Shivam Ojha

A key issue in youth development is that many people don’t actually recognize what real development looks like. Instead, they judge everything through the lens of national team results. As a result, they often miss the foundations that make success possible at the highest level and overlook the systems that were built decades earlier. When success does arrive, it’s frequently misunderstood as the product of hiring a single “elite” coach. This leads to the belief that a country is just one coaching appointment away from qualifying for or even winning a World Cup. There’s also a tendency to blur the differences between national teams and club teams. Clubs can rely heavily on financial power to acquire talent, whereas national teams depend far more on long-term systems, tactical consistency, and, importantly, the broader sporting culture of a country. Some cultures naturally support player development, while others make it significantly more difficult.

We all want the same thing, a stronger stable and sustainable future for Indian football.