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REGGAE BOYZ coach Steve McClaren says his charges were not good enough, following the team’s exit at the group stage of the Concacaf Gold Cup, after a 4-1 loss to Panama in their final Group C match on Tuesday.
McClaren said even though the Reggae Boyz are stacked with talented individuals, this is a ‘wake up call’ that they are not good enough as a team and declared that no player is guaranteed a place unless they show at their clubs over the next few months that they deserve to be in the squad for the World Cup qualifiers in September.
“Despite the result and everything, this is what we needed to see. People who think they are comfortable in the squad, we’ve all had a wake up call of what we can do and what we can’t do.
“We’ve had no consistency and that will not get us to the World Cup. Consistency is key and we have not had that. We have not had that (consistency) game to game. We have not had that in periods of the games.
“These three games have been a wake up call for all of us and I know that it hurts now. It is disappointing. We’ve let a lot of people down in Jamaica. Great supporters. We’ve let them down but this is a lesson that we probably needed,” he said.
“We’ve talked about World Cup qualifiers. We’ve talked about every game and not living with regret and at the moment we are living with regret for what we have done in this tournament. It is not good enough. Individually and collectively
“And the message is, in September when we gather again, no one is guaranteed a spot in the squad. Nobody. And that is what I have said to them.
“They have got to show it from now until September within their clubs and then they’ve got to commit and when they join, they have to do it again
“We’ve seen the good side. We have seen the bad side and I don’t like the bad side. I don’t like it. I can’t tolerate it and we are not going to the World Cup with that. We did not do well in this tournament because of that,” he stated.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
According to McClaren, even as Jamaica boasted some of the biggest high-profile names in the tournament such as Leon Bailey, Demarai Gray, and Ethan Pinnock, it is not enough.
“We are not as good as we think we are, and we have to do certain things to win football matches and talent is not enough. It is nothing without hard work. And that was the message from the tournament, the message from the Unity Cup, the message from Guatemala second game.
“Everybody thinks Jamaica is this. Everybody talks about talent. So everybody talks about that. But the one thing I remember from this game is (Panama coach) Thomas Christiansen saying that we have the better players but he has the better team.
“Teams will win, not individuals. And that is why Panama has done so well. That is what we need to do. We need to follow suit and we need to find players who will play for Jamaica, who will play for the team and not as individuals. Talent means nothing unless talent works hard. And that is the lesson from the games. That it is not about talent.”
Ismael Diaz (4th, 17th and 45th) netted a first-half hat-trick, while Thomas Rodriguez scored an 89th-minute goal as Panama ran out 4-1 winners against the Boyz, who got a goal back through Amari’i Bell in the 27th minute.
However, McClaren thought the penalty call Warner Brown had waived off in first-half added time, which took seven minutes of deliberation, and the penalty which Kasey Palmer conceded when the score to take the game to 3-1 when Jamaica had momentum, were decisive moments.
“It is the same as all games. It is mistakes. It is discipline doing your job. We knew the edge of the box was always going to be dangerous. We saw that against Guadeloupe. But people are out of positions. So we are already 1-0 down after five minutes.
“And then a soft penalty that shouldn’t be conceded, when people are going nowhere. So we are 2-0 down after 20 minutes.
“But I think the defining moment of this game was the penalty (call). It took too long and it was absolutely blatant for me. And at 3-2, I would have loved to see the reaction of our team. We did react earlier at 3-1. We had chances and hit the post and created opportunities. One-on-ones and clean through.
“I hope it (defeat) hurts in there because it hurts in here. It must hurt in Jamaica. It must hurt the people because we wanted to do well in this tournament. But it may be said that we are not as good as we think we are and that is the message to the players.”
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