Three possible changes Khalid Jamil could bring to Indian Football team's playing style

Khalid Jamil will start his India stint with the CAFA Nations Cup 2025 in August.

Khalid Jamil has been confirmed as the new head coach of the Indian football team heading into some important matches to close out 2025.

The Blue Tigers will be playing in the CAFA Nations Cup as part of their first matches under the new gaffer, before playing two important AFC Asian Cup 2025 qualifiers against Singapore in October (2025).

Even though Jamil is taking up this role with a lot of pressure to deliver and fix the decaying situation of the Indian side, he is unlikely to significantly change his playing style.

The ex-India international has stuck to his own philosophy throughout his coaching career, be it at Mumbai FC, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal or Jamshedpur FC.

He has his own set of tactics when it comes to developing the shape of his side as well as how they defend or attack. As a result, his the way that the Indian side play under Jamil should be quite different to how they operated under Manolo Marquez or Igor Stimac.

Here we look at the three possible changes that Khalid Jamil might bring to the Indian side’s playing style.

Also Read: Why does Khalid Jamil being India’s next head coach make sense?

3. Raising physicality in the team

Khalid Jamil is quite unapologetic in terms of how he encourages the players in his team to show aggression and not be afraid of clattering into players with hard tackles.

Jamshedpur FC committed the fourth-most fouls in the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign, and that is because of the physicality in his team. Jamil prefers more bulkier players in his side and those who aren’t afraid of getting physical inside the pitch.

That could see him opt to include more physically stronger and intimidating players in his side, so that they can harass the opposition players with their aggression.

That could end up bringing a rugged playing style for India, especially when it comes to their defensive or ball-winning work. Jamil is likely to urge his side to be rough in annoying opponents with constant challenges and look to get dirty to unsettle the opposition’s momentum.

2. Reliance on crossing football

Khalid Jamil has a very pragmatic attacking style which should work in the favour of the Indian players as well. As shown with his Jamshedpur FC side that reached the ISL semi-finals in the 2024-25 season, the Men of Steel thrived from his counter-attacking style.

Jamil likes his players to win the ball back after dragging the majority of the opposition players into his half, allowing his players to break through in numbers to cause chaos.

However, Khalid opts the ball to be moved wide to the wingers during his attacking transitions, and allowing the wide players to dictate the final product. As a result, the Indian football team should also start using the wide areas more prominently to create their attacking moves.

The Blue Tigers might be heavily relied on crosses being sent into the box, with more players being tasked to get into the area to amplify their goal scoring capabilities as well.

1. Deeper defensive line

Even though Jamil is not going to employ complete ‘park the bus’ tactics with the Indian team, he will put emphasis on strengthening their defensive shape.

He’s been obsessed with maintaining compactness and a tight defensive shape throughout his coaching career, with his teams being renowned for how stubborn they can be defensively.

Jamil is unlikely to take the risk of playing with a high-line defensive shape, and will be pushing his players deep into their own half when defending against opponents.

He will urge his defenders to be nearby or inside the box, and for the midfielders to also drop very deep to create an unbreakable defensive shape.

His deep defensive line has attained a lot of success for him and his teams in the past, especially in terms of restricting their opponents from playing free-flowing attacking football.

Jamil can help provide more security to the Indian defenders by playing a deeper defensive line and ensure that they’re able to absorb pressure much better than they did under some of the previous managers.

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