debut: 2/15/09
4,951 runs
JAMAICA (1) - PANAMA (4)
Jamaica started with a 4-3-3 formation.
1. Coach McLaren is an idiot.
2. Coach McLaren, Andre Blake and JFF again, humble unnoself, sing a Sankey, and go get Ravel Morrison.
3. The players are out there seemingly doing their own thing.
4. The players who presented the most threat to Panama were defenders (Pinnock, Lembikisa, and Bell). Something is wrong with that picture.
5. McLaren starts the game and here comes the single press within the first minute of the game and the person doing the pressing......Palmer who (a) cannot tackle - more on this later (b) your central attacking MIDFIELDER, What madness.
6. I repeat, McLaren and the JFF are a match made in heaven. McLaren in his 60s gets a dream job where he visits Jamaica for a few match days and the JFF gets who they want on the team. Ravel could be in trouble.
7. I give McLaren one credit, down two goals he pivots to a 3-5-2 formation as scoring is a premium. Just the same, McLaren is an idiot.
8. On Panama's second and third goals they made 20-odd passes that led to the goals. Jamaica on the other hand, could not comfortably make 6 passes.
9. Our midfield was as wide open as the Sahara Desert on a 140-degree day.
10. Apart from keeping out Ravel Morrison, what other purpose do midfielders Palmer and "Busy" Atkinson serve?
11. Are we trying to win games or (a) showcase locals (b) keep out certain players.
12. We are not a good team and we do not play attractive football BUT see point #6.
13. With this coach and the JFF push of local players, we may not qualify for the World Cup.
GK - BLAKE - (5.0) was careless on the 2nd Panamanian goal.
LB - BELL (6.5) - showed an unexpected inclination to go forward and scored a good header in the process.
CB - PINNOCK (7.0) - steady in the back and was a presence in front of the Panamanian goal.
CB - KING (5.0) - still growing into the game at this level, and as such, he is still prone to errors. His talent cannot be questioned, however. He got turned around (2nd game this has happened) on the Panamanian first goal.
RB - LEMBIKISA (7.0) - outstanding going forward and was actually more threatening than his right side attacker (Bailey) as just about all his runs resulted in positive gains for Jamaica.
CDM - LATIBEAUDIERE (5.0) - while 1/2 decent at most things, he is not a CDM by any stretch of the imagination.
CAM - PALMER (4.5) - waste of time. He cannot tackle (gave away a penalty). Seriously JFF and McLaren, is this the best you can do at this position? Play Ravel's jersey in the position ahead of Palmer, you cannot get any worse CAM production from his jersey. He had two opportunities to shoot on goal but hesitated on one and turned over the ball on the other. True to form, his turnover led to the Panamanian 4th goal.
M - RUSSELL (4.5) - was he on the field?
LW - GRAY (5.0) - has lost his way since his dream debut for Jamaica.
F - BROWN (5.0) - was he on the field?
RW - BAILEY (5.5) - I sum up his play this way, with Russell standing wide open begging for the pass, Bailey dribbled into two Panamanians and lost the ball.
COACH - (minus zero)
SUBSTITUTION
CEPHAS for Brown - Cephas was not a factor.
LEIGH for King - Leigh was quite active defensively and in attack. I still prefer him at left back to Bell.
DIXON for Gray - (Dixon doesn't start for the Charlton Athletics U-21 and Campbell starts for the senior first team, For Jamaica, Dixon plays Campbell sits. Can some smart person explain this?) HINT - Dixon is a local product. In the game Dixon struck the upright. Again, he is not ready for this level against the top teams.
REID for Russell. - in his first game coming off an injury Reid showed a lot of energy on both sides of the ball.
ANTONIO for Bailey - a national senior team is not the place to play your way into shape Mr. McLaren and Mr. Antonio.