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Subject: [NT] Friendlies
Pfft Barhilo as Nt coach, he couldnt even beat me in a friendly
He'd insist on playing that rubbish Bodger and fake Watts aswell.
well, the fake Watts is a pretty good defender and according to Borkos, Bodger is what makes NZ =p
Next week's match against Belarus is on the fixture list. Don't intend to use any A-squad players with the World Cup starting the following week.
Cool. What a time for Root to get injured. And a whole month @#$%#@*%$#
There's never a good time for a player in his training prime like Root to get injured. :(
yeah. i know. They should change the rules so players under 21 dont get injured for more than 10 days :)
Formation and players all set for the Belarus match.
Essentially all A-squad players are sitting this one out, so there will be a few less-familiar names. Dragster said he will also be using primarily back-ups. No idea how good they will be. :)
Essentially all A-squad players are sitting this one out, so there will be a few less-familiar names. Dragster said he will also be using primarily back-ups. No idea how good they will be. :)
Underway. :)
Little different look again in this one. 3-5-2 with a winger. Every once in a while I try “paired” strikers. Never works as well as I think it should. This particular striker tandem lends itself to it (I think :P). If nothing else, it will give Chile something else to consider.
Dabner took a knock Wednesday - he would have played, but has been ruled out. Robben will assume his spot.
Roza takes penalties, Tomlinson freekicks. Herbert subs Sansom at 50. In the 70s Sparrow takes Tomlinson and Smith takes Robben.
Little different look again in this one. 3-5-2 with a winger. Every once in a while I try “paired” strikers. Never works as well as I think it should. This particular striker tandem lends itself to it (I think :P). If nothing else, it will give Chile something else to consider.
Dabner took a knock Wednesday - he would have played, but has been ruled out. Robben will assume his spot.
Roza takes penalties, Tomlinson freekicks. Herbert subs Sansom at 50. In the 70s Sparrow takes Tomlinson and Smith takes Robben.
Sorry guys. Not a very good match. B-squad looked like a B-squad.
Dragster said he would be playing his back-ups, but as far as I can tell, that was the Belarussian A-squad. Guess he couldn't resist the easy ranking points. ;) So not that bad a performance by the All Whites subs.
Tactically, the defensive line wasn't quite right. Got some offsides, but not enough to make the "burns" worthwhile. Winger was well positioned, but irrelevant, since the defense couldn't get the ball to him.
Very disappointed with Gilbert. Again. He was dreadful against Ireland, and just as bad today. Edwards also played very poorly. Not sure about the rest of the team, as they all suffered due to the defenses' inability to recover the ball.
Next week the WC starts. Team will make a better go - I promise. ;)
Dragster said he would be playing his back-ups, but as far as I can tell, that was the Belarussian A-squad. Guess he couldn't resist the easy ranking points. ;) So not that bad a performance by the All Whites subs.
Tactically, the defensive line wasn't quite right. Got some offsides, but not enough to make the "burns" worthwhile. Winger was well positioned, but irrelevant, since the defense couldn't get the ball to him.
Very disappointed with Gilbert. Again. He was dreadful against Ireland, and just as bad today. Edwards also played very poorly. Not sure about the rest of the team, as they all suffered due to the defenses' inability to recover the ball.
Next week the WC starts. Team will make a better go - I promise. ;)
Looks like depth of quality could be an issue with a few injuries.
dont worry about it. This match didnt count :p You beat Denmark who beat Belgium today!!
aaww that sucks
won my battrick match against #1 in my league,
All Blacks beat Wallabies 26-12,
I was chip leader for Poker night against some tough opponents...
But NZ didn't win tonight in sokker =[
won my battrick match against #1 in my league,
All Blacks beat Wallabies 26-12,
I was chip leader for Poker night against some tough opponents...
But NZ didn't win tonight in sokker =[
Heehee. Sorry Barhilo. :D No quadrafecta.
I sent Dragster a little message chiding him for using his A-squad, and was told only 9 of 11 were A-squad guys - there were 2 back-ups. So I stand corrected. :) (And this isn't a problem at all - knowledge of this wouldn't have changed my line-up - just wasn't what I expected. And tho I put the normal effort into game preparations, eyes are certainly on next week's match).
On second watch, the ball movement did not play to the strengths of the two strikers. I believe they would have been more effective with better flank penetration. Neither has sufficient technique to worry an NT defense with a frontal assault. The "pairing" didn't really help much. I've seen other managers use it effectively, but for whatever reason, I've never figured it out. :P
Depth could be an issue, particularly on defense. Graham, tho sluggish, played reasonably well in this one. Jerry made a bad mistake on the second goal, but otherwise played fairly well (still a little green from an A-squad perspective). Edwards is pretty debilitated by his form. Gilbert's poor secondaries make him a liability.
I sent Dragster a little message chiding him for using his A-squad, and was told only 9 of 11 were A-squad guys - there were 2 back-ups. So I stand corrected. :) (And this isn't a problem at all - knowledge of this wouldn't have changed my line-up - just wasn't what I expected. And tho I put the normal effort into game preparations, eyes are certainly on next week's match).
On second watch, the ball movement did not play to the strengths of the two strikers. I believe they would have been more effective with better flank penetration. Neither has sufficient technique to worry an NT defense with a frontal assault. The "pairing" didn't really help much. I've seen other managers use it effectively, but for whatever reason, I've never figured it out. :P
Depth could be an issue, particularly on defense. Graham, tho sluggish, played reasonably well in this one. Jerry made a bad mistake on the second goal, but otherwise played fairly well (still a little green from an A-squad perspective). Edwards is pretty debilitated by his form. Gilbert's poor secondaries make him a liability.
Still looking for an opponent this weekend. Kind of a tough spot in the schedule. World Cup, Unofficial U21 WC, and Mini WC all still running. Narrows the field of opponents. I've challenged every nation without a match - hopefully someone will accept.