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Stimac proposal: Indian players just for offensive midfield and centre forward at clubs

Igor Stimac, who played every minute of Croatia's World Cup campaign in the last round in 1998, captained his country for 12 years, and believes India should explore a ban on foreign offensive midfielders and forwards.
In Asia, clubs often refrain from signing foreign players in order to develop local potential. Foreign goalkeepers were not allowed in the Chinese Super League. Since 1999, no foreigner (North Koreans do not count) is allowed to be between the sticks in the K-League in South Korea.
The head coach of the senior men's national team of India, Stimac, declared, “That is the only way.” Speaking from Bhubaneswar, where India is having a training camp, he stated, “We need to think about opening up center-forward and attacking midfield positions to Indian players.”
Prior to the four-nation Hero Inter-continental Cup in Bhubaneswar (June 9–18) and the SAFF Championships in Bengaluru (June 21–4 July), Stimac spoke to Hindustan Times.
“I must stop responding to the question of who comes after Sunil Chhetri. We must ask our organization's stakeholders this question, he stated. Chhetri, 38, would need to be replaced, according to Stimac. But having the choice of selecting two of the 10–12 active centre forwards would have been more preferable.
In the Indian Super League's (ISL) nine seasons, no Indian has finished first in scoring. It has only occurred twice in 16 iterations of the I-League: once in 2013–14, when Chhetri (14 goals) shared first place with international players Cornell Glen and Darryl Duffy, and once in 2020–21, when TRAU's Bidyashagar Singh scored 12 goals.
The national squad is severely lacking in offensive alternatives as a result of ISL and I-League teams' preference for imported strikers and attacking midfielders. Additionally, teams have used offensive strikers outside of their natural positions, such Manvir Singh, who is injured and will miss both tournaments.
Stimac recommended playing Rahim Ali, Ishan Pandita, Vikram Pratap Singh, and Singh often in their natural positions to “advance their game.” “They will score the same number of goals as foreign players if their clubs give them the opportunity to play center-forward.” Because Chhetri “learned how to score and he learned how defenders would try to handle him,” he became a great striker. He wasn't raised to be a winger.
When asked whether switching positions broadens a player's skill set, Stimac said that it only does so once the player “perfectly understands” what must be done in their native position. “Modern football is far away from us.”
Stimac said that if teams must spend money on foreign players, it should go towards full backs. “Full backs are now Indian football's weakest link. Therefore, let's ensure that going forward each team purchases a fullback from outside from whom Indians may learn.
India will play nine games in 26 days if they reached either or both event finals. They played one more than that in 2022. Stimac said he would need to rotate players to keep them fresh and injury-free since they would have gone from a relatively short season to one that has eaten into their vacations.
The qualifications for the 2024 Asian under-23 championships, whereby India were grouped alongside China, the United Arab Emirates, and the Maldives in Thursday's draw, are slated to take place between September 6 and 12, but Stimac claimed he would not oversee them as India is set to participate in the King's Cup (September 7–10). India's return to the Merdeka Cup (October 14–17) might prevent him from practising for the Asian Games (September 23–October 8), according to Stimac.
India's last matchup before the Asian Cup in January may be the Merdeka Cup. According to Shaji Prabhakaran, secretary-general of the All India Football Federation, the Indian Super League would be suspended to give the national squad a minimum of two weeks to get ready for the Asian Cup, which starts on January 12 and in which India will play Australia on January 13. We will concentrate on the first match of the Asian Cup if I don't receive more than two weeks, according to Stimac. The loss of three training sessions to get ready for the friendly, he claimed, would result from playing a game at that period.

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