Trying it the German way
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian)
Otto Pfister is not the first German coach to accept coaching jobs in this country. The first was the world famous Dettmar Kramer, whose one-year stint in T&T left those of us who played in those days with a number of productive ideas, technically and tactically.
The second was Jochen Figge, a man whose dedication to his job was exemplary. He was prepared to give his all to the improvement to the team, but his efforts were not appreciated at the time.
Pfister is a seasoned professional, who has been exposed to countries in almost every continent, some of which he carried to World Cup Finals.
There is one significant aspect of the Germans—they are non compromisers when it comes to getting the job done without interference from anyone.
He will be the first to tell you that there is no guaranteed pathway to the finals in Brazil but he will define some formula whereby a cadre of players with strong attitudinal principles, complete commitment, and the level of football understanding which will achieve the desired result.
It is true to imply that we are starting behind the eight ball. If we throw our minds back to the months between the end of the South Africa 2010 Finals and the present time, searching for a jump start to our programme will need some speculation from all comers.
Like most of the foreign coaches, their first choice is always to go in search of the foreign-based players, mainly those in Europe.
Pfister has gone one step further and that is to float around England with the hope of convincing players, born of Trinidad parentage, to join our team in the battle to Brazil.
Names keep being dropped from all areas. The one that comes readily to mind is Bobby Zamora, the forward who gave the impression during the run up to the last World Cup that he was interested but seemed more intent on waiting to see whether or not England would select him.
He then claimed to be injured when we lost two crucial matches which gave us little or no hope of making it to South Africa. Jlloyd Samuel tried his hand and had actually done well at left wing back, until incompetence by the management team caused him to be running to the airport in England looking for a plane ticket that was never collected.
What is very amazing is the fact that all the foreign players who are contracted to any club, whether it is English Premier League, Championship Division or even lower divisions are finding ways to get their names accompanied by comments of being interested so that the coach will visit them and persuade them to join the national squad.
I suppose that the reason for this approach is because every coach knows that players will not be tolerated if they are not performing well, neither will they be allowed to demonstrate any form of dumb insolence without being shown the front door of the club.
The local pro league clubs are desperately tossing players to any possible club in Europe, whether it is second, third division, or lower leagues in places like Uzbekistan and other similar countries. The purpose is clearly to obtain some transfer fees for the club and maybe open the eyes of a coach or two.
What is funny is that players who leave here for England are aware that some of them do not have the number of international caps to earn a work permit, yet still these clubs keep sending these youngsters to return home disappointed.
The 73-year-old German is not yet exposed to the attitude of many of our players, their behaviour on and off the field and the severe lack of understanding of the game.
He may be shocked over the inability of national players to have competence in ball control, passing, running into space and most certainly keeping shape. A close look at the Under-23 squad could be a good start, especially with the Olympic qualifying series taking place shortly.
If he follows the expansive sheet of names all across the world who are eligible to represent T&T, he will find players like Darryl Roberts in Turkey (First Division Club), Khaleem Hyland (Belgium Club), Kenwyne Jones, who will surely be a candidate to lead the team, Carlos Edwards whose performances in the Championship Division are not comparable to what he was capable of five years ago, Samuel, Jake Thomson, and the Hoyte brothers Gavin and Justin.
In the Major League Soccer (MLS), the names of Keon Daniel of Philadelphia, Julius James of Dallas, Kendall Jadgeosingh at the Rhinos, Chris Birchall of LA Galaxy, Devorn Jorsling formerly of Defence force and Kevin Molino are some, who will attract the attention of the new coach.
Unfortunately, there is nothing much at home who will demand places in the squad, other than the current goalkeepers Marvin Phillip, Jan-Michael Williams, Ataullah Guerra, Hughtun Hector, Cleon John, Carlyle Mitchell and probably Akeem Adams.
The beginning of the road to Brazil is tantamount to a four furlong horse race where T&T is left at the gate for a few hundred metres with odds of 95-1, and no practice gallops to provide any evidence of ability or form.
The other “horses” have been going after challenges in a number of races with fair success and they will also engage in the Gold Cup races before their final two rounds to Brazil.
This is where the German’s experience will have to take us through the shortcuts to the winning pole. We have lost ten months, a problem which cannot be ignored.
