THE EDITOR, Sir:

With reference to Orville Higgins' 'From hero to villain?', published Friday, September 15, I believe that our football has gone nowhere since 1998.

We still play one style of football. We have produced some quality players who have gone on to have success at various levels of football worldwide. Yet we have still not managed to improve the quality of play as a team when we play as the Reggae Boyz.

Despite the experience and skill they display for their clubs, our players, when on the field as Reggae Boyz, look amateurish at times and downright disgraceful at others, with the occasional splash of individual brilliance.

We will not qualify for another World Cup unless we can learn to play football - together. This means we have to learn, as a cohesive unit, how to move the ball from defence, through the midfield to the forwards for goals to be scored. We have to learn how to defend as a team. We have to learn how to control the midfield as a team.

I have long said that unless and until we develop our midfield play to a decent level, we will continue to boom the ball upfield from defence in hope, rather than expectation.

I still think Tappa is one of our best coaches. And I don't think that Marlon King's presence, alone, will improve our football. Remember Chinua Achebe: "Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold." Solve our midfield problem, and we would have taken 10 steps forward.

DALE E. STAPLE

dale_staple@yahoo.com