Bhaichung Bhutia disagreed with the decision of the coach of the Indian football team Manolo Marquez to recall Sunil Chhetri, 40, to the national team for the qualifications of the Asian Cup. He estimated that the strategy presented the lack of long -term planning.
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The former captain of the Indian football team and the legendary job of goals Bhaichung Bhutia criticized the decision of head coach Manolo Marquez to recall Sunil Chhetri, 40, to the national team for the qualifications of the Asia Cup of AFC 2027.
Manolo had previously revealed that the recall of Chhetri, who retired from international football in 2024, was his decision. However, this decision did not provide the desired result against Bangladesh last week in the first match of India in the final of the Asian Cup qualifications. India is part of group C with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Only the group’s winner will qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Feeling the absence of an appropriate attacker, Manolo chose Chhetri in the Indian football team, but the veteran who had scored 94 goals until last year, did not find the net in the aimless draw against the Bangladesh. He scored in the friendly match against the Maldives earlier this month.
Bhutia says that Chhetri, 40, cannot be the solution of India
Bhaichung Bhutia, who scored 27 goals for India, understood Manolo Marquez’s reasoning but estimated that the selection of an attacker in front of his peak indicated a lack of long -term vision. The 48 -year -old man thought that Marquez should have shown courage by choosing younger strikers in an eye on the future.
“I think it was obvious to the fact that Manolo Marquez underwent enormous pressure since the senior team did not win a single competition match in 2024. It may have influenced Manolo to make this decision, convincing Sunil to rethink his decision to come back from retirement,” said Bhaichung Bhutia in Bhutia Revsportz.
Read also | Stimac calls for support for the coach of the Indian football team Manolo but does not agree with the recall of Chhetri
“Look, Sunil is now over 40 and he has succeeded. Sunil is at this age when he will not be able to dribble a defender and mark a goal. You play a qualifier of Cup in Asia which occurs for almost a year. For a qualifier against Bangladesh, Singapore and Hong Kong, Manolo could have had a game with external strikers, they gave opportunities, they look at a long development. 18 -year -old in the match against India.
Thinking about the bad shape of the Indian football team, Bhaichung Bhutia said that the Blue Tigers lacked quality players and even a manager of SIR Alex Ferguson’s stature cannot achieve results with such a side.
“The Success of A Team Always Depends On Coach’s Tactical Genius and Players’ Quality. It is a combination of Both. Even if you are the best of coaches, if you do not have good players, it will be difficult to get the desired results. Unless you have the Quality Players in the set-up, Indian Football Will Not Go Forward, ”Bhutia Added in a conversation with Revsportz.
