ROSE HALL, St James — If the Jamaican teams are to have any long-term success, there must be only one system employed by all teams starting at the lowest age group level, says head coach Winfried Schafer.

The German, who is expected to sign a long-term contract to coach the senior Reggae Boyz team, says he plans to meet with the club coaches as well as the coaches of the national youth teams in an effort to make sure that everyone was on the same page moving forward.

At a press conference in Montego Bay last week, Schafer said as soon as Jamaica had completed their two friendly internationals against Caribbean neighbours Trinidad and Tobago, he plans to have dialogue with the coaches.

With the club coaches, he says, he plans to meet with them to see where they could help the players at that level get better “step by step”.

Schafer has singled out several players for improved fitness training including Waterhouse’s Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson, who featured late in the World Cup qualification series, scoring a goal in a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica in Kingston.

Looking ahead, however, Schafer said the work to get long-term success must start “from the bottom up”, making reference to the youth level.

“Looking to the future we also must work with the youth teams and the coaches of those teams,” he said. “We have to work…with the Under-15, Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 teams, and that will help us to have stronger senior teams.”

With players having to adapt to new tactics and formation as they move through the national teams, Schafer said having one basic formation is the way to start.

“The teams have to play the same system from the lowest to the senior,” he said. “One team can’t play 4-3-3 and another 3-5-2, they must play all the same system, only then we will be successful.”