How India almost blitzed Germany in Paris 2024 Olympics hockey semifinal with complete change in strategy

The Indian men's hockey team's loss to Germany in the Paris 2024 Olympics semifinal was another major heartbreak for Indian fans. However, they can console themselves with the fact that it was a very tightly contested match.

India were certainly not outplayed and looked like a team that could overpower any side on their day. Hopefully, they would carry forward their strong performance into the bronze medal game against Spain, on August 8.

However, there was something very unique about India's efforts against Germany on Tuesday. The way Harmanpreet Singh's team approached the game was in complete contrast to the playing style they have used under their coach, Craig Fulton.

India adopt wholly new strategy against Germany in Paris 2024 Olympics semis

The cornerstone of the Indian team's strategy under Fulton has been an emphasis on a strong defensive structure. This style has led to India's best player, Hardik Singh, being given the role of a defensive midfielder.

In this mode of operation, India don't press high and make sure that their defensive unit stays stable.

However, in the game against Germany, the Indian team made a complete about-turn. They decided to ditch this model, which has brought a lot of recent success, and instead go all out of attack.

The key to this transformation was, unsurprisingly, Hardik Singh. Instead of sitting back in his defensive role, he played aggressively and pushed forward with intensity.

Using his incredible dribbling skills, Hardik orchestrated attacks down the middle of the field and repeatedly dodged German defenders to create opportunities for forwards.

This is a role that Hardik had played under Graham Reid and it had seen him emerge as India's leading midfielder. In the first couple of matches of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the midfielder from Punjab looked too diffident and hardly ever took the ball forward, usually passing it back towards the full-backs.

However, against Germany, he unleashed his amazing abilities to the great visual delight of Indian fans and neutral observers of hockey.

India trade-off defensive prowess to attack more

While Hardik Singh was the most prominent part of India's transformation into an attacking unit in the semifinal vs. Germany, he wasn't the only one responsible for it.

For the first time in this tournament, and after a long time in general, the Indian team played a high press and committed a lot of players up the field. This meant that they looked a bit more vulnerable in defense, especially in the absence of their leading full-back, Amit Rohidas.

Still, the tactic worked beautifully in the first quarter and a large part of the second. India not only took an early lead but made many more circle penetrations compared to the Germans.

Indian midfielders now tried to actively dodge the opposing players and push forward, instead of first making sure that the team was secure at the back.

It seems like this was based on a reading of the German team. Having played them twice a few weeks ago, in the FIH Pro League, the Indian think tank decided that the best way to go against the World Champions is to go all-out on attack.

How did India come unstuck in the end?

The match was very even throughout and could easily have gone into a shootout. But the Indians lost it in the fourth quarter, and the reason was not any great strategic blunder but simply the inability of the players to retain possession.

As the Indians looked to attack, they had to dodge their opponents. But in trying to do this, the players gave up too many turnovers in the last 15 minutes. This led to a lot of German possession, especially in India's last 25. The goal that came seemed imminent for some time.

Perhaps India needed to slow down the game or go back to their defensive style of play. More clearly, they just needed to be better at keeping possession under German pressure. However, this wasn't to be.

Also, the Indian forwards missed many opportunities. Penalty corner conversion was bound to be difficult as India only had one drag-flicker in Harmanpreet Singh. The Germans kept sending both their runners in PC routines against the Indian captain, closing him down.

What one can surmise from this is the fact that the Indian players got flustered in the last quarter. Even the usually calm and composed Harmanpreet committed a bad error to give away a penalty corner. Handling the pressure better and being stronger with their skills was something India missed on the day.