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Match Report
First we must say congratulations to the team and the coaching staff.
Overall, result was good but the performance was not really great. The one thing that I can say is that last night T. Whitmore out coached Klinsman. This for me was the best thing from last night. Overall the team was very disciplined, organized and stuck to the game plan. The even adjusted their games after half time and toward to end of the game to match the tactical changes of the US.
First Half
In the first minute of the game the US got a goal from really poor defending and ball watching and poor marking. The US ran the ball straight down the middle made a few attempts at goal that were blocked then the ball fell to a wide open Demsey. What was really shocking was that there were two players unmarked in the 6 yard box.
Even after the goal, the team did not have their heads down or shoulders slumped, they just move onwards. This for me shows maturity of the team. Jamaica took exceeding long to settle into the game. It was not until about 20 minutes into the game that we were able to hold possession and have a good overall team shape. This is something that has to be fixed. During the first 20 minutes, the US really had control of the game but was really not pushing the attack. They seem to be content to try passing the ball around to look for the open spaces. During this time Jamaican players were doing a lot of over dribbling and not enough passing and movement.
But after the 20 minutes onwards, for the most part Jamaica controlled the game. This game was won in the midfield. R. Austin and J. Morrison were excellent. J. Watson was also good and he kept it simple for most of the game. The passing was much improved. The off- the ball movement was also much improved. K. Bryant was not outstanding but was solid. R. Johnson for me was playing really well. He holds the ball up well in the forward position, makes good passes but he also defends from box to box. The defensive team especially Nortworthy and Mariappa were excellent. J. Taylor played well. My surprise was L. Palmer. Seeing Palmer play in the MLS and seeing him play last night was very different. He was solid and much better that I was expecting.
Even though we were playing well, we were still not able to break down the US defense. We were stuck making long-rang shots by R. Austin. It was Austin’s movement that lead to the foul that game us the free kick, 25 yards out. Then Austin stepped up to take the shot and fired under the wall, off a US player and into the goal. From there onward to the end of the first half we still mainly were restricted to long range shots from outside the 18 yard box. Crosses from the wings were very poor. The US still tried to use the same strategy of passes from one side of the field to the next to attempt to draw the Jamaican players out of position but the team held the shape. Players rotated into the open spaces as the ball move from one side to the next. Again, this showed excellent coaching and organizational structure.
Second Half
It was clear that the team got instruction to start more positively. Jamaica started the second half well, with much better possession and movement and got a few times past the US defense. We looked more dangerous for the first 10 minutes. It was again the movement of R. Austin that lead to a foul again about 25 yards out. Now the execution of this free kick was beautiful. Again, this shows good coaching. The free kick is to the left of the goal. All night, R. Austin has been taking all the free kicks. Both Austin and L. Shelton lined up on opposite sides of the ball. First Austin start moving then stops and lets Shelton run to the ball. It was clear to see that T. Howard did reacted poorly to this free kick. He probably thought that Shelton was going to dummy run to let Austin kick. So when Shelton kick the ball, Howard was still standing still and the ball was already curling toward the goal. Howard then tried desperately to make it to the ball but it was too late and the ball went off the left upright and into the net. This was an expertly executed free kick.
Now, with Jamaica up 2:1, Whitmore then did something that I think was quite brilliant. He immediately brought on Mattocks in place of K. Bryant. Instead of trying desperately to hold on to the lead, Whitmore changed the structure of the game. Mattocks immediately was stretching the US defense and getting behind them. This in effect weakened the US attack. Jamaica then still had the better of the possession and play.
In the last 20-30 minutes of the game, the US had a few good chances. The were able to penetrate the Jamaican defense and had a few good shots on goal that were saved by D. Miller. The US even tried to make some high crosses into the box, but again, Miller had complete control of his area. Miller dealt well with the crosses. This period of the game was much more wide open.
The last 10 minutes of the game the US really tried desparaely to pile on the pressure. The team held its nerve. They brought on J. Senior and later O. Cummings. But, overall, the defense held all the way through. The US team was getting frustrated and lost their nerve.
Victory was the outcome and well deserved.
NEXT
I hope that the team does celebrate this victory but know they have to get back to work. We will next play the US at their home and on a wider field. This will require a tactical change for the team. I hope that Jamaica does not let happen to us what happened to the US.
The US recently had their historic victory over Mexico in the Azteca stadium. They were then over confident coming into the game against Jamaica.
Looking at the standings we can see that there is a lot of work to be done. We have 7 and both US and Guatemala have 4 points. We must not lose the next game in Ohio. A win by the US in the next game and a win by Guatemala over Antigua and Barbuda could see us in 3rd place by next week.
Current Group Standing
[IMG]file:///C:\Users\Conrad\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01 \clip_image002.jpg[/IMG]
First we must say congratulations to the team and the coaching staff.
Overall, result was good but the performance was not really great. The one thing that I can say is that last night T. Whitmore out coached Klinsman. This for me was the best thing from last night. Overall the team was very disciplined, organized and stuck to the game plan. The even adjusted their games after half time and toward to end of the game to match the tactical changes of the US.
First Half
In the first minute of the game the US got a goal from really poor defending and ball watching and poor marking. The US ran the ball straight down the middle made a few attempts at goal that were blocked then the ball fell to a wide open Demsey. What was really shocking was that there were two players unmarked in the 6 yard box.
Even after the goal, the team did not have their heads down or shoulders slumped, they just move onwards. This for me shows maturity of the team. Jamaica took exceeding long to settle into the game. It was not until about 20 minutes into the game that we were able to hold possession and have a good overall team shape. This is something that has to be fixed. During the first 20 minutes, the US really had control of the game but was really not pushing the attack. They seem to be content to try passing the ball around to look for the open spaces. During this time Jamaican players were doing a lot of over dribbling and not enough passing and movement.
But after the 20 minutes onwards, for the most part Jamaica controlled the game. This game was won in the midfield. R. Austin and J. Morrison were excellent. J. Watson was also good and he kept it simple for most of the game. The passing was much improved. The off- the ball movement was also much improved. K. Bryant was not outstanding but was solid. R. Johnson for me was playing really well. He holds the ball up well in the forward position, makes good passes but he also defends from box to box. The defensive team especially Nortworthy and Mariappa were excellent. J. Taylor played well. My surprise was L. Palmer. Seeing Palmer play in the MLS and seeing him play last night was very different. He was solid and much better that I was expecting.
Even though we were playing well, we were still not able to break down the US defense. We were stuck making long-rang shots by R. Austin. It was Austin’s movement that lead to the foul that game us the free kick, 25 yards out. Then Austin stepped up to take the shot and fired under the wall, off a US player and into the goal. From there onward to the end of the first half we still mainly were restricted to long range shots from outside the 18 yard box. Crosses from the wings were very poor. The US still tried to use the same strategy of passes from one side of the field to the next to attempt to draw the Jamaican players out of position but the team held the shape. Players rotated into the open spaces as the ball move from one side to the next. Again, this showed excellent coaching and organizational structure.
Second Half
It was clear that the team got instruction to start more positively. Jamaica started the second half well, with much better possession and movement and got a few times past the US defense. We looked more dangerous for the first 10 minutes. It was again the movement of R. Austin that lead to a foul again about 25 yards out. Now the execution of this free kick was beautiful. Again, this shows good coaching. The free kick is to the left of the goal. All night, R. Austin has been taking all the free kicks. Both Austin and L. Shelton lined up on opposite sides of the ball. First Austin start moving then stops and lets Shelton run to the ball. It was clear to see that T. Howard did reacted poorly to this free kick. He probably thought that Shelton was going to dummy run to let Austin kick. So when Shelton kick the ball, Howard was still standing still and the ball was already curling toward the goal. Howard then tried desperately to make it to the ball but it was too late and the ball went off the left upright and into the net. This was an expertly executed free kick.
Now, with Jamaica up 2:1, Whitmore then did something that I think was quite brilliant. He immediately brought on Mattocks in place of K. Bryant. Instead of trying desperately to hold on to the lead, Whitmore changed the structure of the game. Mattocks immediately was stretching the US defense and getting behind them. This in effect weakened the US attack. Jamaica then still had the better of the possession and play.
In the last 20-30 minutes of the game, the US had a few good chances. The were able to penetrate the Jamaican defense and had a few good shots on goal that were saved by D. Miller. The US even tried to make some high crosses into the box, but again, Miller had complete control of his area. Miller dealt well with the crosses. This period of the game was much more wide open.
The last 10 minutes of the game the US really tried desparaely to pile on the pressure. The team held its nerve. They brought on J. Senior and later O. Cummings. But, overall, the defense held all the way through. The US team was getting frustrated and lost their nerve.
Victory was the outcome and well deserved.
NEXT
I hope that the team does celebrate this victory but know they have to get back to work. We will next play the US at their home and on a wider field. This will require a tactical change for the team. I hope that Jamaica does not let happen to us what happened to the US.
The US recently had their historic victory over Mexico in the Azteca stadium. They were then over confident coming into the game against Jamaica.
Looking at the standings we can see that there is a lot of work to be done. We have 7 and both US and Guatemala have 4 points. We must not lose the next game in Ohio. A win by the US in the next game and a win by Guatemala over Antigua and Barbuda could see us in 3rd place by next week.
Current Group Standing
[IMG]file:///C:\Users\Conrad\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01 \clip_image002.jpg[/IMG]
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