Do not despair T&T.....OUR WAY FORWARD............is

[triniwings]

I am the first to acknowledge my disappointment about yesterday's result and our sub-

standard performance as 'Warriors with a mission'.  However, all is not lost, and our

weaknesses and limited strengths that we possess we throughly exposed.

Rest assured, we have improved gradually as a team, as compared to the Warriors under

BSC.  We have fighting spirit, tactical awareness, and a solid defense for the first time in

many years.

The players of the past that are not up to scratch have been identified, and the players to

take us forward are beginning to step up.

Prior to today's woeful defeat at the hands of the Columbians, we competently managed to

reduce the average amount of goals conceded per game.  We have always been a team

that seems to leak early goals, and gradually drift out of a match while time progresses. 

This is no more, and we are actually competing with our opposition of late.

Our defense is beginning to mature while keeping some structure and discipline(bar one

Cyd Gray), but our attack is what is making us always fall short.

We need to score more goals, we are conceding less, but we are not scoring more. 

Before Leo Beenhakker was employed and even during his tenure, we rarely score more

than 1 goal per game against top-class oppostion.  We need better attacking options, more

offensive minded players coming forward amd taking on players, and more chances and

half chances(i.e. goal scoring opportunities) in order to realize our World Cup dreams. 


WE STILL HAVE A ROSTER OF REAL WARIORS AND TOP CLASS

PERFORMERS!


Goalkeepers:
Shaka Hislop
Clayton Ince
Kelvin Jack

Defenders:
Marvin Andrews
Dennis Lawrence
Avery John
Atiba Charles
Brent Sancho
Glenton Wolfe
Anton Pierre
XXXXX...room for a fast and solid wing back


Midfielders:
Carlos Edwards
Chris Birchall
Aurtis Whitley
Silvio Spann
Densil Theobald
Angus Eve
Josh Johnson
XXXXXXXX......room for a left wing
XXXXXXXX......room for a young exciting creative midfielder/playmaker
Russell Latapy....hopefully soon:(....ah prayin:(


Strikers:
Dwight Yorke
Kenwyne Jones
Cornell Glen
Hector Sam
Scott Sealy
XXXXX....room for a clinical striker

The remainder of players that were ommitted are not up to international level, and I am of

the opinion that they are not true, aggressive warriors at heart.  They are perceived Star

boys that never realized their true potential.  Until they can rise above this, we should

move on without them, until they prove their worth once again.

Jamaica qualified for France World Cup 1998.  However, their rapid progress only came

after they decided to proactively import players from the UK with Jamaican parentage.  I

thought T&T would not need to resort to such desperate action, since we have such a wide

pool of talent availble to us.   Oh was I wrong!

We have an even wider pool of technically moderate, internationally unprepared

underachievers, who lack qualities such as mental toughness, discipline, and consistency

which are prerequisites of international competition.

Maybe, we need to follow Jamaica and pursue players with talent and technique such as

Chris Birchall in order to lift our game.  These players seem to have been groomed in a

more professional and technical environment, and need to be injected into our lineups to

enhance our effectiveness.  Only four players are needed for different positions which I

have identified with XXXX above.  We have players available in the UK ,and many

talented players in the US.  Let Leo and Nakhid encourage them, and give them the

callup, we have nothing to lose.  The rest of players form the core of our team, and with

frequent training camps abroad, and internationall friendlies here and there, this team

would step forward with the best in our region. 

We express disappointment and hopelessness today, but it is a wakeup call to force us to

change for tommorrow.  Somehow, I was beginning to get the impresssion that the public

and the technical staff seemed satisfied with a 1-1 draw with Honduras, and a 2-2 draw

with Panama, after pathetic displays of the lovely game.  This opens our eyes, and allows

us to leave those who are not up to it behind, and bring aboard those who suit the role.

My lineup for rest of qualifiers:


                                               Jack

                         Andrews                        Lawrence   

         Atiba                                       XXXXX

                                                     Birchall

Carlos                                                                                             XXXXX     
                                                  
                                                    XXXX



                                   XXXX                           Yorke       


Bench:
S.Hislop/C.Ince.....let Ince learn his lesson and Shaka lacks match fitness
Avery John...good left back, but brings nothing coming forward, we need attacking options

and more crosses and goal scoring opportunities.  Atiba has better balance with his

defensive responsibilities and overlapping runs.
Brent Sancho
Silvio Spann
Aurtis Whitley
Densil Theobold....let Theo,Spann and Whitley fight for a spot
Josh Johnson
Russell Latapy
XXXXX
Cornel Glen
Kenwyne Jones
Hector Sam

WOW..this is one long bench


Now tell me...wa alya tink?     

[triniwings]

That XXXX under Lawrence out of place, it should move across to the left wing back position.

[jaden]

whatever happened to errol mcfarlene jr.

[Arimaman]

Hear is the team I would like to see

Shaka in Goal
Dog, Tallman, Avery, and somebody other that Cyd Gray on the right back.
Spann - Defensive Midfield
Yorke - Attacking Midfielder
Birchall, Right Midfield
Edwards - Left Midfield (ah no he is really a right midfielder, but we have nobody else)
Kenwyne Jones and Anybody but Stern up front.

That way we could bring Angus and Cornell Glenn off the bench for some change a pace...

What yuh think??

[football king]

shaka/ince/jack -doh really matter to me

charles, dog, lawrence, avery-to be honest i don't think any of these men  good on a world stage but best we have. not one have any composure or could distribute the ball decently.

i like yuh midfield arima-shoulda try birchall on the right in this tourney to make a better choice.  Yorke to me is a must all old talk aside he could still play and have seen/experienced more than anyone else in this region except maybe a few mexicans and americans.

up front jeez- me i like having a target man-essential in order to keep possesion and without possesion in football chances of winning SLIM. so jones in tha role due to size and athleticism

the other option is a headache-nobody grab the chance to staik a claim in these games which was the most dissapointing thing i saw. so have to go with scotland or stern (yeah stern) who else we have unless a local pfl man step up real quick.  Glenn off the bench unless he prove otherwise.

cyd gray, rougier, if yuh bring rougier might as well bring nahkid no way people -how cyd gray get 1 min in this tourney unbelievable.

[Arimaman]

The only reason I say don't start Stern is b/c he in a funk.  We have to shake him up or something.  Try anything....what else ah go say.

I believe though that Cornell Glenn's speed would be a major factor coming off the bench when men tired.

[football king]

THAT A SERIOUS FUNK can't remember seeing a man in 1 like that-hope he fight thru it all he could do is work hard and reall give it his best come on stern

[babbaboy]

you know what dude when i see your article i immediately thaught of "Tony Rougier" what happened to him did he retire, is he injured ..he played one game and wasnt called back. This is a guy who plays with heart and skill and has played well in almost every position they put him in over the years. He would definately sure up our right wing back problems or our defensive midfield while at the same time providing leadership. Also i thaught of "Evens Wise" for our left midfield attacking problems ...if he is also playing competitively, he was probably the best left winger ive seen in trini for a long time ..his ability to tak on players and mentality is what we need at this moment. Those are my two inclusions..What allyo think ..!!!      

[football king]

no avery or birchall vs usa well well interesting.

jack/shaka

charles dog lawrence   wolfe/pierre

edwards spann yorke  samuel

jones(K)  scotland
play defensive compact, safety first. make sure yuh leave with 1 pt if a man break or set piece we score and win then icing.

[real madness]

Triniwings,
You have some valid points.  However, I disagree with some.

1) Replacing Avery John with a more atacking player (You thinking like BSC),we need defenders who can defend.  Atiba was doing a good job defending but Leo selected Cyd for his atacking ability, where did that get us?..Now u suggesting we do the same thing on the left side to cause more problems.  The defence is good once we replace Cyd with Atiba..don't try to fix what is not broken.  All this talk about defenders not atacking enough..the real problem with our attack lies with the midfielders and Stern's lack of form.  Where are we going find a nother left footed player that can defend and has lots of experience.


2) Pursuing these UK players is a waste of time.  They have turned us down in the past.  One can argue that playing for Leo instead of BSC will make them change their mind....I doubt very much...Zamora, Jloyd and company still believe in their chances to represent England and do u think they will want to play for a team that is 5th in the Hex and could not make the quarterfinals in the Gold Cup.

This is not an attack on your comments, just my humble opinion.  We cant be too quick to discard because we don't have much options.  I am surprised no one say fire Leo, if it was BSC in charge or another local coach everybody would have been calling for his head. I am still a fan of Leo and the Soca Warriors and I believe we still going Germany.  

I think a back four of Atiba, Dog, Tallest, Avery will take us to Germany.
Midfield of Birchall, Edwards, Spann and (that left side is our biggest concern)
Forward line of Yorke and Jones.

BENCH
Stern needs to go back to his super sub role that brought him to prominence (Stern needs to think about the team and not himself..my personal opinion is that Stern is selfish right now...he wants to start and he is simply out of form and forcing the issue).  Glen is another super sub.  As Arimaman said..his speed coming off the bench should be a major factor when men tired.

Eve for his experience
Sancho can probably play most positions in the back.

GOALKEEPERS
That is our third biggest problem (after the left side of midfield and the forwards not scoring..not just Stern)
Jack
Jack is a good shotblocker and if i have to select a keeper for a penalty shootout..he is the man.
His weakness is distribution, commanding his area and holding the ball. In the GC, he has improved in those areas especialy commanding his area but still needs a lot of work with his distribution and holding the ball.

Ince
Ince in the doghouse.  But he is our best goalkeeper.  I am not sure how long Beenie will punish him.  His weakness is obvious...not a team player..too good to sit on the bench.

Hislop
Our most experienced keeper.  Had very big performances in the past.  His weakness is lack of playing time.

All these keepers have their strengths and weaknesses so it is difficult to say one stand way ahead of the others.  Hopefully after this GC, Leo know for sure who is our # 1 keeper and whoever he is..he needs to know there are 2 guys right behind him.  We don't need to alternate keepers like Germay..that approach does not instil confidence and might encourage unnecessary tension.

[arrow]

I am surprised no one say fire Leo, if it was BSC in charge or another local coach everybody would have been calling for his head. I am still a fan of Leo and the Soca Warriors and I believe we still going Germany.  

The difference is if it was BSC or a local coach in charge we would not have been expecting to do anything in this tournament.  We can't say fire Leo because it's only because he had raised our level of performance above what we were accustomed to that it now hurts so bad to lose.  But I rather be disappointed with losing than to have no hope of winning in the first place.  Fire him and we go right back to square zero.  That said he is not infallible and I hope he learns from his mistakes.

[real madness]

I think we as fans raised our hopes higher than the team is capable of performing at this time.  Hopefully our raised hopes will eventually equal our performance very soon.

By the way, I am not saying fire Leo.. I am just surprised no one have not made that comment as yet.  Leo is still the man for the job but he must be held accountable just like anybody else.

[triniwings]

I still am of the belief that we need:

A left wing back, who can overlap well and provide many crosses and hence more goal scoring opportunities.

A young creative playmaker

A fast left wing willing to take on players adn put in crosses.  To have a make shift left wing like Samuel or Edwards is not good enough...we need balance...we shud be able to use Edwards on dee right, and comfortably switch dee side of attack and be able to penetrate defenses or put in crosses from both sides.

A striker who can clinically finish 1/2 chances....and who can combine well with the midfield.

Let us look for these players in either the UK..or those playing in the US.....mad talent available there....let us tap it.

Wa alya tink?

[Tenorsaw]

Lineup is decent, but ah think we need about three more players to deepen the squad.  Rahim not up to standard; for all his skill, he can't defend for shit, and is thus a liability.  Wondering why he can't get an  extended run at his club?  Can't defend and track back.  I think that Jack is a potentially good goalkeeper, but look at how he organizes his defence for set plays.  He is lacking a bit of presence in that aspect of his game, and needs to learn to play it better with his feet.  Cyd Gray is not an international player.  Ah doh care if Beenie looking at him or not.  He is a wild man.  Sad thing is that our "professional" league is not cutting it.  Training for two hours a day will not do it.  Our players lack tactical knowledge of the game, and the little intricacies that separate good teams from bad teams.  Intercol not helping either, because these guys are made to believe that they have made it by the time they come out of high school.  The only option is to look for foreign-born players that want to wear the shirt.  We need more Birchalls!

[AB.Trini]

We need more Birchalls!

GO AND start  ASKING MEN WHERE DEY MOTHER FROM?

[Tenorsaw]

Alberta--it's called scouting.  Jamaica doing it with some success, so why can't we. 

[Arimaman]

The only option is to look for foreign-born players that want to wear the shirt.  We need more Birchalls! as per tenorsaw...

I eh buying that we need more foreign born players.  We might as well not be T&Tthen.  All of a sudden is ok to bring foreign born players on yuh squad.  Back in de day, we used to laugh at the US when they give Hugo Perez citizenship to play ball among others, now we want to do the same.

I like Chris Birchall but really, he not that great.  What, he have 2 good and 2 bad games...that is what we calling great.  Birchall not even ready  for the Premiership but he on we national team!..

Go figure.  Again, he good but he ain't that good.  We need better than him.  We can produce better than him locally.  I believe in giving the local fellas or the fellas that grow up in trini the benefit of the doubt.

Come on man....We have to be careful.  We don't want a situation where all of a sudden we taking any and everybody to represent T&T just b/c he playing in England or somewhere in Europe.  What we need is a select few to assist us in getting to where we going.
What good would it do our domestic system, I ask the question.

[football king]

we need seabra

[football king]

just joking people
we need maradona

[Arimaman]

Football King you is a real comedian yes!!

[football king]

WELL WHA YUH WANT MEH DO ARIMA CRY- them players ain't even crying

but seriously the local pfl leading scorer or 2nd man should get a bly no question then man in the pfl could see well a way to get a chance
especially in this tourney

[Arimaman]

I agree.  However WC qualifiers is no time for rookies...

We need seasoned players with international experience.

[real madness]

I think the players in the PFL should be given more call ups to the national team. My two main reasons are

1) Some of the foreign base guys are not performing
2) In the long run, it will improve the PFL.  At this point some forumites must be thinking I talking real madness..so here is my logic.  A player might be the top scorer in the league by scoring 30 goals but he is never called up while the foreign based guys are being selected and not performing.  Eventually this guy and the other top performers who are really interested in representing TnT will give up hope because they are not rewarded for their performances.  One can argue that Whitley, Theobald and company are counterexamples to my point..which is true, however they are all playing out of position so this leads to a whole lot of ifs and buts.  Then there is Cyd Gray..the eternal snake..no further comment on him.

My point is geared towards guys such as Kerry Noray, Josh Johnson, and the others who are performing back home (I can't really call much names..just going on what the local posters say).  These guys need to be encouraged.  In the long run, the players should improve because they know they stand a FAIR chance at being selected to the national team and they will give their all.  There is no guarantee this will work and it is just my humble opinion for the future development of TnT football.

In the past, local players have been successful, i.e. Strike Squad (but we had a young Yorke and Latas on that team,currently there are no such players on this team)

The Gold Cup exposed a lot of weaknesses..some we knew b4 and others we were not aware of.  Right now, # 2 can't work because we need a quick fix in the form of experienced players.  The WCQ is not the time to experiment.

[arrow]

Birchall not even ready  for the Premiership but he on we national team!..

as far back as I can remember NONE of our national team players have been ready for the premiership with the exception of a scarce few.  we should be so lucky to have a team full of premiership-ready players

[UPRISING]

Arima,
I agree with your comment re: Birchall, he is good but not great..he deserves credit for his commitment to date...no doubt about that...but the question is which other Hex team would he start and play a full 90 for???  NONE!  

So what that says is that we are clearly the least talented team in the hex.  What we are then left to do is 'manufacture' through Beene instructions, results.  Our style, in fact we have no 'brand' of play, is too deliberate and as a result our players are 'programmed'.  There is no element of deceit which at this level is thoroughly exposed by teams with more class.. what we need is players with talent and an understanding of the game...Beene (or BSC) for that matter cannot be blamed for the teams showing...we can question player selection etc..but is there a 'miracle XI' that would go out there and perform at a level much higher than what has been on display lately??  ... the coaches are working with what they have .... it is bamboozling that we cannot find players with creativity and knowledge of the game in Trinidad....I cyar understand that..

Maybe the lack of national pride, prevents players from wanting to play for Trinidad...national pride is what drove Colombia to victory last nite...no way, anywhere in the world would they, a team that plays Samba and Arg. regularly, would come and lose 3 games in a tournament...those fellas lace up they boots las nite and went to WORK!  

I am still FIRMLY ON THE WAGON supporting the warriors! I will be in Hartford fo shizzle!

GO WARRIORS..

[Arimaman]

Arrow, you make a good point, maybe none of our players are ready for the premiership, in retrospect that was a bad statement on my part.  The point I was trying to make was that we are ready to take anybody just b/c they playing abroad and I don't buy that.

[supporter]

you want to know the way forward? lets try playing through our midffield. everything else aint too bad, but lets hold possession more and ease off with the long ball stuff.