‘Boyz must take responsibility’

While acknowledging the effects of his changes to the starting 11 against Panama, national senior men’s football team head coach Theodore Whitmore says that the team has to take responsibility for the performance which led to their 3-0 defeat at the National Stadium on Sunday.

National captain Andre Blake, Cory Burke, and Kemar Lawrence were the only players from the 2-1 defeat to Mexico on Thursday that started against Panama. Whitmore’s eight changes included debuts for West Ham striker Michail Antonio and Ranger’s Kemar Roofe while Shamar Nicholson, who scored on Thursday, was left on the bench and defender Damion Lowe was not included in the 23-man squad through injury.

A majority of the England-based players were available only for Sunday because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions which ruled them out for Mexico and against Costa Rica tomorrow.

However, those changes led to a slow start in the first half where Panama scored twice through Andrés Andrade in the 14th and Rolando Blackburn in the 39th minutes, respectively. Jamaica did not register a shot on target in the first half.

“That (changes) could have played a big part,” Whitmore said. “Coming out of Mexico and [making] eight changes, I think the chemistry and the cohesiveness would have played a big part.

“[But] we have to do some self-reflection. We have three games in a couple of days. It’s for us to look at what when wrong tonight (Sunday), how we fix it going forward, and move on.”

UNSUCCESSFUL GAMBLE

Former national striker Omar Cummings says while rotating the players was not the wrong choice, in theory, given the short time between games, it did not work in their favour.

“I think the coaching staff took a gamble that probably didn’t play out,” Cummings told The Gleaner. “[With] the quick turnaround [the thought was], we have fresh legs coming in, we are going to use these guys at home.

“If we get a good result, then that’s great and [when] we go into Costa Rica, then you have a group of guys that are fresh again to play that game. So I’m not necessarily saying that the game plan was necessarily wrong, it was the execution.”

While Cummings says that he does see the reasoning of using the England-based debutants, starting them in a World Cup qualifying scenario was risky.

“My thing is a couple of these guys have not played for Jamaica before,” he said. “I wouldn’t necessarily make them start in a World Cup qualifier at home. [Eight changes], that’s a drastic change to any team. At best, I would say four people can come in,” Cummings said.

“Another person on the other hand [could say] like, ‘Listen man, if you are coming for one game, then I don’t see the point of you coming at all’. Because I want to keep this group together and in these three games if we have all those bodies available for those three games, then at least I know what I am working with and what I’m going to get. If you are coming for one game and the dynamic of the group has changed, the playing style might be changed.”

Jamaica left the island for Costa Rica yesterday morning with the same squad that faced Mexico, minus the majority of the England-based contingent.

Cavalier’s Richard King has been replaced by Je-Vaughn Watson of Humble Lion, as the Jamaica Football Federation says he was unable to secure a visa in time for travel to Costa Rica. Jamaica sit at the bottom of the table with zero points.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com

Jamaica team for Costa Rica

Andre Blake

Dillon Barnes

Dennis Taylor

Cory Burke

Alvas Powell

Damion Lowe

Devon Williams

Kemar Lawrence

Shamar Nicholson

Junior Flemmings

Adrian Mariappa

Anthony Grant

Je-Vaughn Watson

Ricardo Morris

Oniel Fisher

Blair Turgott

Norman Campbell

Tyreek Magee

Lamar Walker

Peter Lee Vassell

Javon East

Romario Williams

Javain Brown