Hislop: Maturana's pedigree matches Beenhakker's.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).Former Trinidad and Tobago World Cup goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has endorsed the latest appointment of Colombian Francisco Maturana as interim head coach of this country’s national team but remained realistic adding that only time will tell how well he fares at the helm.
Also fully supporting Maturana’s arrival on the T&T scene was technical director of the TTFF Lincoln Phillips who returned from the US on Friday morning. Phillips said one of the Maturana’s major assets is his man management ability having to work with the likes of former Colombian stars Carlos Valderamma, Rene Higuita and Faustino Asprilla and get the best out of them.
Hislop, currently president of the Football Players Association of T&T, feels too that the squad of players working under Maturana will have a lot to look forward to.
“Time will tell really how well this appointment goes but he is definitely a coach with a rich pedigree and a lot of experience,” Hislop told TTFF Media. “It’s too early now for people to guess how it will go but certainly we have given ourselves a big push forward by appointing someone with pedigree to match Leo Beenhakker. I certainly hope he can fit into the shoes that Beenhakker left… they will be very big shoes to fill and I truly hope he can do it.”
Hislop added that Maturana’s inability to speak fluent English will not be a problem.
“It shouldn’t be because it’s all about how he expresses his ideas to the team and to his coaching staff and less about how well he does interviews. Leo spoke English very well but his strengths were how well he communicated his ideas.
We know people who speak English as a first language and still have problem getting their ideas over. There have been coaches who have spoken different languages but also they have worked with players who didn’t speak their (coach’s) language and have done well and I have experienced that in my time as a player,” Hislop continued.
With his gloves now hung up, Hislop’s message to the current players was to embrace the coming period.
“Representing your country is the highlight of anyone’s career and I don’t care who you are or which club you play for. You have to embrace and enjoy it. It’s not always going to be easy but it’s something that will attract people and as players you have to embrace that. The players will have to give him (Maturana) the respect and opportunity he deserves to get the best out of the group. It should be as exciting a time as any,’ Hislop concluded.
Phillips says new coach will be a plus to local development.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Technical Director Lincoln Phillip says his technical department will utilize the vast knowledge of newly appointed National Senior team interim head coach Francisco Maturana, ensuring that his experience trickles down through the development scheme at the various levels.
Phillips, knowing fully that Maturana’s main objective will be the preparation of the Senior team for the 2010 South Africa World Cup campaign, added that the Colombian would be bringing a proven track record to the T&T programme and the other coaches involved must benefit from having him here.
“We are very fortunate to get a coach of his caliber in such short notice,” Phillips told TTFF Media, crediting the efforts of Special Advisor Jack Warner and the TTFF in acquiring the services of the ex-Ecuador coach.
“He has a proven track record and has led teams in World Cups and at the Copa America and that’s a matter of record. What is very important from our standpoint is that his teams in the past have always played an attractive and attacking style of football which is consistent with the way we would like to play and our style of football… our way of life as a matter of fact,” Phillips added. “That meshes very nicely with what we have here.”
Noting that Maturana has been in charge of several high profile and flamboyant players such as Carlos Valderamma, Rene Higuita and Faustino Asprilla, Phillips rated the man’s player management skills.
“He has worked with these players like Valderamma and Higuita and has been able to get the best out of them which shows he has a lot of man management experience. These are guys who have their own drum beat and being able to get them to express themselves so well show me that his management skills are very good. This is an asset with him coming to Trinidad where we have so many of our players based overseas who work under several good managers.
“I am definitely looking forward to working along with him and ensuring that his experience is passed down to the coaching development program which is extremely vital,” Phillips said. Assistant coach Anton Corneal mentioned on Thursday that Maturana will be at the disposal of the local coaching fraternity and as has been the case in the past, coaches will be invited to observe national team training sessions.
“This is something we have done in the past especially under Beenhakker but these coaches do not readily take advantage of the opportunities. We hope though that we can take every bit out of having Mr Maturana working here with us,” Corneal said.
