With the interest in Indian football on the rise, more kids are considering the sport as a viable career option now than ever before. However, the Indian men’s national team continue to languish at 104th, behind the likes of New Zealand and Kenya. While the interest may be on an upward trajectory, the focus needs to shift on improving the basics of aspiring footballers at the grassroot level in order to develop talent that can compete against the best in the world.
In this exclusive interview, Anand Vardhan, Performance Analyst and Academy Coach at Sudeva Delhi FC speaks about his responsibilities, the development of football in India, overcoming challenges, the increase in popularity of the sport amongst the younger generation, getting the maximum performance from players and his future goals for the sport in India.
Q 1) Tell us about your role and responsibilities as performance analyst and academy coach at Sudeva Delhi FC?
The role of performance analysts revolves around but is not limited to pre-match analysis, post match analysis, data analysis, match coding, training analysis, scouting and most importantly opposition analysis. Analysts are often the first people the head coach wants to talk to before and after a game, decoding the opposition's gameplay and tactics is the primary task an analyst has in hand during the course of a season. As an academy coach, I often find myself assisting the head coaches in training for one of the U-13, U-15 or U-18 academy teams. Having completed my AIFF D coaching certificate, I'm slowly getting into the technical side of things on the pitch which has certainly made my understanding and my analysis better.
Q 2) As someone who works closely with the academy, what do you think needs to be done to raise the standard of football in India?
Since the inception of the ISL the standard of Indian football has no doubt gone up, with the influx of capital and infrastructure in the game we are definitely moving in the right direction. I remember the time when not so long ago we were languishing 173rd in the FIFA rankings which to be honest for a country as huge as ours is shambolic. Things are moving in the right direction but we still aren't anywhere as we are supposed to be. For the sport to grow, all the stakeholders i.e. the clubs, the federation, the players, the state FAs, the government and above all the fans have to come together and work towards a common goal. More grassroot programs, affiliation with schools and promotion of local tournaments is the only way forward.
Q 3) What are the biggest challenges Indian football is facing today? How can it be rectified?
I feel there are two major hurdles that we need to cross for us to become a superpower in the sport, first qualifying for the FIFA World Cup and second is to be able to create a sustainable business model for all the clubs. If you see the numbers, even the top ISL clubs don't make any profits throughout the season. There is definitely work going on in the background to rectify this and with promotion and relegation from ISL and I League to be installed from this season, we are giving a small town club from any city from the country a pathway of making it to the biggest stage. This is what football is all about in my opinion, everyone having a fair chance of competing for the top most league and not just some clubs who can afford to pay the franchise fee.
Q 4) Do you see an increase in popularity in domestic football with more youngsters wanting to enrol in the academy?
Yes of course, with the amazing work that Mr. Anuj Gupta and Mr. Vijay Hakari have been doing to promote the sport in the national capital we see there are a lot of young players not just from New Delhi but from across the country wanting to come in and join the academy. All players are selected on the basis of trials and the best ones are here on 100% scholarship. You guys at different forms of media have also helped tremendously in popularising the sport across the country among the youth. Fun fact: there are more Manchester United fans here in India than in the UK.
Q 5) What are the key factors that are responsible for getting maximum performance out of footballers?
I won't sugar coat it, being a professional footballer isn't easy in this day and age. Just by being the most skillful or the fittest or the most intelligent player on the pitch you are not going to make it. Today's top players have to be in the best physical shape, need to be technically very sound and most importantly need to understand how the coach wants them to play. Being able to follow instructions is one of the first qualities coaches look for in a player.
Q 6) What are your future goals and aspirations? How do you plan to achieve them?
I want to keep working towards closing the gap between India's top footballers and the rest of the world's top footballers. When Igor Stimac comes out and says that the national team's players haven't got their basics right he's got a point. We need to work towards an overall holistic development of a player from a young age, technically, physically and tactically. Hopefully not long from now we'll see one of our very own dominating the European leagues and battling it out with the best in the world on a weekly basis.
You can follow Anand's work at @vardhansanalysis on Instagram and connect with him on Linkedin.
Feel free to drop him an email at [email protected]
