Constantine lost the perception battle but a winner from the reality !
The perception is far from the reality.
It does make us perplexed often and get into the wrong side of the judgment.
This happened with the football fans in India, particularly when it came to the national team.
The perception of not having enough numbers to play good football and score was wrong.
The reality is very different from it and with the stats, we can see it.
It all started initially with coming back of Stephen Constantine as the head coach and with our team struggling to get past weaker teams we hoped for someone "dynamic".
This made us hate him from the start as the world cup qualifiers were very bad and we couldn't perform better with the all experienced players.
As I said, sometimes it's the time which only shows us the correct picture, you may agree that "this is the time to pull up the curtains" to see that.
With Stephan leaving the Indian national team after the heartbreaking last-minute AFC ASIAN CUP 2019 exit.
All was left out with the new possibilities to get it better the next time.
The search started for the new head coach for the national team, every fan has it's say being the part of the family where only a few are united.
The choice was between Albert Roca and Sergio Lobera, as perceived by many.
But, in reality, the papers which made it to the next round of the scrutiny, only Albert Roca found his name certifying his arrival to the grand stage of the Indian football and the road to the forward run.
It was not what we perceived to be the only truth but the reality of not making to be the one was due to availability of former Croatian World cupper, Igor Stimac.
This was not what everyone thought of but the perception from the past brought us smiles due to the hope of getting a new brand of football.
Everyone accepted it to the watershed moment and it is certainly a watershed moment dividing us from the perception we had and reality which we never imagined.
With almost 20 games as an in charge of the national team, Stimac could only bring the win in 4 matches, with Sunil Chettri playing its role in most of them.
The stats are not exactly the same to be proud of but also are fearful enough to make us see a future dream shattering in front of our eyes.
Dream to be in the next AFC ASIAN CUP, which is bound to happen in 2023.
Comparison of the team's performance under the two coaches
Stephen Constantine
Matches - 42
Wins - 23
Lost - 13
Players used - 67
IGOR STIMAC
Matches - 20
Wins - 4
Lost - 9
Players used :- 49
Now, this data is enough to give us the sense about how we have performed till now under Stimac.
Now, the scoring department is quite important to look at!
Goals scored under:-
Stephan Constantine
75 goals in 43 matches.
Igor Stimac
18 goals in 20 matches.
We have certainly regressed from where the Constantine left.
Now, another aspect is the struggle against the lower-ranked teams, which was never seen under Stephan.
He lead us from the scratches to the 13 match unbeaten run, by the virtue of which we qualified for the AFC ASIAN CUP also went below 100 in the FIFA rankings.
But with Stimac, we are finding it difficult to beat Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal.
Many from fans argued that it is due to the change in playing style, we are keeping the ball much and playing possession based football.
But, in reality, it's another unnoticed stat.
See the stats from the SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP 2018, we played with our u-23 team and dominated the game.
After Stimac, we are not even scoring goals and creating chances this much.
Also concerning to the higher ranked teams both played similarly, parking the bus and then counter.
Under Constantine, at AFC ASIAN CUP
Under Igor Stimac, in the World Cup qualifiers.
We can see from the stats that under Constantine we were far better, in that big tournament we played on the counter but we attacked well. The chances creation and shots on the target shows a lot about the character of the team and winning mentality.
Also even after so much he never really wrote essays on social media because he knew that there is enough scope to improve.
Now, we are facing a huge challenge in the form of Asian Cup qualifiers scheduled to happen, next year!
With the kind of performances, we are giving currently, there is every aspect to be mindful of.
Also, on the ending note, I want to say that "Constantine lost the perception battle but will always be a winner whenever judged from the factual reality, whatever we may achieve in the future, his role will always find its place amongst the golden years of modern Indian football"
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