The Hindu : Sport / Football : Bhattacharya, Derek draw strength from experience

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Friday, Sep 14, 2007
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Bhattacharya, Derek draw strength from experience

Vijay Lokapally

LUDHIANA: Their approach differs but not the mission. Subrata Bhattacharya, a dogged defender, played 17 years for Mohun Bagan, won 78 trophies, and now coaches East Bengal.

Derek Pereira, a sturdy midfielder, earned glory for Salgaocar and played a key part in the Goan club winning its only NFL title in 1999. He now manages the distinguished Mahindra United Club.

East Bengal and Mahindra United meet each other in the final of the 29th Federation Cup here on Saturday.

In guiding their clubs, Bhattacharya and Derek have drawn strength from their vast experience, emphasising the need to play attacking football even though Mahindra adopted a tactically-driven defensive style in the semifinal against Dempo Sports Club on Wednesday.

Problem

Adopting defensive tactics, asserts Bhattacharya, is a problem in Indian football. “The teams get used to protection from the midfield because they lack the confidence to play attacking football once they take the lead. My question is if you have four good defenders why would you need a midfielder to assist you?”

Derek opines it depends on the situation. “I think such tactics are dictated by the opposition you face. Against Dempo we had to be defensive to upset their style. We didn’t want to allow them space. I would say it was organised football even though it is not necessary that we would play with similar tactics all the time.”

Bhattacharya, 55, and Derek, 45, were unanimous in admitting that the overall skills have diminished. “There are very few footballers in India who can hold the ball, control it. If you look at our football history, we had many great players who were fantastic with the ball but individual brilliance is dying now,” says Bhattacharya.

Learn at an early age

Derek is candid too. “Skills have vanished to a large extent. But then you can’t teach this aspect to the national level players. You have to learn it at a much younger age. Control, dribbling, heading, trapping are not learnt overnight.”

So what is the solution? Bhattacharya suggests, “Modern methods. Make support staff mandatory. Physical and mental toughness, technical and tactical lessons, have to be taught from the formative years.”

Derek wants the base to be broader. “You have to look beyond pockets like Goa, Bengal, Kerala, Punjab. Each state has to have an academy. And most important is that you have to have quality coaches. You have to have a proper coaching education programme. Only good coaching can lead to good players.”

Both agreed on the necessity of having a foreign coach. Bhattacharya insists, “Foreign coach is needed. Bob (Houghton) is a good coach. He has the capacity to make the team understand the needs of modern football.”

Derek supports the view. “Whether foreign or Indian, you must have a man of quality handling the team; a man with a vision and direction.”

Reflecting on the Federation Cup, Bhattacharya says, “Not much has changed. I can’t see any perceptible change in the quality of matches. The format has remained the same. The technical aspects have seen some progress. Of course, the big change from my time is that the accommodation provided to the players has improved. But we need to be more modern and more professional to become a good football nation.”

Derek echoed Bhattacharya’s observation. “The quality of matches has not improved. I think we saw some better matches in the past editions of the tournament. It has remained the best tournament but has not grown in terms of quality and excitement. I would like the format to change. It will be good if the Federation Cup has a larger pool with space for more teams from the lower division.

“It can be played over the season, on the lines of the FA Cup. More teams should participate in the Federation Cup. We are committed to make the system more modern and professional.”

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