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“It was our individual errors that cost us the game and the USA took advantage of it.”
That was Trinidad and Tobago head coach Dennis Lawrence’s blunt assessment of his team’s 2-0 loss to the USA at Dick’s Sporting Goods Stadium in Colorado last evening. The 2018 World Cup Qualifying match, the Warriors’ fifth, reminded supporters of a classic Clint Eastwood western as it saw them produce some good stuff along with some bad and some ugly.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
After spending two weeks in training at the University of Colorado’s Prentup Field getting used to the special conditions spawned by Colorado’s 5,340 feet above sea level altitude, Lawrence was satisfied that the tactical plan he devised to counter the home side’s system worked—at least for the entire first half.
“We knew that [USA] were going to play a 4-4-2 diamond system,” Lawrence told the post-match media conference, “and felt up against [Jozy] Altidore and [Clint] Dempsey that solidity was needed at the back.”
For what was the biggest match of his brief coaching career so far, Lawrence opted for a 3-4-2-1 formation.
“Also, because of this, our aim was to get the get ball wide and cross before they could turn back into their formation.”
His team delivered although not as spectacularly as if Kenwyne Jones’ 32nd minute header off a Khaleem Hyland chip forward had been a couple of centimetres lower. That was the “good.”
“We had a little joy with it, Kenwyne’s unfortunate header hitting the crossbar. And I think Nathan’s ‘goal’ was a very close call that went against us again.”
The “bad” was the bad luck that came when Nathan Lewis put the ball in the net in the 62nd minute but the goal was ruled offside. It came immediately after Christian Pulisic had opened the scoring for the USA, running on to an Altidore pass to slot home from close range.
Pulisic scored twice as USA won 2-0.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
Lady Luck has not been good to Lawrence in the early part of his coaching career so far. In the fourth round game versus Mexico in March at the Hasely Crawford, Joevin Jones sent a left-footed screamer into the net from distance, only to have it disallowed for offside by the Jamaican referee. T&T eventually went down 0-1 in that crucial match-up.
Lawrence noted that he had given a lot of thought to the formation he should use but in order to deploy it he had to make some adjustments to the roles played by Jones (J) and Kevin Molino.
“I asked Kevin to play in a specific wider position tonight and he played it as best he can,” he explained. “Then, I brought him in the middle and he did well so I was totally pleased with his effort and commitment.
“Joevin came into the camp late and I always knew that him playing 90 minutes in these conditions as wing-back after playing for his club on Sunday would have been tricky. He gave it his all and I took him off when I felt he didn’t have much left in the tank.”
Lawrence did not say so clearly in words but unforeseen circumstances may also have affected his original plan. Lewis was probably not in the original plan but, with Levi Garcia ruled out through injury and Cordell Cato through his late suspension, he eventually got the nod as a starter.
USA won 2-0.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
“Nathan didn’t let me down tonight,” Lawrence said. “He did well in the recent Caribbean Club Championship and, given the squad options, he came in.”
Overall, Lawrence was pleased with how his team had adapted to his plans. But he would not have been pleased with the “ugly.” The USA’s propensity for taking advantage of lapses is well known and Lawrence would almost certainly have stressed it over and over in the run-up to this game. Yet, both American goals came from two possession lapses in midfield, one by the national skipper Jones (K) and the other by the usually dependable Hyland.
“We want Khaleem to get on the ball,” Lawrence commented wryly, “but we don’t want him to give it away cheaply in the middle of the park. So except for that moment, my overall point of view he did what I asked him to do, just need to execute better in those moments in the future.”
The coach seemed to suggest that he felt generally good about his team with the next crucial Hex assignment scheduled for San José, Costa Rica, on Tuesday.
“The positive looking ahead to Costa Rica is that the boys understood what I wanted them to do,” he concluded, “so tactically that’s not what cost us the game—but giving away the ball twice.”
USA won 2-0.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
USA coach Bruce Arena also commented on the T&T tactical approach.
“I didn’t expect Trinidad to play a back three,” he admitted, “and how high upfield the wingbacks and the defence were when they gained possession also caught me by surprise. So, yeah, although we won, I think they did a tremendous job and were well prepared for this game.
“They put our backline under pressure and deserve a lot of credit. Hopefully now, [Trinidad and Tobago] could start knocking off a few teams and ease the pressure on us.”
The Soca Warriors’ next chance to do so will be in Costa Rica next Tuesday on a venue where the two-island republic have never won and only once registered a point—32 years ago in the 1986 World Cup qualifying series.
USA won 2-0.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
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Why is it that only Indian Trini’s saying such nasty things about the team and the coach. Damn!
Garvin,
(1) How can you tell people’s race from reading stuff here?
(2) Assuming that your idea is correct, why should Indians not say how they feel? What’s the obligation to say only unnice things?
Boy, am I glad you’re not the minister of national security!
Don’t fool yourself Dennis…… the fact remains that this team has real problems scoring and even more problems keeping a clean sheet! As such a 2-0 loss is no surprise….. keep it real!
Yall need a new coach.somehow i dont feel he have d kinda experience….and d skillset of ah man like leo who carried this country to its first world cup.u feel dem players who probably played football with their own coach go have full respect for him in a such a way that they could learn from him….with trini mentality i dont think so……fire d coach…or get a made coach….n put him as an assistant or coach of a juniour team
Then Lawrence needs to realize that Hyland only has one half in him at best, and Bocaud needs to be given playing time. We also need to go with two strikers from now on we have No choice it’s do or die. 3-4-1-2
The first half was ours the team was playing ok but not good the defense was amazing but like in the dressing some fool gone and hype up the dam players to much and the couldn’t concentrate in the second half…..
Your error as an individual was sticking with that washed up imitation forward you insist on playing !
The chance that Kenwyn Jones should not have been missed. He is too experienced to missed that kind header to score.
I think you all should find another sport maybe tennis
Is better them send out one of the school intercol sides
Lawrence yuh is a hero but d shit u talking yuh cud be d next tommy or learie
The most disappointing thing for me was how little we got from Joevin in this formation.
Jelani has not been getting any game time with TFC II recently. He has only featured in 3 games for the season.
Just bring every player that is plying their trade in the real professional leagues abroad on the Soca Worries man lol . Them really good yes hahaha
True Nigel Myers but my thinking in suggesting him is simply because he playing in pro league despite of what we may think of USLs standard
Given the realities We can’t always expect TT players who playing overseas to be regular starters
The pro league was not in season except for a few guys who played in CFU club championship
Lawrence clearly wanted to deploy wing backs in the game – so if he didn’t trust playing Hodge in that role – Peters could have a least been brought into camp to asses
Yeah and I don’t understand why he isn’t giving these players their chances to prove themselves eh because he is preparing for the the next World Cup in Qatar 2022 so he said eh and if they play or don’t play the Soca Worries are still loosing so give them their chances let’s see what they got. Them really good yes
It might not have been a popular choice – but I think Toronto FC 2 & former connection Jelani Peters should have been picked to play the LWB position & then Joevin could have played more advanced instead of Lewis
Always was asking too much of Joevin to play LWB at altitude considering he played for Sounders on Sunday
Colin Benjamin It was a big ask of Joevin…. Lewis is not ready for this level….
The whole team playing like they are not ready for the real professional level, they can’t even score convincing goals Them really good yes.
I won’t agree with you there bro.
Aubrey David and Curtis Gonzalez were on bench. Not sure why we need Jelani Peters as well. On a another note, If we lose against Costa Rica, we may want to consider going younger for the rest of the tournament and exposing other players to the needs at this Hex level..
The treatment Curtis Gonzalez does get eh, and he is really a work horse. Them really good yes.
Brian Jordan I thought Curtis should have started….
Truly believe these hex teams will pick on Carlos
Brian you think Nathaniel Garcia will be picked anytime soon?
Hope springs eternal
lolzz
Brian Jordan David & Curtis are not natural left footers and don’t/can’t play LWB
David of course can play LB – but that’s different to playing LWB as a right footer
That’s my overall point of suggesting Peters as a option cause only him & Hodge are the mature left footed full backs avail to national team
Lawrence however didn’t trust Hodge for this game – so with Peters already in North America, he could have possibly been brought into the camp to see if he could have fit into the system – b4 the option of sacrificing Joevin in that role was decided upon
I hear you..
The team played well, it was just two small ball watching and not tracking your man make them goals score. Also sometimes too direct on attack
They played with a plan to slow down the game, it was a mistake by hyland that affected us, encouraging, we matched America in a high altitude situation that they deliberately used against us
He ent get fired yet hmmm strange
No where near as good of performance as against Mexico. But that’s me watching on tv and not on the pitch. I could see a tactical approach but I couldn’t see who or how we were gonna score. Good luck with next game.
Shit side
That headline in the story, beat back Mr. Bean yes
Rasta, we still have hopes in representing
Too much veterans. ..this is a fete match team
Carlos Edwards did look drunk in true.. Kenwyne Jones? ?
I feel Carlos have secrets on Lawrence ?
I wouldn’t doubt it. ..young fresh, eager, hungry youngsters looking to make their mark and being hindered by these tired old timers
Yeah but the high altitude was a factor too…
No. I didn’t see that. It’s only the oldstars were out of breath
boy u rough ?
Is a friend thing again. we killing ourselves with kenwyn Jones as a starter to begin with .
Check the age of demsey for America
Dempsey does score when needed most times
Hear what I fed up hear had luck they improve they playing better but the thing is we not winning we learn to accept that we loss bit still play good or improve an that ain’t making no sense
What he have Carlos doing there to old
Latas put on yah gears.tell dem English send yah
Nah the goal keeper was the best player eh the only goal that wasn’t his fault was the first goal that our defenders shouldn’t have allowed the # 10 to score . Them really good yes
I would like to think that Jan would be disappointed in allowing the 2nd goal, no. First post shot scored?
OK I would gave u that but Kj had to come in the midfield to get the ball because our number 10 was hiding and could not be see when we had the ball and the next Jones was only seen when he got sub off
Yeah I agree he sometimes allows easy goals to score but then again the #10 really have the eyes for scoring plenty goals eh and he almost scored a third one when then ball hit the post eh lol
No keeper worth his salt will be satisfied giving up a 1st post goal…
We need to find a system which brings the best out of our best players not a system which subdues them.
Brazil style 4 4 2 eh . Them really good yes hahaha
Shawn Babooram we need to properly diagnose the strengths and capabilities of our players abd select a system that leverages the same
Brazil get licks today and has not played a 4-4-2 in years Earl Mango Pierre
Buh A A who beat up my best world cup team in the universe eh lol
The football god
How poor T&T were last night KJ was our best player. Carlos Edwards should have had a run at the left back the amount of one on ones he had and choose to cross the ball instead of taking on his man.
He doh have the legs to run at men anymore. Even Giggs used to jus control and pass at 40
I would have like to see him try I least once
The losing coach said that his tactics worked….smh.
Aubrey David and Boucaud should be starting and give Jamille a chance..
In Australia just under 30,000 fans turned out to see them win a vital World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia.
A day later, 96,000 fans turned out in Melbourne and shelled out big bucks to watch a friendly between Brazil and Argentina…
Well, it’s not just Trinidad with the bandwagonism eh. Chris Tanner, what do you say? Lol.
Wagonists are folks too 🙂
??
game here is a shambles … our national body are out of touch with the needs of the game, its participants at all levels, and the fans
the stronger the “team brand” the bigger the public interest … something we wanted to fix in TandT when we first pitched to PL clubs
If Honduras get a point in Panama, it will help us big time though. That would mean we have to win our two home games over USA and Honduras and beat Panama on the road to finish fourth.
That is at least plausible because have done all those things in the past before.
If Panama defeats Honduras, we have to do all those things PLUS get a point in either Costa Rica or Mexico.
That is mathematically possible but totally unrealistic.
It’s astonishing to hear the excuses fir our loss kast night… “the altitude affected their play!” So only T&T was playing then? This is not the time for excuses. TTFA & the coaches knew 12 months ago we would be playing at higher altitude. Failing to plan and prepare is planning to fail. Simple as that.
Put on a suit and tie and yuh is a coach. All dem players who force out the former coaches and staff are a set of shirt hungs ejo cyah make a 5th division side but feel dem real good. T&T should stick to netball.
Encourage he say about what ..really he ha to be joking .
Dey does say dem ting in an attempt to save dey job
All am saying is a total team worming wouldn’t hurt!
Senna and salts ?
Haha
Cyar agree with Lawrence on his assessment. Granted we acquitted ourselves reasonably well in the first half, but the US continually exploited our left flank in the second half, and we did nothing about it. Pulisic, Nagbe, and some other fella was always free in between Carlos and Mekeil. I think switching Carlos from the right side to left side made us more vulnerable, for whatever reason.
Probably Yedlin.
Well the real professional Coach in my second sweetest country realize that long time Carlos Edwards is a old fella representing our sweet country since in 2006 eh so of course the game plan was to always attack on his side and wouldn’t you have done that same thing eh Nigel Myers. Them really good yes
Mel Lissa, T&T need a purge ….. dey does always play like dey need tuh shit!
I eh saying nutten nah- I leaving that fuh alluyh Mericans to say 🙂
I think we should start doing what other teams do to us when they have a home and use our geographical advantage. We may not have high altitude stadiums but we could be starting games a little earlier around 5pm to give them a little taste of tropical sun. It would be just warm enough to throw of teams like the usa and cool enough for our team to handle. But strategic thinking is not one of strengths either.
Hahahahaha The tactics worked alright so that my second sweetest country cudda win the game Them really good yes
I eh read the article yet but ‘Our tactics worked against USA’?
Is that an error? ( ah will read it when I return to find out)
I saying the same thing yes Mel ?????
Well the first player that I will be dropping is Mr. Bound not to score eh Darron Davis if I was the coach of the Soca Worries but I will never ever bounce my head and ever take that job especially when the corrupted Jack Warner and his cronies TTFA continues to use and exploit our local coaches and our players steeuuppss. Them really good yes
hahahahahaha
To me Edwards played the most constructive game for us, each time he had the ball you could ser him positioning himself to create opportunities for others, the others though seemed incapable positioning themselves to maximize these opportunities.
A good wukkin old ting… Lol
Carlos has no acceleration again. But he still offers experience which is something. That said, I’d expect the old fellah to get a breather in Costa Rica and Aubrey David to play, especially as Aubrey played professionally there before.
I don’t know, T&T plays as though they believe if they wait long enough the ball will roll into their opponents goal for them.
hyland gave away the ball to much and we have not enough strikers we need to play two strikers and molino and joevin down the flanks
What were our possession and pass percentages?
At least twice I saw players beats themselves and lost the ball. Other times individuals penetrated deep into US territory and either delayed shooting or passing too long or had no one supporting.
We ended with about 48 percent possession which is decent for the away team. Almost strange considering we were away to USA.
In fact that doesn’t auger well for USA at all. Either they were already thinking about Mexico and were distracted. Or they really are as mediocre as we think and have a rude surprise waiting in Mexico City.
The US played rell shit …. that’s why initially I expexted us to win, but when the US realized we weren’t gonna do anything it’s like they decided “Flick dat yes …. leh we buss T&T ass”.
Mango you should go coach the team
trinidad need to play more attaking football wat is the sence yuh playing defenceive football and yuh loosing best yuh try one game atleast with attack wat yuh have to lost its done mere impossibe to reach world cup already to much games done lost so try something new play two strikers boatswain and kenwayne on top is dat so hARD TO SEE
Nahh Winchester
David Marc Thompson either ah dem cud work but we need more attacking football we look more dangerous playing attacking wat u think ?
Yes I agree with you bro we have to make them keepers dirty we did in 2005-2006 we can do it again
David Marc Thompson yes i mean im a die hard fan a drop of tear litterally camr from my eye after the game lol but seriously i like dennis as a coach is divensive mind thinking but we need a plan B tactics wich is attack
Boy I feeling like Stern John don’t want anyone pass he most goals wii
But next four years if we don’t make it again I will be a cricket fan wii forget football in Trinidad
For me this game & Lewis performance reinforced my long held belief that unfortunately- there a not much new players in pro league that can challenge the incumbents of this team, that essentially Hart put together.
We got to give team credit for being able to adapt to this 3-4-3 & realistically if Cato & Levi was around it might have allowed us to play Joevin & Molino in more attacking positions
USA gave Pulisic freedom – but we had to sacrifice the attacking threat of Joevin & Molino for understandable tactical reasons
In an alternative universe if Bostock had committed to team already – his presence in midfield would have been perfect for this system
So too the younger legs Sheanon Williams of Nick De Leon in the wing back role over Carlos
I believe they are not scouting as they should. We have a foreign base bias mentality and this has been so for ages. It takes a lot to do deep scouting and it is time consuming. We love a quick fix in our country. I won’t believe there aren’t any players to challenge these guys , you can’t tell me that there is no one better than Kenwyn , I won’t fall for that. They don’t give proper chances to other “no name” players, it’s a habit, it’s a mentality
Colin, if Levi was here then he would have played the more offensive role. I think it would be crazy to put Levi as a wingback while he is a wing forward for his club and do the reverse with Joevin.
Lasana Liburd Ye Levi instead of Lewis was only direct change i could have envisioned
Cato for carlos maybe also
And potentially instead of 3-4-3, playing more of a 3-4-2-1 where Molino at least could have played centrally
Curtis Charles Given all criticism Kenwyne still gets – if there was someone better than him from pro league – KJ would have been dropped a long time ago – but there isn’t and both Hart & now Lawrence knows this
Molino will do better than Kenwyn as a striker …we are not making any world cup . Wait and see all of a sudden someone is found for that striker position..they don’t want to take the chance with putting faith in someone else
I remember Hart played Guerra and Molino together on top once. And it looked very promising. But he only did it once.
And Kenwyne was delivering then anyway. His form just took a big slide last year.
Glad we finally decided to run ah back three, looked solid apart from the lapses that caused the goals….if we can eliminate errors and moments of LAZYNESS, lookin at u kenwin…in 343 d striker have to press d back line when he lose d ball, not stop playing, dat is a bad habit KJ have dat need to go
To tell you the truth the team wasn’t that bad …my major concern is transition from defense to attack. It was to slow and then in the final third we were clueless. One problem being that Kenwyn is being caught in the midfield and unable to reach the box when the ball reaches the wingers , when the wingers reach the byline there is no central striker, so it forced Joevin to shoot from that imposibble angle. Winning the ball in midfield was good, both George and hyland worked well but when the ball is retrieved ,then there is no creative outlet in midfield. This will always result in the other team scoring on you because your attack relieves your defense of pressure . I don’t blame the defense because everyone makes mistakes here and there…just look at juve in the champions league final for example.
The transition looked really slow to me. Joevin was really subdued and I didn’t see us trying to use Nathan’s speed on the break–granted Nathan struggled anyway.
Our counter attack rarely worked and that used to be our best quality. All the same, we were able to carve out opportunities. So it wasn’t all bad there either.
Our chances were really half chances which is not good enough. Clear cut chances were kenwyn’s header and Lewis disallowed goal. Other than that I can’t remember any clear cut chances
Fair enough. Molino got a header which was a half chance although he attacked the ball really well and really made it himself.
There was a Molino cross too that was a half chance but Lewis couldn’t get on the end of it.
Yeah yeah …I think that lines man was really ridiculous with his call too. How the hell he could see Lewis offside when Kenwyn was totally blocking him and the ball never went to Kenwyn anyway. That offside was a really harsh decision , I believe the lines man call for Kenwyn and not Lewis , cause no way he could have seen Lewis , check it out again , I mean the man sleeve was offside
And the benefit of the doubt is supposed to go to the attacker! Remember Alexis Sanchez’s goal for Arsenal in the FA Cup final?
That is onside but they’re trying to say Nathan was offside? Nah man.
Lasana Liburd Haven’t seen any clear replays but Lewis goal happened right in front of press box & a lot of people was shocked at offside call seeing it live
That’s right . That can never be offside . And like I said before Kenwyn was blocking Lewis , so that linesman can never see Lewis . This is the second mat h in a row we were robbed a goal.
They played alright, where they continue coming up short is in the area of possession/ball control.
You can’t win unless you score and you can’t score unles you have the ball. Too often T&T is content to allow their opponents to possess the ball while our side looks on like spectators, only looking like participants when providence delivers the ball to their feet, then they kind of scramble up the field toward the opposing goal with no apparent strategy in mind.
I don’t think we pressed enough. But then altitude might have played a role in that so I can’t be too judgmental.
Dennis Lawrence got three practice game in four months. We played Barbados, Grenada and an amateur team called FC Boulder.
Hardly the best preparation if you want to see a fluent, sharp team.
We rarely “press”, and yes altitude definitely played it’s part, but both teams played at the same altitude ….. we was’n up dere by we-self!
We are a sea level nation Vernal. Oh gorm, they more used to it than we! Hahaha
Who is “they”?
Only Tim Howard plays up there and he isn’t running up and down the field. The altitude clearly affected both side, but attitude affected only our’s!
Surely most states in the US are higher than Trinidad though. Arima must be one of the highest cities and I doubt anybody gets dizzy coming here for doubles! Lol.
But, yeah, it will take some doing before we can match the Yanks in terms of attitude.
You does make alibi professionally?
If only alibi could win football game …. we woulda lead the world in World Cup championships! LOL
Hahaha
Lasana Liburd Altitude is not an excuse unless the USA was wearing oxygen masks and we were not. We knew we were going to play way above sea level so we should have been better prepared.
Lasana Liburd the first goal definitely started when Hyland lost the ball. He He didn’t even try very hard to win it back. Joevin looked bun to me. We were going pretty well and I was hopeful for a draw in this game until the Hyland blunder. Then the guys just went kinda lax after a while. Seemed like no hunger to fight back. Even my 12yr old son was saying they moving lazy and not fighting back. Well for me I am supporting but it looks like 2022.
Well Joevin played for Seattle this week. So Dennis said he expected him to tire.
I thought we could have pressed more too. Although some of that might be down to altitude. Might.
We did not play all that well. Yes, we tried to press them, it was just a matter of time we would lose our discipline due energy levels which would result in mistakes being made, so said so done. We rode our luck a lot but eventually it did not hold. We just close up shop in the second half trying not to embarrass ourselves with the scoreline. But we clearly are struggling at Altitude especially. Now, with all the energy we expend here, would show in San Jose, Costa Rica, Tuesday, with a comfortable scoreline for the Central Americans. I would be surprised if we get anything out of that game. Highly Unlikely!
Costa Rica are better than USA. That was always going to be our harder game. Also while we are travelling–probably economy and with stopovers–Costa Rica will be home, rested and raring to go as they have two successive home matches.
I heard on the comments that the US team had anchored in Colorado ONE week before the game..
It looked like the T&T ran short of gas 20 minutes before the end..
Brilliant goal keeping by Williams..
Jones power header hitting the bar in the 33rd..
Lewis goal ruled off side..can’t recall the time..
No luck at ALL…
Cannot seem to.get the ball at the back.of.the net..
Reza, the USA team was in Utah before which is high enough.
You win some you lose some ,it’s called sport.
More like win few, lose most.
At world level in sport T&T get more respect than many ” Trinidadians ” want to give to their own.Too much negativity.
His choice is a tatical blunder also .
Not scoring the goals the same like how my second sweetest country does do it eh, and he is calling it bad luck . Them really good yes.
I wondered about that myself. He made it sound like scoring off your opponents errors is unusual.
Maybe he should finally stand up for the rights of our players with respect to always getting their bonuses and monies on time so that they will always give all of their hearts and soul for him to really succeed when representing our sweet country it always worked for me when I use to do my thing back in the days eh Them really good yes
They played and lost? Shocking!!!!! *going to feed my unicorn*
Did you watch the game?
Agreed.