Deon Burton rolled back the years with another goal for the Reggae Boyz on Tuesday night. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
ON TUESDAY night, Jamaica's senior men's footballers hammered St Vincent and the Grenadines 5-1 in a friendly international at the 'Office'.
Today, they tackle Trinidad and Tobago in Trinidad, then make the short trip across to the Spice Isles to challenge Grenada, in yet another friendly, on Tuesday.
There are plenty of players and not much time. But the Reggae Boyz are working overtime to gather shape for their 2010 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Associations of Football (CONCACAF) World Cup qualifying debut against The Bahamas.
That game to kick off the 'Road to Africa' campaign begins on Sunday, June 15 at the 'Office' and René Simoes, after Wednesday night's hammering of the Vincentians, believes the team is moving along nicely.
On a good track
"We are on good track, we have improved a lot," noted the Brazilian, who is in his second stint as the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) technical director.
He returned in January this year, having departed eight years earlier from a successful first outing in which he led the country to a historic World Cup finals appearance at France '98.
This time, Simoes has had to play an entirely different ballgame - with only a matter of months and not three years, and an extremely contrasting situation regarding the availability of squaddies, with a vast majority now based overseas as pros.
Only in the past week and a half, with the club season now officially ended in Europe where most ply their trade, has the technical director had his core group together for any sustained period.
First up along the long road to qualification are the Bahamians, ranked 167th in the world, and both games will be played in Jamaica because the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) deemed their field unfit for matches of World Cup qualifying stature.
"I think for this stage against Bahamas we're OK," says Simoes. "But when you look for the higher level, we have to improve so much more."
It's true. Winning this two-match phase launches Jamaica in a group that most likely will include Mexico, Canada and Honduras - effectively the 'Group of Death' for the semi-final stage from which the top three will qualify for the last round of six, from which the top three will automatically advance to South Africa. The fourth-place finisher gets a shot at qualifying against the sixth-place finisher from CONMEBOL (South American group).
As they home in on the competition, one of Simoes' big tasks is reshaping his 97th-ranked team, particularly at the back, which also impacts on midfield and its attacking options with a formation other than the 4-4-2 used previously. For the first time since Simoes' return, they used the 3-5-2 in a game, against the SVG.
"I think 3-5-2 makes the team more stable and gives them more confidence in the back. But if they feel that it's not working, most of the players have played both systems and they can always change," Simoes said.
Continuing, he added: "Also, you've to look for the players to see that we have the right players for the system."
Problematic positioning
The 4-4-2 has proven problematic at times because the central defender's co-ordination for the sweeper's role is not always fluent. The 3-5-2 allows greater coverage and security with an additional marker and a definite sweeper in defensive situations, then frees up the flank midfielders - who are also flank defenders - to roam into attacking positions.
For example, Jamaica's second goal on Tuesday came when Ricardo Gardner drifted well out of position, ran on to a beautiful pass straight down the middle of the pitch from Andy Williams and was brought down inside the penalty box. King scored the penalty. In a 4-4-2 formation, Gardner, most likely, would not have had the freedom to roam unattended into such a great attacking position.
Obviously, in such a large group, there are players on trial too. Simon Ford, who represents Scottish team Kilmarnock, and Reno's Evan Taylor got debuts as sweeper and central midfielder. Ford never put a foot wrong, but the slow Taylor had a testing time against the nippy SVG team and sometimes his teammates made life a bit more difficult by feeding him passes that were off. Welcome to the big times.
"Taylor ... it's too early to say that he's the man. For a first game he was something else," was Simoes' assessment of the 19-year-old, who took on the regular role of Rudolph Austin.
He continues to make his mark.
"I think Rudolph can adjust himself to any position. He's a very interesting player. Rudolph will give us a lot of good things in that position," said Simoes.
One-time captain, midfielder Williams, was having his first game back since quitting under the previous JFF administration after the 2005 Gold Cup. Besides setting up the second goal, he made few incisive passes and hit some shots that were uncharacteristic and unlike those that earned him the nickname 'Bomber' - the most glaring of which was turned over the bar from close in.
Losing goals
"You cannot lose goals like that because in high-level games you don't get so many chances to score goals," the coach observed.
But Simoes would have been heartened by the performance from other members of the '98 throng, like defensive strongman Ian Goodison and goalscorer Deon Burton, in the face of criticism that he should have chosen younger players.
Burton scored the final goal and, according to Simoes, "Goodison was the best player in the St Vincent game." For that, there can't be any great disagreement.
"There is only one way you prove that you are right ... it is to win the game," he says. "I have to live with my opinion ... I have confidence in my decisions. Despite the age, it's the best players we have here now.
"Let's see how the 3-5-2 will work against stronger players," Simoes said of today's T&T game. "They're a good team. Let's see how the players respond."
