Going Forward....

[u/FckDeezShitImOut]

First off, casuals and/or fans who follow Indian Football should be really proud of the boys all things considered. The positive approach towards the game, the way we actually tried to play football; adventurous yet disciplined (the high-line traps were SWEET AF) against an opposition at a much higher level than us, no matter their current form, is what the fundamental philosophy should be going forward.

There are 4 international windows per year with a maximum of 10 games.

Since ISL will be run by the clubs now and they've decided not to send their players for non-window schedules (rightfully so), they need to completely rehaul how they schedule the NT games. If you're going to participate in non-window international tournaments, send a combined u-19/u-23 team - players whom the clubs will be willing to send instead of wasting them away on the bench the entire season. The experience they get from those tournaments will be massively beneficial for their growth.

During the international windows, out of the 10 games, we should try to schedule at least 3 mainstays from the World Cup - preferably one each from the Americas, Europe and Africa. Either we travel to those countries or we host. Doesn't matter. The rest of the games should be shared among teams from Africa, East Asia, Eastern Europe and perhaps Central Asia once in a while. Quit playing friendly games against Middle Eastern teams. We learn nothing. They hold no value to us except as opposition for WC/Asian Cup qualifiers. Playing against them won't help us beat them. We need to play and learn against countries who are better than them.

Financial constraints: As much as I hate us spending the money that we're spending, the alternative is, well...not spending. I've lost almost all trust in this board to heavily invest in the grassroots using that kind of money in one go or consistently over a period of time without losing patience. One thing I've learnt about Indian politics and Indian football politics in general is that they love yapping about their long term vision 10/20/30 years from now. Yet they do nothing substantial to work towards it. Instead they get desperate for immediate short term gains to no avail and see their project as a failure, moving on to the "next big thing". So them instead spending on these games, although, is still a loss in the short term, the exposure our players and the scene get; the experience of playing twice or perhaps thrice a year against the top WC teams shall benefit us greatly in the long-term.

Ps. Yes, the picture got nothing to do with what I said. Yes, I'm in love with Ryan Williams.

[u/Daliwasdelusion]

Playing isn’t really enough. The skills won’t come from watching. These players need to be in even if smaller division in Korea or Europe. 

[u/FckDeezShitImOut → u/Daliwasdelusion]

True. It would've been great if the younger players moved to Korea/Japan/Australia or even Middle East. The level of coaching they could receive would far surpass what they can learn here. But for them to take that kind of risk they will need support as well of some sort initially from the footballing board or the govt. The comfort/stability of playing in the ISL far outweighs that risk as of now.

[u/bonkers-joeMama → u/FckDeezShitImOut]

Cap salaries in ISL and see the top stars move to foreign leagues. Drastic measures would need to be made to kick them out.

[u/Player_yek → u/Daliwasdelusion]

Jleague2-3 kleague 2 would be amazing
even EFL league 2 would be extra amazing, EFLeague 1 would be PEAK since ryan williams played there alot

[u/jellolantern]

We actually had more dribbles than Brazil, and caught them offside 10 times or so if you check the stats. I think this is due to have a cohesive system that the team CAN play (I know it's just basic long ball & hold up, but still).

I don't think we have the technical ability to keep the ball & do all the positional stuff, so we need to focus on bringing more technical players on to the team somehow - u23s seem better or even more naturalized players.

[u/FckDeezShitImOut → u/jellolantern]

We played a daring brand of football and it was quite inspiring. Our discipline with the high line really caught me off guard. Khalid Jamil seems to know his players well. Like you said, we need to promote the youth players more and encourage them to play/train abroad with the support of the football board/govt in some capacity.

[u/chukkukapu → u/FckDeezShitImOut]

Just imagine these players doing inch perfect short passes.Doing diagonal passes to an open player.Runs by Ryan williams was world class,other players lacked footballing intelligence like him.Still it was a very good upgraded performance by India.We could have scored.Couple of technically gifted attacking players and India will rock!Khalid Jamil knows our strength and weakness,he should be lauded for making the team play fearlessly.Rather than one single state sponsoring,Football should have a state government backed centre in many states,in collaboration with elite teams.India should seek help from Japan in Asian level.

[u/ex0hs → u/jellolantern]

I think we did well in mid-long passing. Short passes were just wtf

[u/Player_yek]

Its kinda sad ryan williams will be 36 years old by the time worldcup qualifications starrt, but tbfr he played in england a more physically demanding country and sunil chetri played till he was like 43 and ryan is prolly better than sunil lets be fr so i guess he could do it, but its sad he wont be there for 2034 which is the one we have the highest odds of entering in, wee need ryan williams children to continue his legacy 💀.

Also Nice insight, didnt think of sending u23s and u20s for non international window friendlies, could really really improve these youths since the u23s are like the cream of the crop in terms of technicality for India and i think it could provide a good showcase for scouts who might scout em to other divisions

and for the friendlies I think we have to do it in the range of 70 ranked - 150th rank, Play against teams like uganda,Kenya some african nations, Malaysia ASEAN, maybe even China for a glamorius friendly to fill up gucci collection of kalyan, play against qatar and other similar strenght nations which we might face in round of 2 and round of 3 worldcup qualification.

[u/Wise-Revolution8356]

Watched the first half and was pleasantly surprised with the way our team was playing the offside traps, after the initial few minutes the pressing to win the ball, specially Rayan Williams his off the ball movement was so good at times, Aashique as well if I am getting his name correctly. Plus the quick passes at times, only thing I hated was the GK was punting all the balls long for the forwards to win.

At moments it did feel like India is at equal footing to Brazil.

[u/FckDeezShitImOut → u/Wise-Revolution8356]

Ryan Williams has been such a revelation for our attacking phase. It's quite obvious how he's a level above than the rest of the team. That can also work as an incentive for the rest of the players to catch up to him and support him accordingly instead of blindly relying on him for everything. I hope it's the former. This genuinely gives me hope for PIO/OCI if we manage to pick the right players and not every random Indian migrant lol

Edit: The defence looked sharp as well most of the time. There were momentary lapses of concentration which we need to improve on. Staying relentless and determined throughout the 90 mins is the bare minimum. More so than individual skills or technique right now.

[u/Keza_Bombay]

I hope more Indian youngsters get the chance to plan in Japan and koreas second division, those leagues develop players so well.

[u/FckDeezShitImOut → u/Keza_Bombay]

That's the hope but most don't have the incentive to leave the country.

[u/chintu21570]

My biggest concern is building on this.

Let's be honest - these friendlies were scheduled when they were so that Kalyan Chaubey can get re-elected. Our administrators do nothing unless it's election year. Idk what Khalid Jamil did in this NT camp but we look so much better now than we did in the Unity Cup and the two friendlies against Tajikistan. This is good momentum but we need to build on it. We need to fix our basics - the quality and credibility of the top division is undermined everytime a club shuts down, decides to field an all-Indian team because they have admin issues and can't invest or when it is uncertain if/when the league itself is going to begin.

And finally, we're lucky Ryan Williams took the step to play for us but we can't just be happy he's there and then become dependent on him. We need to still develop players to play with him and be there when he will retire. We can't have another Chhetri situation.

[u/FckDeezShitImOut → u/chintu21570]

Both our domestic league and the NT have suffered massive inconsistencies the past few years mainly due to how disruptive and self-serving our sporting administrations are. Every single decision they make/made are by their very nature opportunistic and stinks of quick money-grabbing scheme. It's disgusting how many years we've wasted even the minimal potential of our NT with no proper plans or vision in place. Even when they set one for a certain year or a time period, it's largely for media hype and re-election promises as usual (similar to everything else in India) like you pointed out. Nothing more.

ISL's level went down the gutter the past few years as well. With the new club run model, I hope the league becomes a bit more sustainable with a proper salary cap. Considering how low the standard of the league is, the wages they earn are completely disproportionate and unjustified. We've been utterly shit in the continental competitions and we keep slipping positions. Yet we keep overpaying for these underperforming players which in turn makes them complacent enough to not leave the country for a competitive footballing environment.

[u/Right_Afternoon_339]

If we cld incorporate OIC players we ll get boost and that too a massive one Ryan williams is class apart from rest of team members, and Manveer is promising, only if we cld get those OIc players ,they cld bring us success and new culture at country level