in India in January next year.
Reid shared how he saw the tapes of the last two matches and thought they need to press more and be more aware to cut down the opposition’s chances. “We are looking to press more. We conceded too many opportunities. Although I was pleased with our defensive structure in the match against Spain, we let ourselves down in vital areas, making two or three mistakes that cost us dearly,” Reid said ahead of the match against New Zealand.
The men in blue have struggled for intensity as they have played really well in patches. But Reid does not want that, he wants them to keep up the intensity throughout the game> it will be difficult for them as they are returning to competitive matches after a few months and it generally takes time to bring up that intensity instantly. But Reid believes it is more with the mentality than fitness.
“I think in terms of fitness we are good. We have done some agility work this week and the entire team has been on top of the fitness scale. But it’s more of a mental thing to be switched on throughout the match and not show dominance in patches. That’s where our focus will be this weekend,” Reid explained.
There is a lot to improve for the Indian team as he highlighted how they can defend better outside the D and also not give room to the opposition near the danger areas. “We went through some scenarios that needed improvement on the basis of our performance in the previous matches,” he said. “Our tackling ability outside the D can be much better and not give any room for the opponents to create space. I think these small things have to be kept in mind to ensure we come out of the next two games with winning points,” Reid highlighted.
India will be looking to improve on a few things but they would not like to change their aggressive attacking brand of hockey because till now that has brought success to them in the past and it will continue to do so once they fix the defensive frailties. These two games against New Zealand and Spain will be of prime importance as the players and Graham Reid will get to know the areas that need more attention ahead of the quadrennial tournament.
