Goal Post Review, with; Inshan "Flex" Mohammed.
Trinidad and Tobago Express freelance writer Lanana Liburd and San Juan Jaboteh head coach Terry Fenwick share their views with the Soca Warriors Online on the T&T versus El Salvador match and, also touched on T&T's upcoming match against Honduras.
Terry Fenwick: The game was full of thrills and spills.
"It must have been great viewing for the neutral fan...?
"Strictly on a professional basis and most definitely in the T&T camp, we must enjoy shooting ourselves in the foot....?
"Make no mistake! In World Cup qualifiers it is the result that counts, not the performance. At 2-0 up and with a penalty to come, three points are essential ! Professionalism and experience were amiss, at 3-0 El Salvador fans would have been at their own players throats". "The game would have been over !
The missed penalty did two things.
1. Seriously energize the opposition.
2. Have a negative impact on our own players.
"There is no time for sentiment or the old pals act... come on Dwight, knock it in mate! International football the world over, you don't get opportunities like that, kill the game off and prepare well for the next game on a 3 point high."
"T&T had a great start to the game, scoring early and controlling the tempo, the 4-4-2 formation suited our high energy approach. "After 30 minutes, 2-0 up and numerous missed chances, the energy levels in the T&T team dropped and the cracks started to appear. "El Salvador had not really produced a clear cut chance in the early stages but when the game stretched and the gaps opened up, their confidence grew. "Discipline was required and we fell short".
"The fans may reflect on the other chances T&T missed, the pro's will tell you. At 2-0 up, frustrate the opposition, close the game down, make it tough, restrict their movement, stay focused, compact and win the game"
"Furthermore, at 2-0 up, we were still attacking like we were losing and our shape was cast aside. "We became very stretched in the second half, we could clearly define our forwards and defenders but there was nothing in between".
"El Salvador controlled the midfield and by extension the pace of the game in the second half and started to ask questions.. "We were naive in our play and contributed to our own downfall".
"Having started so well and in the driving seat at 2-0, T&T had reaped the rewards of the brave energetic start to the game playing 4-4-2, in the later stages of the first half and the last 15-20mins of the second half, we should have changed the shape of the team to restrict the movement of El Salvador".
"Yorke and Birchill were isolated and running on empty in the second half, a change of shape and personnel was required to solid the team shape and reduce El Salvador's space".
"The way in which we conceded the goals was another disappointment"..... "set-plays again !
"We have conceded six set plays in our last seven competitive games...? Flex, please remind the technical staff that we can practice defensive set-plays as well as attacking in the build -up to our next WCQ game, please !
"In all, a disappointment, but, not something to dwell upon, it's done now.... lets get it right next time around".
"Honduras at home, they are without a point, we could go four in two..... that's what is important now !
"I assume we will have had them watched against Costa Rico, do the home work and prepare properly..... Come on T&T!!!
"Interesting selection problems for the Honduras game..... will Russell start, who will make up the midfield partnership and will Jason Scotland figure....?
"The El Salvador game was full of the thrills and spills of football".
Don't you just love football !!!
Lasana: There were more positives than negatives.
"I think there were more positives than negatives from the match. We reverted to 4-4-2, which seemed to work for much of the match and we created a lot of scoring opportunities".
"If we want to play to our strength, the 4-4-2 is our best system as it allows Carlos Edwards to play his natural position while it means that Kenwyne Jones will have a partner to help maximise his threat".
"Upfront seems to be the position where we have the most quality and I think it was a brave, progressive move to unleash our attackers. It was very regrettable that we could not hold out defensively. But then our defence did not look much steadier even when there were five midfielders in front of them rather than four".
"We needed more responsibility with and without the ball by our midfielders and attackers to help them out, which is not a new problem. Also, I feel we need new faces in the back".
"I struggle to see how Avery John and Brent Sancho and maybe even Cyd Gray would not add steel to what is there at present. We don't necessarily have to look backwards for help either".
"Glenton Wolfe is unfortunately not back to his best since a serious injury last year but I always felt Seon Power is a very good prospect for central defence rather than at right back where he is often played for the national team and looks mediocre".
"I also think Julius James (especially if he is willing to operate at right back), Noel Williams, Lyndon Diaz and Kareem Smith should be around the team if not pressing for starts".
"Honduras could be one of our most difficult opponents. When we meet the Central American teams and Mexico, we usually have an advantage with height and sometimes strength".
"Honduras, and to an extent Costa Rica, can match us in those areas and it might be more difficult for us to impose our game on them. Honduran striker David Suazo has always been a nightmare for our defence and he dominated Dennis Lawrence in their last meeting in the 2002 W/Cup campaign".
"A strong, aggressive start, if we can manage that, would be good when we meet Honduras. But we need to take better care of the ball later on. So, even without Yorke and Birchall, I would prefer to start off with Trent Noel and either Khaleem Hyland (who is finally playing club football again) or Densill Theobald".
"I think Latapy can play a very important role in the last 30 minutes as maybe he might have done in El Salvador if we had not "wasted" a substitution when we were forced to replace Keyeno Thomas with Makan Hislop, ended the T&T Express sport writer".
