Mexico are in a rich vein of form having now qualified for the 2010 World Cup and after beating El Salvador 4-1 at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday. They have reverted to their typical style of play, short intricate passing with movement at a slow methodical pace that suits their beautiful game. Who knows how serious Mexico will take today’s game now that they have already qualified? What players Mexico select and how they play will be out of T&T’s control, all we can do is assert our brand of football and, after our poor performance in Costa Rica, we had better lift our intensity or they could well beat us with their youth team!
We cannot allow Mexico to play. We have to be resolute and defend as a team while keeping the distances between the players short to ensure players can perform at a pace that is uncomfortable to Mexico for long enough periods of the 90 minutes. Mexico like to play from the back so we must go in there and snuff them out and prevent them from playing.
High pressure games generate mistakes, so we must force the issue and break quickly, straight for the jugular. It might not be pretty but it is exciting when your team play with passion.
I think our service from set plays has been abysmal for much of the campaign. We should put Trent Noel on every free kick and corner to ensure we deliver to the right areas and attack the ball with menace.
Under (coach) Leo Beenhaker, we defended deep in numbers but, whenever we won a free kick, everyone went up and we threw the kitchen sink at them because Chris Birchall could also deliver a pin point cross. We have definitely lost a lot of our spirit since 2006.
On Saturday, Marvin Phillip gave a tremendous performance but not even three world class saves in the opening 45 minutes or a second half penalty save was enough to stop the inevitable.
Marvin has consistently performed well for W. Connection and has not let the national team down whenever he played. Considering the poor performances from Clayton Ince throughout the World Cup campaign, Marvin may feel let down by the selection committee. His performance against Costa Rica was certainly worthy of a prolonged stint.
Having said that, Marvin has been criticised in the past for his inability to judge the flight of crosses and I think he could have done better on their goal off the corner kick. For me, this is a result of the tactics applied by W Connection who defend very deep and require their goalkeeper for shot stopping only.
Without Marvin, we might have lost 8-0. Our back four was clueless and disorganised. After playing for the only team in Egypt using a back three formation at the Under-20 World Cup and then being thrown into such a badly organised national senior team, I wonder what Jake Thomson is thinking of the Trinidad and Tobago coaches.
Jake was clearly overwhelmed in this game but there was not enough support from Radanfah Abu Bakr or Carlos Edwards and, in my opinion, he showed great character to hang in there and do his best. Tenacious in the tackle and with a great attitude, Jake was the only other plus for me on the night and, with a solid structure, shape and much needed coaching, this kid will be a firm fixture in the T&T senior team for many years to come.
So big thanks to Stern John for recognising a great opportunity for Jake Thompson and for T&T. Good footballers recognise good footballers and Stern has found T&T’s right full back for years to come.
Jake and Marvin apart, T&T looked clueless. I couldn’t see our plan in defence nor could I recognize how we intended to keep the ball and carve out attacks. The team essentially played as individuals and more than half the team was not good enough for this level, which is sad when there are better players out there to select from.
Bakr and Julius James lacked pace and intelligence in central defence and kept repeatedly falling for the same tricks while Carlos Edwards did not produce one final pass, cross or shot of note—shocking from such a high profile player—and Kerry Baptiste was a non entity.
Kenwyne Jones was isolated again and must be frustrated by the poor service he receives. He also looked as though he did not clearly know his role in the team. Jones is a very good player but he needs support on and off the field from his team mates and coaching staff.
We need concentration, desire and encouragement from the bench today to end our World Cup campaign on a good note. Let us at least make Mexico work for it!
Editor’s Note: Terry Fenwick is a senior World Cup quarter-finalist and European Under-21 champion for England while he also captained Crystal Palace, Queen’s Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur in English top flight football.
He coached Portsmouth between 1995 and 1998 while he led San Juan Jabloteh to three Pro League titles and numerous Cup crowns and is a former local Coach of the Year.