Let me just get to the point

[Jangle]

This Jamaican team is playing the best ball ever.

I am a reluctant supporter of Tappa's coaching abilities, but he is quickly winning me over.

He has definitely been able to bring out the best of these players and built them into a cohesive unit. He did, however, show some tactical weakness by waiting too long to make his substitutions, and in my opinio, made the wrong ones:
1. He kept Dane Richards on for the entire 90 mins when he was ineffective going forward.

However, to Dane's credit, he did better on the defensive end by keeping the Honduran winger in check, just as how he himself was kept in check by Chavez. I thought he should have switched wings. He also looked very tired.

2. Ryan Johnson needs more work on his finishing, but he works hard for the team.

3. Luton Shelton was not a necessary substitution, neither was Eric Vernan.

4. The team played an excellent first half, but I think fatigue played a big role in the defensive breakdown in the second half. Tappa should have made his substitution 15 mins into the second.

Even though Honduras had more of the possession in the second half, I did not feel we were seriously threatened.

5. A serious weakness of our team is set play. We need to find and groom a good kicker of dead balls. Not since Jermaine Hue, and before him, Onandi Lowe and Walter Boyd, and before them, Hector Wright have we had a freekick specialist.

Tappa needs to have the team practise dead balls and penalty kicks, with designated takers, by Sunday.

Congrats to the defensive unit. I have never felt this comfortable with our defense watching ANY Jamaican side. We have speed in all areas of our play. Big respect to Morrison who is a standout so far for me. Many here were cursing about his play in midfield, about him not being creative enough, but once the team continues to play as a unit with support for the player on the ball, the team compensates for that.

Well done TEAM Jamaica.

[Plush]

Ball a roll. Very good game yesterday. The team didn't miss a beat even though Tappa rested some players. I've never seen us play the Central AMericans like this before. We are definitely on another level

[Baddaz]

yes, i agree that tappa waited too long for the subs... he could have made them sooner for the simple reason that they were working and running hard the entire game... tappa was just thrilled to see the team playing as well and wanted to reward them with a longer stay on the pitch...

ryan johnson had an average game... he can play better and can finish better but he made himself available by moving in space and did not make the idle dribbles... he is definitely an asset and deserves to be a starter...

set play desperately needs improvement... with our size, the short passes should be scrapped... get the ball in front of goal... free kicks needs improvement as well...

i like the defense... we did not miss shavar last nite... not saying shavar is not good enough to start... we just did not miss him... this defense was as organised as i've seen them play... shows depth and everyone on the same page to miss a 'big' player and not miss a beat...

my standouts are demar phillips and keamar daley and omar daley... the entire team had a good game... the subs that came on wasn't much to write about... they didn't help...

yeah, fatigue was the factor why honduras got the better of them in the last 15 minutes...

[OJ]

omar daley?? defensively we have improved no doubt. very organized and always balanced. I think we got a bit tired or naive in the last 15 minutes. guys dribbling into pressure or cant get the ball past pressue to counter a pressing Honduran team.. Question for yard masive.. is Navian Boyd an idiot.. because he came on and seem to lack any professionalism....

[Jawge]

not really they (coaching staff) saw am opening for the counter strike and was waiting to take advantage. Notice they didn't send on defenders but more attackers because they saw where they could have scored more goals.

[Me]

I thought Daley was good also. Boyd is an idiot. It is quite typical of him to do stuff like that.

[OJ]

thanks without knowing him I cant say but he strikes me of the old type of menatility.. mek mi gwan and kick a bwoy.... other than using his fresh legs to punish them..

[Karl]

Questions for Jangle

1. He kept Dane Richards on for the entire 90 mins when he was ineffective going forward.

However, to Dane's credit, he did better on the defensive end by keeping the Honduran winger in check, just as how he himself was kept in check by Chavez. I thought he should have switched wings. He also looked very tired.

Why do you think using Dane for locking down Chavez was not important to TEAM success?

2. Ryan Johnson needs more work on his finishing, but he works hard for the team.

In light of your highlighting what you saw as Tappa's weakness: Why do you think Tappa is not working with Johnson...and others for that matter...on finishing?

3. Luton Shelton was not a necessary substitution, neither was Eric Vernan.

Why?

4. The team played an excellent first half, but I think fatigue played a big role in the defensive breakdown in the second half. Tappa should have made his substitution 15 mins into the second.

Well if not the above on 3. what others do you think he should have made in those "15 minutes into the second"?

5. A serious weakness of our team is set play. We need to find and groom a good kicker of dead balls. Not since Jermaine Hue, and before him, Onandi Lowe and Walter Boyd, and before them, Hector Wright have we had a freekick specialist.

Tappa needs to have the team practise dead balls and penalty kicks, with designated takers, by Sunday.

What did you see that led to the decision that Tappa was not -
a) working on grooming kickers of the dead balls?

b) does not have designated kickers for re-starts and penalties?

NB: I have not seen the game.

[Jangle]

Karl, I don't know to separate the contents of a post like you, so I'll answer your questions in the same sequence.

Dane wasn't used to lock down Chavez, it was the opposite. As I said, Dane kept the Honduran winger in check by falling back. This, I think, led to him being too tired to be his usual potent self in attack, and he could have been substituted.

Question 2 - I based my observations about Tappa's weakness on the fact that he has been in charge of the team for a while now and no one has emerged capable enough to take a decent free kick. It stands to reason that he has not placed too much time or emphasis on working on that part of our game.

Luton Shelton and Eric Vernon never added anything to the game. Shelton came on for RJ. I thought that the change should have been Dane Richards and not with Shelton. Tappa already stated that he was resting some of his players, and both Dane and Luton could have done with the rest. That change should have been a defensive one as we were already up 1. Even if we drew the game, we still would have won the group. Eric Vernan, was unnecessary because Omar Daley was doing a competent job in the right back. Again, he could have done with the rest.

We started breaking down 15 mins into the second half. I attribute this to fatigue, and we got progressively worse as the game went on. A couple of fresh legs could have helped us to manage the game a little better.

a) I answered above
b) Johnson telegrahed the direction he was going to kick the ball. I hope it is an area that Tappa will iron out by Sunday.

Is the quarter-finals knockout?

[Don1]

2 things

When we are critical of coaches we often lack critical information...info which the coach has & based on that info, specific instructions given to players .... in those cases being definitive in criticism is contraindicated

There is a difference between a coach's instructions and how players execute on the field

[Karl]

Is the quarter-finals knockout?

Thanks.
...and yes, the Quarters are KO matches.

http://www.goldcup.org/page/GoldCup/...,12802,00.html

[Karl]

Serious ting!