HT Kick Off: The challenges Jamil could face

The difference between good and great would lie in his ability to evolve into a coach he has not been says Dhiman in this issue

The appointment of Khalid Jamil as head coach has come at a time when uncertainty is the only certainty in football in India. The inability of All India Football Federation (AIFF) to announce the duration of Jamil’s contract, or when he will be released by current employers Jamshedpur FC, while naming him the men’s team head coach fits into a narrative where a court verdict is pending and the future of the Indian Super League (ISL) in animated suspension.

Khalid Jamil needs to be ready in quick time for his first international assignment. (HT)

Since Jamil has not spoken — how can he, given that he is busy with Durand Cup — we do not know how he has planned his first international assignment in the short, medium and long term. Jamil has asked, and is likely to get, a three-year contract. But one week after being named Manolo Marquez’s replacement, India does not know how he proposes to lift the team from the bottom of the 2027 Asian Cup qualification group. Or, what he would want to achieve in the CAFANations Cup beginning later this month.

This was not how Stephen Constantine and Igor Stimac, head coaches from 2015 to 2024, were appointed. Albert Roca was said to be a shoo-in because of his success at Bengaluru FC but Stimac got the job in 2019 because he had aced the interview. Even though he had never worked in India, Stimac impressed AIFF with his knowledge of players in ISL and I-League, it was said at the time. Neither the executive committee nor the technical committee got to hear what the final shortlist of Constantine, Jamil or Štefan Tarkovič would offer a men’s national team in urgent need of repairs.

The club-country tussle

Sunil Chhetri's club Bengaluru FC have suspended salaries of first team players and staff. Source: (ISL)

Add to that a number of clubs not having started pre-season because, well, they do not know when the season will start. Calling players from Chennaiyn FC, Bengaluru FC, or Odisha FC, could be risky, especially if there is no scope for at least a two-week preparatory camp. A squad without the regulars from Bengaluru FC would be severely depleted. One where a number of players join after the Durand Cup final on August 23 could be under-prepared against Tajikistan, Iran and Afghanistan.

Or will Jamil go for the left-field choice of players whose club careers he has helped revive but who have not been in the national team in the recent past?

Whatever it is, suddenly, what seemed like a good move to get players game time could devolve into a situation marginally better than the 2023 Asian Games fiasco.

Jamil is a football obsessive who has consistently got teams to punch above their weight. For the Asian Cup qualifiers, where India is the top ranked team, can he continue to be the underdogs’ coach who took Aizawl FC, NorthEast United and Jamshedpur FC to glory? The low block and long balls that bypass the midfield will not work against teams that could adopt the same tactics. After all, you cannot park the bus against teams that park the bus. So, Jamil may have to evolve into a coach he has not been. The difference between good and great would lie in his ability to do that.

For more on Jamil, read here and here.

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