Yes... we know it's too early for any grand pronouncements about the team or the coach, but considering what we have been used to seeing, this was a great start for the Hart/Beenhakker tandem. It was not a victory and there are some lineup adjustments that we probably need to see going into the Haiti game, but for the most part this was a positive start.
Positives for me were:
1) The play of Kenwyne Jones. Some might say that he's motivated because of the locker room incident at Stoke last season, but I think he's a motivated player overall... period. Yes, the arrival of Mark Hughes as manager means a fresh start for him, and a chance to play his way onto the field. Yes, he might be motivated to shut up the naysayers on the Stoke City messageboard... and here on this very forum as well (
), but I think that for the first time in a longtime he might actually have faith in the national coaching staff. I have never seen Kenwyne play a better game... offensively AND defensively.
At one point in the first half when he was isolated from the midfield he was dropping deep as the only outlet option for his defenders, and still he would hold up the ball by himself, often against double-teams. He defended on corners and on the other end was a threat on every ball into the box... essentially playing by himself in the air. He will be disappointed to have not doubled his tally, but his goal was well-taken... a real beauty, from the time he picked the pass out the air, off his chest, splitting the center halves in one motion... to holding off the Salvadorean RB to place the shot pass the keeper. TnT's MOM without a question.
2) The play of Carlos Edwards. Yes... I giving Stephen Hart credit as well. First for calling him up and then starting him in an attacking position, and seemingly running the attack thru him in the game's opening minutes. He was brilliant. Confidently taking on his defender/s... and doing well to get the ball to Daniel on a deflection for the TnT opening goal. Keon Daniel and Khaleem Hyland had very good games as well, not sure I could give full credit to Hart, but it's worth a mention.
3) The composure of the entire team, particularly in possession. Hart stated coming in that he wanted the team to play more of a possession type game and the changes in tactics were apparent from the jump. Yes, Jones' equalizer came off a direct pass over the top, but for most of the game there seemed to be a consistent effort to play the ball out the back and down the flanks. It worked particularly well in the first 15 minutes before possession fell apart under constant pressure from El Salvador in midfield. Hart was able to get the team settled early in the second half, and they showed a fortitude lost on previous squads, in being able to claw their way back after conceding the lead on a poor defensive breakdown.
4) In conjunction with the composure, the cohesiveness of the team has to be mentioned as well. Yes, the attack became very disjointed for a large stretch bracketing the halftime whistle, but the players started with, then settled back into a bit of a passing rhythm (at least relative to what we have been used to seeing). Let's be real... "rhythm" here meaning the ability to keep possession for more than three passes at a time... and we did that in stretches. Players consistently looked to find teammates even under pressure and it worked. We could have finished better on some of the chances, but Edwards, Daniel and Jones seem to be playing on the same wavelength throughout. A welcomed sign.
Negatives:
1) Defensively we have a long way to go. Not sure who played LB tonight but he had a very uneven game. The central defender inside of him was no better. The pair were exposed time and time again by the Salvadorean attack, no more so than on Zelaya's second goal, easily beaten over the top and inside by the pass. The lack of pace in the back was a glaring weakness and will be a definite worry against the pace and guile of Haiti's Jeff Louis and Leonel Saint Preux.
2) Failure to sub off ineffective players such as Kevon Carter, Joevin Jones and an absent Densil Theobald. Jan-Michael Williams redeemed himself by making an incredible reflex save to deny Zelaya his hattrick, but otherwise he was poor in terms of reaction to the ball and just getting to shots, period. The wall let him down on the freekick goal, but the post saved him a couple times on shots that arguably he should have pushed wide.
There might be more... but these to me were most glaring.