Is de DOG a goat?

[Filho]

Look, we done know the answer to that...the Dog is not a goat...but is a really that good?
Personally I find he could head a ball and that is about it. He is slow and is prone to lapses in concentration. What frustrates me is that he often gets the ball in a defensive position under no pressure and opts for the long ball, bypassing the midfield and we end up giving up the ball. It is a serious part of our inability to keep possession (but definitely not the only reason mind you).

Does anyone else find that Talles' has actually been playing better than the Dog...or just me? Does anyone think that maybe Talles' and Sancho could play together? I find when Sancho came in he changed they way we distributed the ball from the back and we became a team that started to play composed in possession. He looked solid in the tackle too...but probably even slower than the Dog. In ah earlier post I call the Dog and Avery shittongs...dat going way too far. I really do like them boys heart and commitment. But why do our starting defenders lack pace and composure on the ball (except Talles'...who have some composure...but no real pace). I find Sancho and Spann open my eyes to a different way we could play from the back......What you think?

[SHOTTA]

it is nut a doubt that the dog cud play but wat really irks me is the amount of short passes that he sent to kelvin jack i count bout 3 and all the times jack peltin he frame until dennis had to take 1 for the team. sancho reallly look solid in the tackles and did distribute and i think that aspect of dogs game has to change but in all fairness i think sancho has to be dogs understudy cuz wen the dog ready nutten doh pass and sancho go miss time a slide in the area


only september 3rd go tell who better than who in the middle between sancho and atiba

[fordy]

well fellas it according to how u want to play in yuh defense. if yuh want a positive physical play then dog is yuh man...if yuh want constructive passing from the back (which is how the game is played today) then u need sancho. brent played alot of midfield back in intercol days and in college so he is quite able with the ball at his feet. lawrence has been playin better but we must also take into consideration that dog is playin injured. he refuses to take the operation so that might be playin ah factor as well.

[Filho]

yeah

Today I have been a harsh critic of the Dog and Avery John in particular. As I think more about it, it was an over-reaction to men giving too much props to poor displays by the team and some individuals throughout this qualifying campaign. I have to cool it and say the Dog is a decent player....nah nah...a half-decent player. I'll go so far as to say we owe the fact that we even at this stage in qualiifying primarily to the resiliance of Dog and Talles. Them fellas in the back (Avery and all) know every game they have to put down a honest shift. But forget the Dog inability to pass a ball....he looking a little off even with the things he's usually do right. Could it be that the Dog tired dread. De man eh rest enough this summer. I cah jump on a Sancho bandwagon completely cause that is the best I have seen him play and it wasn't for a full 90. Now that Talles' suspended we will get to see how the Dog and Sancho look together....it's been a while for Sancho.

[fordy]

well boy ah aint too sure how dog and sancho go match up in de back. yuh see lawrence is more of ah sweeper/defender and he used to be good cover for dog, but sancho and dog play the same style...so whoever we put in place of lawrence need to be ah cover man for when avery decide to lie down and dog decide to play shit back-passes in we defense. atiba charles is ah big question mark for me in our defense too.

[Filho]

yeah Fordy...i forget about the knee. i wonder how much that knee hampering him. maybe not at all, but I remember he drop in the Gold Cup and real men quake...but he was able to shake it off. anyway, i eh looking to goat mout the man. dat knee bes' hold up.

[Lower St. John]

Dog brings a physical presence to our game, especially in the air.  He reads the game decently to make up for his lack of pace.  My only gripe with is the mental lapses at crucial times.  He makes a couple every game.  Now this is a truly troubling statement to make for yuh last stopper, but it is the truth.  Like last night with the back past error, I remember sitting in the stands four years ago in Boston and seeing Dog miskick a ball leading to the second goal.  He showed some good stuff moving forward last night but more times he is truly tentative about passing and either passes it to the keeper/other defenders or is a voom kick up the road.

I am truly fearful for Dog's future with the possibility of future injury but after Dwight he can wear my Captain's arm band any day.  Since the injury I don't find Dog to be as physical in tackling as before, but that is jus my take.

Dog is heart and soul.  He is a picture of a Warrior (no pun intended with his hansome face).  He is the best we have at that position and he has my support all de way.  My point to that, is after the first 9 players we lack true depth.

[kicker]

Yes the dog is a goat !

He is good in the air.........so what ?? Every man in his position is supposed to be good in the air. Name a sweeper at this level playing for a good side that is not good in the air.

Heart and dedication ?? Those should be standard prerequisites for playing at the national team level.......not extraordinary merits.

He isn't doing anything beyond what is expected in his position.

Physical presence ?? O.K. he's not a small guy.....so what ?? If you can't play with the ball at your feet, can't make good passes, and if you are as slow as molasses, then f**k physical presence, you have no right playing in such a crucial position at the highest level in modern day football.

If the injury is hampering him, and if he knows that, then he should get the f-ing surgery. Football is a team sport, and one man being less than full strength affects the team.....and if that one man is conscious of that, and chooses not to do the necessary, then he's not only stupid, but also selfish.

In his defence, the rest of the team is not making his job any easier (lack of movement, support etc.........), and he may be hitting a bad patch at the moment as well.......

.....So if you want to judge the dog by Trinidadian standards, yes he's good in the air, he's got good physical presence, plenty heart, dedication....... yadda yadda blah blah blah.......suck it.

Judge him by real international standards, and he's not up to par.....at least not lately.


p.s. sorry for the abusive language and yes I'm perhaps being overly harsh(only a little though)--- still venting in frustration from the game.

[JDB]

Dog is not a goat.

He is a great tackler and header, has a real physical presence and does not quit.

He has always had deficiencies on the ball and with moving up in his club career and playing in a big pressure environment I he makes fewer errors than he used to. But he still makes errors that basically are mental. I feel that Dog is confident about most parts of his job except when he has to possess the ball with pressure on him.

That set up that he give Lawrence was almost identical to the goal that he give up in Foxboro in 2001. Four years later and the same thing, that is unfortunate but the man is not a goat.

[arrow]

It's actually amazing how similar this game was to the foxboro game.  Goal in de first 2 minutes from a defensive lapse, Dog with a costly error (last time goal, this time red card), US defense play tight and gave us very few opportunities, we try too much long ball and the slower and slowest combo of Yorke and Stern failed miserably.

BTW Didn't Dog also give up a goal in the 1st minute to Mexico in the last round in Sept?  These early mistakes are just killing us man.

[Lower St. John]

Kicker - I hearing yuh brother.  Although I am clearly sugar coating my true feelings for Dog as our sweeper, ah really cah criticize him until something better appears on de horizon.  With most of our players, I have long face the fact that they are not the greatest, some of them don't deserve to be playing on the international stage but yuh know what, dem fellas is de best that Trinbago got.  That being said I have to support dem, because they wearing the Red, White and Black, which is me.  Really simple.

He is good in the air.........so what ?? Every man in his position is supposed to be good in the air. Name a sweeper at this level playing for a good side that is not good in the air.

Yuh ever hear about Clayton Morris.  But ah guess yuh could argue that he wasn't playing for a good side.

[kicker]

True dat....in the end we just have to support who we have.......

.....and as much as I critize, I supportin' my boys till end....no doubt

[Filho]

I find we should always call it as we see it. Just because a player might be the best that we have at this moment should not take away from a fair and thorough assessment. Everbody here is still a 100% supporter. Those who are brave enough to point out the negative aspects are not unpatriotic, or defeatists. I tired reading a set of posts saying a man do OK when everybody know he play terrible. Everybody will have a different opinion, and we agree to disagree but setting a higher standard at all levels will improve the state of the game in our country, even at fan level, so long as we stay constructive and try to see the positives as well. Criticism and support are NOT mutually exclusive

[Mose]

I eh have no problem with making a fair and thorough assessment of a player's abilities/deficiencies. I am a big fan of Dog and I respect de man fuh what he has accomplished. However, I will be de first to say that other than he heading, he could be real clumsy when it come to playing de ball.

What I have a problem with though is when man start to call man shithound and say dey doh deserve to be playing at this level. If yuh ask me, de men who deserve to be playing at this level is de best we have. Every man have he deficiencies. Is up to de coach to decide who is de best man fuh de job at hand. And if we want to compare men to de best in de world we might as well pack up and go home now because it eh have nobody in de side who could rate.

Now I eh saying dat we shouldn't criticize, but it have a difference between constructive criticism and de set ah cry down posts ah does see sometimes.

[andre samuel]

Some of us sounding like de rangers fans who shit up dog after he had a poor game in champions league qualifying! 

get a grip fellas, i have seen DOG play as much as anyone, and i am telling u that although he is not the most skillfull of players, he more than makes up for it in heart and dedication in de game (which is not something that is easy to come by). 

He had a very bad game versus the USA, i accept that, but that is no reason to make de kind of comments that some of u guys making on the site!

just my view!

[Filho]

yeah yeah...personally, i will admit that i have gone overboard at times. in the past I have used this board to vent or so in disagreement with a next man comments that i overreact. but i see it as all a big learning experience and hopefully i have a better perspective on things. plus, i will always swallow my pride and come back on the board and admit when i overdo it. One time I call the Dog and Avery shittongs and I had to come back with my tail between my legs. Nobody who playing pro ball is a shittong. More importantly, no one with the talent and determination to make a livin' playing ball deserve to be called a shittong....at least not by me...i watching from the stands while they representing.

At the same token then why we doh have that perspective for non TnT players. Men eh frighten to call Raul, or Beckham (for example) a shittong when they play poorly. I know people will say, it is all relative. But maybe now and then we should compare or players with the very very best.. the one thing i agree with his there is a right way o criticise and  wrong way. And when it comes o our boys, nothing wrong with giving them the benefit of the doubt. Stern eh shitty..he just out of form. After all...is a socawarriors website..we could take a few Trini liberties 

[royal]

Sometimes,I just cyar believe you guys.Crying down a man like Dog.Did he make mistakes of course he did,some even crucial.But ye who without sin cast de first stone.A man like Dog a coach will never drop not because of his skill level but Dog will give you 110% even when he playing shit.You'll ever wonder how are man who not bless with the skill level of alot of our so call stars and even players in de PFL has reach so far.Not only dat but what ever club who goes to he is always voted player of de year around international stars.Dog is a player dat every coach will want on there team.ALL HEART,yu can't teach dat.Yu could teach technique and skill.

[Filho]

yep....all true. but no one above a lil review and if need be criticsim...whether your name is Zidane or Andrews. Point made that we have to find a constructive and sensible approach. i probably should not have posed the question like that, but at the time i thought I was being clever with the whole Dog/ Goat metaphor...oh well