FORMER national midfielder and captain David Nakhid has said that Trinidad and Tobago need plenty improvement if they are to get a positive result out of their opening CONCACAF World Cup qualifying match against the United States on Ash Wednesday next year.
Yesterday, Nakhid had his first session with the national team since being appointed as one of Bertille St Clair's assistant coaches. Nakhid took a back seat and looked on at proceedings as Ron La Forest, the other assistant coach, took charge in the absence of national coach St Clair who is in England on a scouting and training stint.
"We definitely have to improve, drastically, if we are to achieve a positive result against America, "Nakhid says.
"There is no denying the fact. But, I think we have the necessary talent and we have good people in place at the managerial level and at the coaching level. We need to come together and pool all the resources we have and find a way to compete and a way to improve and get these players ready for the final round," he added.
Nakhid, who is based in Lebanon, said that he felt great to be back home and would be using his experience as a professional and a former national captain to make a contribution to the national effort. In the next few days he will largely be assessing the talent of the team, but argues that the Soca Warriors definitely have to improve on what they have done so far, to be competitive in the final round of qualifying.
"Basically we have to improve in every aspect. There are lines, defensive lines, midfield lines and attacking lines. In all, all these lines, we need to improve....The cohesiveness between these lines has to become a compact team that can compete against the other five teams in the group. Midfield, or defence, all need to improve."
Having seen the performances in the second round of qualifying when T&T finished second to Mexico, Nakhid was unimpressed, but he still believed that Trinidad and Tobago had a chance of achieving something positive during the upcoming qualifying campaign.
I think the performances have been below par...for whatever reason. I haven't been involved. I've seen the games on tape...I've seen one of the games live.....against Mexico, and I think there is an overall lack of confidence among the players to possess the ball and to win the ball. That is what football is about."
His first session with the Soca Warriors saw a full turnout of locally-based players and also some based in the United States such as Avery John, Derek Phillip and Stephen Cruickshank.
Yesterday's session also included many of the team that just won preliminary Group D of the Digicel Caribbean Cup competition. Among those returning to the training squad were San Juan Jabloteh midfielder Otis Seaton; midfielder Kerwin Jemmott; Lyndon "Chubby" Andrews; and captain Angus Eve, who is coming off injury. Among the newcomers were Anthony Wolffe(North East Stars), Tobago United's David Jack and Joe Public keeper Kelvin "Barthez" Graham.
Nakhid also gave his support to the local players, whom he said should be given a fair opportunity to represent the country.
"I was never one as a captain or player of the national team to differentiate between local and foreign players. Whoever is good enough, they are going to play. Who can fit into the system, they're gonna play. We have these guys available and I think once they are ready and once they can do the job, we don't need to look to foreign players coming back simply based on the fact that they are playing outside.
"We have a lot of guys playing in the lower leagues outside, leagues that are not very competitive. So, we need to look at that....We need to look at that well before we begin to decide on whether we can integrate the foreign players into the team. We need to give these guys (locally-based) a chance."
Before returning to Trinidad and Tobago, Nakhid was coaching Al Mabarrah, which is now on top of the First Division in Lebanon after coming up from the Second Division two years ago. With the backing of the club's president, Nakhid has been able to revamp Al Mabarrah into a winning unit. He is hoping to do the same with the Soca Warriors.