Total Hockey not new to Indian players: Carvalho

Mumbai:

The concept of 'Total Hockey', which new national chief coach Jose Brasa is reportedly going to adopt during the European four-nation tour is nothing new to Indian players, said former coach Joaquim Carvalho.

"That's the way modern hockey is played. Once you lose the ball all the players would fall back and try to retrieve it and once you are on the attack it's not left to only two or three players to do it," the Olympian said here on Thursday.

Carvalho was reacting to a report that Brasa has told the players they won't be given any specific positions or designations to play except the goalkeeper and all the other 10 players would defend or attack as the situation demanded.

"I had adopted the same tactics as coach of the national team. There's no way you can allow some players to stand on the centre line and watch the proceedings as spectators as was the case with a few of our old-time stalwarts," Carvalho said.

Carvalho credited former coach Balkishen Singh, who was the national coach from 1981 to 1984 and in 1992, for introducing modern hockey techniques into the Indian system.

"Balkishen was the first man to move away from the traditional 5-3-2 formation that India and Pakistan used to play with. He introduced the concept of two centre halves by making it a 4-4-2 formation," Carvalho said, adding what he learned from Balkishen stood him in good stead later as coach.