While that may not exactly be the axiom that national under-17 squad coach Kenny Thompson and his troops are operating under, their goal remains one of providing Bermuda with a performance which will entertain.

And, with the locally hosted World Cup qualifying round robin event starting on Monday at National Stadium, Thompson and his staff are busy fine-tuning all the techniques and tactics they hope to unleash on their opponents.

"Being in the final phase of our preparation, we're looking at refining what the players already know,'' said Thompson, prior to a recent training session.

"We've had a system philosophy in place since we put this thing together and have been building on the concept, so now we're basically refining that system, maintaining physical conditioning, set pieces, and the like.

"Our concept is to play, and in doing so, play attractive football and attacking football. That is not to say that we neglect defensive duties, because that is all part of the game itself.

"So, there are many things we try to achieve in our overall concept, with the main aim of winning, while trying to play attractive and enjoyable and attacking football, as well as stopping our opponents from scoring.'' Thompson has been noted as something of a `Dutch disciple' and the coach does not deny the influence on him from his many visits to the western European nation that has produced the likes of world renowned stars Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Marc Overmars, brothers Frank and Ronald De Boer, and perhaps the greatest Dutch master of them all Johaan Cruyff.

However, he is quick to note that he has attempted to take in the entire spectrum of soccer, not only that of one country, and combine them into a philosophy that relates better to the players at his disposal.

"I guess there has to be a Dutch influence, I've been there often enough,'' said Thompson, who is rumoured to be leading a sizable contingent of local coaches to the Netherlands on yet another soccer mission later this year.

Continued on page 27 Thompson keen to create international soccer blend Continued from page 25 Thompson continued: "However, I've also been to England . .. I've been to France ... I've been to Italy ... I've also been to the United States ... all football related. I've taken all those experiences and tried to mould them, not into a Dutch concept, but a football concept.

"So, yes, people say that, `He goes to Holland and tries to play Dutch football', but football is football. You get the ball and if there's an opportunity to pass it along the ground you do so, whether you're Holland, Brazil, Italy or France. When the opportunity presents itself to pass the ball through the air, because there's no space on the ground then you must do so, whether you are Brazilian, Italian, French, Dutch or English.

"What I've done is use all the experiences to mould them into a football concept. Around the world, football is played in a very similar way, there are cultural differences which you must accept -- Italians don't play like Brazilians, and Dutch don't play like the English. However, football is football.

"So when people begin talking about Bermuda and what style we're going to play, I think in many cases that is a moot debate. As an example, America spent a lot of time debating what style of football they wanted to play, initially looking to the English, then to the Dutch, and the Brazilians, but came to the conclusion that they simply have to play football, and let the culture they have in America dictate the difference in American football, Mexican football or Brazilian football.'' Due to the smaller size of the average Bermudian player compared to most opponents, Thompson noted the need for the local team to move the ball around quickly and avoid having matches develop into contests of physical strength.

As for the formation to be utilised, it was revealed that a 4-3-3 set-up would be employed, but positioning on the field would also be dictated by circumstance.

Said Thompson: "Again we have a lot of talk about formation -- formation is merely the general organisation. However, the basic tasks and functions of the individual players dictates how the formation is going to be put into place.

You can have a 4-5-1 formation, but because of the task and function of the players it can be very attacking, when on the surface it looks defensive.

"Having said that, we generally play with four defenders, three midfielders and three attackers, but, with the functions of the midfielders and attackers, at times you can find as many as five or six in midfield.

"Similarly, at the back we generally have four, but depending on the situation we are prepared to have two at the back, if we need to be adventurous, or, if the need is to defend, have five back there.

"So, it all depends on the tasks and functions, and the situation at the time.'' Another important factor highlighted by the coach as something he has had to seriously address is the mental outlook of his players, intimating this to be a major weakness among the local crew.

"I think our primary weakness -- and I feel this has been the case for a long time -- is our mental spirit, our mental weakness,'' said Thompson.

"Sometimes we don't believe enough in ourselves, when we compete against other countries. We don't really believe within ourselves that we are capable of: (a) competing; and (b) winning.

"So, it comes down to lack of self confidence, desire and determination to fight through difficult situations, to fight through physical pain and fatigue, and in the end try to gain a result for our country.

"I feel that one of our cultural weaknesses has been the non-belief in our own ability to be successful, and top athletes ... top footballers are very, very confident, if not arrogant about their ability.'' Bermuda will be competing with Netherland Antilles, Jamaica and Barbados in the event, with the winners going on to another qualifying round hosted by the United States.

The entertainers: Coach Kenny Thompson, pictured giving a pep talk to under-17 national team players. They aim to serve up some attractive football in next week's Youth World Cup qualifiers.