FORT LAUDERDALE, United States (CMC) – Head coach Stephen Hart says he is pleased with the way Trinidad and Tobago’s plans are coming together for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but believes there’s still improvement needed on the tactical side.T&T arrived here last week to put the final touches on preparations and will jet off today for Chicago where they begin their Group C campaign against Guatemala, Mexico and Spanish-speaking Caribbean side Cuba.
“I think we need to do a little more work tactically. Our mentality when the ball is lost to try and win it back, we still have a tendency to switch off on occasions,” Hart said.
“And even when some players are switched on, the ones behind them are not picking up the outlet passes quick enough. We need to keep plugging away at the sort of the mindset of defending higher up the pitch and earlier.”
T&T had their preparations boosted on Friday when they beat Haiti 1-0 in a warm-up game at the Central Broward Regional Park.
With injury ruling out several key players for the tournament, Hart inserted Kevan George, Rundell Winchester, Mekeil Williams and Radanfah Abu Bakr in starting roles, with Kerron Cummings, Kadeem Corbin and Jonathan Glenn used as second-half substitutes.
Regular starters like captain Kenwyne Jones, Andre Boucaud and Khaleem Hyland were then introduced in the second half.
The experiment gave Hart an opportunity to assess the new players, and he registered his satisfaction with the trio of Corbin, Glenn and Winchester.
“They are three sort of dynamic players (and) they love to run behind. They are players that have good pace and energy,” he said.
“I think both Corbin and Winchester need to learn how to use their qualities better. Glenn is almost a pure finisher. He runs behind and he is very composed in the finishing. Overall I am quite pleased so far.”
T&T open their campaign against Guatemala on Thursday.