D Touches Match report TT vs Honduras

[Marcos]

I think yuh really mean we does do thing one way, everybody else another way.  We does never have a stadium rocking like virtually every other footballing nation.  Yet man does want to talk about TnT being a footballing nation.  Football not in deez people blood.

Thank you B&S. I have been preaching this for a while now and I'm glad others agree. Trinidad doesn't eat, breathe and sleep football like the really football mad countries.
It's sad that our home field doesn't really offer much of an advantage whereas the environment is downright intimidating when we travel to other countries. The opposition doesn't fear traveling to Trinidad and Tobago. Maybe it's just our nature as a Caribbean island and therefore consider ourselves a tourist destination.

Just to emphasize the lack of vibez...I was in covered stands for the game and in the last 5 minutes I stood up and tried to rile the crowd, recognizing that we actually had an opportunity to steal the game. You believe is only groans I get in response. Other patrons didn't even want to stand. geez.
In reality, for a game as improtant as this, we should all stand up for the whole damn game

[weary1969]

Impt 4 u but not d other peeps in d stadium. All yuh go advocate 4 ah know yuh soca warriors quiz b4 u get in d stadium next. Even Touches does say he on entertainment. Dem peeps who wine down 2 d ground after after was entertained as well.

[Marcos]

Regarding the game. We looked okay but Honduras really didn't look all that and we should have beaten this team at home. I have a funny feeling they will be a much tougher test on the road.

Theobold did well but it is clear that he isn't a playmaker...just a solid center mid

I also think that there is reason for optimism. Hyland and Daniel have the potential to become really quality players (although Keon had a bad game). Their composure on the ball was refreshing and together with Carlos, Kenwyne and Scotty can form the nucleus of a very potent attack.

Leon's ball skills and passing leave a lot to be desired but his work rate was terrific.

I just wish that we showed the same kind of urgency for the entire game as we displayed in the last 20 minutes. I recognize a lot of this is due to the fact that we threw caution to the wind in the final 20 mins, but our workrate and overall speed of play can definitely improve, particularly at the start of halves (when we conceded).

I think we need to batten down the hatches on Wednesday. Come out in 4-5-1 or 5-4-1, then in the last 15, if we are still level, bring on Latas and try to steal the game.

Go Warriors!

[trinikev]

We give the ball away too easily- too many unforced stray passes.  

Collectively our football is too slow, our team work rate needs alot of improvement, and our off the ball movement is not creative.

The intensity level of this match was akin to an exhibition.  

I like the Latapy role last night- coming on when the game is open and being smart in possession- it will work well in our region against teams that don't compress the middle of the field....

Not yet as huge a fan of Keon Daniel as many on here- I like his confidence on the ball but he's way too casual, and never utilizes a turn of speed (if he has it) when he has the real estate to exploit the other team- good for exhibition football, but not real competition.

Honduras' goalkeeper was a joke (and he showed it long before the error on our goal)

I like Hyland's composure on the ball.  Is he fit?

Scotland got his chance...didn't do his cause any harm either- He should get another shot in the starting XI.  

C. Edwards is by far our best player- just by his energy level alone....the only player on our squad that moved around the pitch at a level of intensity and with the work rate and purpose suited to international senior team football...If our collective team energy was at his level (without any other technical improvements), we be twice the team we are today....

I think the overall standard in CONCACAF is the lowest it's been in sometime- Mexico is kinda struggling by their standards, USA's football is begging for a creative spark...and everyone else seems to be playing the same level of indifferent football.  

It's not unrealistic to picture us grinding out some results with a few surprises here & there..and squeezing through the Hex without ever really playing a good 90 minutes of football.

By far the best analysis of the game i've seen to this point. Our biggest problem is a lack of urgency and intensity. That is where we dropped points in this game. Honduras didn't play with an overly high intensity level either, but they seemed to want it more than we did. We played this game not to lose, rather than to win, which is unacceptable for a HOME WCQ. And it's not like we were playing Brazil. We really need to step up the intensity for the next game, else USA will run us ragged. We are definitely capable of stealing something from that game, but we won't if we don't run hard for the full 90+ minutes.

Another shortcoming in our play is the lack of ideas in the attacking third of the pitch. We knock the ball ok to get there, then we seem to to have no plan for getting behind the opposing defence. Whether that is due to a lack of practice, players' unfamiliarity with each other, i'm not sure. I do think we need to work on an attacking philosophy in practice, because we hardly ever seem to be on the same page in that area of the pitch.

I agree with you to an extent on Keon Daniel, although i think it has more to do with the fact that he is playing out of position than anything else. Keon Daniel is a central midfielder, not a winger, and i truly believe his talents are being wasted out wide. I think he could be used as the attacking midfielder, especially since Latas doesn't seem to be able to run hard for a full 90 anymore (not at the intensity required at international level anyways). He has very good close control, composure and dribbling ability along with a good shot, with an apparent lack of pace and defensive deficiencies.....seems tailor-made to an attacking central midfielder in my book.

[kicker]

Our crowd is very reactionary...I'm not sure if it's as simple as being a football nation (whatever that means) or not...  I've been to many intercol games (especially back in the day) where the atmosphere was pulsating (chanting, rhythm section etc...) for the entire match....same sport (in a sense), and the same people who will go to a Nat'l senior team game and siddung quiet quiet until a man get a long drag lol....

I dunno what it is but there's probably a cultural explanation why schoolmates would vociferously bond as a 12th man to support their school team but as compatriots we can't replicate the same spirit of togetherness for our Nat'l team....

FYI: The Nou Camp (Barca's home gound) has often been criticized as lacking in passion/atmosphere and being very reactionary in their support of the blaugrana...Same criticism was often leveled at Arsenal fans at their old ground at Highbury Stadium...hence the old term Highbury library.

The simple fact that we can yell and scream at Intercol games and not national games underscores my point.  School pride trumps national pride when it comes to football.  If that pride permeated all levels of football in TnT, as it does in many other footballing nations then we could lay claim to such a title.  You claim to not know the meaning, but at the heart of any definition is 'passion'.  There simply isn't any national passion for football in TnT.  Not on club level, not on national level.

The examples you give of the random club stadium here and there doesn't really apply because it doesn't translate to either Spain or England on a national level.

Agree with what you're saying...I eh blind- On average the level of energy directed toward supporting our nat'l team is pretty lame (kinda mirrors the level of energy put forth on the field by the players though lol  )...

Just saying it's probably not as simple as "Trinidad not being a football country" - I used the examples of intercol to show that Trinidadians can be passionate about football under certain circumstances....Just as Brits or Spaniards (who may be generally considered to be passionate about the game) have exhibited a lack of passion for the game under certain circumstances as well....

Might be a more complex cultural explanation...rather than a sweeping generalization, that's all....or it could just be that our football at the Nat'l level is just uninspiring and we as a nation are yearning for something to get fired up about....(sounds harsh but I think that has something to do with it)....In other words our national team just doesn't evoke the passion that we may have for the game (either way you look at it, it's sad)....the level with which we support our national team is not necessarily a direct reflection of how passionate we are about the sport of football, but more a reflection about how excited we get about our Nat'l team (I think there's a difference)...Another aspect I think is the sense of unity- in Trini I feel like we just don't have that sense of unity as compatriots (as we may as schoolmates)....and of course there's just the cultural aspect of it that might suggest that Trinis on a whole are not an outwardly boisterous and vociferous bunch...

Reason why I say "whatever that means" with regard to Trinidad being a football country is because I think it can take on different meanings... but of course I know what you're saying.

[ann3boys]

thanks Touches. I watched the game - very very delayed...- from TGIF tv screens.
the 'magic' seemed to work again - Hyland and Latapy were working on some kind of telecommunication system - reading each other so well
I am hopeful anyway- on to the next victim -USA!!!
GO WARRIORS!!

[dwolfman]

I have a problem with that assessment.  If you playing central midfield and you are the attacking one of the two midfielders, your job is to distribute.  If you cyar make more than ah 10 yard pass, yuh shouldn't be on the field.  Absolutely no creativity from either of our center midfielders...you cannot win like this..

Also, all this nonsense about the left midfielder not supporting the defense is bull sh...  Let's face it, A. Edwards is not an attacking option out of the back.  He is making absolutely no attempt to do so.  He has acres of space to fill and will not do it.  If you saw the US game vs ElSalvador, the coach removed a defender, put Damarcus Beasley to play left back, now yuh attacking with 8 men and ElSalvador was done.  We cannot attack the way we do and expect to win consistently. 

I think A. Edwards is going to be a very good player with more experience but the coaches MUST urge him to push forward to put pressure on the defense.  Plus, defensively he plays off the forwards way too far for me...He has got to get closer shut down the lanes and apply pressure much quicker.  Wait until we go back to Honduras, he will be exposed defensively. 

Are you suggesting that Theobold did not distribute? He made a number of passes further than 10 yards away. Different teams create through different players. Many hold on to the idea that the centre midfielder is the creative option on teams. Ronaldinho was a major creative option for Barca and he usually did his work from the wing. Chelsea also used used their wings more to threaten teams and generally speaking with teams making the centre of the pitch difficult to attack through you find fewer centre midfielders doing the creative work and more doing what Theobold did, which is put pressure on their midfield and not turn it over when he was in possession. Even Latas creative play (example the ball he passed for Hyland to score) did not come from the traditional centre midfield position.

Why would A. Edwards use this space on the wing when he knows that if the ball is turned over he has no cover? In our first match he was exposed by Daniel's lack of assistance defensively. Even when I was growing up and now learning the game we were taught that the midfield's job is to help out defenders, regardless of the side of the field you are on. I did not see that USA game, but I would bet money that Beasley knew that he had defensive support when he went forward in attack.

It is clear you have a different philosophy on the game... fair enough. I can agree to disagree with it.

[Jefferz]

big disagreement on theobold, he is ah liability... i remember his days after WC men was callin him dwight theobold, but like he let his maga state mentality take back over, cuz i found he was weak.

Yes his passin was good and such, but he isnt particularly speedy and any man can knock him off ah ball.


He's ah good player and with the right physique can be playin with the big boys but for now... i don't think he makin the cut man.


and why none of our central midfielders dont take a crack at goal?

we had alot of space outside of the box to shoot, why no one took a shot?


yuh think lampard or gerrard waitin for space to shoot? No and they'll score without the space far less when they are actually given some.


I need some more aggresive intent.