With the Asia Cup hockey title under his belt, India’s chief coach Sjoerd Marijne feels consistency is something which his wards need to work on to bridge the gap between the top teams.
“I am really happy because it was my first tournament as India men’s team coach. We really played good hockey. I really feel happy for the players and the Indian hockey fans for the good start,” Marijne told PTI in an interview after striking gold on his maiden assignment as India coach.
However, consistency is the key, believes Marijne.
“We still lack consistency which was evident in the final against Malaysia. We should have scored more goals in the final but our levels dropped too low in the final quarter and it allowed Malaysia to make a comeback.
“We really played very good attacking hockey and scored some beautiful field goals, but we were not consistent,” he added.
Eight-time Olympic champions India dished out beautiful one-touch, attacking hockey, a style reminiscent of their glorious past and it resulted in 21 fantastic field goals.
And Marijne, who took over the team just last month after the sudden ouster of the legendary Roelant Oltmans, feels that Indians can be a lethal force against any opposition if they can carry on with the same style of play in the upcoming tournaments.