Dear forumites,We may have won the game.....but the display on the field only reinforced the point that we have level cut-arse coming our way.
Had it not been for a moment of brilliance by Clyde Leon (Man of the Match) and a mistake by the Guyanese goalie. TT would have been like a over heating car with two flat tyre and no spare on the Beetham at 2 am in the morning.
There were four positives in this entire match.
1) Clyde Leon is a baller...a proper composed player and he scored an impressive bullet from 30 yards out. Which the Guyanese keeper could only look at in awe. One of the best goals I have seen in TT for a long time. He played the defensive mid field position like a true general, proper touch, good passes, good knock, good hustle and tackle, good reading and shutting down of the passing lanes and good technique. He has a bit of skill and can shield the ball. He has a football brain and I would love to see him and Whitley play together in the middle.
2) Our players have improved on their passing and trapping.
3) Cornel Glenn still has the speed, the skill and the fight in him. He is a bit rusty and the sharpness is not there but in time he will get back to his MLS pre injury days.
4) Through some miracle we kept a clean sheet
A comedy of errors and desperate saves coupled with poor finishing from Guyana...but we did it
I don't think I will be making a trek to the COE for a weekday match any time soon. Leaving town at 6:40, traffic greeted us from the beetham and only the driving skill of Swima on the shoulder and his navigation of el secorro enabled us to arrive at the start of the game.
We entered from the car park entrance. The TTFF reusing the guadeloupe game tickets and $100 poorer I made my way to the main stand. The temporary bleachers were removed and only the permanent stands remained. The laventille rhythm section were setting up shop and provided the vibes for the evening.
Both anthems were sung without musical accompaniment and many people near the cafeteria, toilets and under the stand were unaware that this was going on.....Imagine they still ent get the cd with the anthem yet.
I missed the warm up but the starting line up was as follows...
T&T: - Marvin Phillip, Aklie Edwards, Kern Cupid, Keyeno Thomas (capt), Makan Hislop, Clyde Leon, Khaleem Hyland (Kerry Noray 77th), Kendall Jagdeosingh (Kevon Carter 46th) (Jerol Forbes 70th), Keon Daniel, Anthony Wolfe (Akeil Guevara 46th), Cornell Glen.\
T&T 2 (Clyde Leon 7th, Keon Daniel 69th) v Guyana 0
TT played in the old red kit red pants and red socks, while Guyana had a yellow adidas kit with black stripe and black pants, yellow socks.
TT lined up in a 4-5-1
Phillip
Edwards Hislop Thomas Cupid
Leon
Daniel Wolfe Hyland Jagdeosingh
Glen
Guyana played a 4-4-2 interchanging into a 3-5-2 and they completely shut TT down and out after 10 minutes.
TT started well...very well and I was impressed by the speed, off the ball runs, quick passing and aggressive attitude.
In the first minute Glen had a shot to goal saved and TT had nearly 3 opportunities to score. Wave after wave of attack and free flowing pretty passing football and we looked good. Then from nothing a thunderbolt of a shot from CLyde Leon taking everyone in the stadium especially the keeper by surprise. What a goal it was!!!!
and then....
with 10 minutes gorn TT just couldnt see their way.
The goal woke up Guyana and just flicked the OFF switch for TT. Nuttin doing, nuttin happening. Guyana composed themselves and started to dominate. They started to string passes together and had they got a glorious opportunity with Hercules missing a sitter in the 6 yard box moments later, barely connecting his head with a good cross.
After that for the next 35 minutes TT could not come out of their half. Guyana simply put 5 men in the middle, left one man marker on Glen and used the wings to come forward. They formed triangles, made off the ball runs, passed the ball around and TT were just chasing shadows.
Our only play was to hoof it long and let Glen run onto it...which he did..and he usually managed to get a shot off or a corner which was wasted.
Jagdeosingh tried to put in a few crosses on the right but he was unable to get past his marker.
Daniel was the pull stones for the night and ironically it was he who scored TT's second goal. The boy simply lost the ball each time he had it, fell down, made the wrong choice of pass or just get a jam or make a pretty flick to no one. It is funny how the ball follows the players who are having a bad game and time after time he simply was not up to the task. However, he must be congratulated for giving TT a much needed cushion.
A long ball is picked up by the Guyanese left back and Daniel actually "pongs" off the guy in a shoulder to shoulder challenge. It was strange, comical even...imagine a toothpick vs a swizzle stick and the swizzle stick coming second. But Daniel wins the ball The Guyanese on the ground crying foul and ref saying play on. Daniel waltzes into the area, beats one, fires, it is deflected by another defender into the arms of the substitute Guyanese keeper, who replaced his injured comrade...and who could do nothing but let it slip through his hands and into the net.
Goal yes...we taking that!
Apart from that and Clyde Leons goal TT rarely threatened and the habit of going through the middle was quickly shut down by Guyana. Forbes or Carter got a sitter but it was hit tamely to the keeper. Glen also had a header and a one on one attempt but his shot was high and wide.
The back four were a comedy of errors, missing ball, miskicking, setting up man to hit bullet, beating and losing the ball in the box, fouling in dangerous areas, losing the marker...not tackling, escorting...in short the usual nah. But a clean sheet is recorded in an unconvincing heart attack manner.....well done fellas.
But in truth and in fact Shabazz must be complemented as he got his tactics right and completely out smarted maturana who reverted to a 4-4-2 in the second half.
Folks Guyana knock the ball around us like if they was Brazil especially in the second half and we were always struggling to catch them. If we did get the ball, no options going forward made all counter attacks null and void. Waiting for the midfield support enabled Guyana to regroup and an errant pass or hard jam from the Guyanese gave away possession
No improvement from the Bermuda game and only the scoreline saved Maturana from embarrassment.
All the subs were a waste of time...Carter came on and get injured had to come back off, Forbes ent do nuttin, Noray try but he just too thin to make a impact and Guvera was not much of a factor.
Additionally I find Hyland playing worse with each game. He not doing the simple things correctly, he not involved and drifting in and out of the game. Also he giving away the ball and making some silly errors. He has to get out of TT fast and play ball regularly, he will not improve with this no club scenario.
Truth be told only one player looked the part tonight and that was Clyde Leon. A great find and at least this game showed again who is to be on the team come the end of August.
Also Cyd, Avery John and Whitley were in the stands taking in the action. There were rumours that Dwight was also present as well.
I also think there were three Cuban coaches/spies sitting behind me in the game. They were doing their analysis and they had a camera man too .
I becoming more and more afraid for us. I not seeing the improvement and the coach still auditioning players and giving those who struggling minutes in the hope they could play better. But with each game it just exposing them more and more.
While others getting drop or cyar even get a sweat....I feel it for Guerra. Of the subs is only he, Anton Pierre and the backup goalie samuel ent get a sweat. Is how long he go rot on the bench for?
Anyways..till next time.