India against Thailand will determine how fast can Igor Stimac learn

BySubhayan Dutta, SportsCafe Editor

06/06/2019

India had a hearty show under new manager Igor Stimac against Curacao in the second half after the Blue Tigers were completely run over by Cuco Martina and co. in the first. While Stimac did show the presence of mind to recover fast, the match against Thailand will show what he has learnt from it.

While numerous things could be discerned from India’s 1-3 loss against Curacao on Wednesday, the one very important thing I could make out was Igor Stimac’s uncanny ability to dictate the narrative in the press conference. Before the detractors could even jump on the manager for his horrible premier show, the Croatian himself instilled certain elements of decency in his boys’ performance by stating that it was a game of two halves.

Make no mistake. After scoring their last two goals with extreme ease that saw Curacao dissecting India’s defence almost at will, the team had already pulled their feet off the pedal and what India dealt with was some half-hearted cheeky attempts to test the waters. But, this doesn’t take away any credit from India’s gritty display. After all, they don’t play such higher ranked opponents every day, and to further complicate things, this Indian side had trained together for no more than 10 days.

The manager looked under pressure while fielding his starting eleven though. There has been a reason most European managers choose to predominantly defend when taking over a new squad and more importantly, a newer opponent. One doesn’t really know what they are in for and Stimac undoubtedly comes from that school of thought, given his previous stints. However, the big talk at press conferences seemed to get the better of him as he overarched his expectations.

Three players, Rahul Bheke, Brandon Fernandes, and Sahal Abdul Samad, were handed their debuts and while the exclusion of some Stephen Constantine faithful had raised questions before, it was hardly the mistake Stimac committed on Wednesday. It was all down to delegating duties. Playing with one defensive midfielder was fine but that consequently asked for a constrict four-man defence, which Stimac didn’t plan for.

The defence ripping runs, which led to goals, that Curacao kept on making throughout the first half was a consequence of it and India could never really recover from it. Stimac's changes in the second half did address those frailties but it was more damage control than finding the most efficient eleven. And it would be the clash against Thailand that would show how quick a learner Stimac is.

While people have already started calling for Pronay Halder’s head, Brandon was half the player in his setup of what he has been under Sergio Lobera. India could see a much better performance against Thailand against whom they play for the third-place match on Saturday with very little changes from the side that started against Curacao. Of course, with many other players still untested in the new setup, Stimac could be tempted to use them as well, but India would be returning from Thailand without executing their plan.

It could be assumed that Michael Soosairaj and Jackichand Singh would start against Thailand over Udanta Singh and Lallianzuala Chhangte. The defensive-minded Adil Khan could replace Brandon in the central midfield, for Brandon could be anything but a midfielder. Amarjit Singh Kayam and Raynier Fernandes did shine in the second half and they should continue to do the same with Anirudh Thapa partnering Sahal Abdul Samad at the start.

India scored four against Thailand in their sole group stage win in the AFC Asian Cup campaign, where Sunil Chhetri scored twice while Anirudh Thapa and Jeje Lalpekhlua scored the others, and any kind of psychological block is not expected. The hosts lost to an injury-time goal against Vietnam in their previous clash and would want to salvage something out of it with the familiar weather conditions being a great advantage.

Predicted Lineup

India- Sandhu; Bheke, Jhingan, Kotal, Subhasish; Adil, Sahal, Thapa; Soosairaj, Chhetri, Jackichand.

Thailand- Kawin; Pansa, Suphan, Adisorn; Theerathon, Sarach, Tanaboon, Tristan; Supachok, Thitipan, Teerasil

Time : 2pm on Saturday, June 8

Venue : Chang Arena in Buriram, Thailand.