Nobbs should explain London failure: Shivendra

Michael Nobbs will be under pressure to justify India’s worst finish in the London Olympics, according to team sources. German skipper Maximilian Mueller has also criticised Nobbs’ strategies of playing attacking hockey and said the Indians were “out of pace.” Hockey India has already sought a report from the team management in London.

Germanydefeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the Riverbank Arena on Saturday evening to keep the gold medal they won in Beijing. Both Germany and Netherlands were in India’s group. Mueller said, “Nobbs is a good coach but his plans may not be good. Playing attacking hockey is the Aussie style, but till India play pressing hockey, Nobbs will not succeed.”

India’s leading striker Shivendra Singh is upset with his performance. In six matches, the 29-year-old managed to score just once against Belgium. India’s overall conversion rate was abysmal: just eight goals with three of them coming from penalty corners.

“I am not happy with my form. My average scoring rate per international tournament is about four goals, but this time I failed to find the mark,” admitted Shivendra in an exclusive chat after India lost to South Africa 3-2 to finish 12^th and last in the men’s hockey competition.

Unhappy that Nobbs had blasted the team for “not trying enough,” Shivendra said, “I don’t think he is saying the right thing. We have tried our best and if the ball hits the post and the goalkeeper makes good saves, it’s our bad luck. We have to take this bad performance in our stride.”

Shivendra said the blue pitch at the Riverbank Arena was not a problem. Nobbs had complained about the bounce and pace of the synthetic turf, but the Indian striker, a Roger Federer fan, said, “I think the pitch was fine. We got used to it and no teams had any complains. No excuses. Overall, our performance was bad. There were defensive blunders as well as conversion issues.”

Denying the morale was low in the Indian camp, Shivendra said, “The coach decides on selection matters. Who will play that is the coach’s call. He can answer this best. But yes, after three defeats, our morale was low, but as a team we again got out of jail.”

When asked if he was surprised to see Sandeep Singh as a centre forward during the Belgium match, Shivendra said, “Sandeep is a penalty corner specialist. If the coach thinks he can play as a striker, may be it is part of his plan. Definitely, I was surprised to see him in this role.”

Shivendra said the Indian team was caught by surprise by the way teams changed strategies during the Olympics. “What we saw in exposure matches in Europe and even the Azlan Shah Cup and what we faced in the Olympics, there was a lot of difference in the way the top teams approached every game. We went with a set pattern and did not have answers to many things. Plus, the Europeans used a lot of body play that we could not match.”

Saying the Olympics were a great lesson for Indian players, Shivendra did not want to say whether India’s strategy to play attacking hockey helped in London. “Under Brasa, we used to play possession hockey. Nobbs taught us attacking hockey. When the goals come, we talk good about attacking hockey. At the end of the day, the scoreline matters,” said Shivendra.