Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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I have had the pleasure of watching a number of India senior and junior national teams across different parts of the world over the last 15/16 years. The results haven’t always been the best, but I have seen numerous boys turn into men, go on to do great things for India and I am hoping the next crop can do that too…
The current batch of the India Under-16 boys are currently in Germany to prepare for the 2016 AFC Under-16 Championship to be hosted in Goa from September 15 to October 2 and thereafter the big one, the 2017 Under-17 FIFA World Cup, a level of competition which India has never played before.
Under head coach Nicolai Adam of Germany the India Under-16 squad has been training extensively since his arrival in India last year and not only there but this team has received international exposure and training camps like no Indian team ever before.
I have had the chance to watch these boys thrice live in action over the last year. First against Wacker Burghausen U-15 in Bad Aibling in August 2015, then against a Bengal U-16 in Kolkata in January 2016 and now against Sportfreunde Siegen U-17 in July 2016.
What I liked the most was that there is clear visible development in the way the team plays, the boys have learned a lot tactically on how to control a match and keep possession besides using their strengths which is to attack over the wings. Another thing which I see as a big positive is that the team has got into their system how to anticipate what pass could come next, which allows a much better flow in the own teams game.
But one thing I found disturbing was the lack of finishing which as is a general problem with Indian teams. Surely a 5-0 result against SF Siegen is really good, but many chances were wasted or the boys didn’t get into positions to finish off the attacks.
To me the most impressive player on Saturday evening was winger Boris Singh, who coach Nicolai Adam in Siegen played as an attacking right winger, then a striker and in the end on the left. The boy has incredible pace which caused a lot of problems to the hosts, but often the final pass did not reach his man or his shots simply went wide. Boris surely is a great prospect and if he can sort out the above mentioned things, he has a big career ahead of him.
Otherwise captain Suresh Singh and Amarjit Singh marshalled the midfield as holding midfielders, who like the central defenders often sought the direct route to the goal or whenever needed blocked the opponents. Especially at the start of the first half and in the second session, Siegen often tried to get into scoring positions through the middle, but Suresh and Amarjit were there to deny them.
Upfront Komal Thatal along with Aman Chetri and Sanjeev Stalin besides Boris caused a lot of problems for the Siegen defence with all players showing good technical abilities on the ball.
All involved know more progress is needed up to the continental tournament and then the U-17 FIFA World Cup, but it all looks very promising with Nicolai Adam preparing the team for these two big assignments.
