Indian football team: What Could Be Reason Behind Blue Tigers’ Downfall After Highs Of 2023?

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The Indian football team is currently having one of its worst runs with seven matches gone without a win and just a goal from penalty spot in crucial tournaments such as AFC Asian Cup and World Cup Qualifiers, leaving fans fuming on social media and stands alike.

The blame could be pinned on anything or any person, but it could also be manifold and should be seen as a collective failure with equal shares to coach Igor Stimac, national team players and All India Football Federation.

Starting with coach, there are several questions that come to mind regarding the decision-making process. Especially regarding his choice of starting XI and substitutions in recent World Cup qualifier matches.

While his style is to play with intensity and attack through wings using attacking fullbacks and wingers doubling up, the coach may have become too predictable for his rivals as a second-string Afghanistan team dominated them in important aspects of the game.

Not to forget the Croatian's habit of taking no blames for his failures while pointing fingers at others whenever things have gone south. One of his complaints often have been not getting enough time to hold national camps before matches. However, asking for a camp against a lower-ranked Afghans, irrespective of the fact that it's a squad build around refugee players plying their trade in lower-leagues of Europe, makes little sense.

Players got to take the equal blame too as the football the Indian team played over two legs against Afghanistan is nowhere near what we saw against the likes of Kuwait and Lebanon last year. While high-intensity, short-passing football became an identity of the team, Blue Tigers game last week was marred with shoddy passing and scarcity of chance creation in final third. It raises the question if the national team players were playing it safe with a gruelling final phase of ISL season awaiting.

On another note, Chhetri and other senior players’ influence in team selection have also come into question. As per reports from News9, many junior players have come forward to comment on the matter, claiming that Stimac has pact with some of the senior players.

“A lot of politics and equations are at play here," a player told News9. "The coach and these players have a pact and will invariably support each other. These players have only the right to speak in the team. No one can counter them.”

An anonymous top AIFF official, however, has said, “Difficult to believe Stimac is a dummy coach. Personally, I think he is strong enough to make up his mind and make his own decisions.”

AIFF can't escape the blame here as there planning has come under question since Kalyan Chaubey took charge of the federation in 2022. The biggest issue has been finding an amicable solution for club releasing players for a long national camp before crucial national team matches.

While the problem has been evident for years, The federation has shown inefficiency in getting enough preparation time for the national teams as both ISL and I-League clubs have been reluctant to release players midway in the season.

A solution is long wanted, where national team needs to be the priority but to this day we haven't heard of one. Instead the AIFF top brass is bombarded with accusation of misuse of funds and sour relationship with the coach.

In fact, coming June could be the end of Stimac's reign of the national team but it certainly won't solve India's problem at the structural level unless some uncomfortable yet strong call is taken by the AIFF for the good of Indian football.