An injection of energy by winger Jarred Dass again proved to be difference for the Trinidad and Tobago National Under-20 Team last night, as they rebounded from a goal down to hold St Lucia 1-1 in Caribbean Cup qualifying action at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.
Dass, who came on as substitute in the 61st minute, conjured up an equaliser within seconds, as his first touch sent a teasing cross towards the far post where 15 year old Isaiah Hudson made no mistake.
The final scoreline meant that the young Soca Warriors finished top of the group by virtue of goal difference over St Lucia. Both teams will advance to the Caribbean Cup finals, which kicks off on 21 October 2016.
At the final whistle, both coaches were pleased with the result.
“We have achieved our objective which was to finish top of the group,” said Trinidad and Tobago coach Brian Williams.
Williams, whose appointment controversially reduced the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical committee to a rubber stamp, pointed out that he had just six weeks with his squad and used half that period to screen players. Williams was actually appointed on 6 April and selected his first training squad two days later.
Still, he insisted the Under-20s will get better with time and work; and he pleaded for patience.
It is worth noting that, two years ago, these two nations met at Under-17 level and Noah Nicholas scored twice in a 2-0 St Lucia win, as both nations advanced to the CONCACAF stage.
Last night, St Lucia saw little of the ball and spent much of the time on their heels. So, Williams has certainly not taken the team backwards.
Yet, there is little trace of the gusto within Trinidad and Tobago’s last Under-20 Team, which sashayed to the 2014 Caribbean title with the likes of Levi Garcia, Kadeem Corbin, Akeem Garcia, Neveal Hackshaw and Shannon Gomez in their ranks.
Within weeks of that Caribbean tournament, a half dozen Trinidad and Tobago players were invited to Europe for trials with Levi proving to be so impressive that he was signed by Netherlands Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar before his 18th birthday.
Thus far, there has been little sign of such individual talent in the current roster.
Much was expected of striker Nicholas Dillon and playmaker and captain Jabari Mitchell, who were both part of Trinidad and Tobago’s teenaged 2014 outfit and play professionally with Central FC and W Connection respectively.
But all of Dillon’s five goals came against the woefully outclassed Turks and Caicos while Mitchell, who scored twice two years ago, rarely sparkled in the offensive third and looked more like a “number eight” than a “ten” over the three outings.
Neither ever looked like breaking their shackles yesterday against a limited but street-wise St Lucian team.
The young Warriors pinned their guests in their own half so comprehensively that St Lucia saw opposing territory just once in the opening 15 minutes. Yet, Trinidad and Tobago never moved the ball around quickly enough to fashion the chances they must have hoped for.
Trinidad and Tobago’s midfield trio of Kareem Riley, Morgan Bruce and Mitchell were especially culpable here.
Riley strayed too far from his central defenders to provide cover when St Lucia won possession while his passes were too often on to the boots of his teammates rather than into space, which forced them to stop and wait for the ball.
And neither Bruce nor Mitchell pushed high enough to support Dillon upfront nor showed the appetite or speed of thought to excel when space became limited near the opposing area.
It meant that, with the possible exceptions of Hudson and left back Noel Powder, Trinidad and Tobago seemed happier to possess the ball in the non-threatening areas of the field. St Lucia had no such inhibitions.
Despite seeing little of the ball, the visitors had the first genuine scoring attempt in the 20th minute, as playmaker Cassius Joseph—who was left unattended by Riley—slipped into space for Nicholas only for the latter to shoot tamely from inside the Trinidad and Tobago 18-yard box.
The scare seemed to momentarily rouse the Warriors and St Lucia goalkeeper Noah Didier—the game’s third ‘Noah’—was forced into a fine double save to keep out Powder and Hudson in the 31st minute.
But the host defence had not learned their lesson and St Lucia again took advantage of Trinidad and Tobago’s dozy transitional defending to pounce in the 39th minute.
This time, Nicholas found space down the left channel and Joseph poked his cross past opposing goalkeeper Jabari Brice on the second attempt for the opening item.
It was the first goal that the Warriors conceded in three matches. But that stat flattered the hosts; and Williams admitted that his biggest challenge before October is to strengthen his central defence.
Central defenders Kierron Mason and Taryk Sampson might argue that they were victims of indecent exposure as their full backs often operated high up the field while their midfielders were far too shy about the defensive side of the game.
But then Mason does not help his own case much with a penchant to concede the ball cheaply. And another error from the gangly defender nearly led to a second St Lucian item in the 51st minute, only for Sampson to deflect Nicholas’ shot for a corner.
Williams decided for a change and sent on Dass to replace Bruce, which caused pandemonium in one pocket of the covered stands.
“Let’s go Jarred!” screamed his vociferous cheering section.
Within seconds, the rest of the stadium was applauding as well, as Dass stepped in off the left flank and delivered a pinpoint cross for Hudson, which his former Naparima College teammate steered past Didier to level the scores.
Williams, a former Strike Squad standout, sprinted down the running track to join in the embrace with his young players.
Another substitute, Rushawn Murphy, almost bagged the game winner in the 71st minute but hit into the side netting after the St Lucian defence failed to cut out a long punt into their penalty area.
But the adrenalin soon cooled to reveal a harsh truth. Trinidad and Tobago, who were collectively flat and disjointed, lacked the individual quality to break down a relatively modest St Lucian team.
It might have been worse too, as Mason was stripped by Joseph yet again in the 89th minute and Brice saved smartly with his legs to deny Nicholas and preserve the point.
“There is simply work to be done,” said Williams, who thanked the public for their support of the young men.
The Under-20 Team will have two weeks off before they resume training on 6 July. Williams explained that attacker Jerren Nixon Jr, who suffered a torn thigh muscle during training, should be available for the next stage along with the trio of Chaz Burnett, Joshua Burnett and Anthony Herbert, who all missed out due to exams in the United States.
Herbert, crucially, can operate in central defence.
Shiva Boys Hindu College midfielder Tyrel “Pappy” Emmanuel, who was ruled out due to breathing problems, and left back Keston Julien, who is on trial in the Netherlands, should also rejoin the squad.
Williams’ job is to mesh these parts into a cohesive unit with four months. But there are no planned camps or tours on the horizon for the Under-20 squad. And, at present, the only games available for the local-based players will be in either the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) or National Super League (NSL) competitions with their respective teams.
The coach’s ability to address that dilemma will determine the success of their Korea Republic 2017 Under-20 World Cup campaign.
Williams hopes to add Levi to his squad for the October competition. But that might be wishful thinking, as AZ are under no obligation to release the talented winger who already has international engagements in August and September with the full national team and is likely to be on coach Stephen Hart’s roster for the senior Caribbean Cup, which is also in October.
The current Under-20 squad is the first national team constructed completely under the stewardship of current TTFA president David John-Williams, who employs Williams and half of his starting squad at W Connection.
And John-Williams contradicted his Under-20 coach last week by describing the youth team’s pre-tournament time together as: “very good preparation.”
The team’s work over the next three months will give further insight into not just the the organisational capabilities of its technical staff but the TTFA’s new leadership as well.
(Teams)
Trinidad and Tobago (4-1-4-1): 20.Jabari Brice (GK); 3.Kori Cupid, 4.Kierron Mason, 5.Taryk Sampson, 6.Noah Powder; 11.Kareem Riley; 7.Isaiah Hudson, 10.Jabari Mitchell (captain), 19.Morgan Bruce (8.Jarred Dass 61), 15.Kathon St Hillaire (17.Rushawn Murphy 70); 9.Nicholas Dillon.
Unused substitutes: 1.Jadel Poon-Lewis (GK), 2.Andrew Rullow, 12.Shane Sandy, 13.Isaiah Garcia, 14.Yohannes Richardson, 16.Micah Lansiquot, 18.Jacob Sookal.
Coach: Brian Williams
St Lucia (4-4-1-1): 20.Noah Didier (GK); 2.McCathur Louis, 6.Melvin Doxilly, 18.Cherdam Seraphin, 3.Keeroy Lionel; 19.Alvinus Myers, 15.Ryi Maryat (captain), 4.Zachernus Simon, 11.Antoine Wilfred (12.Kerry Joseph 41 [14.Jamie Prosper 73]); 10.Cassius Joseph; 7.Noah Nicholas.
Unused substitutes: 1.Viannie George (GK), 16.Vino Barcelette (GK), 5.Dante Hippolyte, 9.Tev Lawrence, 13.Albertini Phillip, 17.Selwyn Boyce.
Coach: Albert St Croix
Referee: Kerry Skeeple (Antigua)
Man of the Match: Noah Didier (St Lucia)
CFU Under-20 Qualifiers Group Two
(Sunday 19 June)
Guadeloupe 5 (Yvann Macon [3], Dimitri Bolivar, Giovanni Dupalan), Turks and Caicos 0 at Ato Boldon Stadium;
Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Isaiah Hudson 62), St Lucia 1 (Cassius Joseph 39) at Ato Boldon Stadium;
(Friday 17 June)
St Lucia 1 (Ryi Maryat 47), Guadeloupe 0 at Ato Boldon Stadium;
Trinidad and Tobago 11 (Nicholas Dillon 11, 29, 49, 61, 64, Isaiah Hudson 15, 58, Kierron Mason 46, Noah Powder 50, Micah Lansiquot 72, Morgan Bruce De-Rouche 83), Turks and Caicos 0 at Ato Boldon Stadium;
(Wednesday 15 June)
Turks and Caicos 0, St Lucia 2 (Antoine Wilfred 58, Nyrone Winter 70) at Ato Boldon Stadium;
Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Jarred Dass 48), Guadeloupe 0 at Ato Boldon Stadium.
Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
no Taryll Coutou, no Anderson Toussaint , no Rondell Payne … three more outstanding defenders not picked for the squad and clearly we need them if they are available !!!!
When you see even St Lucia giving T&T trouble you know things bad.
Congrats to the BOYS and technical staff for qualifying for CFU finals by winning Group 2 while conceding only 1 goal in three games during an undefeated run of three(3) games in 5 days. Physically, that is a tremendous commitment that can not be undervalued and ignored, though many critics made no mention.
I can only smile at the critics proudly stating this is a poor performance partially due to poor preparation and bias in player selection compared to the teams that qualified in 1991 and 2009. Those making these comments ignore the north/south, east/west and Trini vs. Bago biases of old as though they did not exist. Bias and nepotism just arrived in 2016 with DJW…lol I agree past teams have had better preparation during Jack Warner days, however what are the recommendations to improve preparation beyond local matches and the new regime has just gotten started.
I strongly recommend that we send our ALL our teams to South America for competitive practice matches. Chile, Columbia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay,Colombia and Bolivia are football factories; just look at what the development of Venezuelan football by accessing these resources for training and competition. Why aren’t we looking south? Is it the language barrier?
More specifically, on the draw(St. Lucia) that has so many panties in a knot. I think the formation 4-1-4-1 is not optimal for the BOYS at this time. Consider that Hudson(one of most dynamic) spent a lot of time on the right, as a left footer who is still developing he prefers to cut inside which crowded the space for Mitchell and Bruce to operate in this particular formation. I think a 4-3-3 would have been a better option for the boys, particularly with the limited preparation time. The 4-1-4-1 provides flexibility but I think the technical team may not have had the time to impart the tactics on the boys. If the preferred formation is 4-1-4-1, the technical staff now has 4 months to properly teach the players.
Good news, we have more quality that will be available in October in Curacao. I looking forward to qualifying for Costa Rica in February. In the interim the mental and emotional approach to our football has to change. I do not observe a Champions attitude or mentality in how we think, train and play. Ironically, the Champions mind is absent from the critics as well.
Our players have 0 footballing IQ, our coaches have zero footballing IQ or are unable to channel and impart it into the players
Off the ball running and positioning was awful or mostly non existent
Same for off the ball defending
Speed of play ….well lawd..no words
concacaf beat down coming again
Yeah. Waaaay too slow. Almost like over-35 slow. I feel Brian Williams and his assistant Kerry Jamerson can still play at the pace those guys were moving the ball around. Lol.
When they met better opposition and the ball starts to zip around, how will they cope? That is as big a concern as our defence for me.
Exactly.
The passing, besides the weakness in defence, needs to improve quickly. Anyway, let’s see what happens in the next few weeks as the cohesion develops.
Jabari played most of his games out wide left and had great performances for his team …but to play regularly..its about consistency. ..have a good engine and he needs to improve certain things …needs to have more confidence at connection we allow him to attack the goal …little things he has to learn…and its about accepting certain criticism. ..if u dont take them the right way then it hampers your game and sometimes so many influences around players dont listen as much…but bari has quality and has a bright future but he needs to continue his work…one thing he is dedicated to that game football…for a young player…maximum dedication. ..now he must listen and take his game to the nxt level …its there in him…it will be a very important year for him…players need to get bench and fight for places thats what local players need to know…nothing comes easy…consistency is most important. ..so hope its his year to take off…jomal williams is point in that…converted from defensive midfield to attacking qnd then wide left and was in the top 2 or 3 goal scorers in the pro league had an excellent year but drop off a bit because of noise in his ears…he got focus again and did well and at international level…now he is heading out to mexico..bari time will come dont make players feel that they are who they think they are until its the right time…yes they need confidence but being honest is key as well…bari will come alive again because he is dedicated. ..I know he has goalscoring ability but his time is coming…continue the work youngster and well done skippering your country always a proud moment. ..now the hard work continues. ..
For sure this season with a lot of bench in senior team was not a good thing for him he’s a very talented player he need more self confidence and play in different environment
Well, I hope he keeps working on his craft. And I’m sure he will. I met his father once and he doesn’t seem like the kinda fellah who will make standards slide! Lol.
he will ,just need to learn better midfield mechanism ,put himself in bigger space be faster in taking decision but sad to say this is not the place that will make him better.Hope something will came up soon
Stefano, what I don’t get is that two years ago, Jabari Mitchell looked happy to push right up alongside Kadeem Corbin like a second striker and had a good eye for goal.
Now, he seems uncomfortable high up the field and prefers to have the ball nearer to the centre circle to distribute.
Why the change? Did playing senior football damage his confidence? Or has he just transformed into a different sort of midfielder now?
Or has his natural inclination been coached out of him?We strive to cobvert players and not let them express themselves….
Convert
The thing is he has Andre Toussaint to follow at W Connection. If Jabari patterns himself after Toussaint, he will be absolutely fine.
agree
Well Gordon Pierre when are they really going to wake up man, when corbeaux grow teeth eh, and I agree with Ian Brooks 1000% , this is definitely a South thing eh, and if that madness continues eh, our young Soca Worries will get plenty licks in the next rounds eh. Them really good yes.
hahahahaha From now on let these young players know that there is a fella that is a millionaire eh, and does gives $100 dollars per goal eh and a boots of their choice eh, so when they are nominated to represent our sweet country eh my prolific goalscorer for life Earl Jean they know what have to be done eh, ah think I am going and organize some videos for them with you in action in your goal scoring days eh. Them really good yes
Lol…you are to much mango…but we need goal scorers. ..would have like to see levi at his age group think this would have been different. …..like they dont want to take the millionaire dollars away…would have been at the bank waiting to deposit. ..lol
hahahaha and as I always say that the football is meh high eh, I don’t do the drugs nor drink plenty rum, but once I see great football and goalscorers scoring plenty magnificant goals eh, I does get really high and excited eh, so you wudda be a very rich fella like mehself.
I think Levi has passed this stage and the team isn’t playing at a level yet that will make it a worthwhile challenge for him.
Levi is too important to the senior squad right now.
True
And remember Khaleem Hyland wasn’t allowed to play any Under-20 qualifying matches by his club when we got to the 2009 World Cup.
And that is the problem with our team eh, but when England, USA, Canada, or other real footballing nations enter these kind of tournaments eh, they are always using their young bestest professional players eh. Them really good yes.
Not England. They don’t use their senior pros in youth teams. Not the best ones. But you can bet your life that the South Americans do.
Players like Messi for instance. And Spain players like Torres were already adult stars when they played in youth tournaments.
Hahaha uncle Earl Mango Pierre the tournament done hit them with some constructive criticism bc like both the players and the staff need to wake up!! Can’t do the same things over and over and expect a different result
Mango behave ..well done let them come through..stay positive
Congrats to the two teams …my teams…but there is lots of space for improvement ….lot of work to put in and getting games international will be important for the preparation…more players to come in I guess and getting levi into this team might be key but then u dont want to curtail that development at senior level. …he is coming on very well. ..
Steeeuuppss Leh meh hush meh mouth eh, because as meh nephew Gordon Pierre always telling me that I must keep it positive and don’t hurt our future bootleg players feelings. steeuuppss. Them really good yes.
Hi ian…one of the problems in the or should I call it a problem dont know…is that the under 18 competition is really a reserve all in competition. ..why because most pro league teams play their 5 or 6 I think senior players so it takes away from the under 20s development. …our club for example plays our 18 players in the said completion we dont use our senior players unless they are coming back from injury and we may use one or two because we dont want to stiffle the development and thats a very good thing. ..because when they do play senior players from other pro league teams they will learn and develop faster so our modus operandi is to use only under 18 players in that youth tournament. ..I think lasana can check some of the teams roster an give some insight into that….the more games the young players get at that level the better it will be to for their development so we dont focus on the standing in that tournament to much its about getting the 18s as much time on the pitch…
Hi Earl….my point is multi faceted….but there are better players u18 than the majority of the players on display.This is my point.Enjoy your day.
Well they must have that looked into very quickly because I myself expected more from.some players and the team but…ill give them some space to see who comes in nxt stage…but I get u..
Earl…enjoy the discussion…..there must be transparency…a good screening ….decency by coaches nominating quality players….coaches realising defects in players and having a dossier on players to give to national coaches…..proper scouting as some players may not play pro league…..development programmes for coaches….strength and fitness training programmes….development programmes for players…..mental and psychological development for players and and grinding in them that they are far short of playets their age internationally.More and more training days .These are just to name a few.
Yes true …thats a must!…. to improve and to get to the level that we expect. .
I agree with you gordon mason was horrible and if guadeloupe had quality strikers they would have won the 1st game
This team is not reflective of the talent in the pro league.The midfield is pedrstrian and not creative.Dass and Mitchell are OK…but are a work in progress.The defense is woefull a nd it is hard to accept that the right back and central defenders are the best in the country.On what basis W Connection got the amount of players they have on that team is more baffling as they are currently 6th or 7th in the U18 Pro league and their coach is the National coach and Who is head of TTFA????More ?s than answers.This is a total disgrace to the other coaches,players and the football community.We need to seriously rethink our modus operandi .Lastly there is a lack of patience by the players and creativity is on the lower spectrum.Let us hope these issues are highlighted and corrective action taken with due dispatch.What a mess!!!!!
Brian Jordan i am sure most ppl here agree with u but if u are in a tournament and ur supposed big players are not showing up then u need to make changes Mason had an awful tournament how do u justify him playing 90 minutes all three games and u made changes in u central defense in the tournament.
Coach feels he is his best option. I may not agree, but with 6 weeks I am realistic.
Brian Jordan tell me this u have a genuine defender in Rullow u bring one in Sookal yet u start two midfielders converted to stoppers. In the first game both shaky Mason awful yet start both in second game ok u trying to build confidence and bonding but u sub one who was having the better game Mason again awful he returns to start the final game? Nah man please
Rullow has not been steady in practice to be honest bro. Like I said, coach has to go with what he saw in practice.
I get your point though Gordon..
It wasn’t six weeks eh Brian Jordan. Saying it repeatedly won’t change that. Lol
I meant two months..lol
I checked nine weeks to be exact. 😉
In some aspects, it did look like a team that is still feeling its way. I do think they will get better.
Sorry but when I see this kind of comment on growing players like Isaiah Hudson and Jabari Mitchell i getting mad . I know them very well and I know that they have space for improvement but talk about no pace limited pass range and limited shooting range is really upset me the boy is young and sometime badly advice and bad managed he need to follow the right training development in the right contest and I am still fighting for that Jabari need to work in personality and soon you will see wich kind of player we talking about
this team is nowhere in the same class with the u20 team of 2014 they lack creativity and don’t have the individual talents of a levi garcia kadeem corbin kishun seecharan and others they are more workman like and have to work harder 2 achieve success
It’s pretty easy to make these pronouncements guys. Coaches go with what they see in training. Keep in mind, team won group and also knows improvement is required.
Isn’t this the team that took licks at u17?
Yes, it is. They squeezed into CONCACAF as the fifth placed CFU team and lost every game there.
Shane Sandy is the best midfielder in that squad in my.opinion and should start all games
when in my opinion two of the better players Shane Sandy and Jacob Sooklal were left out the team last evening. ..I refused to make that journey….yet again history does just repeat itself in Trini…This nepotism in sports would never work…lets pick people with the best talent and not the club or Assosiation you represent…we again will reach no where very quickly….new management same system of recruiting…not sure if Mr Williams is the best coach for this team he …but who is me to say I’m just a patriot
Not too shocked. The talent is comparable on team at most positions.
Shocked that some players who didn’t play before started in a must win game. ..
And how’d Jabari Mitchell do as captain?
He tried. But he was not really able to stamp his authority at all. Average tournament.
You really seem underwhelmed with this team eh…
Noticed a St Lucian got man of the match even though we won. ?
We didn’t win eh. We drew. Lol. I couldn’t think of anyone who really did a sterling job otherwise.
I think Jabari Brice and Noah Powder did good jobs for T&T. Taryk Sampson did okay too. And Jared Dass won us the point although that was his only real contribution…
The St Lucian goalie seemed the safest bet. 🙂
So if there’s no standardization of preparation, previous teams have been better due to individual skill/talent?
Are there any exceptional talents in this bunch?
Would Pappy have made a big difference to the team? To the extent that we should expect marked improvement in the team’s performance if and when he comes on.
As for the prep time. Williams was appointed at the beginning of April. So that’s more than six weeks. But even if it were only six weeks, should you spend half the time scouting? Especially if you already have a 16 person or so initial group in mind?
Our preparation has gotten worse since Jack Warner disappeared with the money. In the past, T&T would have national teams all the way down to Under-14 and they would travel and play games.
Two decades ago, 18 year old players would already have 20 or 30 national caps. Now they have one.
These players lack exposure so it is an uneven playing field to be fair.
Well only twice have an u20 team qualified for the world cup that was a Dwight Yorke led one in 1991 and a Leston Paul led one in 2009. Paul team included Sheldon Bateau, Cryus, Sean De Savia important to note the last team coached by Brian Williams had Attula Guerra Lester Peltier and the like and was eliminated at the Caribbean stage
The last team also included K Daniel. C Mitchell . Hyland. Foncette. Bakr.
So this U20 team at the moment doesn’t quite compare to the last? How does it rank against other U20 teams? Like when the players on the current men’s senior team were U20 players?
Last U20 was best in quite a while in my opinion. To my knowledge, we never seem to have the preparation standardized so it’s hard to pinpoint what works and what doesn’t. Good questions though.
Chabeth, quite a few members of the men’s senior team played with a U-20 team that went all the way to the World Cup.
Some of those players are: Molino, De Silva, Bateau, Paul, Cyrus, Gonzales, Samuel, Hyland, Aubrey…
We shan’t be pleased with this result – I don’t know of any other way to say this! Congrats St. Lucia! Much work to be done T&T.
Congratulations to the technical staff and their young charges. Lots of work to be done. Would have liked to see Quinn Rodney and Josh Toussaint on the field during this tournament.
I was very surprised not to see them. I think Isaiah Hudson always looks to make a beeline for goal although he still has a lot to learn. But I felt we had too many midfielders who were not as aggressive about trying to make things happen.
Would have liked to see Quinn get a crack.
Hudson is a good young talent. Think his best position is behind the striker though. Central defense is a huge issue. Central midfield needs a creative spark too. Let’s see what happens next.
I don’t think Hudson is capable of that central role behind the striker yet. I haven’t seen anything to suggest that at all. I think he has to grow into his current post as a wide attacker.
Btw, Brian Williams said he had six weeks with the squad. But he said he started work on April 1. Something is missing there.
He did it well for Naps man. Looks good there in practice too. Wide is less of a fit than it appears, but he can be adequate there.
There is not much space there and you need good technique, quick feet and experience. The boy is 15 years old and I don’t think he is a phenom. I’d rather him learn wide.
I say we might have to abandon that number 10 role altogether perhaps. Just go 4-3-3. Jabari looked like a future 10 two years ago. But his game seems to have changed.
Lasana Liburd u know i hate to bash young players but at present Hudson and Mitchell are not genuine starters!! Until we get away from players being picked on rep and connections no pun intended TT football will continue to suffer Micah Lansiquot did more than enough to force himself into the starting line up
Kierron Mason was a running time bomb!! Now he is a midfielder converted to a stopper if that is d case his ball handling should b good not so. Is this primary school football where you pick u best eleven players regardless of position and fit them in? Come on man
Gordon. Where did Lansiquot Showcase his start potential? I think I may have missed it
He come on against Turks and with the game looking like a hard to watch 3-0 affair upped the creativity scored and we clapped an 11-0 beating i have both the stats sheet and the tape if you or d coach need it
Thanks for clarifying. I don’t think one game, particularly that one, proves anyone needed to start. I saw 75% of training sessions and practice games, and whilst he is good, he is of similar talent level to starters, in my opinion. Let’s see how the future pans out though. I am sure changes will be made with additional preparation.
Agreed there are practice champs and there are game day champions and from what i saw in those three games!! And i hate to do this Hudson should not have played 90 minutes against Turks and definitely was d first sub against st Lucia although he scored. Very left footed limited pass range limited shooting range no change of pace. I really don’t like breaking down young players game in public but when u see bias in team selection i am forced to bc one is bigger than the game!! And as i always say the National program needs to be strong and transparent so the youths can aspire to something it causes them to live different to dream d impossible dream!
Need more than a 6 week timeframe man. That is pretty poor preparation given our player base has conflicting priorities with proleague. I mentioned to Lasana, that we should take a provisional team out of the sack, then supplement after couple months of pro league. I know others will query coach selection methodology as well.
SSFL not sack, sorry..
Lasana, Brian was announced as head coach on April 6th, and then spent three weeks or so screening. I think that’s why he said he had six weeks with the squad.
Sorry but when I see this kind of comment on growing players like Isaiah Hudson and Jabari Mitchell i getting mad . I know them very well and I know that they have space for improvement but talk about no pace limited pass range and limited shooting range is really upset me the boy is young and sometime badly advice and bad managed he need to follow the right training development in the right contest and I am still fighting for that Jabari need to work in personality and soon you will see wich kind of player we talking about
Stefano Monti i apologize even before i started bc i for one as a youth coach do not like to negatively criticize young players but had to to highlight the great bias in team selection bc their seemly demi god status on this team has nothing to do with their ability on the pitch from what i saw in these games
More than demi god status I believe Bryan know them very well and their capacity on the field
That’s just the problem players change fall off, catch up especially at the age group level so coaches must choose from what they c not remember or project and if that was done Hudson and Mitchell would have had far less playing time! Time to take out the friend and family connection!! One of Stephen Hart major strength is that he picks the best available squad the results follow
Nigel Myers, it was Brian Williams who said he began work on April 1. So then he must have confused his own dates.
Nigel Myers, he began on April 6 and selected his first training squad on April 8. That is nine weeks before the tournament began.
He said six weeks. David John-Williams said three months. It was in between the two.