Time that he may not have.
"I still think we have a lot of good players here. I think its a question of having more time to work with them to get them up to a certain standard. The boys that we have outside, they're playing at a particular standard week in, week out," Latapy said yesterday.
"Some of our local players, for different reasons, possibly the clubs they are playing in, are not playing at that level of competition. Possibly because the (T&T Pro) League has so many breaks, they're not playing week in, week out, at that level and it takes them a bit longer to get them where I am expecting them to be."
Latapy, who is under pressure to justify his US$40,000 a month salary, has until the Digicel Caribbean Cup finals in December to get the team into shape after a string of moderate results.
As such, he has shifted his focus from a largely locally-based team and is now concentrating on a squad made up of both home and foreign-based T&T players for the upcoming Caribbean Cup qualifiers.
Latapy said he has no regrets in giving the local boys first preference.
"You don't ever regret anything in football. What happens is you set out with a plan and you see what happens and how fast things materialise. Sometimes you have to change your plans and your goals, and that is what happens in this case," he said.
For Sunday's friendly international against Jamaica in Kingston, Latapy has dropped six locally-based players who were in the squad that drew 1-1 with Guyana last week and recalled four foreign-based players.
Gone are Keston Williams (Defence Force), Ataullah Guerra (San Juan Jabloteh), Jason Marcano (Jabloteh), Keron Cummings (W Connection), Jesse Stewart (UTT) and Kevin Graham (Defence Force).
Also out are Defence Force striker Kevon Carter, who is sidelined for six months with a broken right leg, and W Connection's Shahdon Winchester, who trained with the national team on Wednesday after having a two-week trial with Scottish club Glasgow Celtic.
Latapy has also been slowly introducing some members of the national Under-20 squad who played at the 2009 Youth World Cup in Egypt, including Caledonia AIA central defender Daniel Cyrus and striker Jamal Gay, who are both in the team to play Jamaica.
Also getting a run recently was T&T Under-20 striker Juma Clarence, who was based in Turkey last year.
"I would say to you that in the last three games that we have played, it is the under-23 players that have arguably been some of the better players on the field and have been carrying the team," Latapy declared.
He said his new mix is to ensure that, as a Caribbean powerhouse, Trinidad and Tobago put forward a good effort to win the Digicel Cup.
He listed another goal as being to qualify for next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup, but his main concern is the Caribbean Cup.