Muller eyes Indian revenge

A year on from an ill-fated battle with India, Gene Muller is excited about the prospect of getting one back on the Asian side this Saturday in Ireland’s Champion’s Challenge I opener.

It is the first of a series of high profile tests for the country in the coming week, pitted also against Spain and Azerbaijan in the group stages before moving into the knock-out stages. But it is the India tie – and their unique approach to the game – which is currently occupying his focus, promising an expansive game to counter the ‘five-five’ formation his opponents are likely to implement. Ireland fell last summer 6-0 to India but Muller says that is not a likely outcome this time around. “I’m really looking forward to playing India. We had a disaster last time. It was bizarre, we had an even amount of circle penetrations and more corners than they did but they beat us considerably. It’s the one that is most in our mind. It’s fun playing them, it’s the way hockey should be played. “Five designated attackers, the rest designated defenders. It’s exciting and fun to play, fast and extremely skilful. I just hope we’re not mesmerised by it. We still have to play well. “You make a mistake if you don’t play some form of expansive hockey against them. If they play that expansive, they’ll be open to counters. “The balance of structure and looseness is critical. If we’re too structured, we won’t generate quality chances and they will pick you off.” It’s a bold statement of intent for what can be seen as coming out party, a debuting of what has been going on in the cocoon of the central participation programme over the winter months. The trade-off for the increased training meant a marked reduction in international fixtures. How Muller’s side gels on the pitch remains to be seen but he is happy with how his side is entering the competition. “We arrive at this tournament at a much better stage than ever before, physically, technically, tactically. I’m more comfortable with where we are at. Certainly, there is an expectation we will play well because we have trained hard enough to deserve to play well. “Whether that’s enough, you don’t know. We’re close to the bottom of the rankings [of the eight teams involved]. Five of these teams went to the last World Cup, they’re good teams, generally well prepared. They are so close, you need to play well or you will get beaten.” And he adds that it is a far cry from the difficulties endured in Ireland’s last world level competition – the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Chile. A tournament beset by issues, most notably the ash cloud which meant the team’s travel, four games and acclimatisation to a 20 degree temperature shift within seven days was a severe test.

Muller says it was the “toughest tournament he ever coached in” but says the lessons learned have underpinned his strategy ever since, believing serious overhaul of the prior structures were a must. “In Chile, I really felt I had pushed the team too hard in preparation. The team was tired arriving there, there wasn’t much flow when we were over there. “Having said that, the turning point for this group of players came in the game against Chile over there. We won 3-0 and the players just willed themselves to turn things around, even being fatigued. To me, I will always remember that game. Something happened there that changed the mind of the players. Do we want this to continue or to change it?” After hours in the UCD gym and training away from the public’s gaze, the Irish team now have the chance to express themselves. Moreso, the format of the Champion’s Challenge means they are guaranteed a quarter-final place even if they were to lose all their group games. It is a structure which Muller does not see the logic in, placing undue influence on each side’s fourth game in the competition. “The tournament format does not reward consistency. The first three matches just determine pool ranking but there’s not a top two and a bottom two. “Everyone gets to play a live game four. You could have disastrous three games, win one game and be in the top four. You could also be fantastic going into game four and then have an off day and end up in the bottom four. It’s difficult with this tournament format to attach a result to it because consistency doesn’t necessarily lead to an outcome.” He also questions why this is the format for this second tier event but the world’s elite are not using a similar format. “There must be a reason why they’re not doing this at the Champion’s Trophy. The reason, I imagine, is that the top teams would not accept it. “It’s probably to create more life [in the classification matches] but I’m not sure that is a strong enough argument. I can’t see it staying for important events in the future. “We could benefit or be done in by it but at least we know that going in. I don’t really want to make waves around it because it is what it is.”

Nonetheless, the quality of opposition is a huge draw and Muller says that while the calibre of opposition may cause his side a few problems, their presence could not come at a better time. “I am delighted we’re playing a home tournament, against quality opposition. It will be ideal preparation for us for the Europeans. “These teams will exploit our weaknesses but with enough time to address them. Had the distance between the two tournaments been further apart, you lose lessons; too close there’s not enough time to fix things. It couldn’t be better for us. “We’ll be exploited at this tournament. It’s the nature of the game, the opponents and coaches are good enough to test us on many different levels. In some ways, they will be doing us favours.” ** To hear the full interview with Gene Muller from the Champion’s Challenge I media day, click the ‘Listen’ button on the following link. ***Interviews and article kindly provided by Stephen Findlater and reproduced with permission from The Hook.