BOYZ NEED GREATER BELIEF IN NEW IDENTITY

Mexico yesterday came from two goals down to defeat the United States 4-2 to take their sixth hold on the CONCACAF Gold Cup. They will now represent the region in the upcoming Confederations Cup and I hope they represent well. In the meantime, teams like the USA and Jamaica need to look inward searching for what went wrong and how do they improve upon what is already there.

Jamaica went down 2-0 to the United States in the quarter-finals of this competition. The Reggae Boyz fell to a US team that they could have beaten had they been of firmer belief in the style of football they played in the earlier rounds. The style that saw them defeat Grenada, Guatemala and Honduras by a combined seven goals to nil and that had observers describing their play as sexy. Short snappy passing via interchanging attacking mid-field and forward line positions anchored on a more rigid back four that provided the foundation for a defense that allowed only two goals in four matches during their run in the Gold Cup.

In the first round where Jamaica won all three games for the first time ever, Jamaica under coach Theodore Whitmore demonstrated that they had found an identity – a pattern of play that suited their athleticism and skill sets and it worked beautifully. The Grenadians should have lost by seven or eight goals. Guatemala and Honduras, teams that usually give the Boyz major headaches, were totally dominated. Jamaica had possession of the ball more than 60 per cent of the games against both Grenada and Guatemala and they had little answer. It was a similar situation against Honduras, especially in the first half of that game when Jamaica perhaps played its best football of the tournament.

However, against the US, a team the Boyz had never beaten, old habits crept back in and uncertainty dogged their play. They started out confident enough and created an early opportunity that they should have capitalized on. With the American keeper at his mercy Luton Shelton collected a rebound and missed a wide open goal that would have put the Boyz a goal ahead and boosted their confidence against the Americans. The miss, however,  seemed to re-awaken the old insecurities and the Boyz gradually gave up territorial control. It was only the class of goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts that allowed Jamaica to go into half-time without conceding a goal.

However, no team can handle the sort of pressure Jamaica found itself under without the defence eventually breaking down and that is what happened as Jamaica’s belief in its new-found identity was suddenly on shaky ground. The team was unable to maintain possession of the ball for more than a couple passes each time, they gave up the mid-field to the Americans, and looked short of ideas going forward except for the long ball trying to pick our Dane Richards who was being closely marked by the American defenders.

Demar Phillips, who up to that match had scored three goals in his first three matches, and Richards who terrorized the Caribbean and Central American teams in the earlier round were rendered useless. Phillips virtually disappeared and Richards’ frustration grew more and more evident as time passed. Ryan Johnson’s anger became increasingly evident and Shelton seemed shy. What became evident is that the Boyz did not adjust very well to the Americans sitting back and closing off the passing lanes and closing down on the Jamaicans as soon as they got the ball. It was kind of like seeing a child who was just learning to walk, trying to run. The Boyz stumbled and eventually fell and got bounced out of the tournament.

The job that coach Whitmore now faces is not to make an drastic changes but to teach this squad how to adjust on the field of play. The tactical awareness must be heightened to quickly ascertain what the opponents are doing, readily identify unfamiliar looks and make the necessary adjustments quickly. The ‘sexy’ football is already there and that play must be encouraged but they now must learn how to evolve in their face of adversity. Should  they be able to do so the upcoming World Cup campaign will be an interesting and beautiful thing to watch.

The boys are heading in the right direction but they now need to hurry along the path.