Sunil Chhetri’s 26 goals are 19 more than second-placed Jeje Lalpekhlua and better than the next five put together. Sunil Chhetri’s 26 goals are 19 more than second-placed Jeje Lalpekhlua and better than the next five put together.

The 736 players at this year’s World Cup played an average of 3,100 minutes of club football in the preceding season. Among attacking players, Lionel Messi had notched up most games, playing 5,008 minutes – or 60 games – from July 2017 to May 2018, according to research group CIES Football Observatory. Compare the numbers with the Indian players, specifically attackers, and the contrast couldn’t be starker. From January this year to September, only two Indian offensive players have more than 2,000 minutes (Sunil Chhetri: 2,672 minutes; Udanta Singh: 2,255 minutes, both Bengaluru FC) while just 10 others have played more than 1,000 minutes.

The numbers become more revealing when you turn to scoring stats. In Tajikistan, the surprise finalists of this year’s Under-16 Asian Championship, home-grown players have dominated the goal-scoring charts. The top-five scorers in the last two seasons – and half-way through this term – are all Tajiks. The top-five scorers in the 2017 J-League were all Japanese while in the Persian Gulf Pro League, four of the top five were Iranians.

Last season, Chhetri was the only Indian to be in the top-five scorers of the Indian Super League while there were none in that bracket in the I-League. In fact, Chhetri is the only Indian who has scored in double digits this calendar year (until September 30). His 26 goals are 19 more than second-placed Jeje Lalpekhlua and better than the next five put together.

Last Saturday, after the goalless draw against higher-ranked China in Suzhou, chief coach Stephen Constantine asserted that India have become a ‘difficult side to beat’. Purely on recent performances, it’s tough to argue against his claim. Across all age-groups, from U-16 to the seniors, Indian teams have shown great tactical discipline with fluid movement of the defence lines. It’s a strategy that’s worked perfectly to frustrate quality opponents like China, or at a junior level Iran.

But with such high emphasis on not conceding, the Indian teams seem to have compromised on the most integral aspect of the game – scoring goals. The lack of strikers and technically-adept, creative offensive players have been glaring issues in Indian football for quite some time. However, never has it appeared so dire than now, which is of concern also because there hasn’t been so much investment on youth development ever before in Indian football.

Upwards from the under-16 level, there seems to be a severe paucity of not just outright goal scorers, but also cerebral, inventive players who can create goals. The gulf in quality of players is striking almost every time India takes the field. Against China, India were unable to control the ball, retain the possession in attacking third or pass around with authority in China’s half. The problem percolates to the junior-most level of national teams, with the under-16 side showing similar shortcomings against most teams in the continental championship last month. The ball often gets stuck under players’ feet, or the strikers are often hesitant to take a shot at goal.

Not an ideal scenario

Abhishek Yadav, the director of national teams, agrees this is not an ideal scenario. “We need to have more options. This is not a very good scenario. The base at a junior level should be broader. I think we need to get our players more prepared. There will be a specific programme, which will be focusing on this issue,” he says.

Despite the shortage of strikers, the passing of baton has been smooth over the generations. Baichung Bhutia filled the void left by IM Vijayan; Chhetri took over the responsibility from Bhutia. But the ‘who-after-Chhetri’ question has been staring India at its face for some time now. Jeje Lalpekhlua was the heir apparent. But he is yet to score in the Indian Super League (ISL) this season. Till September 30 this year, he has found the net just seven times for his club Chennaiyin and country. He hasn’t been creating much either – Jeje has only three assists to his name and been a part of just 11 goal-scoring attacks.

But he takes the attention away from Chhetri by dragging the defenders with him and using his physical strength. The rest do not inspire much confidence. ATK striker Balwant Singh – rated highly by Constantine – has played just 1,191 minutes this year, or roughly 13 matches, and scored just once. Sumit Passi, another forward who enjoys Constantine’s confidence, has been on the field for just 352 minutes in the whole of 2018. The 24-year-old centre-forward is yet to score this year, has just one assist and been a part of just three goal-scoring attacks.

There seems to be no one waiting in the pipeline either. Last year, at the under-17 World Cup, Portuguese coach Luis Norton de Matos focused more on defensive organisation to ensure ‘respectable’ results. As a consequence, Jeakson Singh’s goal and KP Rahul’s shot that hit the bar against Colombia were the only highlights of the tournament from an attacking point of view.

At the U-16 Asian Championships in Malaysia last month, where India reached quarterfinals for the first time since 2002, the team scored just one goal in four matches. Even after the end of India’s gritty campaign, it was tough to figure out who the main striker of the team was. There were matches when they started without a recognized forward but more than tactical genius, it appeared to be a move born out of desperation and compulsion.

Halted progress

Of course, some of these junior players will only improve as the years pass by and that can happen only if they get to play more. But lest we forget that their counterparts from other nations are likely to progress at a much quicker rate, meaning the gap will not be easily bridged.

The lack of match time for strikers has been an enduring debate in Indian football. While the clubs may not be obliged to play them, the trend globally is that young players do a lot of growing up in a club set-up. In India, the I-League clubs have totally ignored youth development and the ISL franchises are overburdened by the Rs15 crore franchise fee and high wages of the foreign players. The seriousness of youth development is hence lost.

This has given rise to a deep lack of trust between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the clubs, especially on the issue of grooming youngsters. Fearing that the boys from the U-17 World Cup squad would ‘get lost’ if signed by a club, the AIFF started the Arrows project and fielded that team in the I-League. They also form the core of India’s under-19/20 national team.

The move is debatable and although the players have got decent match time, it’s nowhere close to what most in this age-group get elsewhere. Nongdamba Naorem, who scored one of the finest goals in India last season against Shillong, has played just 603 minutes this year while striker Aniket Jadhav, 18, has been on the pitch for only 660 minutes.

In contrast, England and Manchester City’s Phil Foden – U-17 World Cup’s Golden Boot winner – has played 1,117 minutes this year. Sardar Azmoun, the Iranian Messi, had more than 4,500 minutes of playing time under his belt before he turned 21.

No Indian player is close to getting so much playing time in their growing up years – the local leagues have all but disappeared, the u-13 league was decided on 10 games (U-7 league in Croatia this year, in contrast, ran into 60 games this season). By the time budding Indian footballers reach professional clubs, they’re under prepared and end up warming the bench.

Constantine’s team might still be ‘tough to beat’ at the Asian Cup in January. But at the moment, India are giving an impression of being a side that is playing not to lose. They need to start playing to win. And for that, they need players who can attack.

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