Sultan Azlan Shah tournament

[ssp]

I decided to stop watching so was pleasantly surprised that we managed to win. Good to see Harmanpreet doing well. I had felt he was ready to play for the seniors last year. I also think Harjeet is a good addition, but we simply can't carry players like Chinglensana, Danish, Uthappa and Mandeep. Then we keep someone like Gurbaj out!

However the crazy stuff that I saw in the 1st half convinces me that there is a fundamental lack of discipline/composure/common sense that will always cost us goals. It's ok to lose to a team that creates chances against you but it is shockingly bad to gift 1-2 goals in most matches due to lunatic play. We should have been 3 goals up in the 1st half instead of being 1-1. PC count was an indication of our usual efforts in both circles.

I suspect Australia will hammer Canada by 5-6 goals if they have the same possession/circle penetrations/shots stats that we had. Their forwards finish off many more chances than we do and their defending is about 3 leagues better than ours. They will also win many more PCs and not gift away many at their end. I know we lost 5-1 against the Aussies, but chances created and circle penetrations were almost equal. That is quite a good statistic, but the difference is their forwards are brilliant and ours are too weak and wasteful.

[ssp]

I watched a bit of the Pakistan/Australia game. Interestingly, Pakistan adopted a very defensive strategy, yet Australia still seemed to create chances easily. The Pakistani marking was rather slack and the Aussie movement was really good. It seems the sub-continental teams just can not defend.

The tactics Pakistan used today (and at the 2014 CT) remind me of the Indian teams of the mid 1990s. We just got men behind he ball, didn't press the opposition ball carriers, so it was one way traffic towards our goal. Despite this approach, we still used to get beaten/trashed by the top 4 teams. It was almost an admission before the game started that we had no hope of winning, but were only interested in keeping the margin of defeat respectable.

Pakistan will raise their game against us and we will drop our performance.

[PKBasu]

Pretty dismal stuff so far, beating Japan 2-1 and Canada 3-1, but losing 1-5 to Australia.
Tomorrow is the big game against Pakistan, who we need to dominate. Then NZ awaits -- really the crucial match from the Olympics perspective.

[ssp]

Here is Oltman's view on Harjot's madness:
http://www.azlanshahcup.my/2016/04/11/o ... ty-corner/

Glad to hear this, but now can we actually drop other non performing players? Especially those that have been given 2-3 years and show zero improvement. I think Danish has been around since the 2010 Commonwealth games!

[Tolamu]

India thrashed Pakistan 5-1 to move to 2nd place.

[Sandeep]

Watched the entire match, total domination by our team. Took advantage of every lapse from Pakistan

[arjun2761]

Good to see India win easily against Pakistan as we have often struggled with them in the past but they are also a lot worse than they were in the past.

NZ match will be a good challenge for India to play against a well coached and disciplined team. To have any hopes of a medal at Rio, we will need to win matches such as this.

[Sandeep]

Our record against Pak in Sultan Azlan Shah tournament is 5-1. We are not all that bad in this tournament

[ssp]

What a nice surprise. Our recent record against Pakistan has been poor. We messed up twice in Champions Trophy matches and failed to beat them in the HWL in Antwerp last year. I would have settled for any kind of win, but a 5-1 score (with a genuine goal disallowed and a PS missed) is brilliant.

Pakistan have brought over an inexperienced team, but as I said, we have managed to mess up against them too often. Given the mess in Pakistani administration and lack of funds, we should be beating them easily. Their decline is sad to see, but I can't see them recovering to their previous standards.

So, we need 3 points from our last 2 games to make the final. 2 draws will be enough, but I'd like to see a reversal of our recent thrashings from NZ. Our record against the Kiwis in the last 10-12 yrs is pathetic. I hope our players don't revert to their usual inconsistency. One good result is followed by a pathetic loss in the very next match.

[sameerph]

True, 5-1 win is pleasant surprise indeed but they need to follow up with a good showing against NZ who will be more disciplined in defence.

[PKBasu]

From winning our only hockey World Cup there in 1975 to being the second-best all-time performer in the Azlan Shah tournament, Malaysia has been a happy hunting ground for Indian hockey. But beating Pakistan 5-1 at Ipoh this year has to take the cake! And that too, despite the missed penalty stroke towards the end of the match. Amazing stuff!! (Almost avenging the 1982 Asiad final loss!!).

[PKBasu]

http://www.rediff.com/sports/report/ind ... 160412.htm

[sameerph]

We lost to New Zealand 1-2 today. Sad to see a loss after such a good win yesterday.

[Sandeep]

India lost 2-1 to New Zealand today. India dropped to 3rd position because of this loss but have a game in hand against Malaysia. If we win the match against Malaysia, we will face AUS in the finals

[arjun2761]

Yes, disappointing loss as we are still not able to beat organized teams that have some skill. Hopefully, we can Malaysia and have a second crack at the Aussies although they are clearly the best team here...