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In building the great 1998 WC qualifying team Simoes had the core of the team based in Jamaica then he plugged the gaps with UB40s - a winning strategy as history demonstrates.
His teams played well defensively with the entire 11 contributing but the defensive players were mainly Jamaica-based. By playing together constantly the 6-7 players tasked primarily with defensive/containing roles built great understanding among themselves, made the team compact and were the linchpin of a competitive defensive team that was dangerous on the counter -with speed, guile and one on one attacking skills.
Can a similar formula (obviously adjusting for relative differences in the talent pool between 1996 - and 2008) work well in this campaign?
I think it's possible especially as we seem to have competitive local players. They may not be as finished as some of the foreign-based players but the TEAM may have the GREAT advantage to play them constantly to build a cohesive unit and foundation around which to plug gaps with the foreign based pros (now UB50s).
No need to wait on FIFA dates to play matches - play clubs and/or B internationals with the local core group - build a vibes - then introduce the UB50s as needed for the bigger games. Was the Brazil tour a harbinger for some version of this strategy?
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This could be a viable or even the optimum strategy regardless of whether or not Simoes primarily employs a defensive strategy in 2008 as he did in 1998 qualifying. A simplistic - select the "best" players and put them together - may not be the winning strategy... game theorists know this well.
In my view the only questions are time and cojones. Do we have enough of both to go through the inevitable pitfalls and develop a winning team when the dance begins?
His teams played well defensively with the entire 11 contributing but the defensive players were mainly Jamaica-based. By playing together constantly the 6-7 players tasked primarily with defensive/containing roles built great understanding among themselves, made the team compact and were the linchpin of a competitive defensive team that was dangerous on the counter -with speed, guile and one on one attacking skills.
Can a similar formula (obviously adjusting for relative differences in the talent pool between 1996 - and 2008) work well in this campaign?
I think it's possible especially as we seem to have competitive local players. They may not be as finished as some of the foreign-based players but the TEAM may have the GREAT advantage to play them constantly to build a cohesive unit and foundation around which to plug gaps with the foreign based pros (now UB50s).
No need to wait on FIFA dates to play matches - play clubs and/or B internationals with the local core group - build a vibes - then introduce the UB50s as needed for the bigger games. Was the Brazil tour a harbinger for some version of this strategy?
.
This could be a viable or even the optimum strategy regardless of whether or not Simoes primarily employs a defensive strategy in 2008 as he did in 1998 qualifying. A simplistic - select the "best" players and put them together - may not be the winning strategy... game theorists know this well.
In my view the only questions are time and cojones. Do we have enough of both to go through the inevitable pitfalls and develop a winning team when the dance begins?
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