Derrick Etienne Sr. – former professional soccer player, licensed professional coach in USA, and father of Derrick Etienne Jr. – gives his take on Haiti’s performance at the final stage of the 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship. According to the analysis provided by Mr. Etienne, the team lacked the following four ingredients throughout the tournament: passing, creativity, defense and most importantly preparation.
Here’s his full analysis:
Four missing elements in Haiti’s sub-20 team at the CONCACAF championship
Passing
The team rarely connected more than 3 passes before losing possession. At times, it looked as if they weren’t even trying to pass and the tactic was to kick long balls and pray for the forwards to get on the end of it and score.
Lack of creativity
Since they were seemingly not committed to pass the ball around, there was no creativity attacking the opposing teams. Haiti never played through the midfield. Perhaps we were lacking the technical players in our midfield. There was never a link between midfield and forwards, we mostly relied on the long balls from our defensive backs to the strikers. This is not Haitian style foutbol. Haitian foutbol has always been attractive similar to the Brazilian style of play of attacking with dominating possession and speed of play.
Sloppy defending
It was disappointing to see how Haiti U-20 team played with 5 sometimes 6 defenders in the box but still managed to give up soft goals. Poor one on one defending, poor individual marking, and poor communication in team defending caused unnecessary goals against us. Conceding goals in the early minutes of a match or last minutes of a match is poor concentration and discipline.
Preparation
The absence of friendly matches in the months leading up to the competition could be the cause of the first 3 points I mentioned. The groups of the tournament were made available for quite some time, so we were well-aware of our opponents but still didn’t bother to prepare for them accordingly. Had we play against any professional teams from Haiti, from the US or any international friendly matches between national teams with similar styles to the teams in Haiti U20’s group, perhaps the weaknesses of the team could have been identified and corrected. Likewise, the coach would have had the chance to capitalize on the strength of the squad prior to the start of the tournament.
In conclusion, I think if the team had the proper preparation, and the coaching staff was able to make the correct tactical changes within each match, the results would have been far better than three draws and two losses.
I am disappointed that Haiti did not qualify for the World Cup Finals in New Zealand; however, I am extremely proud of the fact that the team never gave up even when they had nothing to play for. They made all of us proud by tying Mexico in their final outing, ending their 15 game winning streak. This result showed the potential and quality that Haiti has if it would only be used and managed properly. Haiti always has quality player, some of the best in the region. This Haitian U-20 team had world class strikers like Jonel Desire and Nerlin St. Vil, quality technical midfield players like Woodensky Cheranfant, Campoy, Derrick Etienne Jr., Bryan Alceus, and strong defenders like Lambese, Herivaux and Oracius.
I may be wrong but this is my humble opinion based on my observations in Jamaica. Hopefully the U-17 selection will learn from the fallout of the U20, and will work harder to avoid repeating the mistakes of our U-20.
Regardless of the result of the selection at Concacaf Championship, I still believe in Haitian Football. I think if we learn from this experience and implement the necessary changes for the young talented players coming up int he future, Haiti can return to its former glory in World Football.
God Bless!
Derrick Etienne Sr.
Etienne Soccer School of Excellence
New York, New Jersey, Maryland, DC, Virginia
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