FIFA World Cup Qualifiers | Not easy to implement possession-based football, says Sandesh Jhingan

Igor Stimac’s appointment has surely shaken things up in the Indian camp. Not only has the Croatian coach seen a major revamp from Stephen Constantine’s regime, but has also tried to play a more optimistic and eye-catching football.

Adapting to a totally new style was never going to be easy but experience enforcer Sandesh Jhingan has revealed that the players have really enjoyed the coach’s perspective and have been learning things every day.

“Everyone has seen how the coach wants us to play. It’s not easy to implement a new possession-based style. We have to be brave and I can say that from our games against Curacao (King’s Cup) to Syria (Intercontinental Cup), we have improved a lot. We have the right kind of players and everyone in the team has loved the new approach,” said Jhingan to AIFF, reported Scroll.

The Indian team would be facing Oman in their first FIFA World Cup qualifier and while there would be necessary tweaks in their approach based on their opponents, creating an identity and winning with that would be their biggest challenge.  

“Training has been about building patterns on the pitch and making them a natural part of our games. As a centre-back, I have to play out from the back and every player is adapting to his new role as well. Off the field, we are studying as well. We keep getting videos and clippings from the staff that help us learn better,” he added.