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Seething 'Tappa' wants more focus
HOWARD WALKER with the REGGAE BOYZ IN QUITO, ECUADOR
Sunday, September 04, 2011
THE losing display by the Reggae Boyz in their 2-5 hammering by Ecuador on Friday has left head coach Theodore Whitmore fuming and even thinking of acquiring players with the right mental attitude for games in adverse conditions.
Whitmore, 39, who took charge of the Jamaican team in 2008, was losing back-to-back games for the first time in his coaching career, thought the high altitude in Quito was a poor excuse for a poor display.
WHITMORE... We can’t use altitude as an excuse
"I think the attitude of players," he suggested for Jamaica's demise.
Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is approximately 9,000 feet above sea level and Whitmore wanted to use these types of game for the players to get accustomed to similar conditions in Mexico.
"We can't use it as an excuse. When we have to play Mexico in high altitude we have to erase that from the back of our minds. We have to go there and play, so it's now for us to do a lot of work in getting these players focused in playing in whatever conditions if we want to be in Brazil in 2014," noted Whitmore.
Jamaica, who were coming off a 1-0 defeat against China in the Far East on August 10, never turned up and were 3-0 down at the break and 4-0 after 50 minutes.
"I think we started the game very flat and we can always blame the high altitude. Some of the players weren't up for it and that is something we have to look at and this give us a chance to go out there and widen the pool, so come next year we know exactly where we're going," he noted.
Goals by Omar Cummings and Demar Phillips in the 56th and 67th minutes, respectively, brought some semblance of respectability to the scoreline, which should have reflected a wider margin of victory for the South Americans.
"When you look on the first half of the game it was very disappointing compared to the second half where we were competing and actually got two goals," Whitmore observed.
"If we did go out there in the first half and wanted to play, I wouldn't say we wouldn't lose the game, but ...it's not losing the game, it's how you lose it," he reiterated.
"We have to give credit to our goalkeeper (Dwayne Miller)... because the score could easily be 10-2," Whitmore noted.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the core of the team left Quito for Fort Lauderdale where they are scheduled to play Colombia on Tuesday, September 6 at Lockhart Stadium.
The four European-based players, Rudolph Austin, Damion Williams, Dwayne Miller and Demar Phillips, left Friday night for Miami, while three United States-based players in Shavar Thomas, Omar Cummings and Ryan Johnson left early yesterday morning.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1WzGNXu3H
HOWARD WALKER with the REGGAE BOYZ IN QUITO, ECUADOR
Sunday, September 04, 2011
THE losing display by the Reggae Boyz in their 2-5 hammering by Ecuador on Friday has left head coach Theodore Whitmore fuming and even thinking of acquiring players with the right mental attitude for games in adverse conditions.
Whitmore, 39, who took charge of the Jamaican team in 2008, was losing back-to-back games for the first time in his coaching career, thought the high altitude in Quito was a poor excuse for a poor display.
WHITMORE... We can’t use altitude as an excuse
"I think the attitude of players," he suggested for Jamaica's demise.
Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is approximately 9,000 feet above sea level and Whitmore wanted to use these types of game for the players to get accustomed to similar conditions in Mexico.
"We can't use it as an excuse. When we have to play Mexico in high altitude we have to erase that from the back of our minds. We have to go there and play, so it's now for us to do a lot of work in getting these players focused in playing in whatever conditions if we want to be in Brazil in 2014," noted Whitmore.
Jamaica, who were coming off a 1-0 defeat against China in the Far East on August 10, never turned up and were 3-0 down at the break and 4-0 after 50 minutes.
"I think we started the game very flat and we can always blame the high altitude. Some of the players weren't up for it and that is something we have to look at and this give us a chance to go out there and widen the pool, so come next year we know exactly where we're going," he noted.
Goals by Omar Cummings and Demar Phillips in the 56th and 67th minutes, respectively, brought some semblance of respectability to the scoreline, which should have reflected a wider margin of victory for the South Americans.
"When you look on the first half of the game it was very disappointing compared to the second half where we were competing and actually got two goals," Whitmore observed.
"If we did go out there in the first half and wanted to play, I wouldn't say we wouldn't lose the game, but ...it's not losing the game, it's how you lose it," he reiterated.
"We have to give credit to our goalkeeper (Dwayne Miller)... because the score could easily be 10-2," Whitmore noted.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the core of the team left Quito for Fort Lauderdale where they are scheduled to play Colombia on Tuesday, September 6 at Lockhart Stadium.
The four European-based players, Rudolph Austin, Damion Williams, Dwayne Miller and Demar Phillips, left Friday night for Miami, while three United States-based players in Shavar Thomas, Omar Cummings and Ryan Johnson left early yesterday morning.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1WzGNXu3H
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