Post-match: USA vs Jamaica CONCACAF Nations League (leg 1)

My counter argument is if this was true they wouldn't have had the sprinklers on before the game. The game in St Louis should show whether this is true but even though we needed a last minute wonder goal against them at Jerry World we controlled that game and missed a ton of chances while they got an extremely lucky goal early and hung on (kind of the opposite of this game). I was worried about their speed but it didn't really manifest. We also have a lot of very fast players.

 

You are exactly correct! It is called Bermuda grass. We have that variety in Florida.

 

Um, Wynalda was a different cat but having Harkes nobbling his wife for the whole team to see didnt help his mental health.

 

I'm just saying Jozy never made that step to the next tier that McBride did to actually be a reliable Big-4 starter. I always thought he could've made that leap eventually if he hadn't come back to MLS but we can't change history. Balogun and Pepi have both shown they can be excellent strikers in the top leagues below the Big 4. So even if you rate Jozy higher (I'm not disputing valid arguments can be made there), the three have essentially achieved the same level and comparing them is a matter of personal preference.

Wynalda is a hard one to gauge, and I'm a big enough fan I literally have a 94 jersey with his name on it. He hit 9 goals in the Bundesliga in 92 which makes me want to rank him as a Big-4 level striker but then the rest of his career was essentially good 2nd division player like Josh Sargent, who we forget also had 5 goals in the Bundesliga at a much younger age. Was Wynalda's one year a fluke? Honestly I may be underrating both Sargent and Wynalda and both may have shown enough to be considered good strikers in the leagues below the Big 4 but I feel with Josh we really need to see more to say that and we didn't have the chance to see more with Wynalda because of injuries and MLS.

 

Undoubtedly true, but... he was always kinda like that.

The thing with him and the rest of the national team starters at that point is that every one of them interrupted their careers (some had better, some had worse) to build MLS, and while in most cases that definitely affected their club career trajectories for the worse, I will never penalize them for that. We NEEDED a viable domestic league, and the fact that we have one is the (only) reason why we perennially have a more talented program now than we did then. They deserve credit for helping get that project off the ground.

 

i like thinking about mathis and mckennie in the same timeline. what an incredibly fun disaster that would almost certainly be.

 

He had a work permit. He was released because Ron Atkinson didn't think he was good enough for (a much weaker) Premier League.

 

Inter Miami, FC Dallas and Nashville use it edited: as do LAFC and Houston Dynamo.

 

And I think a couple of posters remarked the field may have held back Jamaica more than the US.
The field was in poor condition and made for a poor match, and it happens that way a lot, that’s all.

 

Reggae Boyz coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, while being impressed so far with the local talent on offer in his short time in Jamaica, is adamant that the longstanding problem of improvement to the playing surfaces on the island must be addressed.

 

There's a lot of varieties of Bermuda.

 

It is clearly possible for there to be good/great fields in tropical climates. Just look at the newer fields in Costa Rica and The Dominican Republic (just to mention a couple of the better field sets i have seen in southern climates.)
It is not any fact of climate that makes fields in some countries very bad (BTW: At the other extreme look at how many really bad fields exist in Canada but we know cold climates can have great fields as well) it is a choice where teams/countries/federations choose to spend money and most are currently not choosing to put money into fields at this time.
However I think that the fields hurt both the teams playing and the image of the countries involved. It is unfortunate that many countries put so little money toward having good fields and redirect much toward feeding, sheltering and clothing their people. It is also clear that many countries do not do that particularly well either.

 

$1 million isn't that much money in 2024... you can't get a condo for that much in some cities

 

That is true, in the USA and many developed countries but in countries like Jamaica a million goes a very long way toward feeding and clothing and housing many people for several years. Soccer fields and/or stadiums are extreme luxuries for places where mass starvation is just a short distance away. Of course corruption in government and greed by a few others means that a million dollars gets diluted quite a bit before it actually does anything but that just means that they need even more money for people just to keep the starvation level down to manageable numbers.
Soccer stadiums and fields are, justifiably, way down the priority list. There are much better things to spend money on rather that throwing money at the most wealthy of the elite. Soccer just is not and should not be important enough to take money away from where it is really needed.

 

I think it's worth mentioning that while yes both teams had to play on that field... both teams clearly struggled a lot. I'm not going to make a huge deal about it cause that's just playing in CONCACAF and CONCACAF is just a weird fed to play in. Bad refs, bad fields, tons of shithousery. Doesn't make for a fun game to watch but that being said I honestly don't think this group wins this match 6 months ago

 

I watched a cricket match held in Sabina Park (Kingston, Jamaica) recently. Cricket grounds have to be cut low like a putting green so batted balls can roll easily. Perhaps the Sabina Park groundsperson can be hired by the JSF?

see the lush, low cut Sabina Park pitch: https://g.co/kgs/T7GJD5r

 

Obviously, the current crop hasn't matured but over the years, Donovan, Dempsey and McBride have been mainstays that haven't yet been matched by our current group. Add in a Mathis, Wynalda and a few more and forward has not been the historical weakpoint of the team. That being said,

You have a good point there. Regardless of the cause of the field (most was likely due to environmental factors), I do believe the conditions hurt each team. The question becomes who was affected more? Jamaica's speed advantage was neutralized to some degree, while our game was based more on passing so the field hurt that. If I interpret your comment to be that it hurt us more than them and I would have to agree.

The third aspect is psychological. How well do we deal with it and focus on the task at hand and how much does it get into Jamaica's head that they begin to believe they need a field advantage.

The field, whatever the condition and whatever the reason, is just part of the game at hand that we have no control over. It's like a referee, once a bad referee gets into a player's head it can affect his play.

 

That's just it though...
One of the problems with sarcasm is that it doesn't work too well on the internet. Like a good joke, good sarcasm shouldn't be delivered with a message telling you it is sarcasm, but without added context on the internet it is often difficult to tell when sarcasm is sarcasm or when a joke is a joke.

The saying that "if you have to tell someone it is funny, it wasn't funny" isn't always valid on the internet.

 

Sheeet
Keg stands anyone!

 

Sabina Park is privately owned while Independence Park is government owned. That might make a difference.

 

Huge difference. Didn’t know that. Clearly, some old money in Jamaica.

perhaps the Sabina park board might elect to share their expertise with the jsf.

 

I'm guessing they try and stay far away from them for corruption reasons. Every fed in CONCACAF has been corrupt at times (or all times). Maybe just too much FIFA money to not be tempted.