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SpeakOut: We Have The Same Objective But...
As the I-League enters its first break, Goal.com ponders the issue which concerns all the players especially those in the national squad – Do they get enough rest?
17-Nov-2009 3:55:38 PM
Churchill Brothers coach Carlos Pareira stated that the
national camp has acted as a spoiler for him as his side were in good momentum
towards the end of the eight game first phase of the I-League. He mentioned
that several of his players would join the national camp and that doesn’t help
his cause as they won’t get enough rest.
Now, we won’t get into whether the Brazilian coach is right or wrong to think they way he thinks. Instead, we’ll just analyse the point which he made regarding the overburdening on national players.
India national coach Bob Houghton made an interesting comment prior to his team’s summer trip to Dubai and Barcelona as he gave the example of Climax Lawrence being made to play in the Santosh Trophy.
“Professionals playing Santosh Trophy against a bunch of amateurs at the end of the season don’t make any sense. Do you believe Steven Gerrard will play for some hotchpotch trophy at the end of the season?” Houghton was quoted saying.
The issue is of professional football players not being given enough rest and having to deal with the pressure of juggling between the club and the national team.
The club and national coaches are right in their perspective that their players aren’t getting enough time to unwind or rejuvenate. But by merely stating that the national camp has come at a wrong time or something else wouldn’t help anyways?
The problem lies elsewhere. It’s the mentality of those involved in the sport which has to change. The players playing for the national team must be played only in the I-League and the Federation Cup while the local leagues, state championships must be utilized to play the younger lot and other squad players who often don’t get enough playing time in the I-League.
Now the clubs and state associations may raise the point that Indian players don’t play as many games when compared with the international standard. What they need to realise that the facilities in India are nowhere close to what you have around the developed countries of the world. Of course, one may give the example of the African nations where the players play much more games, but those countries have had a footballing culture since ages.
In Kolkata, you have the club coaches under pressure from the officials, media and fans to do well in the Kolkata League and a failure to do so may even result in sacking as it happened with Manoranjan Bhattacharya at the start of the 2008-09 I-League. To save their job, the coaches have no choice but to play their best eleven, which goes against the principle if you look at the larger picture.
The national team players have been playing non-stop ever since the last week of May and for some like Climax Lawrence and Mahesh Gawli, the season never actually ended. The following morning of the Nehru Cup, the players had to pack and join their club to participate in the IFA Shield.
Therein lies another problem as several of these tournaments like the IFA Shield and Durand Cup, aren’t run by the Indian FA. Most of the clubs in India participate in them for the tradition and pride involved in playing those tournaments and also serves as pre-season appetizers.
The issue is that if a club doesn’t perform in these tournaments, automatically the onus is on the coach as to why he couldn’t deliver the results as these tournaments aren’t treated as pre-season tournaments as they should be.
To some extent, it’s fair to say that such tournaments are hindering in the path of an amicable scheduling of football in the country and that the players are being overstrained.
If you put the blame on the scheduling then the All India Football Federation (AIFF) can’t really be blamed as they aren’t the organisers of those tournaments. As far as their I-League schedule is concerned, any plan they make will remain tentative as the state associations too aren’t sure about the venues.
In case you think that the national camps must be of shorter duration when the team is to play a friendly on FIFA days, the concept doesn’t apply as Houghton opines that it’s too short a time for him to prepare. So what’s the solution? I would end with a quote from Houghton.
“What’s more important -- to be happy with the Santosh Trophy and maintain your status quo or work on the path for a successful national team? They have to make a choice whether they want to change.”
Rahul Bali.
Let us know what YOU think?
Now, we won’t get into whether the Brazilian coach is right or wrong to think they way he thinks. Instead, we’ll just analyse the point which he made regarding the overburdening on national players.
India national coach Bob Houghton made an interesting comment prior to his team’s summer trip to Dubai and Barcelona as he gave the example of Climax Lawrence being made to play in the Santosh Trophy.
“Professionals playing Santosh Trophy against a bunch of amateurs at the end of the season don’t make any sense. Do you believe Steven Gerrard will play for some hotchpotch trophy at the end of the season?” Houghton was quoted saying.
The issue is of professional football players not being given enough rest and having to deal with the pressure of juggling between the club and the national team.
The club and national coaches are right in their perspective that their players aren’t getting enough time to unwind or rejuvenate. But by merely stating that the national camp has come at a wrong time or something else wouldn’t help anyways?
The problem lies elsewhere. It’s the mentality of those involved in the sport which has to change. The players playing for the national team must be played only in the I-League and the Federation Cup while the local leagues, state championships must be utilized to play the younger lot and other squad players who often don’t get enough playing time in the I-League.
Now the clubs and state associations may raise the point that Indian players don’t play as many games when compared with the international standard. What they need to realise that the facilities in India are nowhere close to what you have around the developed countries of the world. Of course, one may give the example of the African nations where the players play much more games, but those countries have had a footballing culture since ages.
In Kolkata, you have the club coaches under pressure from the officials, media and fans to do well in the Kolkata League and a failure to do so may even result in sacking as it happened with Manoranjan Bhattacharya at the start of the 2008-09 I-League. To save their job, the coaches have no choice but to play their best eleven, which goes against the principle if you look at the larger picture.
The national team players have been playing non-stop ever since the last week of May and for some like Climax Lawrence and Mahesh Gawli, the season never actually ended. The following morning of the Nehru Cup, the players had to pack and join their club to participate in the IFA Shield.
Therein lies another problem as several of these tournaments like the IFA Shield and Durand Cup, aren’t run by the Indian FA. Most of the clubs in India participate in them for the tradition and pride involved in playing those tournaments and also serves as pre-season appetizers.
The issue is that if a club doesn’t perform in these tournaments, automatically the onus is on the coach as to why he couldn’t deliver the results as these tournaments aren’t treated as pre-season tournaments as they should be.
To some extent, it’s fair to say that such tournaments are hindering in the path of an amicable scheduling of football in the country and that the players are being overstrained.
If you put the blame on the scheduling then the All India Football Federation (AIFF) can’t really be blamed as they aren’t the organisers of those tournaments. As far as their I-League schedule is concerned, any plan they make will remain tentative as the state associations too aren’t sure about the venues.
In case you think that the national camps must be of shorter duration when the team is to play a friendly on FIFA days, the concept doesn’t apply as Houghton opines that it’s too short a time for him to prepare. So what’s the solution? I would end with a quote from Houghton.
“What’s more important -- to be happy with the Santosh Trophy and maintain your status quo or work on the path for a successful national team? They have to make a choice whether they want to change.”
Rahul Bali.
Let us know what YOU think?
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