(06-08-2014 04:04 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote: Good preaparation match for France against a very weak opposition, Jamaica 8-0. The Jamaica team looked like a 4th Division team in France. Good for the moral for the French players before leaving for Brasil tomorrow where we'll face Honduras next Sunday in the first match of the group stage.
I don't follow at all the Jamaica team so have no idea if this is the real level of the team (which I hope not!)?
I'll clear things up here.
Why did Jamaica do so poorly today?
1. This was a Jamaican B (maybe B-) team. What you saw today was not Jamaica's best 23. It was merely the best Jamaica could do at the moment. The following are names absent from today's that would certainly be among Jamaica's best 23:
Jobi McAnuff
Garath McCleary
Alvas Powell
Deshorn Brown
Darren Mattocks
Andre Blake
Nyron Nosworthy
Lewis Grabban
Jason Puncheon
Jermaine Taylor
Demar Phillips
Tremaine Stewart
Luton Shelton
Shaun Cummings
Jamar Loza
Dane Richards
Dwayne Miller
Duwayne Kerr
Donovan Ricketts
Most of the names above are our usual starters. McCleary and McAnuff are our usual wingers, Brown and Mattocks are generally our starting forwards, Blake/Ricketts are usually our #1/2 GKs (Kerr and Miller come right after them), Shelton is our all-time leading scorer, Demar is our normal left mid/fullback, etc, etc. Many of these are the players that featured in World Cup qualifiers (check the old lineups for our most recent cycle and you'll find their names in most of the crucial matches). So, why weren't any of them there today?
A. Injuries. Cummings, McCleary and Taylor were hurt late in their league seasons and weren't ready for more football just yet.
B. Loza didn't have the papers to travel to the continent. Puncheon had personal issues and will join Jamaica in September for the Canada game instead. McAnuff, Nosworthy and Grabban had contract problems they were sorting.
C. This is the biggest reason: club commitments. Jamaica has a lot of players in Scandinavian leagues and America's MLS. Kerr, Phillips, Stewart and Richards, for example, all compete in Norway. Brown, Mattocks, and Blake all play in MLS. These leagues are in season right now - they play from Spring to late fall, unlike most other competitions. Many of the clubs in these leagues were simply not willing to release their players to us for long, if at all.
Blake and Mattocks played only in the first two games before we had to send them back. Brown had a 10 minute run in the first of our 4 matches this summer (Serbia, May 26th). Demar was only let go to us for one game (our Egypt draw last week, June 4th). Many of the others weren't released at all for any of our four matches.
This meant that we had to dig deep to field a full squad for all four of these matches, and we had to use quite a few players (many from Jamaica's domestic league) who simply were not experienced at this level of football. A couple of those players showed reasonably well today and in the other 3 games we've playd since May 26th. Kemar Lawrence (who started at Left Back today) will probably be getting a contract in Europe soon on the basis of his performances. Romario Campbell (who came in during the second half in the midfield) will also probably get a deal.
Most of these players, however, were simply not ready for a team like France. Jacomeno Barrett (our goalkeeper today) is a great example of this. He is big, athletic, and probably the best goalkeeper currently in the Jamaican Premier League (his squad, Montego Bay United, just won the league title), but he simply doesn't have the technical and mental attributes necessary to compete at the international level. He's shown this before, and he showed it again today. He is our 5th choice keeper - Blake, Ricketts, Miller and Kerr would all play ahead of him, but none of them were available for selection today. Hence, Barrett started, and his poor positioning/anticipation/conditioning can explain at least three (probably 4) of the goals we gave up today. The mere presence of Andre Blake would have probably cut this score in half today. The presence of all the other names I mentioned above would probably have given us a respectable score (though we would still likely have been on the losing end).
2. Fatigue.
Now, even considering all that I said above, the group you saw on the field today has done better than that quite recently. On June 4th, we took Egypt (a top 30, WC caliber squad) to a 2-2 draw in London. Switzerland (a top 10 team) beat us 1-0 in Lucerne with an 84th minute goal. Serbia beat us 2-1 after scoring quickly on us in the first half and then struggling through the end of the game to hold on to a win. Most of the starting 11 today (7 of them, by my count) competed in those matches, and competed better in those games than they did today.
Why the difference?
Part of it comes down to the fact that France might be the most dangerous squad we faced (the Swiss outrank them, but France has arguably deadlier midfielders and forwards). Most of the explanation, however, is down to fatigue. This was Jamaica's 4th game in 13 days (not even 2 full weeks). Players crossed several time zones to make these matches. Rudi Austin, for example, (our captain who started all four games) flew from the UK to New York for the Serbia match, then back across the atlantic for Switzerland, then to London, then to France. Simon Dawkins finished playing 45 minutes for Derby County in the English Chsmpionship Playoff final (which Derby lost to QPR, thus sending QPR to the EPL) less than 48 hours before flying to New York for the Serbia match. He then proceeded to start all four games for us.
Several of the other players have similar stories. We couldn't rest them much because, frankly, we didn't have the depth given the many absences of our top players I mentioned above.
Thus, by game #4, guys had gotten really tired. And it showed.
As for me, I generally feel good about how we did in these four matches. We took a top 30, WC caliber Serbian side to the wire in a 2-1 loss. Then we went to Switzerland and near forced a draw on the road against a top 10 team. Then we went to Egypt and took a Top 30 (they were 24th on the day we played them), WC Caliber side to a draw. While I wish we could have ended this series on a better note, I find that there are a lot of positives to take from all of this, even in the 8-0 defeat. We learned a lot about our current group of players and where they may be able to take us.
Most importantly, the fact that we generally held our own against 3 sides that are currently well ahead of us (again, both Serbia and Egypt are WC caliber and the Swiss are #6 in the world at the moment) makes me very optimistic about our chances heading into crucial competitions we'll be dealing with this fall.
Jamaica's first goal is to dominate the Caribbean. The 2014 Caribbean Cup (the regional premier competition whose top 4 teams go to the CONCACAF Championships and whose winner will go to the 2016 Copa America) will be held in Jamaica, and I consider it a must-win. I feel very good about our players' chances against Caribbean opposition. The Carib Cup will be on FIFA dates (unlike several of the matches we just recently played), meaning that we should be able to get most of our best names involved.
We'll play Canada in September to prepare, and by the time November comes around I expect us to win the Caribbean title. We've won the Carib Cup in 3 of the last 5 tournaments, but we failed badly in the most recent 2012 edition. Correcting this will do great things for our program. Our players have just finished an intense 4 match grind against elite opposition superior to any that they will face in the Carib Cup, and they held their own in 3 of those 4 games. If we can nearly force results against Switzerland, I'm confident we can beat Trinidad, Haiti, Cuba, Martinique and whoever else stands in our way come November. Not only will our squad likely be a little stronger then with some of the better call-ups and more well-rested players, but our athletes will have gotten used to facing much better teams. Guadeloupe isn't France, and that should bode well for us.
After the Carib Cup, we'll look ahead to the 2015 Gold Cup where we'll run into Central American and North American opposition. Again, the experiences we had during the 4 games we've played in the last 13 days will serve us well when we begin trying to match up with other CONCACAF teams.
This was a difficult experience (and today was just downright embarrassing), but it will benefit us in the long run.
(06-05-2014 12:55 PM)Que enspastic Wrote: It's funny that China and India never make the World Cup. 2.5 billion people collectively, but not a single World Cup team between them.
Ok so China have made it once. They didn't score a goal and finished on -9 goal difference after three matches. China, the same country that is absolutely devastating in the Olympics and devotes vast sums of money to win Gold.
Second greatest economic power, biggest population (roughly Uruguay's population x400).
Do you ever wonder why they are not qualifying for the World Cup on a regular basis?
I recall a good Economist article proferring an explanation.
Actually, football is massively popular in China, both at the street level and at the professonal level. I would chalk it up to corruption and a lack of a developmental infrastructure. However, even China's basketball teams are making respectable showings at international events (sometimes cracking the top 10 or top 8), so it's a bit weird.
There is a theory out there that because football/soccer is the heavy sporting favorite in China, that the players are spoiled in a way that their counterparts in other sports are not. When your market is 1.2 billion people, you don't have to be great to be the best - you just need to be better than everybody else. There is probably not much incentive to elevate the game when the existing domestic elite are treated like gods. Chinese football is like the New York Knicks - even when you play like shit you still sell out stadiums.
The start of the World Cup is very close now. Australia's first match will be against Chile on Friday (Saturday morning Oz Time) and I just wanted to say that Australia are going to suffer the footballing equivalent of being gang-raped by Chile, Spain and the Netherlands. That is all.
06-09-2014 05:51 PM
Frontenac
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I can't argue with you. It's too bad Australia got into that group.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited as hell for this Thursday. I have a little extra time on my hands, and I'm going to watch as many games as I can.
It's also cool to think what you were doing fours years ago waiting for South Africa to start up.
06-09-2014 06:32 PM
JayNull
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(06-05-2014 12:55 PM)Que enspastic Wrote: It's funny that China and India never make the World Cup. 2.5 billion people collectively, but not a single World Cup team between them.
India actually qualified for the world cup in 1950, but didn’t attend the tournament.
Quote:Playing barefoot with reasonable ball skills, India actually qualified for the World Cup in Brazil in 1950 - the only time it has done so. But lack of foreign exchange, the prospects of a long sea journey and an insistence on playing barefoot meant that the team never made it to Brazil.
India even picked up the gold in football in the first Asian Games in 1951, beating a suitably booted Iran by a solitary goal. In 1956, after having put on its boots, India reached the semi-final in Olympics football, the first Asian country to do so. It stood fourth in the tournament. In 1962, India again picked up the football gold in the Asian Games.
Quote:Regular football leagues take place in at least eight states, but club football in India is pseudo-professional with a strong degree of amateurism.
Also, football, like most things in India, is run by politicians, who have wrested control of most sports - the chief of the football federation now is the federal aviation minister. Lack of professionalism, cronyism, indifference and politicisation is not letting the game thrive, so fans have deserted it to root for their international heroes. Sponsors are indifferent because the quality of the game is appalling.
In retrospect, it would appear that India was never serious about football the way it was about cricket. The All India Football Federation, which runs the game in India, was formed in 1937, but took more than a decade to get affiliated with FIFA, the world's apex football body. India insisted on playing barefoot when other nations were putting their boots on and the game was changing fast.
(06-11-2014 06:33 AM)kosko Wrote: I've heard Chinese soccer leagues are mostly fixed and used for betting by Chinese oligarchs. That might be one of the issues.
There’s a lot of suspicion of match fixing involving Asian crime syndicates.
Quote:On a Monday evening in November 1997 Frank Lampard had just struck an equaliser for West Ham United against Crystal Palace when the floodlights at Upton Park failed, plunging the ground into darkness and forcing the abandonment of the game.
As football fans in east London cursed their luck, 6,500 miles away in Malaysia members of an Asian betting syndicate celebrated a six-figure payout.
A month later the syndicate – who had "arranged" for the lights to go out – repeated their scam during a Wimbledon vs Arsenal game. But, when they tried for a third time, at a Charlton vs Liverpool match, their plan was foiled. The security guard who had been bribed to trip the electrics using a remote control told a colleague of the plan and he alerted the police. Four men – two Malaysians, a Chinese man and Roger Firth, the Charlton security supervisor – were subsequently jailed for between 18 months and four years.
(This post was last modified: 06-11-2014 08:54 PM by WalterBlack.)
06-11-2014 08:53 PM
The following 1 user Likes WalterBlack's post:1 user Likes WalterBlack's post Giovonny
He makes some great points...but I'd really like to see a Brazilian reprimand a survivor from a war torn society in SE Asian, Middle East, or Africa for being excited about the games....
Brazilians have every right to boycott the games or not pay any attention to them with the antics FIFA have pulled off...but this sport is a morale booster for the world whether it be the "haves" or "have nots" in this world. I will therefore be enjoying tomorrow's opener with some foreign exchange guys in my grad program tomorrow....
yb13
06-11-2014 10:09 PM
The following 1 user Likes Brosemite's post:1 user Likes Brosemite's post Vacancier Permanent
My money is on Argentina......think England will be a dark horse this time. No pressure as everybody expects us to fail, I think we will make at least the Q-Finals, without looking like ever winning it.
Shame I am in Russia and some of the games are on at shit times!
am I the only person who thinks the Brazil team is overrated? On home soil, with the favourable support and weather conditions, they will go to the S-Finals I think....but win it, I would be surprised.
06-12-2014 12:02 PM
The following 1 user Likes sportbilly's post:1 user Likes sportbilly's post zaqan
Croatia is gonna surprise the world tonight. So many people thinking Brazil will get an easy win today with plenty of goals; yet we are talking about an opponent here that has Modric-Rakitic-Kovacic in the triangle on the midfield. They wont be dominated easely. Add some flavour from Perisic, Srna mandhandling Neymar, an experienced goalie and some balkan mentality. I agree with JJROberts, it will be close. Brazil still favourite but I hope for a 0-1 from Croatia. Then they will start playing it around and we will have to see if Brazil can unleash their inner beast with all the pressure!
^^ Yeah it's funny how Brazil got a shit group whereas Argentina has a cakewalk to round of 16...it's as if FIFA wants their Golden Boy Messi to win on the international stage...
yb13
06-12-2014 01:14 PM
The following 1 user Likes Brosemite's post:1 user Likes Brosemite's post Vacancier Permanent
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