Opponent watch: Jamaica

[Dominic94]

26 minutes ago, archer21 said:

A decent amount of them play professionally in Jamaica though, so probably not making a great living. I imagine they’re fighting for wages for representing Jamaica more for those guys than for the guys playing in Premier League or Championship.

Oh ok that’s fair then.

[Shway]

54 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

 When you’re asking to be paid to play for your country but you’re a pro athlete like really.......

Depends on where you come from, and whats considered "pro". We're dealing with this in our backyard. 

That's why I reckon the "English born" Jamaicans commitment to the program is past money they can make, but more showing up when available and the experience gained. But for the Jamaican born players there's more to it - especially if they are the local ballers playing Red Stripe Premier League (former league) that pay for bread and buttah. The captain Andre Blake came from that, so he understands the come up/struggle that the England born guys may not relate to.

For a home perspective, Arfield can't speak on the come up of a guy like Atiba, Dero, Millar, Kaye, Osorio, insert name here______. 

 

EDIT: @archer21 was spot on. I didn't refresh my browser to see the previous answer. But the Andre Blake perspective is key.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Shway

[An Observer]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/mar/25/jamaica-turn-to-england-raised-talent-in-glory-hunt-world-cup
 

[Shway]

Jamaica will be very scarrrry....I said before that it's not about the attacking players they are getting that make them scary because they've always been a nation that has produced goal scorers. For me it's the defensive pickups that they have just got in Liam Moore, Ethan Pinnock, Curtis Tilt, Wes Harding, and A'mari Bell....and then there's even more guys who are in talks like Mason Holgate, and Chey Dunkley.

They've literally secured a full roster of top tier players in the past two years. Players in every position. 

 

[Floortom]

21 minutes ago, Shway said:

Jamaica will be very scarrrry....I said before that it's not about the attacking players they are getting that make them scary because they've always been a nation that has produced goal scorers. For me it's the defensive pickups that they have just got in Liam Moore, Ethan Pinnock, Curtis Tilt, Wes Harding, and A'mari Bell....and then there's even more guys who are in talks like Mason Holgate, and Chey Dunkley.

They've literally secured a full roster of top tier players in the past two years. Players in every position. 

 

They are clearly the #3 team in concacaf now based on talent.

[king1010]

so we're battling for that 0.5 spot with Costa Rica and Honduras ?  

[archer21]

6 minutes ago, king1010 said:

so we're battling for that 0.5 spot with Costa Rica and Honduras ?  

Theoretically, yeah probably. The most talented teams don’t always win though so even if Jamaica are better than us, that doesn’t mean we can’t come top 3. I don’t think anyone expected Panama to finish top 3 last cycle, and we have enough talent that we have a shot.

[CanadaFan123]

Meh.. I've watched enough Canada soccer to know games aren't won on paper. Expecting teams to pick up a bunch of guys just before WCQ and have them gel at a level they've never played before in a confederation they've never played before. Sounds a lot closer to a FIFA video game than reality. 

[Floortom]

Jamaica is more talented but they’re not Mexico. It’s not implausible that we beat them out. 

[SpursFlu]

I think the Octagon will be fantastic because the level of football is clearly rising 

[PiedPilko]

Yeah, talent overlap goes both ways. Just like we could flame out against Suriname, we could also surprise Jamaica.

[Shway]

1 hour ago, Floortom said:

Jamaica is more talented but they’re not Mexico. It’s not implausible that we beat them out. 

We've shown that we can beat them. Regardless of new players.
But they've shown that they can beat USA, and Mexico with less quality on away soil. 

...and to me thats the difference, where we haven't shown that. Shiet we can't even win in El Salvador.

[Shway]

Here's a link to their game:

http://uhdstreams.club/hd/ch2.php?streamerName=mntvlive13&origin=red.soccerstreams.net

[Ivan]

3 hours ago, Shway said:

Jamaica will be very scarrrry....I said before that it's not about the attacking players they are getting that make them scary because they've always been a nation that has produced goal scorers. For me it's the defensive pickups that they have just got in Liam Moore, Ethan Pinnock, Curtis Tilt, Wes Harding, and A'mari Bell....and then there's even more guys who are in talks like Mason Holgate, and Chey Dunkley.

They've literally secured a full roster of top tier players in the past two years. Players in every position. 

 

Does this type of shit not leave a bad taste in anyone else's mouth?  I mean Jamaica and Surinam have basically built NTs of guys who will step foot in their countries for the first time when the teams play their first home game.  I know we have a couple of those as well (Arfield, Weatherspoon), and the Americans sure have more than their fair share.

I mean, yes, raising the standard of play in Concacaf is great and all, but what some of these countries have done to do so, in my opinion, is absolutely ridiculous. 

[SpursFlu]

5 minutes ago, Ivan said:

Does this type of shit not leave a bad taste in anyone else's mouth?  I mean Jamaica and Surinam have basically built NTs of guys who will step foot in their countries for the first time when the teams play their first home game.  I know we have a couple of those as well (Arfield, Weatherspoon), and the Americans sure have more than their fair share.

I mean, yes, raising the standard of play in Concacaf is great and all, but what some of these countries have done to do so, in my opinion, is absolutely ridiculous. 

Yes and no.. It bothers me more when countries like the US do it because they're an enormous country with giant resources and people flooding in to their country. These countries are tiny with little resources and people leaving often the players choosing to play are doing so because they weren't good enough to play for their birth country. Its a little you know but im not gonna get bent out of shape over it. We should be better

[Obinna]

17 minutes ago, Ivan said:

Does this type of shit not leave a bad taste in anyone else's mouth?  I mean Jamaica and Surinam have basically built NTs of guys who will step foot in their countries for the first time when the teams play their first home game.  I know we have a couple of those as well (Arfield, Weatherspoon), and the Americans sure have more than their fair share.

I mean, yes, raising the standard of play in Concacaf is great and all, but what some of these countries have done to do so, in my opinion, is absolutely ridiculous. 

I'm caught somewhere between "it's not fair (even though it is)" and "it's great for the region".

[PopePouri]

Still think their midfield is garbage and has minimal depth. One converted center back and squad player at Orlando in a 2 doesn't really compete against Eustaquio, Hutch or frankly Kaye. They have Omar Holness next in line which says a lot. They can easily get overrun in the middle of the park. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by PopePouri

[cronaldo7]

They do indeed look great on paper right now. But so do we. Most teams in this region would kill for our attacking options. We are reasonably close to being on par with the US in that regard (without as much depth).

[CanadaFan123]

Jamaica is losing 2-0 and just subbed in a midfielder who plays in the English 6th division... 

[PopePouri]

6 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Jamaica is losing 2-0 and just subbed in a midfielder who plays in the English 6th division... 

The dropoff is a cliff.

[harrycoyster]

USA by far the better side, but look vulnerable to the counter. Dest and Pulsic on the same side is a glass cannon. 

[Kadenge]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

We've shown that we can beat them. Regardless of new players.
But they've shown that they can beat USA, and Mexico with less quality on away soil. 

...and to me thats the difference, where we haven't shown that. Shiet we can't even win in El Salvador.

The Jamaica teams that played so well in the 2 GCs were a very tight group with very few English players. The English invasion is going to irk some of the previous starters that will get bumped of the team. Team unity will be a challenge

Edited March 25, 2021 by Kadenge

[Shway]

14 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

The Jamaica teams that played so well in the 2 GCs were a very tight group with very few English players. The English invasion is going to irk some of the previous starters that will get bumped of the team. Team unity will be a challenge

Their two GC teams that went to back to back finals - were completely different.... the first under Schaffer had Garrath Mccleary, Wes Morgan, Michael Hector, Jobi Mcanuff, Adrian Marriappa, Simon Dawkins, Joel Grant, and Giles Barnes.

Then the following iteration half those guys weren’t there when Whitmore (current manager) wanted more of a local based squad.

He’s been on record of saying that he gave the local players a chance. And considering their league is down since the start of last year due to Covid, it’s all the more reason.

So while I understand it may irk some players, it will only look really bad if guys like Bailey, Blake aren’t in the squad. Or guys like Nicholson and or Norman Campbell are held back/hindered. 

[Shway]

56 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Jamaica is losing 2-0 and just subbed in a midfielder who plays in the English 6th division... 

mind you this was USA A+ squad, and Jamaica’s B- squad.

 

[One American]

It was an A-/B+ Jamaica squad, at least with the announced additions and without the speculative ones. It was an A- team for the USMNT, I would say. No Wes, no Adams. Gyasi is probably still #1 and Morris might be. Maybe an A/A- squad.