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Bora 'unravelled'?
From The Sports DeskWith Ian Burnett Sports Editor
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Tehran, Iran - Don't take him at face value. At times he can be very complex, and at others he's the ultimate pragmatist, but he's smart, intelligent, always thinking a step ahead, and he definitely knows his way around football.
He also knows how to be politically correct and when to secure things to his chest, but if you spend enough time in his company, you could begin to unravel the enigma that is Bora Milutinovic.
As yet many Reggae Boyz supporters are unsure what the make-up of the team is going to be when Jamaica begin preparation for one of the three CONCACAF berths to the 2010 South Africa World Cup Finals.
Since assuming responsibility of the Reggae Boyz last November, Bora has invited only four overseas-based players in the eight friendly games he's led heading into tomorrow's against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This ploy has led many to believe that Bora will make the core of his World Cup team locally-based, complemented by the sprinkling of a few of the best overseas-based players.
But others, including this writer, are of the view that the standard and quality at the local level is too low for Bora to place so much responsibility on this group of players.
It has always been understanding that Bora's initial phase is to scout the island and try to identify the best talent and examine where that talent is on the international level, while continuing to develop and expand that talent pool.
The second phase is for Bora to blend the best of the local players with the more established overseas-based players, so that when these overseas-based players are denied release from their clubs, the Jamaica national team can still be of a high quality at the international level.
With that in mind, Bora has steadfastly gone about providing opportunities for the locally-based players, while ignoring the professional players even when available.
This action, to many, is seen as the Serbian-born Mexican coach sending mixed signals to the players, particularly the professionals. How else could you select such squads to face teams like Switzerland (0-2), Chile 0-1 and against the 47th ranked Iran, set for tomorrow.
In the three games the Boyz have played so far on this four-nation Asian tour, I have twice got clear hints from Bora in interviews that he's coming to the end of the first phase.
After the Boyz went down 0-3 to the 142nd FIFA ranked Vietnam last Sunday, I was a little bit taken aback by Bora's sense of calm in a post-game interview.
"I am much happier today than the last game, because I know more (about the players)," he said. "This is so important to make my idea of what we need to do to make a competitive team," added Bora, who refused to elaborate.
"... Day by day, I learn better what I am going to have (talent pool), which is good."
Bora continued: "I remain more optimistic after the game than before the game," he said. "The public needs to know what my job is. I have patience and I know what my job is."
My take on his reaction to the performance of the team then is that he is convinced that at this stage of their development, the majority of these players can't shoulder the responsibility of leading the national team in World Cup qualification.
Then after the Boyz scored their first win, 2-0 against Malaysia on Thursday, the coach, in doing something he rarely does, singling out debutante goalkeeper Dwayne Miller for praise, said: "If after these four games we win two, three or four players, wow, we would win so much."
That statement, to me, is indicating that if a handful of players emerged from this tour impressing Bora with the requisite international quality, then as far as he is concerned, the tour would have been a success, leaving no doubt in my mind that the overseas professionals are going to be the players leading the charge in World Cup qualification.
So now, it would not surprise if national teams selected from now on bear more resemblance to the true World Cup squad.
We eagerly await the next few squads.
From The Sports DeskWith Ian Burnett Sports Editor
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Tehran, Iran - Don't take him at face value. At times he can be very complex, and at others he's the ultimate pragmatist, but he's smart, intelligent, always thinking a step ahead, and he definitely knows his way around football.
He also knows how to be politically correct and when to secure things to his chest, but if you spend enough time in his company, you could begin to unravel the enigma that is Bora Milutinovic.
As yet many Reggae Boyz supporters are unsure what the make-up of the team is going to be when Jamaica begin preparation for one of the three CONCACAF berths to the 2010 South Africa World Cup Finals.
Since assuming responsibility of the Reggae Boyz last November, Bora has invited only four overseas-based players in the eight friendly games he's led heading into tomorrow's against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This ploy has led many to believe that Bora will make the core of his World Cup team locally-based, complemented by the sprinkling of a few of the best overseas-based players.
But others, including this writer, are of the view that the standard and quality at the local level is too low for Bora to place so much responsibility on this group of players.
It has always been understanding that Bora's initial phase is to scout the island and try to identify the best talent and examine where that talent is on the international level, while continuing to develop and expand that talent pool.
The second phase is for Bora to blend the best of the local players with the more established overseas-based players, so that when these overseas-based players are denied release from their clubs, the Jamaica national team can still be of a high quality at the international level.
With that in mind, Bora has steadfastly gone about providing opportunities for the locally-based players, while ignoring the professional players even when available.
This action, to many, is seen as the Serbian-born Mexican coach sending mixed signals to the players, particularly the professionals. How else could you select such squads to face teams like Switzerland (0-2), Chile 0-1 and against the 47th ranked Iran, set for tomorrow.
In the three games the Boyz have played so far on this four-nation Asian tour, I have twice got clear hints from Bora in interviews that he's coming to the end of the first phase.
After the Boyz went down 0-3 to the 142nd FIFA ranked Vietnam last Sunday, I was a little bit taken aback by Bora's sense of calm in a post-game interview.
"I am much happier today than the last game, because I know more (about the players)," he said. "This is so important to make my idea of what we need to do to make a competitive team," added Bora, who refused to elaborate.
"... Day by day, I learn better what I am going to have (talent pool), which is good."
Bora continued: "I remain more optimistic after the game than before the game," he said. "The public needs to know what my job is. I have patience and I know what my job is."
My take on his reaction to the performance of the team then is that he is convinced that at this stage of their development, the majority of these players can't shoulder the responsibility of leading the national team in World Cup qualification.
Then after the Boyz scored their first win, 2-0 against Malaysia on Thursday, the coach, in doing something he rarely does, singling out debutante goalkeeper Dwayne Miller for praise, said: "If after these four games we win two, three or four players, wow, we would win so much."
That statement, to me, is indicating that if a handful of players emerged from this tour impressing Bora with the requisite international quality, then as far as he is concerned, the tour would have been a success, leaving no doubt in my mind that the overseas professionals are going to be the players leading the charge in World Cup qualification.
So now, it would not surprise if national teams selected from now on bear more resemblance to the true World Cup squad.
We eagerly await the next few squads.
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