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The problems we face that have to be solved before we can put together good national teams.
Firstly, we must not fool ourselves, we have never had a good national team. The best national team we have had is our 1998 World Cup team.
Secondly, we must not fool ourselves into believing that that 1998 team played up to its greatest potential. It never did. Arguably it played up to the potential of the sum of its parts only two times. Those two matches were a 0 - 0 draw against the USA at the RFK Stadium, Washington, DC in 3 October, 1997 in a World Cup Qualifier and after that in a 0 - 0 draw with Brazil at the Orange Bowl Stadium, Miami, Florida in 3 February 1998 in a Gold Cup tournament.
We must face the brutal truth, we have never put together a team that reflected its full potential.
After having the game introduced in the island in the 1800s and after entering recognised international competitions in 1962 the blame on where we sit in World football must be put at the feet of those who administered the game and those currently administering the game. The administrators at the top own the failures. The failures flow from decisions made over the years.
The successes to come shall be as a result of decisions now.
There are certain recognized hindrances to producing top national teams. These are all tied to proper teaching of the game – coaching – at all levels. As in any area of education the early introduction…the first introduction…the teaching – coaching – at that ‘early-childhood’ level is vital to development of student through the various higher age-groups to seniors. The early teachings form the base on which future development stands.
It matters not what is needed to put in place the great teachers at that early-childhood years, it is the duty of the administrators to have it in place.
Managing the development of the game or as the Kingston and Saint Andrew Football Association termed it in its 1980 publication - “10 years of Balling” - “the football” is similar to managing any business. The administrators/directors and the department heads are responsible for the growth, day-to-day operations, profitability of the entity. Our managers of our football are directly responsible for continuous growth and success of “the football”.
These managers of our football must face the fact of that which we all know but have never called them out on: They have had “the football” limping on “life support”.
We know what they will offer as excuse for their failure to produce a healthy entity. They will tell us they have great plans but their hands were tied and are still tied as they have never had the funding to implement the plans. They will not admit their failure at finding funding. They, as the always do, will point fingers elsewhere.
The administrators need to engage in some introspection and face, each and as collective unit, that lack of funding equal lack of planning to realize that necessary funding. Each administrator needs to...and the administrators as a unit need to answer the questions: Am I up to the task? …are we up to the task? Is there the competence ‘to do’?
Based on results it appears the answer is, "we do not!"
These our administrators must move forward. Either they remove themselves from the positions they now hold, appoint a sub-committee to manage “the football” or re-invent themselves as “doers”.
More than any other thing these current administrators need to put aside egos, say to selves we do not have the expertise to move “the football” on as it needs to be moved forward. They, if development of “the football” is paramount, must identify and bring into the administration competent individuals. In other words act in a professional manner as leaders of the business of “the football”.
Let us leave the need to fix problems at the management levels and turn to what we really wish to focus on in this discourse; the quality of our national teams.
The situation is now very difficult but the race to create good national teams is immediate. We have an U-17 team that we wish to perform at a level at which our previous U-17 teams have never done.
We also have a national senior team that is going into a Gold Cup competition. We all wish for success at this Gold Cup that has never before been attained.
The administrative directors of “the football” must find the funding that allow the teachers/coaches freedom to implement all they wish to enable them to do their best work.
It is too late for the technical administrators to make any meaningful input to assist preparation of the current U-17 and senior national teams. In any case the members of the JFF’s technical committee based on results have proven to us they are incompetents. Under their watch thus far all we have had is a mountain of failures – POOR NATIONAL TEAMs have been the result of their efforts.
They will scream, under our watch we have won the CFU Carribean Cup and have had the U-17s qualify for the coming FIFA age-group championship.
Fact is, in the CFU Caribbean Cup we came out as, when compared to top world teams, least lousy team. And on the basis of the performances by our U-17 pure talent of the youngsters shone through. As a unit the U-17s as seen at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex in Montego Bay, were a lousy team.
It would be ego or stupidity or ignorance that would have our technical committee members patting selves on their backs. The U-17 players each showed tremendous potential but as a team, the performances were downright bottom of the barrel.
The technical committee members need to go on retreat study matches of top world teams, bring in lecturers to allow for opening their eyes to what is good football and what is needed to build teaching modules within an all-island program that has good teaching from that previously mentioned early-childhood level through to national teams. They need to remove selves from the current preparations of our U-17s and the national senior team. Based on results they currently have nothing of value to add
It is late in the day but our U17 and our Gold team can only move towards acceptable levels of performances at the respective tournaments by molding of TEAM first mindset. Our coaches need to look at, for example, the recent Barcelona performance in the Champions League final. Erase from the minds of our players the dribbling runs by Lionel Messi and see only the TEAM play of that Barcelona team. View the movement and passing both in the narrow area of all movement but in the wider support movements when the ball was nowhere near to other segments of the field – nowhere in the vicinity of the other team members who were not in immediate vicinity of the ball.
Make us TEAMs. Make for us the sum of the parts working together only for the whole. Make us TEAM that shall perform as such. Put in the minds of each of our players that TEAM before all else. Let us have them playing as such…many of the selfless one-time and two-touch passes. Constantly moving in support on attack and defense is the way to go.. Always making the ‘sensible pass’…sensible use of ball…sensible use of TEAMmate. TEAM! TEAM! TEAM!
No time to waste – any player who does not buy into the TEAM concept must be removed. The TEAM cannot afford such a person. That only makes sense!
We are talking about taking a step towards from henceforth having good national teams. We have run out of time. So we have to work harder at TEAM. And when it comes to each game we have to give everything for TEAM.
It is late in the day but mentally and physically we must keep fighting, fighting, fighting to always produce TEAM play as that is the only way we shall have a chance to perform (as TEAM) brilliantly…perform consistently brilliant. Get to that place we have never before gone. It can be done. Just do it!
FORWARD!
1 June 2011
Firstly, we must not fool ourselves, we have never had a good national team. The best national team we have had is our 1998 World Cup team.
Secondly, we must not fool ourselves into believing that that 1998 team played up to its greatest potential. It never did. Arguably it played up to the potential of the sum of its parts only two times. Those two matches were a 0 - 0 draw against the USA at the RFK Stadium, Washington, DC in 3 October, 1997 in a World Cup Qualifier and after that in a 0 - 0 draw with Brazil at the Orange Bowl Stadium, Miami, Florida in 3 February 1998 in a Gold Cup tournament.
We must face the brutal truth, we have never put together a team that reflected its full potential.
After having the game introduced in the island in the 1800s and after entering recognised international competitions in 1962 the blame on where we sit in World football must be put at the feet of those who administered the game and those currently administering the game. The administrators at the top own the failures. The failures flow from decisions made over the years.
The successes to come shall be as a result of decisions now.
There are certain recognized hindrances to producing top national teams. These are all tied to proper teaching of the game – coaching – at all levels. As in any area of education the early introduction…the first introduction…the teaching – coaching – at that ‘early-childhood’ level is vital to development of student through the various higher age-groups to seniors. The early teachings form the base on which future development stands.
It matters not what is needed to put in place the great teachers at that early-childhood years, it is the duty of the administrators to have it in place.
Managing the development of the game or as the Kingston and Saint Andrew Football Association termed it in its 1980 publication - “10 years of Balling” - “the football” is similar to managing any business. The administrators/directors and the department heads are responsible for the growth, day-to-day operations, profitability of the entity. Our managers of our football are directly responsible for continuous growth and success of “the football”.
These managers of our football must face the fact of that which we all know but have never called them out on: They have had “the football” limping on “life support”.
We know what they will offer as excuse for their failure to produce a healthy entity. They will tell us they have great plans but their hands were tied and are still tied as they have never had the funding to implement the plans. They will not admit their failure at finding funding. They, as the always do, will point fingers elsewhere.
The administrators need to engage in some introspection and face, each and as collective unit, that lack of funding equal lack of planning to realize that necessary funding. Each administrator needs to...and the administrators as a unit need to answer the questions: Am I up to the task? …are we up to the task? Is there the competence ‘to do’?
Based on results it appears the answer is, "we do not!"
These our administrators must move forward. Either they remove themselves from the positions they now hold, appoint a sub-committee to manage “the football” or re-invent themselves as “doers”.
More than any other thing these current administrators need to put aside egos, say to selves we do not have the expertise to move “the football” on as it needs to be moved forward. They, if development of “the football” is paramount, must identify and bring into the administration competent individuals. In other words act in a professional manner as leaders of the business of “the football”.
Let us leave the need to fix problems at the management levels and turn to what we really wish to focus on in this discourse; the quality of our national teams.
The situation is now very difficult but the race to create good national teams is immediate. We have an U-17 team that we wish to perform at a level at which our previous U-17 teams have never done.
We also have a national senior team that is going into a Gold Cup competition. We all wish for success at this Gold Cup that has never before been attained.
The administrative directors of “the football” must find the funding that allow the teachers/coaches freedom to implement all they wish to enable them to do their best work.
It is too late for the technical administrators to make any meaningful input to assist preparation of the current U-17 and senior national teams. In any case the members of the JFF’s technical committee based on results have proven to us they are incompetents. Under their watch thus far all we have had is a mountain of failures – POOR NATIONAL TEAMs have been the result of their efforts.
They will scream, under our watch we have won the CFU Carribean Cup and have had the U-17s qualify for the coming FIFA age-group championship.
Fact is, in the CFU Caribbean Cup we came out as, when compared to top world teams, least lousy team. And on the basis of the performances by our U-17 pure talent of the youngsters shone through. As a unit the U-17s as seen at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex in Montego Bay, were a lousy team.
It would be ego or stupidity or ignorance that would have our technical committee members patting selves on their backs. The U-17 players each showed tremendous potential but as a team, the performances were downright bottom of the barrel.
The technical committee members need to go on retreat study matches of top world teams, bring in lecturers to allow for opening their eyes to what is good football and what is needed to build teaching modules within an all-island program that has good teaching from that previously mentioned early-childhood level through to national teams. They need to remove selves from the current preparations of our U-17s and the national senior team. Based on results they currently have nothing of value to add
It is late in the day but our U17 and our Gold team can only move towards acceptable levels of performances at the respective tournaments by molding of TEAM first mindset. Our coaches need to look at, for example, the recent Barcelona performance in the Champions League final. Erase from the minds of our players the dribbling runs by Lionel Messi and see only the TEAM play of that Barcelona team. View the movement and passing both in the narrow area of all movement but in the wider support movements when the ball was nowhere near to other segments of the field – nowhere in the vicinity of the other team members who were not in immediate vicinity of the ball.
Make us TEAMs. Make for us the sum of the parts working together only for the whole. Make us TEAM that shall perform as such. Put in the minds of each of our players that TEAM before all else. Let us have them playing as such…many of the selfless one-time and two-touch passes. Constantly moving in support on attack and defense is the way to go.. Always making the ‘sensible pass’…sensible use of ball…sensible use of TEAMmate. TEAM! TEAM! TEAM!
No time to waste – any player who does not buy into the TEAM concept must be removed. The TEAM cannot afford such a person. That only makes sense!
We are talking about taking a step towards from henceforth having good national teams. We have run out of time. So we have to work harder at TEAM. And when it comes to each game we have to give everything for TEAM.
It is late in the day but mentally and physically we must keep fighting, fighting, fighting to always produce TEAM play as that is the only way we shall have a chance to perform (as TEAM) brilliantly…perform consistently brilliant. Get to that place we have never before gone. It can be done. Just do it!
FORWARD!
1 June 2011
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