LAHORE
\nThe national hockey team\u2019s head coach is satisfied with the efforts made by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for uplifting the game which currently is in dire straits.
\nHowever, at the same time Siegfried Aikman remains adamant the country instead of remaining in its glory-filled past must look at hockey on modern lines, which has over the years changed massively, and prepare accordingly for cut-throat present-day international competitions.
\n\u201cI am happy with the PHF which is doing the best it can do. We don\u2019t have sponsors and money but hopefully things will improve with the passage of time,\u201d the 62-year-old Aikman said while answering a question during his talk with a group of journalists at the end of the national training camp here at the National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
\n\u201cWe play modern hockey, not the hockey of old days. If they compare us continuously to the hockey of old days I don\u2019t know what they compare. If you look at the game it has changed so much; it is now a totally different game which I am trying to teach the players. And with all due respect I think they don\u2019t have the knowledge about that,\u201d Dutch Aikman, who is based in Suriname, said candidly.
\nNo members of the selection committee including chief selector Manzoor Junior are present at the ongoing training camp which signifies that Aikman has been given considerable powers to select the team \u2014 a common trend in contemporary hockey world over.
\nAikman, who was returning to Holland on Saturday night, six days before the Pakistan squad leaves for Holland which is part of their Europe tour, said the tour would help the team a lot in assessing their strengths and weaknesses.
\n\u201cIf I will be honest I think we are not at the level of European hockey. We can\u2019t build fitness in three months. It takes one year to get reasonable. In Japan, I had one year to work on their physical [fitness] level,\u201d Aikman, who coached Japan\u2019s national team before being appointed Pakistan head coach late last year, stated.
\nThe Pakistan squad leaves for the Europe tour on April 22 to play six matches against Holland (two), Belgium (one) and Spain (three).
\nAikman joined Pakistan\u2019s national squad in December 2021, a few days before the team went to play the Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka.
\n\u201cWe can improve but they [European teams] are far ahead. We need to work more to take over them; so it will take long time and that is why I was given a long-term [five years] role [by the PHF],\u201d Aikman, who helped Japan win gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, said.
\nThe head coach hoped to bring improvement in the team, which could help it to qualify for the all-important World Cup. But for that, Aikman emphasised, consistency was vital.
\n\u201cI am doing everything just to bring in higher pace in the game. After the Europe tour [hopefully] we will be better. We will fight like we did in the Asian Champions Trophy. After managing to get a higher pace [in our game] we will qualify for the World Cup. We have the right mentality and to achieve our goals we will have to maintain it for a longer period.\u201d
\nTalking about the on-field action, the coach expressed his short-term plans for the players.
\n\u201cI want them to understand the tactics, understand the roles and responsibility to connect and communicate, play well and not to confront umpires even if umpires make mistakes,\u201d he elaborated. \u201cThey [players] should convey their view to the umpire but keep on playing and not complain.
\nHe added, \u201cAnd my long-term plan is to create such a strong team which can beat every opponent everywhere.
\n\u201cThis is not easy; it will take time. However, I am hopeful and very hopeful. We have the talent, we have qualities and I see progress. I think when you play in Europe you will have very hard time because the pace in Europe is higher and it is the best we can do here,\u201d Aikman stated.
\n\u201cWe need that sort of tough competition which challenges us. We may lose [some games] by a big margin but we have to learn from them to react better in order to become a better side like India who play many poor matches but now they have improved to play high-level games.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have those opportunities we have to create those and that is what I want to get in Europe to assess the strength of the players and when we return home we will sit to note our mistakes and how to rectify to have a good confidence to perform well in the Asia Cup,\u201d he added.
\nOn lifting the faltering goalkeeping department, Aikman reckoned promising youngsters needed to be given chances.
\n\u201cWe have same goalkeepers, after every tournament we have complaints about goalkeepers. Now we will bring youngsters who will make mistakes but they have better potential. And we have to support them and not discard them for any mistake as it creates fear and if they have fear [of getting discarded] they can\u2019t improve.
\nTherefore, my job as the head coach is to provide them a safe and secure place, and they should improve and we want to see them improve,\u201d he stressed.
\nMeanwhile, PHF secretary Asif Bajwa, who was also present at the camp, said playing in Europe would benefit Pakistan in preparing for the Asia Cup, which also serves as a qualifier for the World Cup.
\n\u201cIt is good to play high-pressure matches before the Asia Cup. The Pakistan team will improve after playing against top side of Europe, which are also world\u2019s best,\u201d he said.
\nSpeaking on the occasion, team manager Khawaja Juniad said the 20-member squad for the Europe tour would be announced on Tuesday.
\n\u201cThough Aikman was leaving for Holland [earlier], the camp will continue till the departure of the national squad to Holland on April 22. They will return home on May 6 and resume training,\u201d Junaid said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAHORE The national hockey team\u2019s head coach is satisfied with the efforts made by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for uplifting the game which currently is in dire straits. However, at the same time Siegfried Aikman remains adamant the country instead of remaining in its glory-filled past must look at hockey on modern lines, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6006,381,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-255673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-aikman","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n