In football, which is better- Club/State team or National team?

If you were to judge purely on the basis of football on display in any competition, what would be your answer be to this -Is club football better than the football played by the national team? Take for example, is the football played by FC Bayern Munich better than the football played by the World Cup winners Germany?

It is a fact that almost everywhere, the top two to three clubs in a country contribute most of the players for the national team. When Spain won the world cup in 2010, most of the players were from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F and this year too when Germany won the world Cup 2014, they had players mostly from FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

These stats are enough to conclude safely that the success of a national team depends very much on the success of the prominent team or teams in a country. Germany and Spain have a good balance of both home grown players and international players. It is for this reason they have won the world cup in the recent past and also an array of players from different countries propel the local league into an international extravaganza. These international footballers bring in the hordes of talent and experience which in turn makes the league a huge business venture. A classic example is the success of English Premier League which is hugely popular in India. It is for this reason why a league in any country must be supported by all the stakeholders to make it vibrant and kicking for the development of the game.

In this context, the Indian Super League to be unveiled shortly is a huge step in the right direction as it brings in the cream of players from all over the world and gives an opportunity for local players to rub shoulders with some former world cuppers and highly successful managers. This would not have been possible otherwise even in their wildest dream. But the only problem is that three months of football is not the pill, doctors of the game of football would prescribe. For healthy growth, one has to take the medicine throughout the season. And that is why merger of ISL and I League would be the perfect dose for the football giant to wake up in India.

Coming back to the question whether club football is better than National football, I would be more inclined towards the former. The main reason is that in the clubs, players are together for a longer period which helps them to understand one another better, both on and off the field. Whereas in the national team, players assemble for a very short period and many a times found wanting in commitment, mostly on account of the club’s reluctance to release players fearing injury to their star players.

India is a huge country and most from the outside consider its size and population as the main parameter for the development of the game, which I feel is absurd. Development doesn’t depend on the size and population but on the talent, passion, infrastructure and facilities available. Talent is there in abundance in India but has not been tapped efficiently. I am of the opinion that instead of trying to take football everywhere in India, it would be prudent to concentrate in those areas where there is real passion for the game. Cricket, anyway, is considered to be next to religion in India.

India’s performance in the two friendly matches played with Pakistan was mediocre and I wonder if the under-23 Goan team could have fared better if given an option to represent India in place of the present Indian side selected for the Asian Games. The players being from one state have better understanding and camaraderie, which is very essential for the success of a team. Goa(India-ranked 156) won gold in the recently held Lusofonia Games, Jan. 2014 in Goa beating a much higher ranked(120) Mozambique under 23 team by a score of 3-2. Another great way to prepare for Asian Games would be to make the Santosh Trophy an under-23 competition with 3 players senior players allowed, as done in the Asian Games. There is so much of talent in India but no proper scouting is done. Mizoram won the Santosh Trophy in style by beating Railways 3-0 in March, 2014.  In the future, winner of the Santosh Trophy (Under -23) could be given an opportunity to represent India in the Asian Games and Olympics which have the same criteria.

 If an all India selected team can lose to Pakistan by 2-0, what harm will it do, if a state team representing India loses by the same margin or more?