1 month ago
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CAVALIER SOCCER Club did not kickstart the defence of their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) title last weekend, unlike the other 13 teams in the league, due to their Concacaf Caribbean Cup game against Real Hope at the National Stadium on Tuesday.
The Jamaican team lost that game 2-1 to the visiting Real Hope out of Haiti and their coach, Rudolph Speid, has said an earlier start to the JPL season could help to better the chances of doing well.
“Our season has started already. We are playing in the Caribbean Champions Cup and we would have welcome the Premier League to start earlier because it would have given us much-needed match practice to play in the Champions Cup.
“The JPL would just give us early practice to make us sharper to perform better in the Champions Cup. We would have been happy if it had started a month ago. It would have helped us tremendously in this competition. So we welcome an earlier start,” he said.
Cavalier lost experienced defenders Kyle Ming and Gadail Irving to Mount Pleasant as well as striker Shaniel Thomas to Montego Bay United, but have added Dahmani Miller, O’Neil Bryan and Kaïle Auvray. According to the tactician, who plays his first game against Portmore United as part of a double-header at Sabina Park later today, he is confident they will overcome those losses and be an even better team this season.
“We have done our work and got some really good young players who we believe can fill the breach and even make the team better.
“We’ve always had some young players who wanted to play. Players who really want a chance.
“So even though we have also lost Shaniel Thomas, we are equipped and ready to go, and with Cavalier, you never know because we have so much potential. I am sure there are a lot of surprises waiting and I am just working on it.
“But Cavalier get better every year and it is a fact you will see a better version of Cavalier this season.”
Expecting a challenge
Speid anticipates a very challenging title defence, as he surmised that every team in the league will be aiming for their scalp and will bring their best game when they face Cavalier.
“Everybody plays their best team against Cavalier. There are no easy games for us. Everyone will be gearing up for us.
“They would have seen us in competition and would have started preparing their plan and we wouldn’t have seen them. So it will be competitive.
“But it all depends on what the other teams have to offer. When we see them play. We will sit and work out what we have to do.
“But the preliminary round is to figure out who are the best combinations and who are the best players, while developing the players properly. In the playoffs we are always at our best and that is when you will see the best of our team at play.”
English (US) ·