Time to go against the grain
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express)Let’s see what happens now.
Trinidad and Tobago, under the direction of the recently-arrived Stephen Hart and, I suppose, the general supervision from distance of Leo Beenhakker, are out of the Gold Cup. But they played better than expected, even when going down by the only goal of the game to Mexico in the quarter-finals in the United States on Saturday night.
Better, certainly, than under the watch of co-head coaches Jamaal Shabazz and Huston Charles, notwithstanding the fact that it was the local pair who qualified the national side for the premier tournament in the CONCACAF region. Now, just so the issues aren’t confused, it doesn’t mean that Raymond Tim Kee’s decision to bring in Hart and recall Beenhakker last month must automatically be seen as an inspired decision by the Football Association boss or indeed validates the widely-shared view that the only way our football can make positive strides on the international stage is exclusively through foreign or foreign-based expertise.
What our many supposed football experts need to tell us is what the Trini-born Canadian and venerable Dutchman were able to impart that resulted in such a significant improvement in the team’s performances in such a short space of time. Assuming they can be honest and not engage in the usual charade of banging their own drums or kissing up or talking a lot while saying nothing so as not to jeopardise the removal of their snouts from whatever trough it is buried in, it would be interesting to hear if the change is as a result of superior tactical awareness or better inter-personal skills, or a combination of those and other elements.
Or was it simply a case of having most of the best players available for the first time in a few years? Why did it appear that Kenwyne Jones, often a disinterested spectator for most of his previous 55 internationals, was so much more involved, not just from the point of often being the battling lone target man up front, but so obviously vocal and energetic in urging on his teammates?
Read More...
