Opinion: Jordan Scarlett Deserves Jamaican Call-Up
Jamaica is trying to qualify for the 2022 FIFA men’s World Cup & certainly have what looks to be a mountain to climb to get there.
Among their issues: a poor start to this final round of qualifying and many English-based players, all of whom are subject to the United Kingdom’s laws about Covid-19, being banned from traveling to countries on their restricted list.
Unfortunate as Covid-19 has been in a real, human sense, it also means that CONCACAF qualification games for the upcoming World Cup take on a whole new logistical challenge all their own.
To that end, Jamaica had to take two different squads to their home game in Kingston (with all the players from England available) and their away games in Mexico and Costa Rica last September (none of those players involved).
It was actually the home game, which they were expected to do much better in, that they foundered the most: losing 3-0 to a comparatively weaker Panamanian team.
In the first game and third game of this most recent FIFA World Cup qualifying matchday, Jamaica held Mexico right to the very end away in Mexico City before keeping Costa Rica on a 1-1 score away in San Jose. It appears the English-based players couldn’t gel sufficiently to get the desired result.
While it’s unlikely that that will always be the case, it is obviously true that this mixing and matching of players could be more of a detriment to their campaign overall.
It is imperative that the Reggae Boyz call up players who can fill in positions no matter which squad the manager wishes to deploy. Based on those guys Jamaica most recently used, I think the Tampa Bay Rowdies have a player who can do just that.
Jordan Scarlett has the quality and the pedigree to play at the international level, and I believe his inclusion in a future Jamaican team would be to their mutual benefit.
In September, Jamaica needed to bring in enough reinforcements to field essentially two different teams. Their entire roster included ten players based in Great Britain. If we remove that lot, Jamaica had twenty-two players for their two away games. That is only one short of what would be a normal amount for a country to take to any international tournament. But, if we dig deeper, there could be some issues with the defensive unit.
In their home game, with all called-up players available, Jamaica started with three of their four defenders coming from England. These were from left to right Kemar Lawrence (based in Toronto, Canada), Ethan Pinnock (Brentford, England), Liam Moore (Reading, England), and Wes Harding (Rotherham, England).
A further late substitution into the defense was based outside of the United Kingdom, that being Alvas Powell (Philadelphia, USA).
Then, we must look at their lineup for the two away games. In both of those Kemar Lawrence kept his position, Adrian Mariappa (without a club) and Damion Lowe (Alexandria, Egypt) played as the central defenders, and Alvas Powell started at right back. This appears to be something of a discrepancy.
When all the English-based players were available, they all played. Also, without them, Jamaica were forced into using a player who has been without a club since May of this year (which was after his signing a short-term contract in November of last year to begin with). That player, Adrian Mariappa, does have a great pedigree in soccer and has played at the highest levels. No doubt he would be a great signing for an American team in need of some defensive help.
However, when coming into World Cup qualifiers with everything on the line, a team should be looking at players who are playing each and every week, and are therefore sharp and fit.
It is also the case that his partner in the center of their defense, Damion Lowe, is a player Rowdies fans will know well. He only played for us during the 2017 season after all. Behind those two, a young guy from the Jamaican professional league appears to be the only backup.
Of course, there will be people who read all that and wonder why a USL Championship player is ready to fill in here. It should be noted that, over the course of several games this year, Jamaica has relied on guys from exactly that level of the game. Even in this last round of qualifiers Jamaica called up three men from the USL Championship, Peter Vassell, Lamar Walker, and Devon “Speedy” Williams. These are names that RBLR Rowdies have mentioned in our podcast that are playing for a spot at the next men’s World Cup. It’s obvious that this level is not so far down that Jamaica’s coaching staff finds them unreliable. So why should Jordan Scarlett not merit a look?
Between Lowe (based in Egypt), Mariappa (looking for a club), and a nineteen-year-old backup, there seems to be some room for a player of good quality to emerge. Let’s now look at the facts of Scarlett’s recent career to see how they all measure up.
For anyone who is unfamiliar, the Tampa Bay Rowdies are currently leading the Eastern Conference and their own division within the USL Championship. They are one point off the league leaders, Phoenix Rising, from whom Jamaica have also called up Kevon Lambert this year.
As I write this, the Rowdies are just coming off a shutout streak that was over 890 minutes long, after a 2-1 win over Hartford Athletic.
Over the course of that streak, Jordan Scarlett (as well as his defensive partners Forrest Lasso and Aaron Guillen) played the full ninety minutes of all nine games over that stretch.
He has also started all twenty-five games the Rowdies have played this season and has one goal and one assist. His pass accuracy is 84%, his tackle success rate is 64%, and he has thirty-four interceptions to go along with fifty-two clearances.
Statistics don’t tell anyone a full picture, and we would be hard-pressed to say that they alone show his quality. However, when one looks at the statistics along with the record for the team overall, I would say we’d be hard-pressed to call him weak in any one category of defending.
Sure, there are some points for improvement: Scarlett’s first touch may not be the most polished in our back line. His goal scoring may not be as prominent a feature as it is for other defenders the Rowdies have. But, the defensive unit for Tampa Bay is measurably the best in the USL Championship, with the fewest goals against for all teams in the league. He could only be an asset for a team looking to shore up their defense.
The Reggae Boyz can ill afford to continue to leak goals if they want to have a chance to go to Qatar in 2022. Giving up three goals to Panama at home is inexcusable for a team in this position. Defensive cohesion, of course, is extremely difficult to build when players can’t get some games in successively. They should be looking first for players who can visit every country on their matchday schedule, while supplementing that team with the generally-more-reputable lads from jolly olde England. One needs only look at the team’s other call ups to know Jordan Scarlett checks all the boxes necessary to compete at international level. He should be on that team and given a chance. If he doesn’t take it, that’s one thing. But, leaving him behind is hurting both player and country.
