Former Trinidad and Tobago footballer Leroy De Leon has said he sympathises with any coach in charge of the Trinidad and Tobago team right now.
De Leon who represented the twin-island republic during the 1960s and 70s, blamed the defeat on a lack of preparation by the team.
And in an interview with Newsday he expressed the view that he sympathises with the national team coach Francisco Maturana because of what they have to work with.
“I think that the coach, whoever he is, is destined to fail,” De Leon said. He feels that Trinidad and Tobago should forget about qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and focus on developing the sport locally.
“The mere fact that we have to be dependant on veteran midfielder Dwight Yorke to qualify for the World Cup tells you that we have not put things in place to play without them for this campaign,” De leon said. Trinidad and Tobago defeated Cuba 3-1 in their opening semi-final round qualifier in Havana before surrendering two vital points in a disappointing 1-1 tie with Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, two weeks ago.
De Leon is calling on the authorities to stop “quick fixing” and take the time to work and develop the players. He pointed out that the ongoing T&T Pro League has failed to prepare players for the national team. De Leon called for the appointment of a core group of coaches who will be given specific roles in the overall development of players from a youth level and upward.
“This means that there will be coaches to deal with development from the tender age of four to nine and so on.
At this stage the coaches will be responsible for teaching the youths how to trap the ball. Afterwards the players can move on to another aspect where the teaching of the skills of the game can take place,” De Leon added.
This process he said should be done over a four-year period and assured that he is almost certain that development will take place and eventually World Cup qualification will come automatically.
De Leon stressed that Maturana’s problem presently is that he has to be coaching what the players should have already known. He said he will relish the opportunity to coach at a youth level in Trinidad and Tobago, preferably the Under-13s.
Since completing his illustrious career, which has seen him play with and against the best in the United States and Europe, De Leon has been coaching at the youth level in the US where the fundamentals of football are emphasised. He noted however that he is hurt by the present predicament the national team finds itself and would rather coach in the country of his birth than any foreign side.
“However if this does not happen then I will have to return to the US to do my thing,” De Leon concluded.