When the national coach Stephen Hart described his team’s performance against Guatemala as unsatisfactory despite the drawn result last Friday and entry into the HEX of the 2018 FIFA/Concacaf Qualifers, I admired his honesty.
I saw his comments in the context of spending the short period between that match and the USA, as an intention to make as many corrections as he had seen on the field at the packed Stadium, in Port-of-Spain, for the 2-2 draw.
My curiosity stretched towards some of the essential mistakes, which if corrected, can endorse his desire to beat the Yanks and lead the group heading into the HEX.
In terms of priority, the mental preparedness which seemed severely lacking against the Guatemalians, would have been the one to address firmly and almost immediately.
Had this discussion been profound and demanding, just that simple adjustment leading to the next match, would have been beneficial when attached to the natural talents of the team.
Secondly, the “on the field’ exercise on Sunday (training) will probably have brought some intensity into the operation, plus the ultimate desire to focus upon “winning the ball” as opposed to letting the opposition operate, similar to what occurred against Guatemala.
Coach Hart had to make selection decisions which may have been difficult, if only because some of the extremely talented players showed little or no potency in the previous game. The reality of facing the USA at home could not put the players into a comfort zone, knowing the previous results.
Former national standout Hutson Charles should have been asked to share moments of the day when he scored that timely goal against that country’s national team.
Now, with expectations high and the players appeared to be ready, that initial whistle was similar to the start of an Olympic Semifinal of the 100 metres sprint, except being a bit longer.
For the first few minutes, the Warriors, in my opinion were cautious and allowed freedom for an uncertain, apprehensive squad whose recent performance levels did not impress their home crowds and certainly not the American coach Jurgen Klinsmann, a German tactician.
But the plan appeared feasible when the machinery which consisted of a cohesive display of short passing, interchanging of player movement, creating some space and areas of vulnerability among the yanks.
It looked meaningful, especially when the stalwarts of Khaleem Hyland, Andre Boucaud, and Kevin Molino, retained organized possession, followed by distribution of some excellent passes to the young, exciting Levi Garcia, and super star Joevin Jones, both of whom delighted the audience with some early runs and dribbles which took them to the flanks and two opportunities to create goal scoring chances.
Joevin actually found space on the right side to cut inside for a powerful shot, unfortunately straight to veteran goalkeeper Tim Howard.
USA seemed confused and unsettled when their midfield of Kljestan, Bradley, Bedoya, were chasing shadows in midfield, without much success. They quickly decided to bring the deep lying striker Pulisic, to assist in the ball winning process.
As the game had reached near to half time, an unexpected transition from the USA’s defense line saw a long pass entered the Warriors final third, where a cluster of players from both sides fought to gain possession. It was a tough call for the Warriors defense, whose two efforts to clearance struck onto American goal poachers, eventually giving Kjlestan, a quarter chance, which he slot past the keeper for the home team’s first goal of the match.
The halftime was complete where the instructions needed to be reviewed and discussed with expectation of a more productive second half. My first observation was that the host had worked out a formula to reduce the effectiveness of Garcia and Jovin. That seemed easy to recognise when the two players immediately changed sides, maybe the path for their freedom was closed.
This was the period when I felt that players who changed positions during a game must not be based upon the fact that they were failing in their effort. That policy tends to destroy the pattern which the team was trained to perform, and cause the entire chemistry of the team to deteriorate.
The competence of our central defenders Carlyle Mitchell and Radanfah Abu Bakr no longer had the extra man-marker in Andre Boucaud or Hyland, both of whom decided that they must join the attack aggressively to get a goal or two.
Our wing defenders also decided that going into flank attack which would have been penetrative, but Aubrey David and Mekeil Williams displayed irresponsible and arbitrary tactics which pushed the entire back-line into absolute distortion. That must be corrected for the future.
Within fifteen minutes of this obvious distortion of players’ movement, opened the door for the stereotype American attack. The duties of keeper Marvin Phillip were brilliantly handled, despite the goals. He got into the way of two superb efforts from Paul Arriola and Sacha Kljestan, before he succumbed to a shot among a crowded penalty area by Arriola for the fourth and final goal for the USA.
The pain of defeat is in the manner in which it was inflicted. The challenge now is how can we producing a better performance is much more than just selecting players from all over the world, but searching the minds and intelligence of each player, coupled with the desire to be one hundred percent committed, especially within the framework team cohesiveness.