Tweet
BY SEAN A WILLIAMS Observer staff reporter
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Intriguing, intuitive, complex, affable, and cynical even. That was my instant impression of experienced football coach Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic when we first met.
Still, one feels there is much more to this interesting character - much more than meets the eye. There appears to be depth; that a cursory glance would be insufficient to fathom him. And any attempt to do so could be an exercise in futility.
Having spent four days in the 'close company' of Bora in Florida last month for the friendly international between the Reggae Boyz and Switzerland, I had the opportunity to observe this master of his craft up close in a match preparedness environment.
There is absolutely no doubt that Bora is a highly-skilled tradesman. He appears to possess most, if not all, the tools required to a do a good job in positioning Jamaica's senior football team on the road of the 'Back to Africa' qualifying campaign for South Africa 2010.
His football knowledge cannot be questioned at this time. After all, he has the distinction of leading the qualification of five separate nations to the FIFA World Cup Finals - having done so with Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Nigeria and China.
And one gets the feeling that he could make it number six with Jamaica.
Though he comes here with immaculate credentials and has demonstrated to some degree that he possesses the requisite skills to inspire, Bora still has to prove himself to the Jamaican sceptic.
For what it's worth, I am not one.
I believe that with the proper tools, support from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and our corporate friends, Bora is quite capable of chiseling a path for Jamaica to repeat their France 1998 qualification.
The morale-boosting championship win in the Hong Kong Lunar Cup in February was a good start for the new coach and sound foundation on which to build.
My confidence in this charismatic coach was sealed when I watched him work with a local-based squad in Florida for that Swiss friendly, which we lost 0-3.
The most striking thing that I observed was his remarkable ability to get through to the players, though he speaks halting English. He gets through, it seems, by telepathy. Whatever it is, it works. Ask the players and they will tell you that they understand him and "we respond". Importantly also, is the fact that he understands them.
It is not Bora's way, it seems, to treat one player better than the other. Everybody seems equal in his book. At meal times and at training, he would whisk away players, one at a time, for private pep talks.
Though this approach may be common among other coaches of the game, Bora's motive is perhaps different. He seems to be attempting to download a mental profile of each player - tapping into his psyche, so to speak.
I applaud this style because it brings into stark contrast that which we have seen in his predecessors - both foreign and local.
Bora, soon after arriving here, had said that he was particularly - but not exclusively, I hope - interested in players who can think the game. Perhaps this is the inspiration behind his 'mind game'.
His emphasis, too, on extended and regular team meetings brings to the fore another side of this high achiever. In Florida, he had team meetings once or twice a day for the four days we were there. He even called off two training sessions and opted to have the players in the 'classroom' instead - watching, thinking and talking about the game.
He is clearly bent on developing the mental real estate of the players, having realised that there is no shortage of property where the feet are concerned.
I also find favour with his method of recruitment. He has widened his search to humble parish leagues, dispensing with the old philosophy that only those playing in the top flight stand a chance of being discovered.
For that reason, virtual unknowns like Star Cosmos' Donovan Davis and JDF's Andre Redwood are a part of the national set-up. I urge Milutinovic and the JFF to continue down this path, because the only sure way to know the extent of our football wealth is to explore the unexplored.
Having missed out on qualification for two consecutive World Cup Finals - Japan/Korea 2002 and Germany 2006 - we, as a united Jamaica, should be most determined at this time to do whatever it takes to get us to South Africa. And it's reasonable to say securing the services of a quality coach as Bora is the first step in that direction.
Like the colourful Brazilian, Rene Simoes, who spearheaded the successful France 1998 campaign, I believe Bora is the right man for the right moment in Jamaica's football.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Intriguing, intuitive, complex, affable, and cynical even. That was my instant impression of experienced football coach Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic when we first met.
Still, one feels there is much more to this interesting character - much more than meets the eye. There appears to be depth; that a cursory glance would be insufficient to fathom him. And any attempt to do so could be an exercise in futility.
Having spent four days in the 'close company' of Bora in Florida last month for the friendly international between the Reggae Boyz and Switzerland, I had the opportunity to observe this master of his craft up close in a match preparedness environment.
There is absolutely no doubt that Bora is a highly-skilled tradesman. He appears to possess most, if not all, the tools required to a do a good job in positioning Jamaica's senior football team on the road of the 'Back to Africa' qualifying campaign for South Africa 2010.
His football knowledge cannot be questioned at this time. After all, he has the distinction of leading the qualification of five separate nations to the FIFA World Cup Finals - having done so with Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Nigeria and China.
And one gets the feeling that he could make it number six with Jamaica.
Though he comes here with immaculate credentials and has demonstrated to some degree that he possesses the requisite skills to inspire, Bora still has to prove himself to the Jamaican sceptic.
For what it's worth, I am not one.
I believe that with the proper tools, support from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and our corporate friends, Bora is quite capable of chiseling a path for Jamaica to repeat their France 1998 qualification.
The morale-boosting championship win in the Hong Kong Lunar Cup in February was a good start for the new coach and sound foundation on which to build.
My confidence in this charismatic coach was sealed when I watched him work with a local-based squad in Florida for that Swiss friendly, which we lost 0-3.
The most striking thing that I observed was his remarkable ability to get through to the players, though he speaks halting English. He gets through, it seems, by telepathy. Whatever it is, it works. Ask the players and they will tell you that they understand him and "we respond". Importantly also, is the fact that he understands them.
It is not Bora's way, it seems, to treat one player better than the other. Everybody seems equal in his book. At meal times and at training, he would whisk away players, one at a time, for private pep talks.
Though this approach may be common among other coaches of the game, Bora's motive is perhaps different. He seems to be attempting to download a mental profile of each player - tapping into his psyche, so to speak.
I applaud this style because it brings into stark contrast that which we have seen in his predecessors - both foreign and local.
Bora, soon after arriving here, had said that he was particularly - but not exclusively, I hope - interested in players who can think the game. Perhaps this is the inspiration behind his 'mind game'.
His emphasis, too, on extended and regular team meetings brings to the fore another side of this high achiever. In Florida, he had team meetings once or twice a day for the four days we were there. He even called off two training sessions and opted to have the players in the 'classroom' instead - watching, thinking and talking about the game.
He is clearly bent on developing the mental real estate of the players, having realised that there is no shortage of property where the feet are concerned.
I also find favour with his method of recruitment. He has widened his search to humble parish leagues, dispensing with the old philosophy that only those playing in the top flight stand a chance of being discovered.
For that reason, virtual unknowns like Star Cosmos' Donovan Davis and JDF's Andre Redwood are a part of the national set-up. I urge Milutinovic and the JFF to continue down this path, because the only sure way to know the extent of our football wealth is to explore the unexplored.
Having missed out on qualification for two consecutive World Cup Finals - Japan/Korea 2002 and Germany 2006 - we, as a united Jamaica, should be most determined at this time to do whatever it takes to get us to South Africa. And it's reasonable to say securing the services of a quality coach as Bora is the first step in that direction.
Like the colourful Brazilian, Rene Simoes, who spearheaded the successful France 1998 campaign, I believe Bora is the right man for the right moment in Jamaica's football.
).
Comment