Corneal: Talent was not the issue! TD discusses T&T’s shortlived Concacaf U-20 adventure

“[…] We saw an array of talent across the board and not with just 20 players. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the group is such a talented group of players.

“[…] Your questions are throwing me straight to the coach… Better you ask me about the coach then. Don’t dance around…”

Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical director Anton Corneal talks to Wired868 about the National Under-20 Team’s first round elimination in the Concacaf qualifying series, after a 3-0 loss to Canada in Port of Spain:

Wired868: The recent Concacaf Under-20 qualifying series was the first men’s competition of that level in Trinidad and Tobago since the Covid-19 pandemic. What do you see as the significance of it?

Anton Corneal: I think the importance of it, obviously, would have been getting an idea of where we are when it comes to competing against the Caribbean and against the more established teams—one of them being Canada [who are] in our group. So it gives us that yardstick.

In the preparation, it also showed us that talent was not the issue. We saw an array of talent across the board, and not with just 20 players. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the group is such a talented group of players.

Unfortunately, we were in a group with Canada—where you look around and see some of the teams got groups with only other Caribbean islands only… Is it a stage to build from? Yes. It is what we do with them.

These are our future players of our country in the next three to four years. So we have to continue building that group, regardless of the results, hoping that opportunities will come to them—either from professional clubs, schools in the US, or just playing here at the highest level.

Wired868: What is your view on how our team played—our strengths and weaknesses?

Corneal: That is an interesting question, only because as a technical director. (Pause.) I would not air my views that may affect… This conversation cannot be based on pointing fingers at the coach.

Wired868: You mean if you say what you think their strengths and weaknesses are, you would be…

Corneal (interjects): No, no, no. It is quite clear that we have individual ability. I think it is above average. I think understanding of the game is above average. I think the experience of playing at the highest level of the game is below average.

The experience that is needed at the higher level of Concacaf. We don’t have sufficient exposure. Has that been something that affected us in the past? Yes.

You look back to the teams that did well in the past you will see a lot of them had exposure—including if I give all the way back, we had Canada years ago in a similar situation where we beat them in the Centre of Excellence at U-20 (level). Sean De Silva scored a free kick, that would have been 2009.

If you look at the exposure that team had before going into that tournament. That team qualified for a World Cup. So they would have had all the preparation games plus the Under-17 World Cup.

Then that team played in the Super League and won the Super League. You remember that? And then they went into the tournament. I think that exposure allowed us to close the gap.

So even though we had a lot of talent, even though individually we are physically good. We have a lot of players who are above average when it comes to speed. I think to be able to perform, [you] need the environment to be able to perform at that level. I think that would have affected us.

We have to decide what is best for a Trinidad player—a player in our environment, a player in our region.

[…] The beautiful game is what is expected by everybody but we have to be realistic about what is our beautiful game. What are the strengths of our players?

It is something we have to look at and start prioritising. Look back at our history at what were our strengths in those periods in which we played well…

Wired868: You mention individual ability—can you go a bit further into that? What are you referring to specifically?

Corneal: The ability to handle the ball one-v-one. I think the ability to elude players and make dangerous passes; the ability to close players down even defensively.

But when […] players are not exposed enough to do it over and over at a higher level […] they are able to do it within our immediate region, but once we start playing against the more accomplished teams, we recognise there is a gap.

And how do you close that gap? That gap is closed by giving them exposure, where it is in front of them enough times that they are able to understand, grow and make decisions based on less space and less time.

Wired868: So you see the teams’ weakness as a lack of experience? Anything else in the game play you looked at and felt we were not good enough?

Corneal: No, no, no. Your questions are throwing me straight to the coach. Lasana, you know I’m not going to do that. You are talking to somebody with a little more experience. Better you ask me about the coach then. Don’t dance around.

Wired868: Well, I was asking you about the team play first. The coach would follow based on your answers. You watched this team play before the tournament—because I saw you at the friendly against Jamaica—and you saw them at the tournament.

In terms of what they were doing and how they were playing under the coach in the pre-tournament phase, were you satisfied then? Did you see the same issues in the tournament? Were they ever addressed?

(Editor’s Note: Trinidad and Tobago defeated Jamaica 3-2 and lost 3-1 in two pre-tournament friendlies in east Trinidad.)

Corneal: I thought in the pre-tournament at that time, I was satisfied, especially in the games against Jamaica. When you think about it, they scored an own goal, [Jamaica] scored a free kick. There was enough we saw to show that we were able to compete.

But was it because it was Jamaica and we felt as though it was our counterpart? We saw with our own eyes that we were able to compete. But as soon as [the competition comes from a team] outside of our area, is it that we don’t have the confidence and the exposure to do well against those countries?

Wired868: Are you saying that the problem is the players didn’t have the nerve against North American opposition then?

Corneal: I don’t know about the word “nerve”, but that is where the experience or the confidence—they might not have had the confidence. What did we do as a country to afford them the confidence? What are the things that are needed for players to have that confidence? What is the pathway we have to take to develop that confidence?

One, the league we are playing in. If the league you are playing is a very competitive league, it means every weekend you are placed in a situation that is going to help you grow.

Secondly, if your experience affords you the opportunity to compete at a higher level and train at a more intense level all week, then it probably affords you the confidence.

So I think we have so many factors that must be taken into consideration. But what do we do? We just stand back and say this is where we are? No, we have to continue this programme […] to keep giving these children the opportunity to grow. Because we know this is the foundation of our national team.

We had 50-plus players in screening and allowed them to train for long periods and these players will develop differently according to their pathways. Some will go to the US like Tyrese [Spicer], who went there, continued to develop and got picked up by the MLS. A player’s pathway will decide his possibilities and growth.

Wired868: We are speaking about Canada being a superior team in terms of their experience and so on, but what about the St Vincent and the Grenadines game? We were not convincing in the St Vincent game either, won’t you say?

Corneal: We weren’t prepared. (Pause.) I didn’t think we expected that type of pace at the beginning; and it just shows us that the Caribbean is not a given anymore, and I don’t expect it to be.

The coaches in the Caribbean have become much more educated now. They are able to organise their teams better and make their teams more compact. They know what it is like to limit space and to defend in blocks and play in transition.

[…] But if you did percentages of possession, if you did chances on goal, you would still see that we were ahead of them… There was a time when the St Vincent team just collapsed and allowed us to attack at will.

We want to win better than that, of course we do…

Wired868 (interjects): We were behind and we could have been even further behind.

Corneal: We turned it around. Are we taking 20 percent of the game and making it an issue? Because we were behind but we kept getting chances and some of them were easy chances too from my recollection. Am I correct in saying that?

Wired868: You might be.

Corneal: No, no, no, no, no. You are interviewing me; I’m assuming that you would have remembered the chances that we got.

Wired868: It was the first game of three. So I can’t remember minute by minute right now—other than the major points like when the goals were scored.

Corneal: Were we the better team? Yes. Were we at our best? No. But we were the better team in terms of being able to come out of adversity. Sometimes you leave a young team in adversity and they don’t have the ability to come out of it.

(Editor’s Note: Corneal reiterates his unwillingness, off the record, to make any comment that he feels might attract negative publicity to the team.)

Wired868: What can you say on the record? I’m trying to get salient information for my readers, a lot of whom are Trinidad and Tobago football fans—some of them are coaches and so on, or people who have that level of interest in Trinidad and Tobago’s football.

They have heard from reporters like myself and the man on the street, now they want to hear from the technical director in terms of how we played and what can be improved. Something with a bit more meat on it.

Corneal: If I were to speak, I’d say there would be areas where we have to improve. One of them will surely be exposure. I realise people talk it and say they understand, but they don’t understand. Look at Qatar. Why are their under-15s flying all over the world? Why can’t they just train and play in the Middle East? Because you can’t coach that…

Wired868: Exposure is a little bit broad. How was that lack of exposure manifest in the tournament?

Corneal: Even your question is interesting. There are things you get based on playing over and over in a particular environment. Like being able to recognise and implement when to squeeze, the importance of playing a few balls over the top to get your runners going, when to drop your line a little bit deeper. When you have to squeeze a team and make the game ugly.

A coach cannot coach exposure. Yes, you can tell but that will only have some [benefit]. The only way for change to take place is by them actually doing it, over and over.

Wired868: Brian Haynes said after the tournament that he basically had one training day and one training session to prepare for Canada, because of the format of the tournament.

Now we knew who we were going to play months in advance. How could the coach say he had one training session to prepare for the toughest team in our group? What is your view on that?

Corneal: Well, that must have been based on his research. We played against Canada ample times but we would not have been sure which players Canada would bring. There would have been periods in the game that he wanted to see so he can decide where we want to eliminate space; how do we stop them from going from side to side.

[…] It is a coach’s responsibility to prepare the team in a way that he believes would get the best performance out of the team…

Wired868 (interjects): Agreed. But he said ONE session.

Corneal: If he said that, who am I to say otherwise? I was not there. If he made that statement, how can I comment on a statement like that? I cannot speak on behalf of him.

Wired868: As TD, other than the senior team all of the youth teams fall under your care. So that is why I am curious to hear your view…

Corneal (interjects): That is a coach’s decision, and a coach’s comment. So every comment a coach makes, you think I would react?

Wired868: Let me explain my point. He came in, based on your recommendation; the Under-20 team comes directly under your thumb in terms of you having a supervisory role.

I would… Well okay, I know I shouldn’t assume. But I would want to believe that even as he draws up his preparation plan, there would be some sort of collaboration with you as TD. So maybe you can explain what input you had with the team?

Corneal: My input with the team is to ensure that he is able to see as many players as possible… What I didn’t want is what has been said before—and it has been said before through your forum—that Anton Corneal wants to coach all the teams.

I am thinking, you know what, this is a person that is accomplished, who has coached a lot in the US. Let me give him the opportunity to do it, with assistance if need be; and we are always there with assistance. And we will continue to embrace persons that work with our programmes.

I am so wary of my words—I would love to see how this article comes out. Because if I think it affects what I do, I would be very wary of doing other articles…

Wired868: A lot of our interviews like this are done as Q&As. So there is no editorialising of any sort. It is Q&A, so people feel they can be part of the conversation.

Corneal: I think we did what was necessary to be able to give ourselves the best chance when it comes to availability of players, the ability to see players. Time-wise we could have started a bit earlier but that is very difficult because of the high school season which starts in September—but they start training in August.

Am I correct to say that?

Wired868: Earlier sometimes.

Corneal: Right, so we only really get them in December. Anytime we were to do this differently, it comes back to the question that we have been asking for years. Do we take them out of the high school [competition]? Or do we allow them to play?

Wired868: I think there is more than one question to be asked to be fair. If the problem is just how long the coach has the players, then you can solve that by pulling the players out of the high school [competitions].

But there could be another problem too. If the coach isn’t up to the job or up to the level, then it doesn’t matter how long he has the team—whether it is a year, or two years.

Corneal (interjects): We take that chance with any coach. We take that chance with any administrator.

Wired868: Well yes, there are good and bad people in every job. Or people who fit some jobs or don’t fit some jobs…

Corneal (interjects): Sometimes the jobs are given to people who have been there and had relative success. And then what do they say? They say we are recycling coaches.

[…] I think it would have been a learning process for Brian coming into this environment. I think if he had to do it again, he may make changes.

Wired868 (interjects): Would you suggest what those changes may be?

Corneal: Again, I can’t speak for him. But if he were to do it again. There were times when we took players out of the colleges [league]; and then there were times when we compromised and allowed them to play games but continue to train [with the national team].

The issue with that is the games aren’t played on the same day all the time, so you don’t have all the boys all the time. So even that is a problem.

Wired868: Well the coach also had the option of players from abroad that were not taken, or TTPFL players that were not taken.

Corneal (interjects): They came here and we were able to see them. Do we just pick players because they play abroad or…

Wired868 (interjects): No. That is not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is, if it is that the SSFL was so much of an issue for the coach, in terms of availability of players or anything else, he was not confined to SSFL players at all.

Corneal: Yes, but he is confined [by issues with] players coming home. Who brings them home? Are they in schools? Are they in clubs?

Their clubs won’t release them for long periods. When they come you get to see them for maybe 10 days. So you can’t really have a programme based on the players away. And the ones in university, you can’t just ask them to leave the school.

Wired868: In saying that, I don’t think it is fair to say you are pulling boys out of one programme when you can’t do the same with others.

Corneal: Well this is what I’m saying. Can you imagine the reaction if we said these are a list of the local players we are going to use and they are going to train with us all the time and only play with us?

We could have picked up 25 boys and had them train with us. Could that not have been done?

Wired868: I am sure it could. But is there anything to suggest that would have made things any better?

Corneal: What, being together for longer periods? This is knowledge-based now. You tell me. Are you asking me that because you really don’t know? Or are you asking because you want to hear my response?

Wired868: Well, I suppose a combination of the two. I mean…

Corneal (interjects): If we had players together from August, you will not be in a better situation for a tournament in February?

Wired868: Depends on what they are leaving to join the national training programme and who they are with when they get there. If a national coach is not up to it, is it better to take players out of environments in which they may be exposed to better coaching…

You mentioned Presentation College (San Fernando) players and Shawn Cooper has a decent enough record at Concacaf level. Is it that pulling a player out from Shawn Cooper and putting him under Brian Haynes for a longer period—does that make it any better for the player?

Maybe it doesn’t.

Corneal: Well, one thing it is now more competitive. They are now training in an environment with the best of the best. The exact words of Arsene Wenger: when you get the best to train with the best, it forces growth on the players.

Wired868: There were between 40 to 60 players training with the national team up until about two weeks before the final tournament, was that the best use of the coach’s time?

Does it take three months to screen players? Or would he have been better off whittling down the team by the middle of December and then working for longer with a core group?

Corneal: We have to look at our reality. What is our reality? We had players who came from away. Probably about 15 players. Is it that they don’t come? […] Hence the reason that we thought, let them be seen. These are players we may one day go to. We are showing our interest in them and not somebody calling to say: it’s too late, we will see you another time.

We embrace them… Again, this U-20 team will be the base of our national team for many years.

Wired868: Every single overseas-based player used in the tournament except Rio Cardines trained with the team by the timeframe I’m talking about, which is December. Every one of them. So you could have still culled the team by that point in time…

Corneal (interjects): It wasn’t that easy you know. I want to share one screening session with you… I said let us play the team that you consider most ready for the tournament against the others. Do you know the result of the game? It was 3-all.

You know why? The talent was not far from each other. We were playing three 30s and the first two 30s were so intense that we called off the third 30. I will never forget that.

That there was a little indication to us that we had a really good group of players. We had to make decisions on players who were very close to each other (in terms of talent), so you want to see them for as long as you can see them.

[…] It is not us now trying to find excuses.

Wired868: But the flipside to that is it is harder to go into details about how you want to play with a very large group? If we have this large group of players and there is not a big gap between them, why not just settle on 25 and start preparing for the games—including the Canada game—from earlier?

Corneal: Well, you know what? We did settle on 28 players. But it was not as easy as you think. I think what is not coming over is we have not had a group like this for a while where we had so many players.

Before it was the other way around, you would have 15 [players] and you are fighting to find players for six [places]. We have not been in a position for a while where you really had 35 players. There is one player I loved; and you know he wasn’t in the final 23.

Wired868: Would you like to call the player’s name so he could feel proud?

Corneal: I want to; but if I call one name, they would say: so you didn’t like Peter? You didn’t like James? You didn’t like Harry?

My position carries a lot of responsibility as a technical director and that is why how such interviews are written are important to me…

Wired868: You mentioned the amount of time that the coach had, but between Christmas and January he went home (in the United States) for three weeks. Was that a good use of limited time?

Corneal: Well I can tell you that what we did in that period was a lot of tactical and technical fitness, to make sure they got up to game speed.

So there were areas in the game in the periodisation going into the tournament that were addressed then. And a lot of it I actually took, as you probably know.

Wired868: You mentioned the number of players that Brian looked at, because he was here since November. Did you see the interview that Brian did where he said that this is a team put together by Anton Corneal, Shawn Cooper, Marvin Gordon and the other local coaches?

Corneal: It is unfortunate for him to make that statement and it tells me about people. That’s all it does. It’s unfortunate for him to make a statement like that.

Wired868: Why do you say “unfortunate”?

Corneal: I don’t know if it is said as a way out. What we tried to afford him is to put as many bodies in front of him as possible. How many coaches get to have 50 or 52 players sitting outside?

We gave him ample opportunity to choose players. We thought what we did there was actually to help with the process. We didn’t see it trying to hinder the opportunity for more players. It was just trying to help the process.

I am the TD; I could have easily stayed away completely and said, you know what, this is what national coaches do—you have to go and seek out those players. No, we reached out.

When people sent messages to us, we passed it on. When people wanted to come in from away, we afforded them the opportunity to come to be seen. That is why I said it is unfortunate.

It sounded as if they tried to throw me under the bus. You can go ahead and ask me that question. (Laughs.)

Wired868: Do you feel Brian Haynes was trying to throw you under the bus?

Corneal: The answer is even that is not important at this time. There is a bigger picture and if we had to do it again, we would afford him the same number of players. Because it would be unfortunate not for him to see all of them and recognise there is talent outside.

I don’t regret it because these are the same players we will depend on in the next few years. So we have to let them know: one, they are on our radar. Two, I think their continued development is important and we will be revisiting or finding a way to give the majority of them opportunities in the game.

Wired868: You said as TD you could have stayed away and left the coach to handle his business so to speak. Right? But then as TD you could have also been there micro-managing each session, because his team falls under your portfolio.

There are players who would never get another chance to play in a Concacaf Under-20 series, this was their one shot. Do you have any regrets about not being more hands on…

Corneal (interjects): Not at all, not at all.

Wired868 (interjects): Or in the future, do you intend to be more hands on.

Corneal: Every situation is different and I think the persons who surrounded him had a lot of experience.  It was not their first rodeo. He would have had that support system.

In December I thought my input was there, and this was on the field and off the field.

As a TD, I don’t think I have to micromanage but there may be circumstances where I need to help a little bit more. But Brian came here with experience. We didn’t bring a first-timer here; he has worked at a good level. To micromanage that I think would have been very forwarding of me.

(Editor’s Note: Brian Haynes was assisted by Marvin Gordon and Gilbert Bateau. Shawn Cooper was not listed as an assistant coach, but he was also involved.)

Wired868: Like you said, Brian Haynes came with a lot of experience—so imagine the surprise of the football public on hearing him say he had one session to prepare for Canada. Those two things just don’t seem to go together.

Corneal: You may have to deal directly with him when it comes to something like that. I don’t plan to and I cannot and should not speak on behalf of the coach. I really should not.

Wired868: Part of Haynes’ portfolio was the National under-23 Team. Is there a National Under-23 Team?

Corneal: It was not part of his portfolio. People say that. Part of his portfolio was to help with younger players to start getting the exposure and preparation going into the senior teams.

It is not really an under-23 team. You can use a player who is 24 years old. It is just about preparing players who are knocking on the door of the senior team.

Wired868: Well, I could have sworn the TTFA release specifically said an Under-23 team.

Corneal: Well, what I just said to you comes across as an under-23 team. So I am not sure if it was an interpretation of his portfolio. Because we really don’t have an under-23 team at this point in time.

The idea behind it was to prepare players who are on the fringe of the national senior team.

(Editor’s Note: The TTFA release on Brian Haynes’ appointment stated “Haynes will serve initially on a six-month appointment starting 1 November and he will also be at the helm of a Men’s Under-23 Team, which will be used as a feed team for the Senior Men’s National Team.”)

Wired868: But isn’t that what Angus Eve is already doing right now, like with those recent friendlies against Jamaica?

Corneal: Yes, and with even younger players. For the players who are 19 right now and can’t play another Concacaf Under-20 tournament, what happens to them for the next three years—when suddenly they become national senior team players?

The same exposure we are talking about, how will they get that?

Wired868: I’d suppose they would get it with their clubs.

Corneal: Okay, club system and what else?

Wired868: Well, I suppose games like those Angus had against Jamaica. He had a few boys from the previous Under-20 Team like Kaihim Thomas and so on.

Corneal: Do you understand the importance of helping boys to bridge that gap? That is the reasoning behind it. How do we afford players that opportunity to gain that experience before they get into the national team?

It may mean travelling to Colombia and playing five club teams, travelling to USA and playing five club teams, travelling to Panama and playing five club teams. Maybe going to Holland and playing their reserve teams. So we are giving them the exposure.

Wired868: Okay, for a situation like that where a team is not in constant training but comes together a few times a year to travel—would it not be more cost-effective to use a coach that is already salaried: like Angus Eve, Shawn Cooper, yourself as TD, or Densill Theobald?

Corneal: Yes, yes. It is something we have to think of. We have to constantly evaluate and re-evaluate what we are doing to see what makes sense and what makes financial sense. You are very correct.

Wired868: You mentioned before the Under-20 team that played in the Super League in 2009. And you hear this conversation from time to time about putting national teams into club competitions. But I also remember the minuses.

For instance, one would be the expense on the boys all-year round. When you are training at one venue, let’s say the Mannie Ramjohn stadium, and a boy is from Sangre Grande or Carenage, it is very difficult for him financially.

He would never choose for himself a club team that is that far away because he cannot afford to. So when the national team operates as a club year-round, that is one issue.

Two, when a national team plays year-round it may lose some of its gloss. I’ve heard it said before from players and coaches: you are hearing the voice of the national coach so often, you are playing for them more than even your school team or club team, and it loses some of the prestige and buzz.

Corneal (interjects): A decision has to be made based on who we would like to compete against and at what level. If you want to compete against the best in the confederation, we have to do what will take us there. And that means sacrifice by the clubs, by the players, by the association, by the government. Everybody has to be part of that sacrifice.

The stakeholders need to know who are we trying to compete with and are we prepared to do what it is going to take based on our environment.

The world says there is one quality player in every hundred; there are more quality players in 39 million than 1.3…

Wired868: Do you think the best way is to have the national team operating like a club team?

Corneal: There must be a compromise on both sides, according to the time of the tournament and the type of build-up you want going into the tournament.

Wired868: Thanks for your time, Anton. Do you have any closing statement?

Corneal: I have always seen the bigger picture and decisions have to be based on what is best for the country. That’s how even in our long-term development plan, we have to hope we can get to our truest potential, taking our environment into consideration.

And that’s a headline—not “Anton Corneal said…”

Wired868: The statement that stands out and ends up in the headline is the most interesting thing from the interview.

If the prime minister says he wants everyone to be happy, that doesn’t really stand out. You would expect that!

(Both laugh.)

Wired868: Thanks again, Anton.

Editor’s Note: At present, Brian Haynes is preparing the National Under-20 Team to play in The Mayor’s Cup in Skinner Park, which is a round-robin competition with Pitchmen of La Brea, Samba Youths of Moruga, and a Tobago Football Association representative XI.

Pitchmen and Samba Youths compete in the third tier of local football in the SFA.