Defence main priority for Blaine
Published:Sunday | February 13, 2022 | 12:13 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
NATIONAL SENIOR women’s head coach Vin Blaine says the immediate focus for his World Cup qualifying squad is forming and gelling a new defensive unit as they seek to qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Blaine announced his 23-player squad last Thursday for the first two qualifying games against Bermuda next Thursday at the National Stadium and Grenada next Sunday.
They will begin the campaign with notable absences, particularly in the backline with defender Konya Plummer, who is not in the team for personal reasons. Bristol City’s Satara Murray, who made her international debut last year, is also missing, as is Deneisha Blackwood who is still recovering from the knee injury that ended her 2021 National Women’s Soccer League season last August.
Acknowledging that defence could be the Reggae Girlz’s Achilles heel, Blaine says that it will be his immediate focus in the time that he has with them, to form a new partnership and to make it functional for their first two games.
“I think individually, we have good players, but collectively we are not organised defensively and it is one of our weak areas in the team,” said Blaine. “Unfortunately for me, with Konya out and Satara (Murray) out the backline is going to be new,” Blaine said on Thursday. “That is my first task. To get them [the new unit] playing together how they should move defensively.”
Angel City FC’s Allyson Swaby and Sashana Campbell have been included in the squad and are among those who were involved in the last three games the Reggae Girlz played last year, including against world champions, the United States. Campbell has operated as a makeshift defender in their recent friendlies and Allyson’s sister Chantelle, who plays for Rangers, is also another defensive option.
Blaine says that he believes that they have the capability to have a strong unit, making reference to the US game they lost 4-0. Blaine had said the goals the team gave up in that encounter were avoidable.
SILLY MISTAKES
“We made some silly mistakes in the game against the USA. And I stand by what I have said, none of those four goals would have scored if we were doing the correct thing as a unit. My job right now is to not waste time, and pay a lot of time to the defence unit,” Blaine said.
That is not the only decision that Blaine has to make in the coming days.
With the absence of Plummer, a new captain will have to be selected and Blaine is considering giving Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw the armband for the start of the qualifiers, but only if she wants it.
“I believe that captains should lead from the front. As of now, we are leaning towards, Ms Shaw being the captain. But she has to be comfortable with it. When you select a captain, you have to be comfortable and you as a coach have to be comfortable,” Blaine said.
“The captain is [representing] me on the field. She must be able to get the respect of the other players.”
The Reggae Girlz will have fan support to start the campaign with 2,500 fully vaccinated spectators allowed into the National Stadium for their opener against Bermuda.