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IS IT THE LACK OF CHEMISTRY OR THE LACK OF COACHING?
Three days before Jamaica’s World Cup Qualifying game against Panama at the National Stadium, some of the UK-based Reggae Boyz were at Mandela Park doing meet and greets with a gathering of football fans and members of the media. The event was put on by Coca Cola. Television Jamaica’s Morning Time host Neville Bell conducted interviews with the Boyz – Lloyd Doyley, Marvin Elliott, Theo Robinson, Rudolph Austin, and Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson – and the crowd was happy to see them.
Konshens provided the musical entertainment and the energy was high. Tamara Ward, Coca Cola’s Country Manager, explained to me then that the event and others like it to come, were planned to get Jamaica to connect with the players so that together they could build a vibe as Jamaica tried to make it to only their second World Cup in Brazil next year. Ward said they wanted to create the kind of energy around the Boyz similar to that which the country experienced during the Road to France campaign in 1997. After two lacklustre performances; a 1-1 draw here at home against Panama on March 22 and an even worse performance in losing to Costa Rica in Costa Rica on March 26, getting John Public to connect with these Reggae Boyz might just become a harder sell.
Against Costa Rica on Tuesday night, the Jamaican team looked ordinary but near the end of the game, just before they gave up a second goal to the home team, the Boyz actually looked like the team that people expected them to be. For a very brief period, they attacked with numbers and created a few good scoring opportunities. They were missed opportunities, like two clear cut ones from Jermaine Beckford and Luton Shelton respectively in the first half, that Jamaica would come to rue.
The question then on everyone’s minds is, “What is wrong with the Reggae Boyz?’ Many people close to the 2013 version of the Reggae Boyz insist that this team possesses much better talent than the ’98 campaigners. Warren Barrett, the goalkeeper from ’98 and who is now the goal-keeping coach, agrees that there is now better talent but the chemistry in ’98 was much better. Could that be the bug-bear of this team that has promised so much but has so far delivered so little in this final round of qualifying?
On that morning that the players were in Half-Way Tree, Bell, who besides his skills as an affable and talented broadcaster is also the hugely successful coach of St. George’s College’s all-conquering Manning Cup team, reveals that the pool of players selected for the campaign is perhaps the most talented ever to represent Jamaica but he presented an interesting caveat. “Whitmore now needs to be careful,” he said. “Because he needs now not to necessarily select the best players for the team but the right players.”
After three rounds of matches, it seems as if Bell is onto something. Against Mexico the team delivered a historic performance, stealing a point at the Azteca on February 6. During that match they demonstrated great discipline and suffered a bit of mixed fortune but came away with a much-needed point. Since that time however, chemistry seems to be absent. The players seemed lost against Panama, giving up possession after every three or four passes and never looked threatening until Marvin Elliot scored from a corner in what many believe was against the run of play. Panama dominated play after that and got a deserved equalizer.
Against Costa Rica, the team never seemed capable of beating the home team that looked very beatable. In fact, I would venture to say that had this Costa Rican team been a little less fortunate playing before their home crowd estimated at about 35,000, they could have gone 1-0 down very early to Jamaica had Beckford not muffed a very good chance after being released by Luton Shelton on the left side of the box early in the first half. Shelton also muffed an easy chance later on in the half.
For the most part the team looked flat. They seemed disjointed and they kept giving the ball away, especially in the defensive third of the field and was what caused both goals that they eventually conceded. The non-cohesive play could be a factor of chemistry but I do believe that there is a glaring weakness in the coaching as well. The team’s play I feel is a reflection of weak coaching as even without chemistry, these professional players don’t seem to be playing to a clearly defined plan. We don’t see them shutting down the dangerous opposing players, we don’t seem them playing with an understanding of what their respective roles are. We could also be using the incorrect formation in both attack and defense. It’s kind of like putting kids in a classroom to take a test that they were never prepared for.
Then there is the logic or the lack thereof. Jermaine Beckford had barely played before he was named starter in the Panama match. If you recall he was called up for the Mexico match in February and got injured immediately after and did not play. He only recently recovered and had not played much. So starting him made little sense. Starting him again on Tuesday night made even lesser sense. Why not start with Robinson, who had a decent game against Panama and Jermaine Johnson who also played well in the 12 or so minutes he had against Panama. He had an immediate impact against Costa Rica once he was brought on in the second half. Imagine what he might have done had he been allowed to start?
In the match against Panama, the sudden loss of Nyron Nosworthy negatively impacted the team and I believe contributed to the goal that the team conceded to bring Panama level. On Tuesday night, both goals were conceded by a defence that was asleep at the wheel. The first goal happened in slow motion with the defenders sleepwalking through the sequence of events until the ball was in the back of the net. The second was equally embarrassing with one player getting the better of three or four defenders and then slotting the ball home from an acute angle. But if Nosworthy’s absence was a factor in the draw against Panama, what was the cause of the debacle in Costa Rica. Surely, that cannot be put down exclusively to the lack of chemistry?
The math is that after three of ten rounds Jamaica is at the bottom of the table with two points and one goal scored. They have given up three. Those results are not trending in the right direction. The energy has been sucked out of the campaign. We wait to hear what Captain Burrell has to say about this performance. Earlier this year he had expressed confidence in his coaching staff. I wonder what he is thinking now?
http://gleanerblogs.com/sports/?p=1812
Three days before Jamaica’s World Cup Qualifying game against Panama at the National Stadium, some of the UK-based Reggae Boyz were at Mandela Park doing meet and greets with a gathering of football fans and members of the media. The event was put on by Coca Cola. Television Jamaica’s Morning Time host Neville Bell conducted interviews with the Boyz – Lloyd Doyley, Marvin Elliott, Theo Robinson, Rudolph Austin, and Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson – and the crowd was happy to see them.
Konshens provided the musical entertainment and the energy was high. Tamara Ward, Coca Cola’s Country Manager, explained to me then that the event and others like it to come, were planned to get Jamaica to connect with the players so that together they could build a vibe as Jamaica tried to make it to only their second World Cup in Brazil next year. Ward said they wanted to create the kind of energy around the Boyz similar to that which the country experienced during the Road to France campaign in 1997. After two lacklustre performances; a 1-1 draw here at home against Panama on March 22 and an even worse performance in losing to Costa Rica in Costa Rica on March 26, getting John Public to connect with these Reggae Boyz might just become a harder sell.
Against Costa Rica on Tuesday night, the Jamaican team looked ordinary but near the end of the game, just before they gave up a second goal to the home team, the Boyz actually looked like the team that people expected them to be. For a very brief period, they attacked with numbers and created a few good scoring opportunities. They were missed opportunities, like two clear cut ones from Jermaine Beckford and Luton Shelton respectively in the first half, that Jamaica would come to rue.
The question then on everyone’s minds is, “What is wrong with the Reggae Boyz?’ Many people close to the 2013 version of the Reggae Boyz insist that this team possesses much better talent than the ’98 campaigners. Warren Barrett, the goalkeeper from ’98 and who is now the goal-keeping coach, agrees that there is now better talent but the chemistry in ’98 was much better. Could that be the bug-bear of this team that has promised so much but has so far delivered so little in this final round of qualifying?
On that morning that the players were in Half-Way Tree, Bell, who besides his skills as an affable and talented broadcaster is also the hugely successful coach of St. George’s College’s all-conquering Manning Cup team, reveals that the pool of players selected for the campaign is perhaps the most talented ever to represent Jamaica but he presented an interesting caveat. “Whitmore now needs to be careful,” he said. “Because he needs now not to necessarily select the best players for the team but the right players.”
After three rounds of matches, it seems as if Bell is onto something. Against Mexico the team delivered a historic performance, stealing a point at the Azteca on February 6. During that match they demonstrated great discipline and suffered a bit of mixed fortune but came away with a much-needed point. Since that time however, chemistry seems to be absent. The players seemed lost against Panama, giving up possession after every three or four passes and never looked threatening until Marvin Elliot scored from a corner in what many believe was against the run of play. Panama dominated play after that and got a deserved equalizer.
Against Costa Rica, the team never seemed capable of beating the home team that looked very beatable. In fact, I would venture to say that had this Costa Rican team been a little less fortunate playing before their home crowd estimated at about 35,000, they could have gone 1-0 down very early to Jamaica had Beckford not muffed a very good chance after being released by Luton Shelton on the left side of the box early in the first half. Shelton also muffed an easy chance later on in the half.
For the most part the team looked flat. They seemed disjointed and they kept giving the ball away, especially in the defensive third of the field and was what caused both goals that they eventually conceded. The non-cohesive play could be a factor of chemistry but I do believe that there is a glaring weakness in the coaching as well. The team’s play I feel is a reflection of weak coaching as even without chemistry, these professional players don’t seem to be playing to a clearly defined plan. We don’t see them shutting down the dangerous opposing players, we don’t seem them playing with an understanding of what their respective roles are. We could also be using the incorrect formation in both attack and defense. It’s kind of like putting kids in a classroom to take a test that they were never prepared for.
Then there is the logic or the lack thereof. Jermaine Beckford had barely played before he was named starter in the Panama match. If you recall he was called up for the Mexico match in February and got injured immediately after and did not play. He only recently recovered and had not played much. So starting him made little sense. Starting him again on Tuesday night made even lesser sense. Why not start with Robinson, who had a decent game against Panama and Jermaine Johnson who also played well in the 12 or so minutes he had against Panama. He had an immediate impact against Costa Rica once he was brought on in the second half. Imagine what he might have done had he been allowed to start?
In the match against Panama, the sudden loss of Nyron Nosworthy negatively impacted the team and I believe contributed to the goal that the team conceded to bring Panama level. On Tuesday night, both goals were conceded by a defence that was asleep at the wheel. The first goal happened in slow motion with the defenders sleepwalking through the sequence of events until the ball was in the back of the net. The second was equally embarrassing with one player getting the better of three or four defenders and then slotting the ball home from an acute angle. But if Nosworthy’s absence was a factor in the draw against Panama, what was the cause of the debacle in Costa Rica. Surely, that cannot be put down exclusively to the lack of chemistry?
The math is that after three of ten rounds Jamaica is at the bottom of the table with two points and one goal scored. They have given up three. Those results are not trending in the right direction. The energy has been sucked out of the campaign. We wait to hear what Captain Burrell has to say about this performance. Earlier this year he had expressed confidence in his coaching staff. I wonder what he is thinking now?
http://gleanerblogs.com/sports/?p=1812
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