'Some players don't deserve to be Olympians'

India’s journey in the field hockey competition of the London Olympic Games has been extremely poor so far. On Friday, India crashed to their third straight defeat in pool B leaving them with no scope to enter the semifinals. Aussie coach Michael Nobbs spoke exclusively after Germany handed India a 5-2 thrashing at the Riverbank Arena in the Olympic Park complex. Excerpts:

Q: Michael, it’s been a very disappointing journey in London so far. Did you expect this?

A: The results are in black and white and it’s been disgusting to say the least. We are just not playing to our plan. I thought I had fixed a few things before coming to London, but it seems nothing has changed. Our mental strength has been zero. The way we have let our rivals call the shots has been undesirable. This is not what I had in mind.

Q: What’s wrong with our performance? Didn’t we plan well enough?

A: What’s right with our performance? There hasn’t been a single day when we have played a perfect match. I don’t know if it’s about planning, but this team has done well before and there is no reason why it shouldn’t be doing well here. We had two (Germany and Holland) of the world’s top three in our pool and we always knew our first three matches would be the toughest. But we just disintegrated mentally. Against Germany, we had four penalty corners in the second half. We wasted all of them. When you are under pressure, you have to put the ball in the net. There is no choice here. That’s what I mean by mental toughness. We have to learn this. This is just unacceptable performance.

Q: You talked about a top 6 finish before we came to London. Do you see that happening now?

A: I won’t say we don’t have a chance. We still have two matches (Korea and Belgium) in our group and we hope to play as well as we possibly can. But at this rate, I am not too sure where we will finish.

Q: This team has been a good mix in terms of experience. But have the senior players done enough?

A: The attitude of some players is worrying. Some of them just want to be Olympians without trying to show what they are capable of. Are they worth an Olympian? I don’t know. But some of the youngsters have tried hard, but that’s not going to be enough. Our intensity hasn’t been consistent. We attack and then go into a shell. This has cost us matches. The effort from everyone hasn’t been 100 per cent.


Q: The Olympics have been your biggest test. Personally, how would you review it?

A: I can only be the coach. The players have to prove me right or wrong. As I have said, modern hockey has moved a long way forward. It’s not just about skills. Physique, speed and strength combine to produce results. So far in London, it’s been quite disappointing for me.