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The Way Forward
Posted on Friday, March 30, 2001
I guess one of the most popular and sought after positions in soccer today is the ATD position. Well, as you guessed the TD stands for Technical Director, and the A... Yes! Armchair! Armchair TD's, and they are many, too many if you ask me. Don t believe? Check out forum 2!
So, what's the prerequisite to be an ATD? Well you need to have a Masters Degree in Football Fundamentals and a Diploma in Coaching... well. not really. Actually any and everyone qualify to be an ATD. All you need to do is form an opinion on any soccer related matter and say, "If I were the coach this is what I would do". Sounds easy doesn't it? It is, but while some people earn newfound respect after taking up the job, others use it as an opportunity to expose the moron within (visit forum 2).
While respect is welcomed, the thought of getting e-mails calling me a moron is not very inviting. So instead of speaking as an ATD I will try to state what I think are some of our problems and leave the decision making up to the TD and the ATD's. It is usually easy to see when things go wrong, but the ability to see it before it happens is a gift. To have the courage to say something is not right even after it has worked once or twice is another gift. Do you have it? Lets talk football, Jamaican Football!
Do we have a goal-scoring problem? I think so! Having said that, do we have a problem with finding goal-scoring forwards? I don't think so. Why not? In answering that question, I will state that what a player does for his club is not necessarily what he will do for his country. The Reggae Boyz' past history has many examples. Michael Graham, Patrick Beech, Marcus Gayle et al did not produce consistently as goal-scorers on the International scene as they did as club players. All the forwards that are currently on the Reggae Boyz roster are excellent strikers in their own way. Whether they are complete strikers is another matter, but it doesn't matter. Sounds confusing? It's rather simple. If a striker is not great in some areas you simply play to his strengths. What do Marcus Gayle and Oliver Bierhoff have in common? Supply them with quality crosses in the box and they will head them home all night. Was Marcus Gayle a good acquisition for Jamaica? I say, No. Why? We had no one to supply those quality crosses. What percentage of goals is scored from crosses? What percentage of goals has Onandi Lowe scored from crosses (at all levels)? A lot! We are therefore not reaping the full benefits of his heading ability in goal scoring. Similarly we did not play to Gayle's heading ability.
Is Deon Burton a skillful player? No! He is nowhere near Boyd's skill level. Is he a fast player? No! But, neither is Dwight Yorke. Yorke score goals. Why? Yorke receives proper service from the middle of the field. I have said it before and I will say it again, very few strikers that Sir Alex will buy, can fail at Manchester United, because having Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and David Beckham behind you is priceless. All that is required is you kick the ball in the net. Burton can do that, but not if he gets the ball at the half line or ten yards from the box! The same goes for Wolde Harris and Barry Hayles. Hayles however, is slightly ahead in worth as he has some skill.
Lowe will use his power and ball holding skills to his advantage; hence he is the top scorer on the Express. Boyd will weave his way into the box and get his, but he is not around. Ricardo Fuller has some amount of Boyd-like skills and power but needs more minutes to produce. He will never be a "super sub" as he needs to get going first. But when he does get going, he's the real deal.
So now we see that based on the non-performance of our midfield, forwards like Burton and Wolde will find scoring on a regular basis a nightmare. However, players who can make things happen for themselves like Boyd, Lowe and Fuller, will get their shots off more frequently and score. Lowe gets his ninety minutes per game hence his current scoring average.
On to the engine room also know as the midfield. Here talent is NOT the problem. Andy Williams and Theodore Whitmore are as good as they come, they just don't seem to know it. The problem here is psychological. Both these players seem to lack the drive and motivation for greatness and consistent performance. Andy is improving but Tappa is still a mystery. But that's not the only worrying factor. It is easy for the ATD's to say "drop Tappa", but replace him with whom, that's the question. Whitmore, Jamaica and de Oliviera are like Brian Lara, West Indies Cricket and the West Indies Selectors. Lara might be in a slump, but you just don't know when the century is going come. However, you know he can do it. Can Jermaine Johnson take this mantle and run with it? He is the only existing option on the bench. Do we gamble now or stick with the proven but scarcely used asset?
The two positions, left and right link also need to support the forwards a lot more, therefore making the jobs of the wingbacks less demanding. It can be proven that when both Whitmore and Williams plays high, the team does well, very well, and one normally scores. I am presently watching Costa Rica play Trinidad. I would love to see Williams break wide and cross the ball the way Medford, the Costa Rican does. The Costa Ricans first goal eventually came from such a cross.
Apart from Ricardo Gardner, we are not a country known for exposing youth prodigies. Brazil has Ronaldhino and many others of the past, England pushed Michael Owen, and Spain made Raul, Italy presented Roberto Baggio. I would love to see Jermaine Johnson given the opportunity to contest for Whitmore's game. Why not also give Keith Kelly a chance in mid-field! Arrange a friendly contest away or at Jarrett Park and throw them in at the deep end, we might be surprised. Complacency has set into the squad and there need to be a shake up.
Why are we playing 5-3-2, or 3-5-2? Legacy? Nothing is wrong with a formation but do we have the players to make it work? I don't think so! The most important position in that formation is effective wingbacks. We don't have any, bar none. De Oliviera made a masterstroke, to my mind, when he tried Fitzroy Simpson in that position. Simpson is not a defensive liability, he adds punch to the middle and is a good crosser of the ball. At wingback, Gardner is as good a defender as I am. He will win a lot of balls in the middle, which is where he obviously belongs. Marshall was custom built for the 4-4-2, which is where he plays at Miami Fusion. He did very well in his first game but the crosses have decreased considerably since then. Therefore, what's next?
If my analysis is correct, the coaching staff then has a dilemma. If we stick with 5-3-2 and bring Ricardo into the middle, who will replace him, and, who do we take out, Andy or Whitmore? Can Marshall play anywhere else in 5-3-2? Do we go back to England to fill the position? The cold hard fact is that we don't have the quality wingbacks to make the 5-3-2-system work, as it should, which is why we score very little goals. When the wingbacks get caught high as they frequently do, fast counter-attacking teams like Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras can hurt us. There are those who will say that they haven't hurt us yet. True! But why wait! We do need to score more goals consistently.
There is another problem. If the coaches do change from 5-3-2 to 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, can the back-line players adapt? This has been our strength for ages and the sweeper system is engraved in some players. It takes discipline to play a flat four at the back. The offside trap has to be used effectively, but a sweeper minded player would always play the man on-side.
I am not in any way worried or concerned about the positions occupied by Daryl Powell, Ian Goodison and Linval Dixon. Not only are they fairly solid, but also Claude Davis, Marco McDonald and Omar Daley should make good replacements. The depth at the goal-keeping position also is no cause for concern. Lawrance, Ricketts, and Gordon are excellent players.
From a preparation standpoint, I think our set plays are either woeful or none existent. We have won numerous corners yet we have failed to score from any, as they are usually poorly delivered or wasted. Our free kicks to a large extent, depends on Lowe's ability to power them home. These areas need a lot of work. There also needs to be an emphasis on shooting, especially from outside the area.
Finally, I would like to support the idea of bringing back Fitzroy Simpson and Walter Boyd. I say "support the idea" as I will support the decisions of my coaching staff and the chosen players on the field. These are some of my thoughts, a reporter's thoughts, all of which could be gibberish that would have the professionals laughing from start to finish. Just thought I would share it with you. What are your thoughts on the way forward?
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By RBSC reporter Maurice "Ranger" Walker
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The way forward,
Ranger, Mar-30-01, (1)