Jamaica’s early exit from the CONCACAF Gold Cup is a blessing in disguise, says a disappointed Steve McClaren, who revealed that the Reggae Boyz are not as good as people think.

Jamaica crashed 1-4 to Panama and were thrown out of the Gold Cup, prompting McClaren to declare that, going forward, no player’s position is safe for selection.

“Despite the results and everything, this has been just what we needed to see. It’s a wake-up call,” said a sombre-looking McClaren.

He continued: “And we live with that regret over the three games, but I’m telling you, it might be a blessing in disguise because we know, and the dressing room knows, we’re not as good as we think we are, and we have to do certain things to win football matches. Talent is not enough. Talent is nothing without hard work, and that was the message”.

The governing Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and its coaching staff have adopted what people term as a quick fix scenario by drafting in players of Jamaican descent, mostly from England, to represent the national team. Seventy per cent of the Reggae Boyz starting team were born outside of Jamaica, and the general feeling is that they are not gelling quickly enough, while some might not be “hungry” enough with the desire that is needed for success.

“People who think they’re comfortable in the squad. We’ve all had a wake-up call about what we can do and what we can’t do. I said at the beginning of the month, what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna learn so much about the players, so much about the character, so much about the commitment that is required,” McClaren pointed out.

“Football is not about systems. It’s about individuals. It’s about character, attitude, working hard, being disciplined, knowing your job and doing your job,” he reiterated.

McClaren continued: “In these three games, it’s been a wake-up call for every one of us, and I know in the end, it hurts now and it’s disappointing now. We’ve let a lot of people down in Jamaica who’ve, great supporters. We’ve let them down, but this is a lesson which we probably needed.”

Jamaica will now turn its attention to the World Cup Qualifiers set to begin in September. The Reggae Boyz are drawn in a group involving Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, and Curacao is which is deemed an easy Group B of the CONCACAF Qualifiers.

But based on the current form of the Reggae Boyz, nothing is sure or guaranteed of reaching the island’s second FIFA Men’s World Cup.

“We’ve got six of the biggest games of our lives ahead of us. There are failures, but you always learn lessons from them,” said McClaren. “I’ve learned so much in the four weeks that we’ve had with the squad. We’ve had a lot of players. A lot of senior players, a lot of young players, established players and players just coming in. Consistency is key, and we’ve not had that. We’ve not had that game-to-game. We’ve not had that in periods of the game.”

He explained: “I’m not going to the World Cup with that. We’re not doing well in this tournament because of that. We had spells today. You know, we didn’t defend and defending is not about systems. It’s about the collective. Collective is about discipline. It’s about knowing your set place. It’s about knowing, I’m near the penalty spot, so I don’t do that. It’s making mistakes like that that’s gonna cost us, and it has done.”