Did the local players fail Reggae Boyz audition?

For many it can be described as a poor display against Caribbean opposition in recent memory. For others, especially the administrators, it was ultimately an audition for the local players to stake a claim for future national team selection.

The eventual end result was an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat to the Reggae Boyz, Jamaica’s Senior Men’s Programme at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora in League-B of the CONCACAF Nations League.

While Guyana would have suffered identical, similar and even worse results prior to the aforementioned loss, the dominating performance of the visitors have placed a spot-light on the local grid, after six locally born players comprised the starting XI in the ill-fated result.

Among the other similar defeats the Golden Jaguars have endured include losses USA [June 2019 4-0, Gold Cup], Costa Rica [June 2012 4-0 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, 7-0 October 2012 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers], Mexico [October 2012 5-0, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers], Jamaica [December 2010 4-0, Caribbean Cup Qualifiers, May 1991 6-0, Caribbean Cup Qualifiers], Grenada [February 2004 5-0, FIFA World Cup Qualifier, April 1997 5-1 Caribbean Cup Qualifiers, April 1996 6-0, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers], Barbados [April 1995, 4-0, Caribbean Cup Qualifiers], Suriname [May 1992 4-0, Caribbean Cup, October 1980 4-0, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers] and Trinidad and Tobago [April 1988 4-0, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers].

In the opinion of several analysts, the match was viewed as a platform to fail the local contingent given the dormancy of the local game. After all how can the local based players justify their selection and compete against a highly talented Jamaican side, after being sidelined through no fault of their own, due to a lack of competitive matches in more than five months?  

The GFF Elite League concluded in March 2019 and the new season is yet to be announced. As such, no competitive matches were staged ahead of the commencement of the Nations League. This translates to countless players, several of whom ply their trade at the country’s highest level, being unable to gather the necessary minutes needed to stake and justify a claim for national team honours.

This unfortunate situation also applies to the member associations especially the Georgetown Football Association which has not staged league football since November of 2018.

Examination of the match highlighted that Guyana completed 192 passes after mustering 241. The rate of completion was 80%. For the Reggae Boyz, a whopping 432 passes found their intended target after attempting 492. The conversion rate was 89%.

 The above-mentioned numbers simply meant that Jamaica monopolized 64% possession of the ball. The Guyanese simply mustered 36%. A big reason for the disparity fell on the locals, who lacked the physical fitness and match readiness to complete against the well-oiled and drilled Reggae Boyz unit.

The eventual, unremarkable performance of the locals, will now credence for the continued influx of and on dependence foreign based/born players in the national programme.

Notwithstanding, the showing of the locals simply describes the current climate of the sport locally, and as such, some blame has to be shouldered by the federation who are struggling to provide adequate avenues and platforms for the locals to develop their respective talents through consistent playing. It is often said that although you can’t control the outcome, you can control the effort. In this case, the effort is the preparation for the intended assignment.

 A source close to the federation who spoke on the condition of anonymity following the match said, “How can you be developing players and not playing local football? That is how you develop players, the senior men’s programme is not to develop players, playing and managing local football is for that. Training and playing is like night and day and the local players have not been playing for months.”

According to the source, “The local players are not match fit because they have not been playing for months. I am for local players but they must be playing to be competitive and that is not the case locally. How are you not going to start Stephen Duke-McKenna, Terrell Ondaan, Quillan Roberts, why are we not using them, the senior programme is not for that, is not for development, what is the point of calling them and not playing them?”,  he asked.

The source, who said the selection of the team was poor questioned the objectives of the new coach Marcio Maximo.

“What is the coach [Marcio Maximo] doing? When [Michael] Johnson came he was told that he must qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, he did that in albeit expensive manner. What is the objective of this coach?” he asked.

The Golden Jaguars’ maiden campaign at the CONCACAF Gold Cup featured 17 overseas born and/or based players.

However in comparison, Guyana’s current Nations League roster features less than half of the overseas contingent which participated in the Gold Cup. Notable admissions include Callum Harriott, Elliot Bonds, Terrence Vancooten, Emery Welshman, Kadell Daniels, Anthony Jeffrey, Ronaye Marsh-Brown and Brandon Beresford. ] One wonders whether the foreign based players simply used the National Programme to elevate their respective profiles and then opted against representing the nation.

Or maybe proper remuneration was the cause.

A player from the squad who spoke on the condition of anonymity confided, “TVC [Terrence Vancooten] is injured and out for a while with an ankle injury. Welshman also has an injury but I am not sure which. Bonds and Daniels are fit so I am not sure why they weren’t selected but I am led to believe that there was a limit on how many overseas they could bring because of finance.”