‘Transition phased’ for Lady Jags

…As Khan looks ahead to next window

Guyana’s senior women’s national football team the Lady Jaguars have, over the past week, suffered mixed fortunes in their opening games of the CONCACAF Road to W Gold Cup tournament.
While they suffered a narrow 2-1 loss to Antigua last Wednesday, the Lady Jags rebounded with a commanding 5-0 win over Dominica on Sunday last.
New to the Lady Jags set-up, Head Coach Omar Khan shared thoughts on his first win with the team, and a few hiccups he noticed along the way.
“Winning always feels good. Our feeling was that the first match preparation was a little bit too tight to prepare the team, so we got surprised by Antigua a little bit. I think we made a good comeback, learning from that game. I think we did well, especially in the first half,” Khan shared.
About the Lady Jags’ second half performance, in which they scored a solitary goal, Khan said, “It’s always difficult, because you see it on every level that, after a good first half, the opponent also does something. They go more defensively to maintain the goals from the first half. But my opinion is that Dominica played a good and better second half than the first half.”
While the win was a welcome one, it was evident that the Lady Jags could have been more solid as a unit had they not missed some experienced players. On this topic, Khan voiced expectations of seeing those players come into the squad possibly in the next window.

Khan disclosed, “We missed more than 4 or 5 players at the moment, experienced players. So, we’re also in a little bit of a transition, giving younger players a chance. It’s a short period, difficult in one window to play the way we want to play and new players that haven’t had any experience with this team on this level. So, it’s a lot coming in this one week, for players, for staff, for the experienced players like Chante.
“I think I’m waiting to see the experienced players with us, so they can help the younger players adapt to the level faster,” Coach Khan added.
Captain of the Lady Jags, Chante Sandiford, speaking about the transition phase to which Coach Khan referenced, shared a bit about her role as a senior player in getting the fresh faces ready for competition. Sandiford shared, “I think just leading through example, especially when we’re on the field; just keep holding everybody accountable to the rules that we have set in place for the team, and the expectation that we have as a player for Guyana. And it hasn’t been difficult, everyone is firing on a 100, ready to represent our country with everything they have. So, it’s not a difficult job, it is an important one, and we just have to be consistent in keeping the expectation and level high,” The Lady Jags Captain/Goalkeeper maintained.
The Lady Jags will next come up against Suriname on October 25.