Are you guys serious???

[USAF]

It's natural that everyone wants to win, BUT you you have to be realistic. Here you are berating your players who are out there, in hostile territory, fighting to win to make you and Jamaica proud. First of all, don't forget that you are playing Argentina, the #8 ranked team in the world, and the 2 time WC champions (How many teams in the world can make nthat claim?), who has spent YEARS and MILLIONS to develop a program and system with experienced administrators/directors, coaches and facilities that produce WORLD CLASS TEAMS. It is definitely NOT enough to have talented players/individuals in a TEAM sport, (remember the US basketball team a few years ago), and it is made worse when there is no clear program and system in place to produce a cohesive unit.

Some have suggested that this was a weak Argentine squad, but don't think that this was a bunch of misfits they put out there. How many of these guys played on the team that defeated Ghana, Costa Rica and Panama? Do you think Argentina and more importantly Maradona wanted a squad that would have to fight to defeat Jamaica?

Let’s take a look at some of the Argentine players: Federico Insua (Boca Juniors) – played 14 times for Argentina & has played for Spanish La Liga side MálagaCF; German Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach (M4 euro transfer) & Mexican powerhouse Club America ($7.5M transfer).
Walter Acevedo (Independiente) – (age 23) represented Argentina at U17 & U20 and senior level & is signed to Ukrainian Premier League side FC Metalist Kharkiv (UEFA Cup regulars).
Martin Palermo (Boca juniors) – played 12 times and scoring 7 for Argentina & played for Spanish clubs Villarreal (€7.6M transfer), Real Betis & Deportivo Alavés.
Franco Jara (Arsenal) – (age 21) recently signed by SL Benfica (€5.5M transfer).
Claudio Bieler (Racing) –won the Copa Libertadores with LDU Quito (’07 team’s top scorer & ’08 Ecuadorian Serie A top scorer – he scored 50 goals in 65 games at LDU Quito) & also played for Chilean powerhouse Colo-Colo.
There were also some young promising players who they are apparently grooming for the future: Gabriel Mercado (age 22) who has played for the U20 and seniors; Gabriel Hauche (age23) his 4 caps; Ignacio Canuto (age23) 3 caps and 1 goal; Leonel Galeano (age 18) 1 cap; Nicolás Gaitán (age21) 3 caps.

Jamaica has a good core of players they can build around and it is time for those in charge to step up and provide the training and TOOLS that Whitmore and other young, promising coaches need to develop winning Jamaican squads.

Ryan Thompson ('85)
Dwayne Miller (’87)
Dwayne Kerr (’87)
Richard McCallum (’84)
Andre Blake (’90)

Jermaine Taylor (’85)
Adrian Reid (’85)
Kieron Bernard (’85)
Demar Stewart (’84)
Dicoy Williams (’86)
O’Brien Woodbine (’88)
Nicholy Finlayson (’85)
Keneil Moodie (’86)
Christopher Harvey(’82)
O'Neil Thompson(’83)

Demar Phillips (’83)
Rafe Wolfe (’85)
Eric Vernon (’87)
Rudolph Austin (’85)

Akeem Priestley (’85)
Lovel Palmer (’84)
Darren Pratley (’85)
Jason Morrison (’84)
Ricardo Cousins (’87)
Evan Taylor (’89)
Davian Thorpe (’89)
Dane Richards (’83)
Jamal Campbell-Ryce (’83)
Je-Vaughn Watson (’83)
Lee Williamson (’82)
Cleveland Taylor (’83)
***Marcus Milner

Sean Fraser(’83)
Joel Grant (’87)
Ryan Johnson (’84)
Omar Persad (’87)
Keammar Daley (’88)

Reneil Sappleton (’89)
Navion Boyd (’86)
Devon Hodges ('84)
O’Brien White (’85)
Luton Shelton (’85)
Omar Cummings (’82)

The Reggaeboyz will always have my support, when they are not playing the USA.

[Karl]

Perhaps we have high expectations?!
...or we think there is nothing we cannot do?

...or we actually think with correct application (appreciation of the quality we faced) we could have done better?

...Yup nuh, beat the opponents more (most?) often by moving in wide empty spaces and passing earlier...passing to our teammates when they were faaaar...farer away from an opponent? ...yuh nuh, dat -delivering the ball to TEAMmates who had GOD only by side? ...perhaps?

[Jawge]

You are right about Ja putting up a good fight but at the same time the Argies are showing us some of our weaknesses that need to be addressed (our plan is to be champs of the next qualification, win GC and play confederations cup) We have big plans boss.

[USAF]

Did you actually READ the post Mr. TEAM?How did I say Argentina accomplished all that they have?

[USAF]

But those weaknesses aren't new Jawge. It's just that they become more evident with the level of competition. They were being addressed during the late '90s, but it seems they have taken a step backward. My opinion is that Jamaica didn't take advantage of their relationship with Brazil. Instead of focusing on getting players contracts, they should have been sending groups of COACHES and TRAINERS to Brazil for extensive training and certification.

[Me]

It was a weak Argentinian team. Much stronger than Jamaica? yes
I think everyone on the forum was proud of the fight of the team (maybe except Bricktop LOL)

What the game showed us is what we see over and over. We need more exposure to a higher standard of football and we need to work on the pace of our play. Either we raise the standard of our coaches or we have to get the players out of the country at an earlier.

[Jawge]

hmmm true. The DPL is substandard and the high school football is of no help. JA need an academy to technically develop our players. All schools should have soccer tennis as competition (this would help Tappa greatly, right now dcupand manning cup is not helping Ja)

[USAF]

The clubs have a BIG role to play, since that's the launching pad for those who want to pursue soccer as a career, BUT I think that the number of clubs that are involved in and can advance to the DPL should be reduced and held at that number for a while until the level of coaching and play improves. When you have that many clubs with poor coaching, the talent pool and overall standard of play is diluted, and there is no attention to developing the BASIS and fundamentals of the game. Having less clubs at the highest level, with a strong system fo developing players from youth to seniors.

[Farmah]

Having seen the game on tv (the first viewing was via internet), I think we played well inspite of the results. I'm still disappointed that we did not win and still believe that we need to learn how to protect the lead and close out the game.

All that negatives about Dwayne Murray were not justified! He kept well - not very good - but well enough to maintain his position as the # 1 in Tall P's absence. The first goal was stoppable but he got beat by the bounce. The second goal was a total team error. The Boyz defence was caught napping and Murray came out belatedly to try and punch the ball but his extended frame was a bit short of the mark. In the melee it was not surprising that Argentina were able to take advantage of the confusion and scored. Yet, in between the few dropped balls, Murray did well to prevent the Argentinians from scoring. There was one well placed shot for which the keeper had to dive full-stretched to his right to push out for a corner. Also, let's not forget that there were about two good shots that he had to leap high to push over the cross bar. The problem I had with Murray was with his ball distribution (which seems to be a problem with most Jamaican keepers). His kicks were wayward and his few throws just went to the opponent. Overall, he has the tools and the coaches (Tappa & Barrett) just need to work on his shortcomings in order to hone his skills.

Ryan Johnson is the real deal! The yute is poised, strong, skillful and works well with his team-mates. For me, he was the player of the match.

Shortman did not play well! I saw him play against the Haitians in Ft. Lauderdale and he was impressive. So, I'm just going to say he had a bad match. Hopefully he can bounce back!

I've seen Lovel Palmer quite a few times now and this is the first time that I've been impressed with him. He had a good match and I think we lost our composure on the rightside and began lose the game once he was subbed out.

Cummings, Taylor, Reid, Daley & Austin all had a good game. Shavar Thomas was outstanding.

Dane Richards & Navion Boyd had below average games. Demar Stewart was rubbish; Jason Johnson is not quite ready and Devon Hodges did not impress.

[Me]

His name is Miller not Murray. I don't see how anyone can say that performance was enough to have him as number 1 in Ricketts' absence. I can understand not giving up on him because he has talent, but to say that performance was enough for him to keep out Sawyers, McCallum, Kerr etc ? Is another thing that

[Farmah]

Arbitrary though it is, it is my view! I saw the game for a second time and, unlike many here, I'm not ready to hit the panic button on Miller (thanks for the correction).

[wbvs]

His name is Miller not Murray. I don't see how anyone can say that performance was enough to have him as number 1 in Ricketts' absence. I can understand not giving up on him because he has talent, but to say that performance was enough for him to keep out Sawyers, McCallum, Kerr etc ? Is another thing that

agree , most experts think the best age for a Keeper is 35 , I hope
Jamaica make use of him for world cup qualifying 2014 , Gold Cup 2011
& 2013 .




ITS SIMPLE , RICKETTS IS JA # 1
GOALIE UNTIL 2014 .

[Gamma]

my sentiments exactly

[Bricktop]

What that haffi do wit a goalkeeper running around like a chicken without a head?

[USAF]

Not much different from Ricketts when he got his chance to be the starting GK. Jamaica needs to take advantage of their resources.....The US seems to know how to produce world class GKs, so why not send Miller, Kerr, MCCallum and Blake along with Barrett and two other GK coaches to learn that aspect of the game. As I was saying to Jawge, Jamaica didn't take advantage of their relationship with Brazil, because all their attention was concentrated on getting the players contracts, but NOTHING was done to improve the coaching.