KARACHI, 6 June 2007 — Pakistan’s hockey coach Manzoor ul-Hassan believes years of experimentation by different team managements has turned his players into a confused lot.

The former Olympian told ‘Arab News’ in an interview yesterday that the current batch of experienced national players have featured in so many different combinations over the years that “they have lost track of what their actual roles should be in the lineup.”

Manzoor, who has been given the assignment to help Pakistan’s head coach and manager Islahuddin Siddiqui in the bid to put the national team back on winning track, said that Pakistan players have forgotten their own style of hockey and have been trying to ape their European counterparts without much success.

“Our players appear to be a confused lot,” Manzoor said. “Previous coaches have done too much experimentation and have tried out these players in different roles. They have sort of forgotten their own style of play and their original roles.”

Manzoor said that the players have talent but it would take the team’s coaches up to five years to turn them into a top class team. “There is a lot of work to do,” he said. “We lag far behind top teams like Australia or Germany and would take several years and persistence to achieve success in major tournaments like the Olympic Games and the World Cup.”

The coach said that Pakistan will have to revert to Asian style because they are not built to play the way teams like Germany or Holland play. “I don’t why our previous coaches wanted our players to give up their Asian character. Top teams like Australia follow classic Asian style and are still one of the most successful teams in the world.”

Manzoor said that unless Pakistan became good enough to generate moves from both the flanks, they cannot achieve substantial improvement at the international level. “We will have to prepare solid wingers who can keep a steady flow of moves against an opposition. We have started working on that and hopefully there would be improvement in this area in the coming months.”

Another area that bothers Manzoor is the lack of bench strength in the Pakistani team. “We don’t have enough second string players which is why it is tough for us to make full use of the rolling substitution rule,” he lamented.

Top national hockey players would assemble in Islamabad on June 15 to attend a training camp aimed at preparing the team for a four-nation tournament in Russia next month.

Manzoor said that the event in Russia and another quadrangular tournament in China in August would help his players get ready for this December’s Champions Trophy in Lahore. “Our first major task is to give a good show in the Champions trophy because it is the most important event of the year and also due to the fact that it would be held in Pakistan.”

Manzoor said that his team would go all out for the title in the elite six-nation tournament but was quick to add that even a place on the victory stand would suffice for his under-achieving boys.

Pakistan would lock horns with five of the world’s top teams in the Champions Trophy that would feature world champions Germany, Olympic champions Australia, Holland, Spain and South Korea.