Conservative tactics have left the Lady Jaguars facing the possibility of elimination in the Concacaf W Qualifiers, with a must-win encounter tomorrow against traditional Caribbean powerhouse Trinidad and Tobago staring down the senior programme.
Guyana laboured to an uninspiring draw against Nicaragua at the National Track and Field Centre in Leonora on Friday, in a fixture which required a win for the host nation to keep pace with the fellow unbeaten Twin Island Republic unit.
Although the technical and tactical quality of the Central Americans cannot be denied, one shot on target from eight attempts following a meager 37% of possession is certainly indicative of a team that was either trained to defend or had a defensive mindset.
The statistics also highlighted a team that lacked imagination, and creativity, whose main concern and focus seemed intent on not losing the contest despite being the host, and having a small but animated crowd acting in the capacity of the proverbial 12th man, as an avenue for inspiration.
Given the exploits against the Central Americans, the team is now expected to chase the victory against Trinidad and Tobago in Trinidad which could be a recipe for disaster.
The psychology of Guyana remaining perfect heading into the Trinidad and Tobago match would have surely placed added pressure on Trinidad. A golden opportunity was certainly missed and wasted by the management team, who seemed to lack bravery and attacking foresight and intent.
Guyana entered the contest on the back of wins against lowly Turks and Caicos (7-0), and Dominica (4-0), while Nicaragua lost to Trinidad and Tobago (1-2) and crushed Turks and Caicos (19-0).
A win was certainly required to keep stride with the Twin Island Republic, as they were expected to cruise to a positive result against Turks and Caicos. Right on cue, Trinidad and Tobago mauled Turks and Caicos 13-0 to move to a perfect nine points, two ahead of Guyana who sit on seven and only require a draw to seal their place in the next round.
Against Nicaragua, the Guyanese were positioned in a 4-2-3-1 which is essentially a 4-5-1, a rather defensive formation that was further concretised given the amount of pivots and central midfielders employed by the coach.
Although the introduction of Annalisa Vincent and Otesha Charles in the second half provided a direct and speedy threat, the lack of service for the most part from the defensively minded ‘engine room’ played into the hands of the visitors.
This essentially forced an individualistic offensive mission to be formulated by the forwards, who for the most part, expectedly failed, given the lack of support from the midfielder owing to their defensive responsibilities and undertaking.
Effectively, most of Guyana’s attacking intent came from set pieces which illustrated their game plan of fashioning a goal against the run of play.
Even the introduction of Mariam El-Masri and Brittany Persaud, two stalwarts of the programme, but who certainly seemed very short of competitive and international match fitness, was a massive error and indicated the uncertainty and cluelessness of what was required by the coaching staff.
The duo did not provide any offensive threat and essentially handed the Nicaraguans further control of the contest in the dying embers of the contest as they lacked mobility and energy. This was further evident by the fact that Nicaragua almost scored in latter stages, denied by the safe hands of custodian Chante Sandiford.
Guyana needed to record a victory so a much more measured approach could have been employed against the Trinidadians, instead of having to chase the win in hostile territory.
Frankly, poor coaching at least from the attacking perspective is to blame for the tepid outcome.
Intended outcomes are based on objectives. Our aim was to win the match given the circumstances of the group. We failed and now we are expected to win our remaining match by being offensively adventurous away from home. A rather interesting modus operandi.
