How Igor Stimac should emulate Stephen Constantine against Qatar

The Blue Tigers forced the reigning Asian champions to a draw the last time they faced each other.

The Indian national football team are back to action on Thursday when they face Qatar. It’s their first FIFA World Cup qualifier since 2019 – the first of three games scheduled in June. Igor Stimac has happy memories when it comes to Qatar. It was under him that the Blue Tigers fought their way to the memorable 0-0 draw in 2019.

India haven’t won many games under Stimac (only one) but that is their best one in his reign. The Blue Tigers produced some exceptional defensive football to leave Felix Sanchez’s side flabbergasted. This time around, they hope for the same.

Of course, due to lack of match sharpness or training, the squad will not be as fit for the game as the last one. What should have been a home game, is now taking place in Qatar doesn’t help either. However, India will fight their hardest to get another positive result against the reigning Asian champions.

While it’s clear India won’t be able to excel this time due to lack of match sharpness, they could revert to another style. Stimac, for one, could actually look to take a leaf out of his predecessor's book. Stephen Constantine’s style of play was often criticized by the Indian fans. However, it was often effective against tough opponents. Here we look at how Igor Stimac can emulate the Englishman to get a positive result against Qatar.

Defensive Organization

It’s rather obvious that to get a result, India have to neutralize Qatar’s attacking threat as much as possible. The reason behind getting a point from the last game against the Crimsons is because of how defensively sturdy they were.

If not anything else, the Blue Tigers have at least been defensively strong in their matches under Igor Stimac. The thrashing to UAE was mostly because of playing inexperienced players, nowhere near first-team level right now. Stimac has to ensure that his defence maintains a stubborn line against Qatar.

Sandesh Jhingan will of course be vital in ensuring this. He’s the defensive leader at the back and needs to be vocal to ensure his teammates do not stray out of position. The midfielders have to drop deeper to form a defensive line and everyone must work harder to close down space for Qatar to penetrate through.

If India are able to be defensively as strong as they were in the last meeting against Qatar, a case of déjà vu can take place.

Men behind the ball

Another tactic from Constantine's book that Igor Stimac can to implement on Thursday is getting players behind the ball. This would ensure that whenever an opposition player gets the ball in their own half, they are surrounded with Indian players.

This should help close down their scope of creating dangerous chances going forward and keep them frustrated. The Blue Tigers really have to maintain a compact shape to carry on this tactic. Playing against a possession-based, precise team like Qatar with fast-paced attacks will be difficult.

But, if the players can read the situations well enough and know exactly when to press in on the opponents, they could keep things calm at the back. Maintaining discipline and composure will be vital for India to get a result. To do so, they’ll have to get as many players behind the ball whenever Qatar are in possession & narrow their scope of running the show.

Use wingers on the counter attacks

Of course, Stimac’s side cannot rely just on solid defending to get them anything from this game. Parking the bus and hoping for the best is a risky tactic which often falls flat. India are definitely underdogs in this fight, but have to show courage.

They need to attack whenever given the opportunities and have to be quick about it. Igor Stimac has to tap into the counter-attacking style which Constantine implemented so well at India. Udanta Singh is likely to start despite his poor season with Bengaluru FC. If he does, he’s be the focal point of all those counter-attacks.

He’ll have to make best use of his pace to burst through Qatar’s backline into promising areas in the final third. Sunil Chhetri, despite his age, can still be a deadly player in swift-breaks because of his high energy levels. India just has to find their captain in promising position at the end of these counter-attacks to make a difference.

Even Manvir Singh, likeliest to play as a lone striker up front, is a swift player on the counter. He was involved in some great counter-attacking goals for ATK Mohun Bagan last season. Even Manvir has to make good use of his burst of pace to terrorize Qatar’s defenders on the counter-attack.

Moreover, the passes to the forwards during counter-attacks have to be spot on. The midfielders and even the centre-backs or Gurpreet Singh Sandhu have to fling forward promising passes to catch Qatar’s defenders off guard. If able to execute those final passes perfectly, the Blue Tigers’ goal-scoring opportunities can improve and they could grind out a positive result.

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