(Jamaica Gleaner) Steve McClaren faces his first test as Reggae Boyz coach on Friday when Jamaica take on Caribbean neighbours Cuba, in the Concacaf Nations Cup at the National Stadium but despite having no practice game and only a few days of training with the players, the Englishman says the intention is to win this and every game.
“In the first respect it is going to be difficult (with the limited preparation). But nothing is easy and the start is always difficult.
“We are number one in the Caribbean, so everybody wants to beat us. It was the same at Manchester United, everybody wanted to beat Manchester United and it is the same with Jamaica.
“So that means you need an attitude from the players that no game is easy. And my expectation is that every game we plan to win, wherever we go, whoever we play, we plan to win. It might not happen but we have to deal with that and then we move on to the next one and when we plan again our expectations are exactly the same, we want to win again,” he said.
The former Manchester United assistant coach, has an experienced and talented squad, blessed with an abundance of attacking options, which might give the coach a few headaches.
However, he was quick to point out that players coming off the bench are just as important as the ones who start.
“Modern football is not about the 11 who start, because of the five subs (teams have) and the size of the squad. It is about the squad. We call them starters and finishers.
“The starters are the 11 who start. The finishers come off the bench. If you are 1-0 down, they (finishers) come on and make an impact and you win the game.
“So where players used to be really disappointed at not being named in the starting 11, the bench is where the most important players are. That is the key to it.
“There are no better or worse, everyone is in the squad, everyone is equal and everybody plays a part.
“Everyone must be aligned together from myself, the supporters, staff, the federation, down to the players. We all have to be moving in the same direction,” he commented.
McClaren added that that the players not only played football for themselves and each other, but for the supporters, and that it is also crucial they turn out in their numbers and get behind the team every time they play.
“There will be a lot of times when we are 1-0 down and we have got five or 10 minutes to go and they (supporters) are the strength of the team.
“With five or 10 minutes to go that is when the top teams win and that is the kind of mentality that we need to instil not just in the players but in the nation, the supporters who come and watch.
“There is nothing better than winning a game and going to your supporters and acknowledging them, and then going into the dressing room and celebrating with each other.”
He revealed that three things will make up his philosophy for the team – attitude, athleticism and speed.
“If no one has attitude and no one wants to run, you won’t get in the team. You have to have attitude. You have to run,” he declared.
“That is the strength of the Jamaican player, speed and athleticism, and I have seen that in the games I have watched.
“So those three things we will work around in terms of a philosophy. The system might change but philosophy is attitude, being hard to beat, taking care of the ball and using speed to transition, and speed and transitioning is vital. If we get those three things that is the philosophy,” McClaren said.
