LOCAL football coach Vassel Reynolds was left a disappointed man after the Jamaicans’ exit from the FIFA World Cup was confirmed in a 0-2 defeat to the United States at the Sporting Park in Kansas City on Friday.

The Reggae Boyz, one-time qualifiers to football’s grand showpiece in 1998, were more than competitive in the first half but a disjointed effort in the second half saw them surrendering late goals to Graham Zusi and Jozy Altidore.

“I am disappointed, not just with the result, but with the performance all over,” a distraught Reynolds told the Sunday Observer after the qualifying loss.

He said the decision by Jamaica’s coach Winfried Schafer to move from the 3-5-2 formation, used in the previous 1-1 result with Costa Rica, to a more enterprising 4-3-3, was indicative of the team’s must-win ambition.

The front three selected were Darren Mattocks, Ryan Johnson and the debutant Deshorn Brown, while in-form striker Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson was left on the substitutes’ bench.

“The first move the coach made was to move to a 4-3-3 system which indicated a clear intention. I would assume in the back of his mind and the team’s mind, the approach would be to attack but be safe, especially in the first half. Because you don’t want to chase a game to win and at the same time concede early,” he said.

Reynolds, a technical advisor to the board of Premier League outfit Sporting Central Academy, expressed some satisfaction with the display in the first period, but according to him, things went haywire after the interval.

“I don’t think it was a bad first half even though the midfield was transitioning from the back to attack too slowly and hence Mattocks, Brown and Johnson were receiving the support a little too late, in my mind. When we broke up the attack we needed to counter a little bit quicker.

“We gave the USA team too much time to get behind the ball and that sort of nullified some of the chances we would have created.

“The first half, we could have had a bit of luck and scored a goal… I think we did what we had to do in the first half.

“The second half is where I was [left] most disappointed. In the second half there wasn’t much to speak about in terms of cohesiveness, in terms of options, and I don’t think we created sufficient chances and the defensive line fell asleep. I would possibly give a ‘B’ grade in the first half and the second half…a generous ‘C’,” he said.

Reynolds, who is also the assistant coach of Hydel High’s Manning Cup team, blasted the national technical staff for the late introduction of the bustling Anderson, who came on in the 84th minute.

“I can’t believe a ‘Tuffy’ Anderson, who is on a high, who you have put on a physical programme, who scored in the last game [against Costa Rica] and you give him six minutes!

“I would want to think that after you talk to the team [at the half-time break] you would give the attacking trio another 10 minutes and if nothing [changes], you inject new blood in ‘Teddy’ Johnson and ‘Tuffy’ Anderson. In my mind, I thought we made a mistake there,” the former Sporting Central coach said.

In the decisive clash in Kansas City, coach Schafer made only two changes — Theo Robinson in for the injured Je-Vaughn Watson just after the 70th-minute mark and Anderson in for Ryan Johnson after the team had conceded the second goal.

Reynolds lamented that “the changes that were made had no impact at that stage of the game”. He said he would have brought on Anderson for Ryan Johnson, young midfielder Romario Campbell for Jobi McAnuff and ‘Teddy’ Johnson for either Brown or Mattocks.

He added that former St Elizabeth Technical star Brown “was the best of the front three on the night, but after a time, because of the individualism, he got tired”.

Reynolds said he knew the team only had an outside chance of qualifying after a stuttering campaign, but he said that he and many Reggae Boyz’ backers were at least hoping for a “more competitive” display.

“We were clutching at straws, really, and I was really only optimistic because there was a mathematical chance. I thought we were out of the World Cup two matches before last night.

“If we were only a bit more competitive…trust me, it left a bitter taste. I’m totally disappointed with the performance, the second half especially,” he stressed.