Pre-match: Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinals @ Jamaica (Nov 14) & v Jamaica (Nov 18)

Leon Bailey quit Jamaica team because of their unprofessional Fed. Steve McClaren got him to come back.

 

Ravel Morrison used to be a hot property... but I guess so did the likes of Jordan Ibe.

 

Considering FIFA does a passport check before every international match, it seems — shall we say — highly dubious they were “lost.” It’s a shame, since @Athlone is one of the best posters on this site and he deserves better from his Fed and National Team.

 

I think you don't understand his assignment. He is basically playing a similar role at AC Milan. His role was almost exactly the same when he was tasked with helping shut down Vini in milan's CL tie.

There is a lot of changing and shifting as the team transitions from offense to defense and back. Just like on a corner a team can assume a different shape, same with offense and defense, and that shape does not necessarily have to be static throughout the entire game.

Musah certainly has some areas to improve, but top shelf coaches keep putting him on the pitch. I think it odd to fault a guy for positional discipline when he was in exactly the right spot to make a critical goal line clearance, on what looked to be his assignment. It was a well executed offensive move foiled by a guy in the right spot at the time, I don't think that was on accident or due to him being out of place.

It seems many fans here do not rate him, but the guy has some crazy upside. If he can develop a decent shot and gain a bit of composure with the final ball there is no telling how good he can be.

 

The other thing I think he needs to develop is get better at purposeful dribbling. One of his strengths is being ball secure on the dribble and beating people off the dribble. I think during his slump, that fell off greatly. In the game against Jamaica, he lost the ball a few times early but got better as the game wore on. That being said, being able to hold on to the ball is nice, but he needs to take the next step and be dangerous or create danger for others off the dribble.

What he doesn't do well, (at least I haven't seen him do it), is use the ball effectively after beating his first man. Once he beats that first man, there are other defenders that will be forced to make a decision. What he does next, by dribbling or passing could unlock the defense...or at least be part of the unlocking process. Instead, what he usually does is keep the ball or pass back/sideways without continuing progression. It reminds me of a kid that played with one of my sons. He was very good on the ball and would beat just about anyone in any situation but then cut it back to let the defender back in so that he would often have to beat the same guy 2 or 3 times or pass to someone without progressing the ball and by then the advantage is lost.

It's like a basketball player that beats his man on the outside and drives the lane. It forces defenders to make decisions and leads to opportunities.

Musah has that ability but has to learn to use it.

 

Well tomorrow night's match just got, potentially, a little easier:
https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/ja...nt-after-losing-passports/blt6b7820f16138f55d
I am not sure how important those two are but it at least reduces the number of players Jamaica has for starting and subs.

 

But also how is one supposed to travel back to the UK without a passport?

 

With a passport from a country other than Jamaica?

 

Sure but he’d be able to travel to the US with a UK passport for instance. Without needing a visa which was part of the reason given why he couldn’t come.

 

He could travel to the US with a UK passport, but would FIFA let him play in the game without a Jamaican passport?

 

What McClaren said, "lost passports. And it was too late to get new ones and to get visas to come over here, so they are missing."

Maybe he lost his UK passport I guess?

 

The passport thing sounds ridiculous. I guess it is possible that they only brought their Jamaican passports and forgot they would need to use the UK passport to enter the US without a visa? That doesn't sound like "lost" but the other top explanation is just "I don't want to play," which I hope isn't true.

 

I’m guessing it’s also somewhat annoying to travel back to UK if you lost your UK passport. As I don’t think Jamaica has visa free travel to the UK.

Basically something doesn’t add up here.

 

Who knows? We've had MLS players misplace their passports and be unable to travel with the team to Canada. Andrew Carleton, right?

We do have the Edgar Castillo incident to remember fondly.
Mexico's Castillo takes blame for lost passport - Sports Illustrated

The Jamaican federation doesn't need to make up a lie about lost passports.
If they wanted to give the players a way out for some reason, they'd just say the players have a slight knock preventing them from playing. Easy peasy. Like half the England squad does every time they're playing an unsexy opponent.

You wouldn't make up a lie about passports, which just puts even more of a magnifying glass on your squad.

 

Andrew Carleton misplaced his career.

 

No one is saying lost UK passport?

Lost Jamaican passport: can't play for Jamaican national team
NOT lost UK passport: can return to UK from Jamaica... could even go to US or Jamaica or a hundred other places you just can't play for Jamaica there

It really doesn't seem that complicated...

< obligatory Andrew Carleton Instagram story screenshot driving up to DC on Jan 6 pic dot jpg >

 

The coach specifically said he couldn’t come to the US because he lost his passport and couldn’t get a visa in time. They didn’t say which passport he lost if he was traveling with his Jamaican passport the visa would have been already granted (like the rest of the team). But UK passports have visa free travel to the US.

 

Only if you have ESTA. He may have only had ESTA with the passport he lost/forgot/hid.

 

Since the players need to enter Jamaica with their a Jamaican passport and need to play with the same I expect that they either left their UK passport behind by mistake or misplaced it because they hadn't needed it until now. Reentry to UK will be difficult but I'm sure the UK Embassy is helping them.

 

I expect the JFF forgot to bring its checkbook again, and several players are noping out, frankly.

 

The truth is that Jamiaca is in a big hole and they have other things to think about. So, yeah, they could have just proactively lost their passports.

 

Its weird, though.

Jamaica HAS TALENT.
Even with their missing players due to injury, suspension, and this passport incident.
Leon Bailey can create a goal against our defense on his own!

Being down 1-0 isn't in that big of a hole.

But every Jamaican football pundit and fan seems to have thrown in the towel already!

Meanwhile I'm thinking this series is very much in the balance!

 

Great pre-game press conference. Hard to believe we got a guy of this quality. To me it's like a tall glass of water for a guy dying of thirst - thirst for real football in my case,