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Tivoli Gardens FC searching for answers
October 08, 2024
WINLESS in three Jamaica Premier League (JPL) matches this season, Tivoli Gardens Football Club's coach Jerome Waite said it is time his team stops living in the past and lift the standard of their performances.
In their latest contest, on Sunday, the west Kingston club suffered a 1-0 loss against Waterhouse FC.
Last term, after three games, Tivoli had two wins and a loss, and those two victories included high-profile wins over Waterhouse and Arnett Gardens FC.
They had also scored seven goals over the period, compared to this season where they have just netted once after three matches.
Ahead of their next game, Waite said his team will have to do some serious soul-searching, because getting out of the rut will not be an easy task.
"There are things we will address leading up to the next training session. We will have to have a team talk and put players on the spot," he said.
"The next thing, the team is living in the past based on last year's performance, and what they have to understand is, what they did last year, that is behind us. All the teams are looking to compete with them that they defeated on more than one occasion last season," he said.
"It's not going to be easy, but we have to see how best we can rotate these players, and see how best we can come up with the right mix," he said.
Anthony Nelson, who came on as a second-half substitute against Waterhouse, had a number of good scoring opportunities late in the contest, which strengthens Waite's belief that his team should have taken at least a point from the game. He said poor decisions and execution in the final third continue to be their biggest letdown.
"It's not only Nelson, but other players who came on the pitch created chances. It comes down to decision-making and execution. But at this level, you are expecting them to be making it much easier in terms of execution," he commented.
"There are so many times they (players) make the opposing goalkeeper end up getting the Man of the Match, and it can be poor execution that resulted in that.
"The opponent did well defensively, but I think we could have gotten a point from the match. But in the end, that is how it is."
Atapharoy Bygrave netted the only goal in the crosstown derby, heading home from a corner in the 39th minute.
Waite thought they should have done better on the play defensively.
"The goal came from a particular player who was given an assignment. He failed to track his player, as a result of that the opponent scored the goal.
"They need to understand the game itself because you have a game within the game, and there is where we are falling short. We started out slow, but in the end we got our fair chances," he added.
