‘They will lick their wounds and come back very annoyed’
Bermuda’s footballers will be heading into their next Concacaf Nations League match against Dominica on Tuesday night with confidence riding high.
It would be hard to not get carried away knowing you are playing the same team just three days after beating them 6-1, you have the returning Nahki Wells scoring from all angles and the opposing captain Briel Thomas is suspended after being sent off in the game on Saturday night.
But confidence can sometimes breed complacency and head coach Michael Findlay, who eloquently expressed his pride in the team’s performance in the aftermath of their stunning victory at the weekend, is warning his players to expect better from Dominica this time around.
“In the first 15-20 minutes of the second half we seemed to drop because we had the early success and that’s the next challenge we’re going to have,” Findlay said.
“We can’t go into Tuesday thinking that is just going to happen again because they are going to go away, lick their wounds and come back very annoyed.
The games come thick and fast in international football with just 72 hours between the two Nations League matches and Findlay has had a lot to pack in, with analysis of the game running parallel with ensuring any injuries are treated and players can recuperate as quickly as possible.
“First and foremost it is about recovery and regeneration,” Findlay said.
“It’s a quick turnaround as international football is but we’ll look at the film, the selections, we’ll look at what we feel we did well but we’ll certainly keep the tempo high.
“That’s why we rolled people in as we felt we wanted to make sure we had enough in the tank to go again on Tuesday. We’ll look at that and make our decisions and deal with all the changes that may or may not happen.”
A feature of the win against Dominica was the noticeable team spirit among Bermuda’s players, with every goal sparking sprints towards the scorer from pretty much everybody on the pitch bar goalkeeper Dale Eve, and Findlay is keen to emphasise the closeness of the squad.
“From a mental point of view, it’s really nice to see that and you saw the celebrations from the players, they are a very tight-knit group and they are a group that felt badly about some of the results lately,” Findlay said.
“I’m more pleased for them and what it’s doing for their confidence. Hopefully we can reset ourselves and have a similar performance on Tuesday night because we need it if we are going to be in the final game on November 19 with a chance of getting to the Gold Cup.
“That means getting a similar results on Tuesday. We need three points for sure but if we can do something similar, we’ll be really pleased.”
With a hat-trick and an assist, the returning Nahki Wells obviously attracted the majority of attention but the result was a reflection of a near-flawless display and the coach wants to ensure that players in all departments receive the plaudits their performance deserved.
“No one can deny that the quality of Nahki Wells is going to change the team always,” Findlay said.
“We’re hopeful going forward here that everybody is fit, healthy and ready for selection, but we also rolled some players in that had been working very hard and they got on the scoresheet too.
“We also know that if we’re secure at the back we can be successful at the front.
“You can see we’re a team that likes to manipulate the ball, we want to play with our back four and our pivots having the ball. We want that because we feel that if we control the tempo and pace of the game we will probably have more success over time.
“I’m pleased with the defence and I’m pleased with Dale and I know they will be annoyed because they gave up a goal.”
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