Igor Stimac laments lack of resources to buy foreign players

The Blue Tigers' tactician firmly believes that he is in the right direction as far as his team's development is concerned.

After a below-par performance against Bangladesh on Monday, India resume their SAFF Championship campaign on Thursday when they take on Sri Lanka. Coached by Igor Stimac, The Indian football team is currently ranked 107th in the FIFA rankings and are a significantly stronger side on paper - but the Golden Army has already proved that they don't go down without a fight.

The Blue Tigers are currently at the third place in the SAFF Championship standings with one point. The 1-1 draw against Bangladesh means that they now have to win against Sri Lanka to have a chance of making it to the competition's final. However, the pre-match comments from head coach Stimac are not very reassuring to say the least.

"Not much has happened in terms of preparation. What we've done is - we've analysed our game against Bangladesh. We aren't very happy with the final result as we got two points lesser than expected. Hence, it's clear that we need to do all that we can on the pitch, to win tomorrow's game," he began.

"We mean no disrespect to Sri Lanka. They played well in both their games so far, and worked their hearts out. They could have easily gotten two points from the two games. We need to go out there and play, deserve a win and later get ready for the third game in a much better atmosphere than right now," he added.

Sri Lanka and their gameplan

The 54-year-old credited the Lankans for their hard-working mentality.

"Sri Lanka do whatever they can to prevent their opponents from approaching the final third - and that's allowed in football. All the teams here in the SAFF Championship, despite their differences, have certain technical limitations. Hence, what they can do is to fight. That is exactly what Sri Lanka have been doing brilliantly. They work hard till the final whistle, and we need to see how we can play against them tomorrow," Igor Stimac quipped.

"Some ways to trouble teams like them would be to pass quickly, make lots of movements, and attempt to get to the final third with plenty of through-balls. Yes, Sri Lanka are making things difficult for everyone but we'll get chances. We need to be clever and patient."

About India's plans for the game

Stimac clarified that the final XI will be known to him and the management only by the end of Wednesday. "We still have another 24 hours before kick-off. Later today, we will train as a team and afterwards we'll get a clearer picture on how certain players are feeling. Overall, I'm happy but we need to do better defensively. If we can't score a second goal, then we need to make sure we don't concede more goals," the tactician stated.

"Man-marking is necessary when you play serious football. You should also not give the ball away unnecessarily - especially when you have one player more on the pitch than your opponent," he further added, reminding everyone about the mistakes committed by the Indians in the draw against Bangladesh.

On the criticism in social media

It is safe to say that Stimac has a similar number of critics as he has supporters, if not more. Many of them took to social media on Monday evening as India failed to claim a victory against 10-men Bangladesh.

However, the Croatian tactician seemed not to care, and voiced a similar sentiment in the pre-match press conference. "It (the criticism) has been been there since the day of my joining (as India coach). I don't care or think about pressure and I don't take it into the dressing room or pitch either. I came to India to help in restructuring the overall state of football in the country, and for advising and creating a new team which will become successful. Such a process takes a lot of sacrifice and a lot of time, which we didn't have so far. But I'm not complaining - don't take me wrong. I've never complained," he explained.

"We get what we get, we cope with it and use the little time we get in the best possible way we can - to advance our game, communication levels and to do better. And we are on our way.

"From the very first day since I arrived in India, they (the critics) started organising themselves for reasons only known to them. Even the good work that we do, they find it not good enough. But we shouldn't care. Social media will never decide who will play in the Indian team, and I hope it will never decide who shall be the coach and who will be sacked. Serious people don't and shouldn't care about social media and what's happening there," Igor Stimac further added.

Road ahead for Indian football

The Croatian also shed light on how the Indian Super League (ISL), among other things have improved the sport in the country. He also revealed how many other things that were planned have gotten delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"ISL has advanced and it is becoming better. We started restructuring the Indian football system a couple of years ago. Most of the things included in our project were stopped because of the pandemic. Hence, we couldn't get the desired results. But we have to be patient. Many more things are yet to come and our players are becoming better. I totally mean what I've said so far. Technically - which is very important for me - India are by far the best team here, but it also needs to be proved on the pitch," he stated.

The 54-year-old further added: "In football, for anything to happen, plenty of work needs to be done. Let me take you to European football. You all have probably heard about Manchester City and Liverpool. You all have heard about Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. These guys took over their corresponding teams when they were failures. They were given unlimited budgets to make teams which would become successful."

"We don't have so much time, and we also don't have the budget to buy foreign recruits for our national team. What we have are our hearts. We understand each other and we know what we have to do - and that is what we are doing."

Possible improvements in Indian football

"The ISL still has its disadvantages," Stimac said. "For example, there is no relegation system in place. Therefore, the competitiveness of the league is not at the highest possible level. The teams there still have lots of comfort, but we have been working on changing that.

"Once the pandemic is over and once the league starts spanning over eight months and not three months like right now, once the bio bubble is over and the players can do their job normally, we will be better. What makes me happier is that we are continuing to work together and that we understand each other," he continued.

"The policy on foreigners has also changed dramatically. From the next year, the ISL is going to follow the '3+1' rule like the other top Asian leagues. This will bring benefits for Indian football in future - and once the I-League also follows certain things which I believe have a good effect on Indian football, then I feel that the future would be brighter.

"But the destructive people (critics) don't care about Indian football and they don't understand this. They care about themselves," the Croatian added.

Gurpreet Singh's comments

India's first choice goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu accompanied Igor Stimac to the press conference. The custodian also responded to questions from the press.

"Playing at 4 pm is not very easy. Thankfully, some of us came here (with Bengaluru FC and ATK Mohun Bagan in the AFC Cup) and stayed for a couple of weeks. We've hence gotten slightly used to the conditions, so things are not so unfamiliar now. We know that we can't make too many mistakes in such an atmosphere where every game of the tournament is happening on the same pitch. We also need to know what our advantages are and make sure to use them while trying and doing the one job we have - which is to win," the 29-year-old explained.

He was also asked why India fielded their senior side at SAFF Championship 2021, as opposed to recent editions of the same competition where India's U-23 team took part.

"You can't take any tournament lightly. In the past, the circumstances were different - Hence the U-23 team played then while now it's us. No opportunity can be ignored. The SAFF Championship is obviously an important competition and I myself have been a part of two previous editions," Gurpreet said.

"Nothing is taken lightly. We will go out and give our 100%, regardless of whichever team is playing and whoever are our opponents," he signed off.

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