Arnett look to tighten up their defence
Published:Saturday | February 5, 2022 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Assistant coach of Arnett Gardens, Eric Rademakers, says the team is looking for an improved defensive display when they take on Harbour View in their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) fixture this afternoon at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at 1 o’clock.
In the day’s second game at 3:15 p.m., Vere United oppose Tivoli Gardens.
With Arnett scoring five and conceding five, the Netherlands-born Rademakers says special emphasis was placed on this aspect of their game throughout training this week.
“Our defensive organisation is what we placed emphasis on this week. It is something that we think we need to improve.
“We have been scoring goals in all the games, which was the focus coming out of last season, where we didn’t create much.
“So we have improved that a lot but it has come at a cost to our defensive organisation but we will be looking to get more of that in the game against Harbour View,” he said.
ANTICIPATING A DIFFICULT MATCH
He said the team is still coming together as a unit and anticipates a very difficult match against the Harbour View team.
“With the new coaching staff and a lot of new players, there were some things that we could not tweak that we saw in preseason. So we had to make choices on where we would put the focus.
“So we are still improving and developing the team. We are not at the stage where we have everything in line. But progress is being made every day on the field. The players understand what we want them to do much better, so we expect more improvement,” he said.
“We saw Harbour View play when they got the last-minute goal (against Molynes), they will come with a positive energy. We were disappointed that we didn’t get the three points on Tuesday but we will be ready to take it to them,” he added.
Both Arnett and Harbour View, fourth and fifth, respectively, are tied on four points and Harbour View’s assistant coach, Sean Fraser, said they are looking to separate themselves from their opponents.
“We are expecting a tough battle. The three games we have watched Arnett Gardens play, they have held possession well but we have prepared well for today’s game.
“Both of us are locked on the same number of points, so we are looking to separate ourselves.
“We have already dropped five points from a possible nine and we are not looking to drop any more. So hopefully, we can achieve the ultimate which is to win,” he said.
In the day’s second game, eighth-place Vere United (three points) and tenth-place Tivoli Gardens (two points) are both coming off defeats and will be looking to rebound with victories.