MIX AND MATCH
Head coach of the Trinidad and Tobago senior men’s national team Stephen Hart said he would continue to experiment with his squad ahead of today’s second leg of the Jamaica versus Trinidad and Tobago “Caribbean Clasico” from 8 p.m. at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The T&T team won for the first time in 49 years in Jamaica, 1-0 against their perennial Caribbean rivals at Montego Bay last Friday.
But for this return leg, Hart is not too focused on a winning outcome.
“This has been a unique opportunity to play both home and away. It sort of mirrors what would be necessary if you were trying to qualify (for the World Cup)... It also gives me an opportunity to continue to experiment with the team, experiment with the players, to mix and match and that is the only way you can evaluate the players, it’s by seeing them in international competition and though this game is billed as a friendly, the spirit in which it was played in Jamaica was excellent but certainly very, very competitive and in order to raise our standards that is necessary. So I am looking forward to the game tomorrow (today),” Hart said.
Hart said he is still trying to get a good feel for individuals and how they fit into the team and the coaching within the team. Veteran players, the retiring Chris Birchall of Port Vale and Carlos Edwards of Ipswich both of whom did not play the first leg, are expected to be in the line up for this game which is the TTFA’s send-off for the England-based Birchall.
“The team dynamic that is just the first process and really the second process has not really begun yet which is trying to get the team to be a cohesive unit in possession of the ball and without possession of the ball. We’re just only now touching on that and the response has been fantastic.
To be honest with you, I am still evaluating the players and testing players and trying to figure out the best manner in which to approach games,” Hart said.
The coach also said he did not want to get too carried away with the historic result against Jamaica in the first leg.
“We have to be realistic. This was just a friendly and we have to keep building our team, so that is what we are focused on especially as we look forward to the next World Cup,” the former head coach of Canada said.
His Jamaican counterpart, Winfried Schäfer has the same goal of developing his players and squad.
“I am happy about our team which is made up of only local players and players born in Jamaica from the US,” Schäfer said, “The players need matches for experience. For me it is not very important the result. The result is secondary, the importance is the development of the players and I want to see tomorrow (today) if we learn from the first game, that we minimise our mistakes”.
Schäfer said he and the rest of the Jamaican management are on the hunt for a good striker from the Jamaican league and that the challenge is to build a new team for the future.
But Jamaican player Jervon Watson contradicted his coach and said having lost the first leg against T&T, Jamaica are coming for a win.
“This other (today) game is gonna be an exciting one so this is a must-win for us. Jamaica is a hard-fighting (side) and we are not here to back down,” he said.
For his part, Birchall said, “It is a great opportunity for me and we have played well we’re improving. Everyone whether it be the players or the public have been impressed by how well the team has progressed and this (match) is another step towards that.
We won 1-0 in Jamaica for the first time since 1949 and we’ll do our best to win the game. We’ll try and get the win.”