I was trying not to waste time and space on this blog speaking about that abysmal showing by the Trinidad and Tobago national team last night against the US national team in their World Cup qualifying match. Some optimists say that the team will get better and that the past current games were just an anomaly, but I beg to differ. For the past couple of games for this round at least, the Soca Warriors have not gone onto any football pitch (whether it is at home or away) with any conviction, will or the skill to win a football match. This along with many other factors has led me to ask the question "what exactly do our foreign players bring to the national fold?" Personally I always thought that our foreign based players should be the ones to have the mental strength and technical ability to lift the rest of the team both when they are winning and when they are down. This, unfortunately, is lacking.
Up front, Kenwyne Jones has not shone for the Trinidad national side for a while. Granted he is a very imposing figure on the football pitch, but defenders do not respect him. With his hulking figure and towering height, one would assume that he would be the ideal point striker especially as his finishing leaves a lot to be desired. He should be a striker that would post up on players, hold up the play, as well as being a beast in the air a la Jan Koller. Yet, here we are looking at this big oaf, mis-controlling passes, not being able to complete simple 10 yard passes, making horrible runs and by and large doing nothing but making up numbers on the field. I’ll give Stern a break for now, only because I think his time has passed, so no more needs to be said on him.
I’m fed up speaking about Carlos Edwards and his inability to complete a pass whether it is on the ground or in the air (and to the Trinis out there dribbling defenders doesn’t count as a stat). He brings nothing but wasted running to a team that is already in bad need of some restructuring. No wonder he doesn’t start for Sunderland. Keon Daniel (yes I know he is not a foreign based player) is more often than not a more efficient passer of the ball. On attack I think he is leagues above the rest of the Trinidadian players his only fault lies in defence. His lack of effort in that aspect usually leaves our defence exposed. I think he would be more effective in the middle of the pitch in a role similar to what Latapy played when he came on against Honduras, right behind the forward line creating plays.
All in all, our foreign based players do the total opposite of what they are expected whenever they don the red, white and black for Trinidad. Instead of raising the caliber of play, they revert to their days of playing in the PFL and intercol. All professionalism goes out of the window and the focus shifts from bringing results on the field, to colouring their hair and wearing pretty boots. The Warriors had a coach recently that realized that this was the case and picked only a local based team to play in a tournament some years ago. His name slips me at the moment. In hindsight, this was probably the best thing for local football. The ‘big players’ aren’t making any sort of impression on the international game, so focus on the young and upcoming talent. If this current batch of players don’t make it to the 2010 World Cup, they should all be sacked and the current Under 20 team promoted to represent the nation. They seem to be more technically sound and more intelligent that their counterparts on the senior team.
I need to take a break from Trinidadian football for a while. I don’t think my heart can take anymore of this incessant nonsense. Good luck to the warriors nonetheless and I hope that they DO improve.
1 comment:
Sad to say that I must agree with this perspective. Kenwyne Jones had a horrible match and seems as though the technical staff were afraid to make an obvious tactical change and take him the hell off.
If I were to probe the team as a whole there was something most glaring to me. The US team understood that at the international level you are allowed one or two touches on the ball. Too often our players were caught in possession. Either because they were trying to dribble when there was the need to pass or there was little or no movement off the ball to create options. Carlos Edwards and Keon Daniel are two repeat offenders of this travesty.
I would admit that yes Keon Daniel seems to have a bit more footballing intelligence that the rest of the team but his lack of urgency is a continuing source of worry for me. Only when he appeared to have a brief altercation with Dempsey the he appear to raise the level of urgency and overall "hustle" in his game, might I add he did so to GREAT effect. This trait should be a mainstay of his game rather than only being turned on when "riled up"
My thoughts are all over as the emotions come flooding back. I think Maturana is technically impotent and should invest in Viagra for coaches. For the first time I find myself questioning if having Latapy as assistant coach is particularly good idea. Reason being, that throughout society and different spheres of life, I've come to the conclusion that stupidity is HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS. So is it sensible that we pair our greatest footballing mind with the flimsy excuse of a tactician that is Maturana??
During the first 30 mins of play before the US really imposed themselves it was fairly obvious that the midfield was there for the taking. I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of gaps in the US play that we should have been exploiting. I honestly felt that this showing of the US team was not particularly strong and it was ours for the taking. (Oh boy! How wrong was I!!)
No changes. I repeat, NO CHANGES were made at half time to arrest this situation. He sat by calmly wondering when he can perform his next root canal (he is a dentist by profession btw)as the US created and probed cavities in the TnT defence. The US eventually had a stranglehold on the middle of the park and our outlet (note singular) on the wing was tired of dribbling at this stage. (For those who would not have known I'm referring to CE). The game for me at that stage dissolved into routine affair with TnT losing and the fight and mental toughness totally missing from the team, coach included.
Maybe we need the introduction of a Fabio Capello. Strict disciplinarian, picks only the players that are in form and does not give a shit what anyone else thinks. A tough remedy and one that certainly would not go down well with Trini culture but given the vasts amount foolishness on the field in Nashville I'm willing to try anything for this malady that has stricken our team.
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