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Subject: [NT] World Cup Qualifying
Sidekick as in foreteller.
Cause you said that you hoped to see Portugal playing with the kamikaze tactics.
Cause you said that you hoped to see Portugal playing with the kamikaze tactics.
I see. :) Different use of the word then I am familiar with.
I don't think that tactic from Portugal should have been a huge surprise. It was uncannily effective against New Zealand. But IMO the two main reasons it worked well against New Zealand were out-of-form NZ strikers, and sub-par passing in the back-end. Neither of those issues are a problem for Estonia.
I don't think that tactic from Portugal should have been a huge surprise. It was uncannily effective against New Zealand. But IMO the two main reasons it worked well against New Zealand were out-of-form NZ strikers, and sub-par passing in the back-end. Neither of those issues are a problem for Estonia.
Yes ... that makes more sense. :D
Ireland made a fantastic effort against Argentina, but lost. So Australia has the inside track at qualification - just need a win next week.
Ireland made a fantastic effort against Argentina, but lost. So Australia has the inside track at qualification - just need a win next week.
Injured my striker! Damn Croatians!
There will probably be some malcontent between Byers and Zizic in my team =p
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There will probably be some malcontent between Byers and Zizic in my team =p
(edited)
All set for this weekend vs. Estonia - the final qualifying match of the season.
I've chatted a fair bit about the goal differential race, but in the end it's going to be irrelevant - at least within the group. By splitting the matches with Portugal, it gives both teams a great chance to make the WC, but means neither can be seeded well. It's quite likely that the second place team will be a 4th basket team anyway (same thing happening in Group C with Canada and Iceland).
New Zealand could still climb to the 3rd basket, but would need a win against Estonia. A draw would get the team 2nd place in the group, but would still be 4th basket (I'm assuming Poland will try to win this weekend). So anything short of a win against Estonia won't help the overall picture.
And that's a tall order. :P Bodger's back in form, but he's the only striker in a groove. I'd hoped Hird would play an important role in this match, but his form has ruled him out. Atkinson has been the main source of creativity for the team this season (actually leads the group in assists) - he's out injured. Sansom is back from injury, but shed a lot of form during his hiatus. Means Root, who's been steady all season (and the only player to score on Estonia in qualifying), will have to carry the load. There are some form problems on defense to - with Kelly and Edwards far from where I'd like them to be. On the bright side, Taylor is in great form and will be the key to any kind of result.
A couple other matches to watch. Portugal plays Moldova, and should have an easy win. But Moldova is the kind of squad that could sneak a result if the stars align. Anything less then a win and Portugal could miss the WC. The other match to keep an eye on is Australia - Uruguay. A win by Australia and they are into the dance next season. If either of these teams fail, it swings the door open for a host of teams currently on 16 points.
I've chatted a fair bit about the goal differential race, but in the end it's going to be irrelevant - at least within the group. By splitting the matches with Portugal, it gives both teams a great chance to make the WC, but means neither can be seeded well. It's quite likely that the second place team will be a 4th basket team anyway (same thing happening in Group C with Canada and Iceland).
New Zealand could still climb to the 3rd basket, but would need a win against Estonia. A draw would get the team 2nd place in the group, but would still be 4th basket (I'm assuming Poland will try to win this weekend). So anything short of a win against Estonia won't help the overall picture.
And that's a tall order. :P Bodger's back in form, but he's the only striker in a groove. I'd hoped Hird would play an important role in this match, but his form has ruled him out. Atkinson has been the main source of creativity for the team this season (actually leads the group in assists) - he's out injured. Sansom is back from injury, but shed a lot of form during his hiatus. Means Root, who's been steady all season (and the only player to score on Estonia in qualifying), will have to carry the load. There are some form problems on defense to - with Kelly and Edwards far from where I'd like them to be. On the bright side, Taylor is in great form and will be the key to any kind of result.
A couple other matches to watch. Portugal plays Moldova, and should have an easy win. But Moldova is the kind of squad that could sneak a result if the stars align. Anything less then a win and Portugal could miss the WC. The other match to keep an eye on is Australia - Uruguay. A win by Australia and they are into the dance next season. If either of these teams fail, it swings the door open for a host of teams currently on 16 points.
We could hope that Portugal go nuts about last week and set some really abysmal tactic where they draw with Moldova =D
Could be quite possible if they name it after mrat again =p
Could be quite possible if they name it after mrat again =p
mrat give us a win against you....wrestny....you are lucky you are in my will never ban list....
:)
:)
Moldova can sneak up on you. Canada struggled to beat them 1 - 0 in qualifying a few seasons ago (there was an early Canadian red card and the Canadian manager at the time hadn't set the best possible line-up ... point is Moldova did put up a fight :P).
But I don't really think the Portugal - Moldova result matters much here - it has no effect on New Zealand's destiny. If New Zealand wins this weekend, it's the 3rd basket. If New Zealand draws or loses, it's the fourth basket.
But I don't really think the Portugal - Moldova result matters much here - it has no effect on New Zealand's destiny. If New Zealand wins this weekend, it's the 3rd basket. If New Zealand draws or loses, it's the fourth basket.
Hmm.. Are Estonia guaranteed either way too? Could we conspire? =D
Edit: depends actually, if we lose are we in the same or different basket to the inevitable poland win tonight?
(edited)
Edit: depends actually, if we lose are we in the same or different basket to the inevitable poland win tonight?
(edited)
Underway against Estonia.
I had planned to play a deep defense in this match, at least the center 3. Haven’t done that this season - might catch Estonia by surprise. Would really help the NZ defenders and might mean some wasted opportunities with missed distance shots.
But Portugal’s press was so effective against NZ that I think the chances are fairly good Estonia will come with something similar. And IMO the last thing one wants to do against a press is sit deep. So NZ will attempt to hold a respectable line.
Might seem odd to only play one striker when 3 points is needed, but chances are so hard to come by against a defense this good, that I dropped 1 striker (Bodger) back into midfield. Hopefully he’ll find a little more space there and maybe take some cracks from distance. Means that Root becomes that much more important on the right side. I’m hoping he’ll find some seams in the defense - beating Estonia wide is a tough task.
Bodger takes freekicks. I think the most dispensable player in this formation is actually the middle central defender, so Kilkenny supplies the red card coverage for the defense. Bodger covers the striker.
LINE-UP
Taylor
Williams, Harris, Kilkenny, Watts, Edwards
Kelly, Petherick, Bodger, Root
B Gilbert
BENCH
Alves
M Gilbert
Irvine (60 - Petherick)
Morcombe (50 - B Gilbert)
Pollock
I had planned to play a deep defense in this match, at least the center 3. Haven’t done that this season - might catch Estonia by surprise. Would really help the NZ defenders and might mean some wasted opportunities with missed distance shots.
But Portugal’s press was so effective against NZ that I think the chances are fairly good Estonia will come with something similar. And IMO the last thing one wants to do against a press is sit deep. So NZ will attempt to hold a respectable line.
Might seem odd to only play one striker when 3 points is needed, but chances are so hard to come by against a defense this good, that I dropped 1 striker (Bodger) back into midfield. Hopefully he’ll find a little more space there and maybe take some cracks from distance. Means that Root becomes that much more important on the right side. I’m hoping he’ll find some seams in the defense - beating Estonia wide is a tough task.
Bodger takes freekicks. I think the most dispensable player in this formation is actually the middle central defender, so Kilkenny supplies the red card coverage for the defense. Bodger covers the striker.
LINE-UP
Taylor
Williams, Harris, Kilkenny, Watts, Edwards
Kelly, Petherick, Bodger, Root
B Gilbert
BENCH
Alves
M Gilbert
Irvine (60 - Petherick)
Morcombe (50 - B Gilbert)
Pollock
Bit of a disappointing match. Thought the tactic was mostly right, and that it could have gone better.
Wasn't happy with the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Estonia goals. :D On the second the 3 central defenders all had a crack at clearing the ball, but stood around and eventually surrendered it to the Estonia forwards. The 3rd goal (the penalty) was setup by a through ball between 2 defenders standing side by side. That's an absolutely breath-taking pass (Estonia made 2 of these during the match) - and perhaps some lax defending not intercepting it. On the 4th goal the defenders all kind of looked at each other and said "You take 'em". Nobody picked the striker.
The 2 shots for is a bit of a hurtful number. NZ had 2 breakaways where the striker failed to shoot but instead gave the ball to the keeper. With another 1 on 1 break by Gilbert that was saved, New Zealand had some pretty good opportunities to get on the scoreboard.
Taylor played well, but not stupendously. On a relative basis he was out-played by Portugal's keeper in matches vs. Estonia. I thought Bodger did really well in his role. Didn't find space to take a lot of shots, but he contributed a lot to midfield. Root wasn't able to create much - tough task against this kind of quality. Kelly and Edwards exceeded my expectations (which were lowered due to their form). The other DM didn't play well. Neither Petherick nor Irvine had enough defending to be effective. Irvine was far too slow moving the ball when he did gain possession.
So that's that. No other results really matter for New Zealand's fate. The team will be in the fourth basket for the WC draw.
Wasn't happy with the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Estonia goals. :D On the second the 3 central defenders all had a crack at clearing the ball, but stood around and eventually surrendered it to the Estonia forwards. The 3rd goal (the penalty) was setup by a through ball between 2 defenders standing side by side. That's an absolutely breath-taking pass (Estonia made 2 of these during the match) - and perhaps some lax defending not intercepting it. On the 4th goal the defenders all kind of looked at each other and said "You take 'em". Nobody picked the striker.
The 2 shots for is a bit of a hurtful number. NZ had 2 breakaways where the striker failed to shoot but instead gave the ball to the keeper. With another 1 on 1 break by Gilbert that was saved, New Zealand had some pretty good opportunities to get on the scoreboard.
Taylor played well, but not stupendously. On a relative basis he was out-played by Portugal's keeper in matches vs. Estonia. I thought Bodger did really well in his role. Didn't find space to take a lot of shots, but he contributed a lot to midfield. Root wasn't able to create much - tough task against this kind of quality. Kelly and Edwards exceeded my expectations (which were lowered due to their form). The other DM didn't play well. Neither Petherick nor Irvine had enough defending to be effective. Irvine was far too slow moving the ball when he did gain possession.
So that's that. No other results really matter for New Zealand's fate. The team will be in the fourth basket for the WC draw.
Heehee. Any dropped points by Estonia would have moved them from basket 1 to basket 2. I don't think they would have been receptive. :P
As for Poland, if Poland losses New Zealand is in the same basket. If Poland wins I think they will climb to the 3rd basket. That would be one nice thing about the 4th basket if the 800 (8000?) lb gorilla was in there with you.
As for Poland, if Poland losses New Zealand is in the same basket. If Poland wins I think they will climb to the 3rd basket. That would be one nice thing about the 4th basket if the 800 (8000?) lb gorilla was in there with you.