CONCACAF Women’s Qualifiers: Tactics, good prep high on Guyana’s agenda to face T&T, Nicaragua

Guyana’s senior women’s football team, in the second window of the CONCACAF Women’s Qualifiers, will be faced with tougher opponents, in long-time rivals Trinidad and Tobago and Nicaragua, in hopes of advancing to the CONCACAF Women’s Championships in July.
Those games will come up on April 8 and 12, in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago respectively, with the Lady Jags needing two wins to seal their spot at the top of Group F.

Head Coach of the senior women’s team, Dr Ivan Joseph is looking forward to the two upcoming matches, with a keen eye on tactics, technicality, and pristine preparation.
Speaking during a virtual engagement on Saturday last, Dr Joseph shared his views on Guyana’s next two opponents in the Qualifiers.
“Well, those are two formidable opponents. You know, in my time with the national team we’ve never beat Trinidad and Tobago; in fact, we’ve taken a shellacking from them in the last time we played, in the CFU Cup several years ago,” the Lady Jags Head Coach said.
He then turned his attention to Nicaragua, stating, “I’ve watched their game tape, very technical team, they gave Trinidad a run for their money, a very skilled team. You saw they put 19 goals up against Turks, we only managed seven.”
“When I saw that draw, it’s a tough draw, there’re a lot of other teams that I would’ve preferred we played.”
Nonetheless, Guyana will not be shying away from the challenge ahead, with the Head Coach already commencing his ‘homework’ on the two teams.
‘We’ve got our breakdown of that game, we, as a staff, are beginning the game plan, to assess what do we need to do specifically to address the Nicaragua game. You can’t look to Trinidad and Tobago for second; we’ve got to put our concentration and focus on Nicaragua,” Dr Joseph divulged.
“They’re a much better organised and technical team, player for player, for us. So, we’ve got to figure out how do we combat that.”
“They’ve had no trouble handling us in the past and we’ve got to say ‘hey, that was yesterday and here’s how we move forward today,” he said on the topic of meeting Trinidad once again.
“If we are able and are lucky enough to get past Nicaragua, Trinidad playing in front of their home and their fans, they will have the home energy and the emotional energy of the crowd. That will be our toughest match so far in our campaign.”
With plans for their preparation now in focus, Coach Joseph has indicated that the training camp would be dissimilar to the one hosted for the first set of games. While there were many players to choose from that time around, Dr Joseph is now looking to refine skills in a smaller group.
“One of the things we were lucky enough to have and the Federation endorsed was an extended training camp that had bigger numbers. So, we had 36 players, because again, we hadn’t seen all these players and we wanted the chance for some of the local players that were on the U-20 team, to train with the senior team, so that they could see that next level,” he explained.
“And I thought that really paid dividends in this recent U-20 that happened.”
“But when you have 36 players, not everybody gets the same repetitions and the same opportunities to touch the ball and to be in the training environment. This camp will see a reduced number, 23-24. So, we don’t necessarily need a longer time, because they will get more opportunities and more reps.”
While hinting at the possibility of a warm-up match, Dr Joseph explained how smaller numbers would lend to better preparation.
“What we’ll need is the same thing, which is no distractions, clear focus, an opportunity to maybe play an exhibition game early in the camp before we play Nicaragua and Trinidad,” the Head Coach said.
He continued, “Too long and we become flat, too long and we run the risk of injury and so, it’s that fine balance of how do you get people in camp? How do you make sure they’re peaked and how do you let them loose and do the things they’re ready and trained to do?”
For the CONCACAF Women’s Qualifiers, the top finisher in each group will move on to the Championships, in July, where direct spots in the Paris 2024 Olympics and CONCACAF’s Gold Cup are up for grabs.