Subject: [NT] Friendlies

If you are playing a 3-1 at the back, I think it is REALLY important for the team to win possession and territory, otherwise you are asking for trouble. That Australia lost both even though they had one more midfielder suggests some tweaking may be in order.

Yeah, I did try to control the midfield with the players selected but obviously under-estimated your mids defending skills, but yeah when you play a tactic for the first time there is always going to be some flaws, so by playing it I can determine what parts need tweaking and work on improving those.

I would believe that in general, but when you play an attacking wing, yo basically take that player outof the game anyway, so its like playing with the ame number of mids, jut one less defence.

You are basically gambling that you can score more goals then the other team

Is this where I ask fofr a frindly? If so, PLEASE GIVE ME A FRIENDLY GAME. If not, pleasse tell me where to go. But nicely, I'm having a bad bad day.

there is a big thread in sokker international where you can get one easily, click here and post.

Uhn tiss Uhn tiss Uhn tiss....Booyeah, 3-1 to australia.

Cometer and Achmid beat Cerb and Greiver

This so should not be in friendlies, because our matches certainly ain't friendly.

First friendly of the season - this weekend vs. Peru - is officially booked.

I'm sorry that I'm a little slow getting the line-up posted this week. I'd been focusing on the A-squad, so hadn't scouted many of the back-ups. Reports are still filtering in.

No restrictions have been set for the Peru match. The New Zealand emphasis will be on getting players in who can take advantage of the wee NT training bonus. This will be a mix of A & B squads - the next qualification match isn't particularly tough, so I don't feel the need to protect players.

Again, sorry for the tardiness. :)

Peru is a quality team. They entered WC qualifying this season as a #3 seed - though they really are just as good as many of the #2 teams. They are off to a good start in Group H - blow out in their first match, and held Belgium to a +2 in their second (on one less shot then New Zealand surrendered to Estonia ... oh nevermind :D).

Four seasons back Peru was the talk of qualifying - over-achieving by winning a tough group that included USA, Scotland and Turkey. Much of that (IMO) was the result of some fine play by their uber-keeper, Saco Vertiz (who is starting to look a little long in the tooth). I have played Peru with New Zealand before - in the World Cup following their surprising qualifying campaign. The match ended in a draw, though I'd argue New Zealand had many more quality scoring chances and deserved better.

Hard to make predictions about today. Depends a lot on how many first team players participate on each side. Neither team will be pressed all that hard in their Q-match next week.

The following lists the players dressing for today's match. Slightly over half are regular first teamers. Would have liked to get a few more prospects in, but a number of these players have less then optimal stamina, and I'm only allowed 3 substitutions. :) All except Baldaro and Findlay are expected to take part.

Zack Baldaro, Left Footers
Duncan Findlay, N_Z
Matt Gilbert, in Germany, Fiery Tigers youth
Darren Herbert, in Poland, 11 Wise Men youth
Greg Irvine, in Bosna i Hercegovina, deathstrike youth
John Kilkenny, in Poland, AC Cikini youth
Bill Kingi, cashmere
Rob Morcombe, Fiery Tigers
Rob Petherick, One
Nigel Pollock, One
Jacob Priorie, in Poland, the unbelievers youth
Sam Sansom, The Invincibles, deathstrike youth
Kaz Taylor, in Poland, 11 Wise Men youth
Ben Tomlinson, Hyperintelligent Shades of Blue
David Watts, in England (at least for now), deathstrike youth
Simon Williams, in Belgium, the unbelievers youth
(edited)

Underway. :)

Nothing tricky today. Typical 442 with a triangle midfield and winger. Defensive midfield is slanted towards ball control - so they may have more trouble with ball recovery then usual (depending on what the opposition uses). The extra skill is especially necessary in position #4 (where Tomlinson is) - the pass to the winger is long and fairly difficult.

Sansom is on 2 yellow cards - would prefer if he didn’t get his 3rd today, but it wouldn’t be all bad.

Morcombe takes penalties, Tomlinson freekicks. Line throws on one side of the field, square throws on the other. Kind of a long stretch (25 minutes) with no subs, so there is a replacement order on the keeper (Sansom). Means only 3 orders for the back-line (Kilkenny not covered). Two center backs are actually covered by a full-back - don’t think Tomlinson (the full match DM) would be much use there.

LINE-UP

Taylor
Watts, Williams, M Gilbert, Kilkenny
Irvine, Tomlinson, Sansom, Petherick
Morcombe, Pollock

BENCH
Baldaro
Finlay
Kingi (55 - Petherick)
Herbert (65 - Irvine)
Priorie (60 - Pollock)

I don't know if any of you will make it through the match. I came very close to shutting it off. Pretty discouraging.

I think there were 4-5 quality New Zealand scoring chances before Peru even had a shot ... but after the second Peru shot New Zealand was down 2-0. :S Taylor made 1 save - go Taylor! Peru's keeper a half dozen. The voice inside my head tells me this was a game that for most managers could have gone either way. For me it's a blow-out. :)

I really thought the tactic was going to be alright. Seeing what they used I would have preferred a V in midfield instead of a T. Still, I thought the players were in pretty good positions both offensively and defensively.

It seemed the 4 at the back and 2 defensive mids didn't fill any passing lanes (that's supposed to be the strength of this approach). Peru made numerous fabulous through-balls, and their strikers converted magnificently. In retrospect a defensive wall (XX XX) would have been better. But I hate using that against comparable competition. I'm quite surprised to get carved up like that.

The New Zealand midfield played poorly. Sansom was completely out-hustled and out-muscled in the middle. Irvine, despite some good service and a fair amount of room, had great difficulty turning the corner on his defender. Petherick-Kingi was almost invisible. None of them were able to hit passing lanes that were far wider then what Peru was negotiating. Many times they were slow delivering the ball. When a team makes so little effort to defend, you should be able to out-shot them with ease.

Strikers were no heck either. Morcombe broke few tackles. Pollock played well until the knock, but didn't have the sense to come off the field (it had an obvious impact on his play). Priorie brought some spark, but no finish. Sadly, Sansom was our most dangerous threat in the box. Not a good sign.

Moldova next week. *Shudders at the possibilities*

Hello ;). I don't put Vértiz today, Peru is not just Saco Vértiz, Peru is a team. and is also a team without him.

Whatever.. Good Match =D!!!

I claimed the revenge of 4 seasons ago :PPPPPPPPP

hahahahaha =)


Greetings!!!

Good Luck in the Qualifications! :D

Congrats on the win. I felt New Zealand deserved better. But you did field many more first team players, so I suppose it's not surprising.

I don't put Vértiz today, Peru is not just Saco Vértiz, Peru is a team. and is also a team without him.

Of course this is correct. I was describing what happened in qualifying several seasons ago.

This was a friendly. I didn't take the time to post all the assets of your squad.

I claimed the revenge of 4 seasons ago :PPPPPPPPP

hahahahaha =)

Considering Peru (IMO) was lucky to get the draw in that match, I'm not sure what you are claiming revenge for. :) Don't you have to be wronged in order to get revenge?

Best of luck with your qualifying. Tho it looks like you are already blessed. :)

yeah the boys looked a bit lackluster. Kingi hardly moved lol. Whats up with that?
Would be nice to see them gell better meaning the middies getting the thru balls to our strikers.
I guess we will have to wait and see how a full streanght squad goes before writting the boys off.
Im sure Root will have a big impact when he comes back..not just saying that cos hes mine. I honestly think hes an awsome playmaker. I think our defence is pretty solid.
But we seem to miss a few of the old fellas like Bodger, Kelly etc..
It would be nice to see the strikers putting a few more chances into the net :)

Saco Vértiz, Yamashiro,De la Cruz, Malbernat, Liberti and Acazuso are our first team playes :P

Good Luck with Moldova!

^_^

It was a conscious decision not to use older players. There were a couple of 26 year olds in there because of injuries-suspensions. I would have liked to keep it 25 and under so the training bonus is somewhat useful.

Good news is that the roster is in pretty good shape for this weekend. Kelly should be back. No suspensions.

Have challenged Ireland as per arrangement (not accepted yet).

Hoping for a youth match, or B-squad game. New Zealand isn't in a position where it can risk any A-squad players with Portugal again the following week.