Football aside, I had a great time Scotland, but that's beside the point. There were over 16,000 fans at the game and less than 30 were T&T supporters. My friend and I were the only two T&T supporters in a stand surrounded by about 5,000 Scottish fans, you can just imagine! These are my views game.
Overall play: We were outplayed and outclassed in the first half. They are not so much a great team, but we were 'school boyish'. We played better in the second half, but that was due to a combination of the Scots taking their foot off the 'gas' and the coming on of Boucaud (he had an OK game). We clearly had no game plan or if we did, no player stuck to it. All their goals were down to poor defending and 'ball watching' on our part. Cox was the chief culprit of ball watching, but still made some important tackles.
Bertille clearly did not do his homework on the Scots and that shows an amateur approach to his management. For example, Darren Fletcher is their star player and their playmaker. He made 3 of their goals and scored 1. Yet he was allowed all the freedom in the world to 'run things' in the midfield. No one marked him, no one gave him a hard time and no one prevented him from passing the ball. If we approach our WC qualifiers in his amateur way, our campaign will be over before you can say 'Dominican Republic'.
We have no speed in attack, most of our players are 'workman-like' rather than have blistering pace. We need someone like that.
Formation:
Bertille wants to play a 3-5-2 formation. All well and good, but the 3 back men were too narrow, thereby giving the Scots time and space to get crosses in. If we persists with this formation, Andrews, Cox and Sancho need to spread themselves wider, and prevent as many crosses from coming in. The 5 men in midfield will also have to do a lot more defending that they are currently doing.
Midfield:
Our midfield not our defending remains our biggest problem. We do not have a ball winner or a playmaker in the midfield. That spells trouble to me. Eve and Dwarika are too slow, too feeble and are not good passers of the ball. Eve has done nothing in the last 2 games to suggest that he should be in the squad, let alone the starting 11 and worse the captain! Dwarika needs to cool it with all the 'small goal-post bearskin'. Each time he tries those 'beaks' he either lost the ball or the T&T players were not on the same wave length with him. Boucaud is the best that I have seen so far who can fill the role as a playmaker and Jones is the closest I have seen to a ball winner.
Attack:
Stern had 3 attempts at goal in the last 2 games and has scored them all. You don't need to be Einstein to work out that if you give Stern the ball in a goal scoring position, he is likely to score. But for that to happen, we need a functional midfield. No other player in the current team has posed a serious threat to the opposition goal in the last 2 games and that is also concern. We need goals from other players too!
Player Ratings:
| Clayton Ince: Kept reasonably well. Can't be blamed for 3 of the goals. Made a crucial save in the first 2 minutes. |
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| Ian Cox: Was ball watching in the first half and his poor defending resulted in at least 2 of the goals. Otherwise did make some important tackles. |
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| Marvin Andrews: Boss defender. Tackles accurately and controls the penalty area well. |
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| Brent Sancho: His error resulted in the 4th goal. Otherwise defended well. |
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| Carlos Edwards: Improved on his Iraq performance. Crossed and passed the ball well and was also all over the pitch. His cross led to Stern's goal. Was the best player on the day for me. |
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| Stokely Mason: Not international standard. Gives the ball away far to often, without trying to win it back. The fact that he played the full game, first on the left, then on the right, suggest that he is definitely in Bertille's plans (can't see why). |
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| Angus Eve: Look in the dictionary for the word Lame, and you are sure to see a picture of Angus! He is slow, can't pass well, is not a ball winner and is no threat to the opposition goal. He was anonymous for large parts of the game. |
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| Arnold Dwarika: Next to a picture of Angus, will be a picture of Arnold. This guy has no body strength and the Scots kept taking the ball off of him so easily. He keeps trying unnecessary dribbles, when the simple pass would be far more effective. |
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| Kenwyne Jones: Played reasonably well in the first half. His shot on goal won us our first corner. Has the potential to be the ball winner. But is very young and lacks experience. |
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| Andre Boucaud: Came on when it was 3 nil and did well. Passes well and does not give the ball away as frequently as the others. Links well with the strikers and the defenders. Had a good shot on goal which the keeper just saved. |
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| Marlon Rojas: Played the second half. Decent, steady game. Passes well and tracks back well. |
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| Stern John: Give him the ball and he will score. If he can get better service from the midfield, he will be even more lethal. |
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| Cornell Glen: Did not really get a kick, and had to be subbed in the first half. That's a shame, because I was looking forward to see him play. Deserves another chance. |
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| Kerwyn Jemmott: Came on late in the second half. This guy slow but made one or two good passes. |
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| Jerren Nixon: Also too slow and has no right foot. Does not link up well with Stern in the 2 games that I have seen. Had a half chance to score, but kicked the ball over bars. |
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