Former National striker Errol Stevens says the Reggae Boyz will never qualify for another Senior FIFA Men’s World Cup Finals until the country starts emphasizing developing the technical ability and tactical acumen of young players.
Stevens, who played professionally in Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam, posted a recent YouTube blog in which he reflected on the Reggae Boyz’s failed 2022 FIFA World Cup Finals campaign. His candor was evident, even as he endeavored to be respectful to current players and coaches. He stressed throughout the near half-hour blog that Jamaican players are unable to play out of defense with one and two touches and lack spatial awareness.
Reggae Boyz can’t keep possession
“We can’t keep possession of the football under pressure from defense to midfield,” he opined. “Nobody is kicking away the football anymore,” he added, as an indication of the modern-day game.
“Why can’t we keep possession of the ball? We are not technical enough because we don’t train that way,” he explains. He says when the Boyz are in possession of the ball at the back, they tend not to make the field big enough. Instead, they tend to condense the area or find some players moving away from the ball instead of staying to help keep possession. “I don’t think we understand [how to keep possession and breaking the high press lines],” he added.
Stevens said he learned a lot from coaches in Jamaica, but there was also a lot that he did not know until he started playing overseas. Important lessons, he said, that are woefully lacking in today’s game on the local scene.
He believes he has earned the authority to speak and provide analyses on the CONCACAF Final Round World Cup Qualifying campaign, and the standard of Jamaica’s football, in general.
“Firstly, I represented the country before. I was a part of the set-up from Schäfer (Winfried), Montessa (Alfredo), “Tappa” (Theodore Whitmore), and like I said, I respect all of them, and we can learn from each other.”
“They have been all over the world, they have coached many teams in many countries, and “Tappa” played in a World Cup, played in England. I have played in Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Can I talk about football on a tactical level? Yes, because when I went to Thailand, I had to go to training 45 minutes before training starts, just for my coach to sit with me a do tactical work,” the 35-year-old asserted.
No backboard work
The former Harbour View and Arnett Gardens Premier League player explained that he possessed raw talent when he first went to Thailand. But tactically and technically, he was far behind his teammates and other players in the league.
“In Jamaica, we (players) don’t get to do blackboard work to explain why we do what and where on the field and for what reason,” he claimed.
He is convinced that the better teams in CONCACAF know that the Reggae Boyz are not technically and tactically set up to play the ball out from the back with one or two touches. These teams, he insisted, press Jamaica high. He said it shows on the Jamaican players’ faces that they are not comfortable playing with one or two touches under pressure.
“So as soon as they press our backline, someone panics and boots the ball long upfield, and that is what the opponents want because it becomes a 50-50 [challenge], and they are already set up to win the second ball,” he says.
The 35-year-old is a qualified and experienced accounting clerk and autobiographer of To Hell and Back, a 2018 book in which he spoke about facing racism, his struggles with injuries, and difficulties with family and life.
He left Harbour View in Jamaica in 2009 for a better life in Russia, where he played the rest of the season with FC Khimki before returning to Jamaica at the end of the season.
He then moved to Arnett Gardens, helped them win the Claro Cup, and headed off to Thailand at Saraburi United Football Club for the 2013 – 2014 seasons. He netted 16 goals in 33 appearances.
The following season he moved to Vietnam at Hai Phong, where he remained until 2019, bagging 42 goals in 89 appearances. He has five caps for the Reggae Boyz.
“What I learned is that once my team wins possession of the ball, we make the field as big as possible so that we are better able to keep possession of the ball.”
The married father of two boys says emphasis must be placed on developing young players now, if the standard is to improve over time.
“We need to start developing the players in Jamaica to play one and two touches from early because if we do that, sooner or later it will become something that they enjoy.
Stop going for big coaches
“Stop going for these big coaches for World Cup campaigns because they can’t develop football on the island. When they come in, they just have to work with what they have. We need it (development) to be coming from schoolboy level right up, from they are little we need to be focusing on their technical skills,” he reiterated.
“We need to create drills and teach the players to play two touches in their half. When I was in Asia, I used to believe that my first touch was good, but it [was] never good at all.
“If we in Jamaica are playing 11 v 11 in one half, we cannot make ten passes, or we can’t do it consistently. When I was in Thailand, and we were playing 11 v 11 in one half, when your team loses the ball, you can’t get it back. You run for three, four minutes and can’t get it back because everybody knows how to move and when to run and when to stay. Everybody can identify the situation when we have the advantage, when we have two or three players free.”
“The free player knows that he has time on the ball where he can take two touches, and if he needs to take one (touch), he knows because of the type of drills we used to do.”
“That’s my two cents,” ended Stevens.
