Give Bailey the ball!

Interim senior men’s national football coach, Paul Hall, is planning to make Aston Villa forward Leon Bailey the focus of the Reggae Boyz’s attack for the remainder of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers. Hall has his mind set on helping the winger Leon Bailey find his best form for the Reggae Boyz.

Hall, who replaced 49-year-old Theodore Whitmore after the latter was relieved of his duties on December 9, believes that as one of the Reggae Boyz’s few world-class players, it is important to get Bailey on the ball as much as possible, and give him the freedom and confidence to play his game, even if things are not going well for him in a match.

“I was a winger and a forward myself, and it’s about getting him the ball all the time. It’s making sure we give him the ball and make sure he is comfortable,” Hall, also 49, said at a recent Jamaica Football Federation press conference to introduce him as the new boss of the Reggae Boyz.

Bailey, who has been plagued by injury since the start of the season, only played the last two of the Reggae Boyz’s first eight final-round qualification matches and is yet to produce a goal or an assist.

Also, since making his debut in June 2019, the former Bayer Leverkusen forward has only netted once in 12 appearances. In the 2020-21 season, Bailey’s last in the Bundesliga, he scored nine goals and dished out eight assists. He already has a goal and two assists in nine games for Aston Villa in the English Premier League. Hall pointed out that every player goes through a bad patch and that it is important to continue believing in Bailey’s ability.

“We are dealing with a world-class player, and even world-class players have times when they are not producing the goods.

“If he takes somebody on 10 times and he gets robbed nine times, once he can cross the ball on the 10th time for us to be able to win the game, that is what anybody is going to remember.

“So it is instilling confidence in the guy so he can show what he can do,” he commented.

He added that setting targets for the Aston Villa ace for the remaining games could be vitally important, and insists that he will not lose faith in Bailey’s ability to win football matches.

“We want to make sure he feels confident that he can take people on and show what he can do,” Hall said.

Bailey picked up a thigh injury during an English Premier League (EPL) game against Manchester City at the start of the month.

He is not expected to return to action until after the Christmas holidays. Jamaica’s next Concacaf World Cup qualifier is on January 27 against Mexico at the National Stadium.

The Reggae Boyz are sixth in the eight-team table with seven points. They are seven points behind Panama in the fourth-place play-off spot and nine of adrift of first-place Canada.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Standing

Team PTS GP W L D GF GA GD

1. Canada 16 8 4 0 4 13 5 +8

2. USA 15 8 4 1 3 12 5 +7

3. Mexico 14 8 4 2 2 11 7 +4

4. Panama 14 8 4 2 2 11 9 +2

5. Costa Rica 9 8 2 3 3 6 7 -1

6. Jamaica 7 8 1 3 4 6 10 -4

7. El Salvador 6 8 1 4 3 4 10 -6

8. Honduras 3 8 0 5 3 5 15 -10

2022 schedule

January 27: Jamaica vs Mexico

January 30: Panama vs Jamaica

February 2: Jamaica vs Costa Rica

March 24: Jamaica vs El Salvador March 27: Canada vs Jamaica

March 30: Jamaica vs HondurasHome teams named first.