Careful coach!

Local coaches have cautioned new Reggae Boyz coach Paul Hall over comments that suggest he wants to centre the national senior team’s attacks around talented winger Leon Bailey.

Hall recently stated that he wants the team to get more balls to the Aston Villa winger, believing he could be the catalyst for Jamaica’s flagging World Cup qualification campaign.

The former winger himself had also said he wanted Bailey to regain that confidence that saw him become a marked man in the Bundesliga before his move to the English Premier League.

Although local coaches Bradley Stewart, Andrew Price and Donovan Duckie agree that getting Bailey the ball more often would be a good thing, they pointed out that in the modern game, it can be problematic to focus your attack on one player.

Price said the emphasis should be on building a team capable of defending and attacking well.

“Every coach has their philosophy, but I do not think that is going to work for Jamaica at this point in time,” said Price.

“The team should not focus on any one individual. He should get the team to play more in unison to get the desired results.

“It is important that we get all players on song in a system that will enable them to get maximum points each game,” he said.

Price pointed out that the team possessed many quality players and the onus is on the coach to get those players to perform and deliver.

He also thinks it will be difficult to rely on Bailey, especially with his recent injury struggles.

“He has been plagued by injuries and that has blighted his performances for the national team. Right now he is not playing for his club and we might not even have him for January.

“So you cannot look at one individual, you have to look at how you can sum up the parts and get the team to play together as a unit.

“To say Leon is going to take us to the promised land would be foolhardy. He is one of the important cogs in the wheel, but not the only one,” Price said.

GET BAILEY MORE INVOLVED

Stewart, a former national assistant coach, believes it would benefit the team to get Bailey more involved, but says they should try to get him the ball in ideal situations, to exploit, rather than just randomly finding him.

“I am happy he recognises that Bailey has special one-on-one skills. So, yes, give him the ball, but give him the ball in situations he can exploit,” he said.

“If you give him the ball too deep, he will have to go by marking players and covering players. While if we give him the ball in space behind the defence, he should have advantages to shoot or cut it back for other players, so he might have more opportunities,” he said

“But just giving him the ball randomly will not work. It depends on how you’re using him and what conditions can be obtained,” he said.

He also pointed that it is not the best idea for a coach to publicly announce his tactics, as this makes it easier to counter.

“I don’t want the coach telling the whole world what his tactics are. Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi, I do not hear their coaches saying they are going to use those guys a certain way.

“It’s based on the game flow and the talent level of the players, they will exploit the situation based on the runs they make and their teammates knowing when to give them the ball.

“I would love for him to be more involved, but I do not know if my coach should be broadcasting what his tactics are,” he said.

Another former Reggae Boyz assistant coach, Donovan Duckie, said it is a good tactic to play more through the wily attacker, but believes it could become predictable and dangerous to centre the team around him..

“Everything is about the philosophy of the head coach. It is about winning games and by now Paul Hall would recognise that we can be a good defensive block.

“His job would now be to get us going in the final third, and if he singled out Leon Bailey and said he would like to see him more involved it must be aligned with his philosophy.

“But playing through him could be somewhat dangerous because we might become predictable for opponents,” he reasoned.

“When I was at Waterhouse and we got to the final, I wanted Cardel Benbow on the ball more.

“Leon Bailey is very explosive and very creative, he runs a lot to break the lines. So in the attacking third he (Hall) thinks we can be more creative and he thinks Leon has the quality to do so.

“But at this level it can be a dangerous thing to say we are going to play through him because once he is closed down, we can be in trouble,” he added.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com