A very boring and non attacking brand of football...
No offense but Tallest not close to Hart when it comes to coaching and strategy...
Levi and jones were not themselves, we were not as deadly in the box or near it, nor were we damaging as before in the opponents first third..
Outside of Molinos goal, he didn't do much, jones didn't have his usual crosses coming in from the wings and our defense had too much lapses..
Tallest and sol are defenders, our team should be defending much better
Give me a 80% Cummings any day on this team, he needs to get with an trainer and physio because he was missing from the mid..
Kenwyne played well except for that Side netting bull he pull, when he could have played it in the middle with his team mates running into the box..bad decision
I understand you want nice pretty football with an attacking mentality. Let me just express a few things here clear as daylight - we have two defensive coaches. Stephen Hart was a good coach however he would get things mixed up from time to time. Dennis idea of coaching exist around fitness, concentration and sticking to a game play to better manage the game in order to maintain shape based on the fitness level of the current crop of players.
Many individuals here rant and waved about the pre match game vs Barbados focusing more on the opponents rank but not thinking about how similar in style panama is to them. The bajans are strong, very physical and at time are hard to break down. Knowing this similarity and using it in a smart way to build both confidence and solidify the organisation of the defense was indeed a touch of pro-active thinking on part of the technical staff.
Let's face it, Panama is a team that will win even if they lose, the have demonstrated this in the gold cup in the last decade - tnt was not going to outscore them. This was a very tricky game for us, they are good on the counter, can possess the ball well and score goals. Panama game plan was always to hit us on the counter, absorb the early pressure then close up shop and play the physical game which the referee was allowing hence the sole yellow late on. We don't have magical players anymore - someone like latapy who can walk through a team and score or a yorke who can poach around to nick something out of nothing. Reality is the only way we can get points off the giants is to play the frustration game which was executed to perfect effect, yes it wasn't pretty but it's the result we needed.
It's also clear the players are battling like we haven't seen in a long long time. I don't like to compare coaches, Hart came into a time where the team was at an all time low and bought the team back to major contenders - got us to the hex and for this he deserves eternal respect. Dennis- have a different tactical approach, the real test of the character of this team will be vs USA in June. We have many advantages over Mexico- which is the height of our players, home soil and our backs against the wall knowing in the past we match up really well against them in difficult conditions during the gold cup in USA. Remember this is the same Mexican team who couldn't get a win vs Panama few months ago.
So far with the limited resources, stock players and a federation filled with financial issues the future looks a bit vivid. I much rather see us in the WC scraping draws and marginal wins vs going all gunho and collecting six like Honduras. I was impressed how the guys started this game, how patient they were instead of the direct plays of old, the passion and concentration to hold a lead as well as killing off the game. The substitutions came in at critical times, the coach didn't take any chances - this is something we lacked before. Also, our backline and shape was well kept by Carlos and company even our strikers came back to help. There was many off the ball movement - smart use of pacing themselves -also something missing from Hart days.
The use of KJ was much different from the past - he may not be as effective scoring in this role however we don't have anyone like him to win the ball in the middle of the park to build attacks, before we relied on the keeper and defense to link the midfield which is super risky.
Panama switch the play in the second half after realizing they cant get past Edwards - they were banking on that side but ran into a wall, mikiel held his own well, Cyrus was better off in that central position - it will be very hard for Randalf and co to take that away from him now.
Overall we found the fighting spirit and lived up to the pride of the Caribbean with this performance. And yes Panama we do respect you guys very much, please return the favor on our visit in the next round. The people of tnt will rally behind this team now because they have given us something we sorely missing - Belief.