Ok so as I landed in Bim, my first interaction was with an Immigration officer who looking at my form, asked me "What SPORT you come to Barbados for?" well I nearly dead wid laugh
then I replied "YOU all are hosting us in a World Cup Qualifier this after noon"... her response... "Barbados does still play football???" So right away the vibes wasn't too good fuh the home team! As I meandered around Bridgetown, there was NOTHING to indicate the country had a game in under 7 hours time! THANKS to T&T Manager Peter Rampersad and Shaun Fuentes for my match ticket
Skip to the afternoon and I swear the Maxi drivers in Barbados MUST have TRINI ROOTS!!! Man peeling thru "roads" as large as the Lanes in Belmont! The one taking me to the game was VERY efficient tho...when we hit some traffic, he managed to find some back-road in between an unpaved trace, a car-park and some fig trees in a yard that made sure I was able to comfortably arrive at the game 1/2 hour before kick-up..now I accustom travelling to see games and this is the FIRST time I ever walk into a grounds and with the match about to kick-off and the stadium EMPTY... and this is NO exaggeration eh.... besides the security, the media present, and the players on the field warmin up, there were appoximately 10-15 fans there... and the Barbados National stadium is VERY small with three stands on the southern side of the pitch... two uncovered on either side of the covered section I was in. The field had been cut ( I would later learn from the Manager that it was done AFTER we had our last trainng session... AND that we were only allowed ONE football to practice with)... their ATTEMPT at some gamesmanship!
Shaun Fuentes gave me the starting line-up and it came as no surprise given the selection from Friday Phillips in for Warner, Keon in for Hyland and Leon in for Stern... so I thought Roberts was startin up top with KJ, but as the match kicked off I realised Roberts was playing the same left-midfield role he was looking SO bad in vs Bermuda... so we were actually lined up as a 4-5-1
However in the first few minutes we began to push them back and the diffrence in quality was glaring... an errant back pass by the Bajan right-back was easily intercepted by Jones and he pushed, let fly and BOOM... overbar... now this occurred JUST AFTER an incident (unseen/unpunished by the ref) where KJ appeared to have been kicked in the face by his marker and stayed down for quite a while... THAT miss would be the start of a bad sequence of missed opportunites from the Captain! With T&T dominating tho, it seemed like only a matter of time, and sure enough it arrived in the form of a volley from Keon Daniel in emphatic style!!! Now the thing is, the way the shot hit under the bar, bounced and came out, I delayed my celebration because I remember T&T had a similar shot vs Bermuda disallowed when it looked a sure goal to me... but not this time.. we were up 1-0 and the Bajan heads dropped... they were there for the taking, but we squandered MANY an opportunity... KJ, again with a one on one with the keeper, over-pushed ad ran the ball out trying to rounds him...then again later on he chose to pass off the responsibilty to Keon, whose attempted chip of the keeper was easily caught...but props to Kenwyne!!! His feet might have been failing to deliver, but he had a brilliant header that had GOOOOOAL written all over it, when the lil Bajan keeper flung himself to his left and parried it for a corner. Tinto, Birchall and even an over-lapping Wolfe had shots either wide or over one after the other...Up to this point Marvin Phillips was pretty much a spectator...and we ended the half 1-0 but could easily have been ahead by 2 or 3 more.
In the second half, an interesting thing happened, the stadium filled up... some men even taking in the action for free, pirched on a hill just opposite the western side of the stadium...this also coincided with Barbados slowly beginning to creep their way back into the game, and even won their first CORNER... Birchall was lucky not to be booked as he was forced into some fouls and with our slender 1-0 lead I began to worry about dropped points on the road.. but Marvin Phillips made a few excellent saves and all credit to Julius and Power they really held the backline together!!! Carlos was also asserting himself much earlier on, as no captain's armband effect was needed this time around
... strangely Wolfe was NOT tested by the Bajans, but THAT might have more to do with Tinto's mazy runs keeping their left-back "home" whereas Roberts was still looking out to sea wide left for us, resulting in more attacks by the Bajans on our left... with the work-load taking it's toll, Hyland who had been warming up for nearly 20 mins came on for Birchy and while he looked much sharper than against Bermuda, his contributions were few and far between..one of them would contribute to T&T's 2nd item, bringing the ball into the area, it was chipped onto the head of Jones who direced it into the path of Roberts who fighting off the Bajan keeper and 2 defenders eventually scrambled the ball over the line.. 2-0 T&T... and a welcome relief for the small bunch of Trini fans present! Marvin would pull off a phenomenal reflex save from a powerful shot just inside the box, and preserve our clean sheet... next up... Enter Lester Peltier! He's what I would call an IMPACT player, and while not yet the finshed article, he always lights up the field with his speed and dribbling... but he's clearly second in line behind Tinto whom he replaced. But a useful weapon to have as a 2nd half sub. Other than one free kick which KJ took instead of Daniel (much to my dismay) that again was high and wide of the mark, and another from Keon himself which bended beautifully but lacked the pace to trouble the Bajan goalie there wasn't much else to talk about... EXCEPT the entrance of BLEEDER... who was laughing and chatting with the 4th official as he handed in his number ( wish I could read lips, but even without that gift, I suspect the conversation may have gone something like this "Buh de game goin an blow off now, tha coach is a real wicked fella to do you that maaan", with Denzil replying "Tha's OK, just by me stepping on the field it means I get a bigger pay packet
")... the match blew off less than a minute later with Denzil failing to touch a ball...
So here's my Player rankings:-
Marvin Phillip 8 - DEF our first choice, barring injury/suspension...he looked sharp and decisive, and with the Pro-league beginning this week, he will get his match-fitness up to speed... but I want to see him SERIOUSLY tested... perhaps table topping Guyana will provide that in November
Julius James 7 - I had my doubts about him, but he's looked VERY solid in his first two WCQ's - wins a lot of balls in the air, is confidant and reads the game well! Also comfortable with the ball at his feet.
Seon Power 6 - Is one of the most improved players on the team! BUT... still goes to ground TOO much, he got left out that way a few times and had to be bailed out by recovery runs from Julius, Keon (YES KEON!!!) and Leon...he's a fighter tho, but I can see him losing his spot to Primus/Cyrus when they return from injury.
Carlos Edwards 6.5 - Showed he is STILL a class act with grace, poise and control on the ball, however playing left-back and constantly having to switch the ball to his right to deliver a cross or pass limits his contributions... I expect he will revert to right-back once J Lloyd is back in the squad.
Anthony Wolfe 6 - Now I love this fella's PASSION, much like Power, he 's a fighter and having spoken to him one on one I know he always gives his all wherever he's asked to play, but IMHO he will NEVER be a right-back... and everytime he steps on the field in that role, I get flashbacks on the 3-0 in Nashville when he debuted in that position... hopefully SOMEBODY will remember this man was the PFL's LEADING GOAL SCORER 3-4 seasons ago and play him as a STRIKER...in THIS game tho, he made some over-lapping runs and even had a decent shot on goal, his versatility is an asset, one I think we are currently wasting/abusing.
Clyde Leon 7 - I was never a fan of his, but his time in Columbia is paying off, and it shows in his play! He played the role of defensive midfielder PERFECTLY, providing cover whenever our defenders went up for corners or wing-backs over-lapped, he never strayed and broke up several Bajan attacks, simply laying the ball off to Keon/Birchall, or spreading it to Tinto... I spoke to him briefly and he REALLY WANTS TO MAKE IT TO BRAZIL... another WARRIOR in the making!
Keon Daniel 7.5 - He's a CHANGED man... while NOT having the kind of impact in central midfield as many felt he would, that being his "natural" position, I saw him tackling back, and his overall work-rate that was lacking last time around is UP..WAAAY UP!!! With his free kick ability and the goal, MY MOTM!!!
Christopher Birchall 6.5 - STILL a fighter, STILL has a tremendous shot, but something is missing, he doesn't seem quite as sharp, but his passing has improved tremendously and given more freedom to make those surging runs from mid-field, he's a mainstay of this team! Also he delivers some decent dead-ball free kicks when given the oportunity.
Hayden Tinto 6.5 - Improves with every game but his height (or lack thereof) hinders him...still he has an excellent first touch and when on song can really terrorize a defence with his speed and dribbling. Tends to make errors in judgement where passing is concerned tho.
Darryl Roberts 6 - Ditto what I said for Wolfe above... he looks poor out on the left, and when he scored yesterday it was only AFTER he'd moved up to his natural striker position, but even so he was caught off-side more than 5 times in the game... needs to step up! Yet despite all this, he's just scored 3 goals over 3 matches...go figure!
Kenwyn Jones 6.5 - Assisted on the 2nd goal, had that magnificent header attempt but on the ground his finishing was disappointing to say the least! I would want to believe the poor field conditions played a part since this is a FAR cry than the EPL grounds he's accustomed to week-in week out... he too needs to step up, and lead from in front...LITERALLY... the ability is there, but his HEART must be in it equally!!!
Overall, I'm willing to give Pfister a bly, and not call for his head like I heard Ken Butcher was doing. BUT, he seems set on staying with the formation and selection, based on these 2 games, and I have problems with some of the choices (Roberts/Wolfe) in the positions he's playing them, as I see them as disasters waiting to happen!!! But the team WILL get better as we progress, ad there are some positives:-
Keon is back taking free kicks
the line up is staying relatively the same, which makes the job of gelling easier as we move on
Based on selections so far, we will have a stronger bench down the road as players will have had experience playing in previously unfamiliar roles
I DO question the fact that Boucoud and Thompson never saw ANY playing time, as I would have liked to see what either could offer!!!
Finally,I bounced into Tony Warner this morning at the airport and told him about the forum... so he promised to visit...hope he survives the experience!!!
Until the next game...PATRIOT out!
