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The Gold Cup failure
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Though we understand the vagaries and unpredictable nature of sports, we too are disappointed at the first-round exit of Jamaica's national senior football team from the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament in the United States.
We commiserate with all Reggae Boyz fans, particularly because of the realistic expectations of bettering our third-place finish in 1993 due to the strength of the squad available to the technical staff. But scoring a mere one goal in three games just won't do.
However, the quality of the players at head coach Mr Theodore Whitmore's disposal notwithstanding, if we are to be honest with ourselves, there were decisions taken that we feel would have jeopardised the success of the team from the outset.
It is our belief that there is no one action, no one decision, no one selection nor substitution that can be mooted as the reason for the team's failure, but rather a combination of several factors.
Just over a month ago we had reason in this space to wonder why former head coach Mr John Barnes decided to accept the coaching job from English League One club Tranmere Rovers, and why the former Liverpool legend was denied his desire to take the team to the Gold Cup tournament.
At the time we contended that it was logical for Mr Barnes, who had taken up the job of head coach late last year and successfully guided the team through the Digicel Caribbean Championships, to lead the team at the Gold Cup because he hadn't put a foot wrong in preparing the team for the region's highest stage. The team had drawn three friendly internationals away from home with weakened sides, had won the last here at home against Panama, and appeared to have gained some momentum.
On the other hand, we thought Mr Whitmore would be at a disadvantage, despite his previous impeccable record as interim head coach, because he was being asked to start anew at the Gold Cup - a less than ideal situation for any coach. Mr Whitmore would need to rebuild the team's momentum which required time.
Our football history is replete with similar episodes - changing coaches just prior to the start of major tournaments. Readers will recall the hiring of Mr Sebastiao Lazaroni just ahead of a game against the US for the semi-final round of the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign. Back then Jamaica gave up a goal to tie the game two minutes from the end, with the coach explaining in a post-match interview that he didn't know the players well enough.
Then there was the sacking of Mr Bora Milutinovic in late 2007, after he had already spent months scouting the local-based players. He was replaced by Mr Rene Simoes' disastrous second coming. The latter unwisely spent another 10 months re-examining local-based players, instead of employing the best the nation had to offer.
But from our vantage point at the Gold Cup, we also believe that too many of our players, particularly the UK-based ones, turned up at the tournament unfit, whether through injury or holidays.
Team captain Mr Ricardo Gardner, who suffered an injury with his club Bolton Wanderers towards the back-end of the English season, admitted a day before the first match that he was about 60 per cent match-fit. Despite all his experience and willpower, he would have been hard-pressed to do more than he did. There were also fitness issues with Messrs Ricardo Fuller, Luton Shelton, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jermaine Johnson and Claude Davis.
It is our belief that the team could have been better served had the US-based players, who were match-ready - in the middle of their club season - been given more time on the pitch ahead of those who were on their downtime from the rigourous British football season.
At the end of the day, scoring goals is what counts, and we were severely lacking in that regard. In fact, had the team been able to convert a decent percentage of its chances we might not have been having this post-mortem.
Going forward, we hope that all concerned learn from their mistakes.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Though we understand the vagaries and unpredictable nature of sports, we too are disappointed at the first-round exit of Jamaica's national senior football team from the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament in the United States.
We commiserate with all Reggae Boyz fans, particularly because of the realistic expectations of bettering our third-place finish in 1993 due to the strength of the squad available to the technical staff. But scoring a mere one goal in three games just won't do.
However, the quality of the players at head coach Mr Theodore Whitmore's disposal notwithstanding, if we are to be honest with ourselves, there were decisions taken that we feel would have jeopardised the success of the team from the outset.
It is our belief that there is no one action, no one decision, no one selection nor substitution that can be mooted as the reason for the team's failure, but rather a combination of several factors.
Just over a month ago we had reason in this space to wonder why former head coach Mr John Barnes decided to accept the coaching job from English League One club Tranmere Rovers, and why the former Liverpool legend was denied his desire to take the team to the Gold Cup tournament.
At the time we contended that it was logical for Mr Barnes, who had taken up the job of head coach late last year and successfully guided the team through the Digicel Caribbean Championships, to lead the team at the Gold Cup because he hadn't put a foot wrong in preparing the team for the region's highest stage. The team had drawn three friendly internationals away from home with weakened sides, had won the last here at home against Panama, and appeared to have gained some momentum.
On the other hand, we thought Mr Whitmore would be at a disadvantage, despite his previous impeccable record as interim head coach, because he was being asked to start anew at the Gold Cup - a less than ideal situation for any coach. Mr Whitmore would need to rebuild the team's momentum which required time.
Our football history is replete with similar episodes - changing coaches just prior to the start of major tournaments. Readers will recall the hiring of Mr Sebastiao Lazaroni just ahead of a game against the US for the semi-final round of the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign. Back then Jamaica gave up a goal to tie the game two minutes from the end, with the coach explaining in a post-match interview that he didn't know the players well enough.
Then there was the sacking of Mr Bora Milutinovic in late 2007, after he had already spent months scouting the local-based players. He was replaced by Mr Rene Simoes' disastrous second coming. The latter unwisely spent another 10 months re-examining local-based players, instead of employing the best the nation had to offer.
But from our vantage point at the Gold Cup, we also believe that too many of our players, particularly the UK-based ones, turned up at the tournament unfit, whether through injury or holidays.
Team captain Mr Ricardo Gardner, who suffered an injury with his club Bolton Wanderers towards the back-end of the English season, admitted a day before the first match that he was about 60 per cent match-fit. Despite all his experience and willpower, he would have been hard-pressed to do more than he did. There were also fitness issues with Messrs Ricardo Fuller, Luton Shelton, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jermaine Johnson and Claude Davis.
It is our belief that the team could have been better served had the US-based players, who were match-ready - in the middle of their club season - been given more time on the pitch ahead of those who were on their downtime from the rigourous British football season.
At the end of the day, scoring goals is what counts, and we were severely lacking in that regard. In fact, had the team been able to convert a decent percentage of its chances we might not have been having this post-mortem.
Going forward, we hope that all concerned learn from their mistakes.