Indian players in the Indian Super League football tournament are shy and too much respectful to their coach and team-mates, which at times showed their lack of confidence, Kerala Blasters boss Pater Taylor and Delhi Dynamos player John Anre Riise said Saturday.
"We have more options in Europe than the Indian players have here. They lack in techniques as compared to European players. And I want to help them and help India football but Indian players are shy and they show too much respect to others," Liverpool legend and former Norway international Riise said at media event attended by all ISL clubs here ahead of the second edition of the lucrative tournament beginning October 3.
He said during the Delhi Dynamos pre-season training in Denmark, he used to shout at the Indian players when they made mistakes but they (Indian players) took it personally. "It is normal to shout at team-mates while training and playing. It is a kind of expressing that we can do better and rectify mistakes. But I came to know that Indian players take it personally. So, after 10 days of pre-season training in Denmark, we had a team meeting and the players have been told that they should not take it personally if somebody shouts at him," said Riise, who played for 234 matches for Liverpool and have 110 caps for Norway.
Kerala Blasters coach and former England manager Peter Taylor also said that Indian players showed too much respect to him and other players. "Yes, the Indian players showed too much respect and they are shy. You have to show much more confidence and often they will not ask foreign players to give the ball to them. You should show confidence and you have to ask for balls from whoever player no matter how good he is," said Taylor.
National football team captain and Mumbai FC City player Sunil Chhetri, however, said he had not experienced this aspect of Indian players. "I would not to think that Indian players are like this. At least, I don't experience this in Mumbai City FC. May be they are not expressive and may be there might be language barriers but that can happen to foreign players also," he said. FC Pune City coach David Platt also said that he always told the Indian players in his team not to be afraid of making mistakes in front of the foreign players.
NorthEast United marquee player Simao Sabrosa was, however, surprised by the level of talent Indian players possess. "To be honest, I was surprised by the level of quality of Indian players. I don't know much about Indian football though I watched two ISL matches last year on television. When I trained with the Indian players in the pre-season training in South Africa, I found all of them having very good techniques and understanding of the game.
"With the international players from Europe and South America coming in at the ISL, I think the Indian players will further improve and it will be good for Indian football," said the Portugal player who was capped 85 times for his country between 1998 and 2010.
