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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 06 2002 : 6:32:54 PM
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assasin
read this, I guess we have another choir member
Sun Oct 6 15:57:23 2002
205.184.172.134
Complacency - a recipe for disaster
by Garfield Myers Sports editor
Sunday, October 06, 2002
As we await today's U-17 World Cup qualifying game between Jamaica and Antigua/Barbuda at Harbour View, the mind inevitably strays to the disappointment of the under-20s' elimination by Haiti a week ago.
Based on what we saw at Harbour View three weeks back, when they defeated the under-20 Reggae Boyz 2-1 in the first leg of the two-way tie, the Haitians are perhaps deserving qualifiers for the CONCACAF round. Their skill and talent level was certainly right up there with the Jamaicans.
But the thing that I and many others who watched the game found most annoying, was the clear evidence that coaches, Wendell Downswell and Peter Cargill, as well as their players, were ill-prepared for the Haitians.
The first half of that game was nothing short of a nightmare for those of us who have become used to assured, compact performances from Jamaican football teams on home soil.
Time and again, speedy, tactically aware Haitian attackers cut to bits the naive, ball-watching Jamaican defence with smooth, rapier-like counters. And while Jamaica had much of the ball, they were decidedly uncertain in attack.
From a Jamaican point of view, the second half of that home game against Haiti was an improvement. And if coaches Downswell and Cargill are to be believed, the performance in the away leg - a 0-0 draw - was a massive improvement.
What was the reason for that very poor first leg performance? A large part of the answer, it seems to me, lies in the fact that the Haitian coach took the trouble to watch Jamaica play in first round games in Cayman while his Jamaican counterparts failed to scout their opponents.
Why did the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) team and their coaches make such a basic error? I've been told by a JFF source that age group opposition at the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) level have never been scouted by Jamaican coaches.
The clear conclusion to be drawn is that Caribbean teams (presumably outside of Trinidad and Tobago) are so weak, we can waltz past them without bothering ourselves too much.
That kind of thinking flies in the face of history. At the senior level we have been embarrassed time and again by supposedly 'lesser' Caribbean teams. But it is precisely that thinking, it seems, that was the reason for the highly risky decision to give up Jamaica's home game against St Kitts/Nevis in the previous round of the Under-17 qualifiers.
Really and truly, there could have been no excuse for under-estimating the Haitians. They are a major force in Caribbean football and - apart from the 1980s and early 1990s when political and economic disasters undermined everything, including their football - have always been.
Indeed the records will show that at the senior level between 1925 and 1989 Jamaica won 16 games against Haiti, while losing 22 and drawing twice.
At another level, a big talk in the stands at Harbour View three weeks ago was that the Jamaican coaches had not fielded the strongest available team. The fact that Downswell and Cargill made seven changes to their starting 11 for the much improved return leg gave credence to that view.
With all the talk about returning to foreign coaches to run our football programme, our national coaches need to take care.
This JFF administration can boast of huge achievements in the past few years. The qualification of the under-17s in 1999 and the under-20s in 2001 for World Cup final tournaments rank alongside the senior Reggae Boyz 'Road to France' triumph.
We know of the many current difficulties - not least the drastic cut in finances even at a time when so many teams are in training at the same time.
But the manner of the under-20s exit a week ago, suggests that the JFF and its coaches should all hang their heads. Hopefully they will have learnt that under-estimating the opposition, any opposition, is extremely unwise.
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assasin
I feel vinidicated
Sun Oct 6 16:32:18 2002
205.184.170.8
after talking to Mosiah last week about our lack of preparation and the wholesale changes.
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Karl |
Edited by - Karl on Oct 06 2002 7:16:34 PM
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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2002 : 7:15:09 PM
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Funny, 'cause I feel vindicated too
Sun Oct 6 16:57:06 2002
208.163.44.134
Firstly, this is an opinion piece, as our posts are. I don't know Garfield Myers to be any well-respected voice in football, not that I disagree with the article.
Why would you feel vindicated anyway. What did I say that was very different from the writer’s opinion? He talked a lot about preparation. He talked about the JFF and the coaches hanging their heads, NOT just the coaches as many were quick to say. He spoke about the “many current difficulties”, including drastic financial cuts. He spoke about the mistake of not scouting our opponents, which I agree with fully. He even mentioned the extremely risky action of giving up our home field advantage to St. Kitts, something that no one else has mentioned on the site but me. We won big, so people are talking about smart move by the coach. We are learning to play away games. Easy to say now!
I don’t hear Garfield Myers calling for Burrell to kick CB to the curb. I don’t see him cussing off the coaches. He suggests that they might have erred, but isn’t that crystal clear to everyone?!
Regarding the wholesale changes, I never argued that they had fielded their best team. Some were trying to suggest that it showed some coaching deficiency. I disagree. It shows courage and an understanding of the game and the players for the coaches to make so many changes resulting in a much-improved performance. Had we lost the second game, can you imagine how many people would be suggesting that these changes should have been made? They would be saying, why use the same team when they were embarrassed at home? All sorts of easy, after the fact statements would come aspurting.
So why the feeling of vindication, assassin? Unless we were both saying the same thing all along!
Mosiah
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Complacency - a recipe for disaster -
