Do you think you have enough time before the World Cup to develop the 10-midfielder plan?

• India are still playing with the age-old tradition of players in fixed positions. A change is necessary and the present bunch seems motivated enough to bring about this change. The new system is keeping in mind the Asian Games in November 2010. In the meantime, I don’t expect the changes to affect our performance during either the European tour in August or the Argentina tour later in the year. As for the World Cup (March 2010), the effects will differ from player to player.

If India do not perform well on the Europe tour, do you see the blame coming on to you?

• People who understand hockey know it takes time to build a team. If they are expecting results from the European tour, it is absolute nonsense. We will continue our regular training and work hard, but we are using that tour as a learning curve and don’t expect too many results.

What, in your opinion, should India do to dominate world hockey again?

• Mentally, the Indians are very strong and motivated. Having said that, in Kuantan during the Asia Cup, the team played with too much pressure. They need to learn to relax. We are looking to work on their activity and concentration levels.

We have had mercurial players like Dhyan Chand and Dhanraj Pillay. Do you see the absence of individual brilliance impairing the performance of the Indian team?

... contd.