Australian Arthur Papas made an impressive start as India Under-22 national team coach at the Under-22 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in which India were drawn in Group A along with the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Oman, Turkmenistan and Lebanon. I caught-up with the young Australian after a strong campaign in Muscat, which sadly did not have a happy end for India and before he joins the Pailan Arrows as their new head coach.The loss in the final game against Oman was surely heartbreak. What did you feel afterwards?
It was a natural reaction to feel an initial emotion of sadness as with 36 minutes to go in the final game we were still in a strong position to qualify for the finals. From here it unravelled and the manner in which the game ended left us all disappointed but in saying that it really was the only game I can say we were convincingly beaten by a better team on the day.
After this initial reaction though my only thoughts centred around providing a supportive figure to the playing group as they were hurt considerably and the job of a coach in these times is to provide comfort and perspective to his players. This group over the course of a month had developed such a strong sense of unity and what was important was that during this moment after the game we still maintained a collective spirit because professional football is full of ups and downs. Therefore, the most important thing is that you can realise that above all else you have given your utmost to the team and I am comfortable about the process in which this team evolved and most importantly that their characters are of such a high quality.
What did you think about the overall performance of your team, the India Under-22s, in the qualifiers?
Overall our performances were very positive when you take into account all the variables we were confronted with. As a team we received much respect throughout the tournament externally but most importantly we found a belief amongst ourselves of what can be achieved when every person involved is moving in the same direction. Our collective discipline, spirit, unity and confidence grew the longer we stayed together and I am certain the players have learned many valuable lessons that hopefully they can continue to refer to over the course of their careers.
I will never be able to say I was completely satisfied because although we were the lowest ranked nation in the group by some way I came with the mindset that we could qualify. Like I have mentioned with 35 minutes to go in the final game this was still a possibility, in the future I would hope that the pressure of dealing with that last game will result in a further development of the playing group because they need more and more of these situations under pressure to further progress on an international level.
Positively surprised that the boys adopted so quickly to you and your style of coaching?
Pleasantly surprised because of course there was always going to be a question mark on whether they could adopt the differences in the style of play we sought. At first there was some trepidation from the playing group because the message was about building up from the goalkeeper, keeping the ball on the ground and playing a possession style of football. However, the main ingredient was to maintain a consistent message at all times whether that be in the training exercises, practice matches, team meetings, etc because this way it becomes ingrained and the players become more confident in this message because of its repetition and consistency.
There were times for example in the practice matches where errors were made when building up but when this occurred there was never a strong reaction from the bench but rather a supportive message which reinforced the football idea. On the contrary when the easy option of playing long was taken this was the moment there would be a strong reaction because the football we wanted to play requires players to take initiative and not seek the easy option of kicking the ball long. I kept saying to the playing group that you all thought I was crazy when on my first day when I outlined the way we would work but the longer we stayed together I really felt the playing group brought in to this style of football and the feedback received supports the process.
What has been your impression of Indian football in the first few weeks you have worked in India?
Indian football is in the midst of some very major developments and I am pleased to have joined at a time when fundamental change is taking place. I can only speak glowingly about my experiences so far but in general am still not in a position to comment on the overall state of Indian football until I have spent more time in the country. I do know though that the players have the correct attitudes, desire and intention to improve and are very open to the different coaching and playing styles.
There are always areas that need improvement and in terms of the individuals there needs to be a high emphasis placed on the basic technical elements, their game intelligence as well as improving the areas off the field which at top level can play a big part meaning their diets, recovery, and habits of being a professional athlete. At the moment myself, Scott O'Donell, Colm Toal, Wim Koevermans and of course Rob Baan have the task of educating as many Indian's who are passionate about playing a role in the long-term success of Indian football because these are the people in the future that are the real lifeblood of the football in India.
One of your boys, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was on a trial-cum-training at EPL side Wigan Athletic. Your thoughts on that?
My thoughts are that as an experience this is a fantastic opportunity for Gurpreet, he is still a young goalkeeper and normally this position begins to mature a little bit later than the outfield player. In my time with Gurpreet he has shown a real willingness to learn and what is important is that this is just one of the many ways he continues to look to develop himself because it stands as one week in a whole year that he spends at Wigan so imperative is that he keeps receiving the correct coaching, match experience every week consistently to reach his full potential.
Now you take-over the Pailan Arrows as their new coach. What's the aim in the I-League this season?
Our aim again has a double edged sword because the facts remain we are still a young team full of some of India's most talented youngsters competing in a senior professional league that is growing at a very quick rate, especially in regards to the type of foreigners entering the league. It's still imperative that the football style we bring to the league is what we consider the best in terms of developing the players both individually and collectively. In turn I have a clear vision that in the long-term this is also the best way to achieve results and they really go hand in hand.
I had a similar experience in Newcastle (Australia) where in the off-season I assembled a development team to play in the local senior state league and with an average age of 19 we stayed near the top of the league for the duration of my time there. Most important though was that we kept our best young players involved at the highest level possible for 11 months of the year.
There's no denying we need to improve on last year's showing in the I-League and I'm very confident that we will be able to do this.
