Bad coaching, kick-rush tactics, too much McDonald's hamper Indian football: Rob Baan

He may be 70-years-old, but he was probably the most interested person watching the Coca-Cola Cup U-16 Sub-Junior National Football Championship final between Meghalaya and Odisha. Most interested, and most disappointed. Rob Baan, Technical Director of the AIFF, intently saw the possible future of Indian football at Father Agnel School in Vashi — and his reactions to the football on show were plain. He was unhappy, shaking his head in dismay at a wasted freekick from just outside the box — whispering something to AIFF’s Director of Academies Scott O’Donnell — and his expressions spoke of dismay. “Very poor. No technique. Today, I’ve understood that India has a long way to go in football,” he told Firstpost in an exclusive interview just after the final whistle, as Meghalaya’s youngsters celebrated with a victory lap and the loudspeakers played Waka Waka. [caption id=“attachment_825161” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Keeping a watch - Rob Baan. Getty Images[/caption] “The coaches have no clue what they’re doing! They’re just not interested. Static stretching before a match? The whole world knows nobody does static stretching before a match. And this is kick and rush football. Players who are big and can kick the ball as far as possible have been picked. They want to put in a long ball and score. That’s all,” he said, visibly flustered. And you have to take his word for it. Baan is hugely experienced — he has been caretaker manager and assistant of the Netherlands national team (1978-83, just after the Total Football era). Apart from stints at 11 Dutch clubs, he has also been Youth Technical Director of Netherlands and Technical Director of Australia. He’s been into football coaching since 1965. Baan looks you in the eye and talks straight. We asked him whether any Indian was fit enough to play in a foreign league: “No, not fit enough to play anywhere. Look at your diet. You don’t eat right. Rice is a staple diet in most parts of the country and all your meat is covered in curry. Those who are poor can understandably not afford nutrition, and those who can afford it go to McDonald’s.” These are comments which shatter an Indian’s hopes of one day becoming a formidable force in football. But Baan says that it’s a slow process. His job as Technical Director is to improve the level of football in the country and he’s going about it: “We’re doing everything we can. We need to improve the level of coaches, that’s the priority. We have laid out plans to improve grassroots football and junior competition. We need everyone to be on the same page. We can’t have different coaches teaching completely different styles.” ( Read here about Baan’s master-plan). AIFF has overseen a higher number of international friendlies since Wim Koevermans took over, but they’ve not been against high-profile opponents. But Baan explains why: “We’re not playing against the right teams. But… we’re not getting other teams! It’s hard to set up these friendlies. The trip to England would have really helped ( it got cancelled later ). We need to go to Europe, then you can play teams like Iceland, Finland or Luxembourg.” The chat with Baan may sting — but it’s the truth. Hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup will be a huge boost to this endeavour, but Baan suggests it will only happen if the government supports the AIFF: “We should get it (the WC). It’ll be a huge push. Sponsors, infrastructure and media attention will help. But, there is no going forward if the government doesn’t understand that football is a sport the whole world plays. It is the world’s favourite sport.” Rob Baan has more than 45 years of coaching experience. But what you take away from this meeting is a man who is desperate to put his plans to work. He needs to be heard and the government and AIFF need to start working on them before he loses patience. And with the nation’s most popular sport in crisis , the time to put these plans into action…is NOW.