As rival coach, Van Ass would ask his players to take advantage of India’s lack of game reading skills.

During his first interaction with the team, India’s new hockey coach Paul van Ass posed a simple but direct question to the players. “How do you win matches? Big matches?” Flummoxed, the players mumbled a few words. But none sounded convincing. The Dutchman wasn’t surprised.

As the coach of Holland, he had identified and exploited India’s shortcomings. Now, he is on a mission to rectify it. And the Azlan Shah Cup, which begins at Ipoh on Sunday, might just be the perfect icebreaker for Van Ass and his players. “It will help me understand the players better and likewise, they will get to know me and my style. It is important to set our processes for the future,” Van Ass says.

The three weeks he has spent with the team at the camp in New Delhi haven’t been enough to hammer home his philosophy. But Van Ass wants to ease in the changes rather than forcing them on the team.

One of the key things Vas Ass said he wants to improve is the ‘lack of knowledge among players to read the game without the ball.’ The 54-year-old feels India need to be proactive when they are out of possession. As a rival coach, he would ask his players to take advantage of the inability of Indian players to read the game. Consequently, they would be left reacting to their opponents’ moves every time rather than initiating their own attacks.

It would also lead to them being under pressure during the closing stages of the match. It’s typical Van Ass. The shrewd tactician had made Holland structurally one of the best teams in the world during his time. The players could anticipate and negate the moves initiated by the opposition. “The players have to read the game without the ball. That’s what we have started working on. Hockey skills are there. We have to get a better eye and feeling to understand what will happen when you don’t have the ball. Then you can talk about tactics, positioning, counter-attacks, etc,” Van Ass said.

Mental approach

Known for his man-management skills, the Olympic silver medal-winning coach says he will also take a different ‘mental approach’, which will involve a lot of talking with the players. “We are focusing on mental side of high performance. There is always tension in a game and how can you win in such situations. We can improve on it by talking about it a lot. The players will slowly get it. These are important aspects,” he said.

Tactically and structurally, there are a few changes he will be introducing at the Azlan Shah. Traditionally, the invitational tournament that is held annually in Malaysia is used by the teams to try out new players and combinations. India have taken a full-strength squad, led by Sardar Singh, for the six-nation tournament that includes teams like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea and hosts Malaysia.

Vas Ass hasn’t had enough time to tinker with the playing style in the short period he has been in India. However, it will be used as a platform to test a few youngsters ahead of the World League semifinals in June. “It will be more of the same as it was too early to introduce changes. We are playing some tough teams but this unit is capable of doing well. It should set the ball rolling for the future,” Van Ass said.