… Brazilian coach focusses on giving Golden Jaguars an identity

BRAZILIAN Marcio Maximo has expressed optimism of Guyana topping their League B group at the CONCACAF Nations League, as Golden Jaguars continue to heighten preparation for their opening game against Aruba in Curacao on September 6.

By virtue of finishing seventh in the qualifying stages of the competition, Guyana were placed in Group C of League B alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba and Jamaica.
Following their September 6 encounter, Guyana will return home to host Jamaica on September 9 from 19:00hrs at the National Track and Field Centre.

The Golden Jaguars will then travel to Antigua and Barbuda where they will roar at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on October 11, to finish off the first leg of the home-and-away formatted league.

Guyana host Antigua and Barbuda on October 15, Aruba on November 15 and will travel to Jamaica on November 18 for their second clash with the ‘Reggae Boyz’.
Máximo, who replaced Englishman and former Jamaican International Michael Johnson as the country’s head coach for the GFF’s senior men’s programme, had his first interaction with the media at the Federation’s ‘Home of Football’ at Providence.

“People have been asking me what I expect about this competition (the Nations League); I just arrived about 10 days; I saw the players, they get to know my philosophy, what we want to do and what we want to give emphasis. I think it’s a medium term to long term programme,” Maximo said when asked about his expectations.

Maximo reasoned that the “competition will be tough for us, I know we will have three days (in Curacao) but we study some video, we know some of the players and we have three days there to implement something. We can’t change so much in three days. But of course, every time you go to a competition you’re expected to win but we’re being realistic as well.”
“You should understand that it’s not going to be easy, we have to create step-by-step conditions to be a solid team in the Caribbean. We go to this game with, of course, always, optimism and positive energy, but stray from the reality. We’re going to create the conditions to be a winning team in the medium and long term,” the former Tanzania National Team coach added.

So far, defender Matthew Briggs and forward Emery Welshman are the only two confirmed overseas-based players to be called by Máximo, with the new ‘Golden Jaguars’ coach pointing out that his philosophy has always been to find a good balance between youth and experience, and a balance between overseas and local players.

“Gradually, we’ll have more youth players, more local players, but an equal percent that’s our objectivity,” the Brazilian said, while noting, however, that “our local players right now don’t have the experience like the foreign players, so we should find a balance in-between the local and foreign players to prepare a good national team.”

It’s also clear the Brazilian coach is keen in giving Guyana an identity on the pitch, telling reporters that “the team should be disciplined tactically and more importantly, discover our own style. You should have your own style… Guyana style, like other national teams. You shouldn’t compare to Brazil, may be one day, but you should create conditions for players to develop.”

The home-and-away group stage of the 2019 CONCACAF Nations League will be played on FIFA match dates in September, October and November 2019, while the Final Championship will take place in 2020.

At the conclusion of the round-robin group stage, the winners of each League A group will qualify to the Final Championship, while the League B and C group winners will be promoted to League A and B for the next edition of the competition.
Additionally, the teams at the bottom of each League A and B group will be relegated to League B and C respectively.