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Subject: [NT] Friendlies
I'd save them first probably, just in case you find why things weren't working and use them again. Good to see Turkiye finally get beaten by their own wall tactic but it wasn't the same efficiency as past games and I went away a little disappointed from that one.
Still our game had 3 of 5 goals come from fumbles, 1 from a keeper being stupid and running out of the box to try to claim a ball he never had a chance to and should have waited for the midfielder to get closer to goal and the 5th goal was a bit of a 50-50 that fell their way (which happens). Still probably didn't deserve the win nor claim to have but 5-0 was seriously harsh and it frustrates me a bit when our defenders fumble and the opposition doesn't.
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Still our game had 3 of 5 goals come from fumbles, 1 from a keeper being stupid and running out of the box to try to claim a ball he never had a chance to and should have waited for the midfielder to get closer to goal and the 5th goal was a bit of a 50-50 that fell their way (which happens). Still probably didn't deserve the win nor claim to have but 5-0 was seriously harsh and it frustrates me a bit when our defenders fumble and the opposition doesn't.
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Nah, I never save tactics. I operate under the assumption that I'm always improving as a tactician, so that if I rebuild a particular formation I'll do a better job the next time. Plus, when things do go well for this long, it's a good time to burn the playbook and start writing a new one. :)
Australia had some nice striker and midfield placement in their game. It should have generated more offense. The whole side played flat, while Belarus' strikers were inspired. I really liked the 3rd goal - not enough of those kind of goals scored in Sokker IMO. (For those who didn't watch the match, the Australia keeper wandered a good 20 yards out of his goal and got burned).
Australia had some nice striker and midfield placement in their game. It should have generated more offense. The whole side played flat, while Belarus' strikers were inspired. I really liked the 3rd goal - not enough of those kind of goals scored in Sokker IMO. (For those who didn't watch the match, the Australia keeper wandered a good 20 yards out of his goal and got burned).
Header was a little awkward though to set up that opportunity. Somehow turned a flatish pass into a very high lobbed header :p.
Btw - the Norway game is scrapped. They wanted to play U21. I'm just not interested in U21 against a nation with 10X New Zealand's manager base.
Booked with Turkey for this weekend. They wanted U23, but I was a bit of a grouch and refused (sounded like a double digit loss to me ... they're approaching 100X New Zealand's user base). So main squads. Will be a good challenge. Turkey has a strong side and a strong manager.
Due to the hardware upgrades, the match against Turkey was delayed ... should start in ~ 10 minutes.
just means my scheduled plans for watching live matches goes out the window. Have to watch replays of other matches now, although being ready to paste the lineup 5 hours ago only to suddenly see a change in kickoff time 1-2min before the start wasn't the easiest to swallow ;).
Good luck against Turkiye, you're due a win.
Wonder if they'll try the offside trap again or not, could be interesting.
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Good luck against Turkiye, you're due a win.
Wonder if they'll try the offside trap again or not, could be interesting.
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We had a power outage here as I was waiting for the match to start, so apologies for the delay (my pre-match blurb went with the power outage).
As promised, rebuilt from scratch this week. Was pretty happy with the result. The mini-wall in the middle worked well against their tandem strikers (the positioning of the central midfielder was also good to prevent through balls). The tactic was pretty compact out of fears Turkey would use their extreme press. Hurt the offense a little. Still, I was expecting more from B Gilbert who produced nothing (and couldn't break tackles from the DM even when his back was to him :S). Without the injuries, a better result may have been achievable.
Was very pleased with Perry who was solid in midfield - made some nice tackles and essentially no errors with the ball. Campfens also looked good. Irvine did alright for Irvine, disappearing entirely after his knock. Sansom looked like he had no technique at all, fumbling passes and failing to break any tackles. Kilkenny and Edwards were good, Findlay also (mostly untested). Watts' weakness (PM) was painfully obvious this match. M Gilbert was a complete knucklehead with the ball (as usual), and Petherick was surprisingly poor with the ball considering his skill set. Pollock was a nuisance in the middle of the field (wished he'd unleashed a few more shots when he had the chance). Taylor did a good job sweeping up his box - didn't see much action.
Injuries are piling up. Root back, but Edwards and Morcombe are out for a while, joining Williams who has a long break. :S
For me this match is really indicative of the current ME - at least at the NT level. There seems to be a fairly standard approach now - 5 at the back, aggressive defensive line, couple central mids to jam passing lanes, scatter the remaining players (usually only 1 or 2) on offense. When both sides play this it produces "realistic" results - low scoring games with very limited scoring chances. Goals that are scored are primarily from throw-ins, set pieces.
As promised, rebuilt from scratch this week. Was pretty happy with the result. The mini-wall in the middle worked well against their tandem strikers (the positioning of the central midfielder was also good to prevent through balls). The tactic was pretty compact out of fears Turkey would use their extreme press. Hurt the offense a little. Still, I was expecting more from B Gilbert who produced nothing (and couldn't break tackles from the DM even when his back was to him :S). Without the injuries, a better result may have been achievable.
Was very pleased with Perry who was solid in midfield - made some nice tackles and essentially no errors with the ball. Campfens also looked good. Irvine did alright for Irvine, disappearing entirely after his knock. Sansom looked like he had no technique at all, fumbling passes and failing to break any tackles. Kilkenny and Edwards were good, Findlay also (mostly untested). Watts' weakness (PM) was painfully obvious this match. M Gilbert was a complete knucklehead with the ball (as usual), and Petherick was surprisingly poor with the ball considering his skill set. Pollock was a nuisance in the middle of the field (wished he'd unleashed a few more shots when he had the chance). Taylor did a good job sweeping up his box - didn't see much action.
Injuries are piling up. Root back, but Edwards and Morcombe are out for a while, joining Williams who has a long break. :S
For me this match is really indicative of the current ME - at least at the NT level. There seems to be a fairly standard approach now - 5 at the back, aggressive defensive line, couple central mids to jam passing lanes, scatter the remaining players (usually only 1 or 2) on offense. When both sides play this it produces "realistic" results - low scoring games with very limited scoring chances. Goals that are scored are primarily from throw-ins, set pieces.
All set for Uruguay. I've been wanting this match since Uruguay torpedoed Australia in qualifying last season. Should be interesting. They have a decent squad, and a really interesting asset in Oliva.
NZ roster is hurting this week with 4 of the "best 11" on the sidelines injured (Morcombe, Kilkenny, Edwards, Williams). So there will be an obvious opportunity for some other players.
Will be nice to have Root back this week. He's been sorely missed. Offense has clearly sputtered without him.
NZ roster is hurting this week with 4 of the "best 11" on the sidelines injured (Morcombe, Kilkenny, Edwards, Williams). So there will be an obvious opportunity for some other players.
Will be nice to have Root back this week. He's been sorely missed. Offense has clearly sputtered without him.
Good luck. You "should" have a very strong chance to beat them. We beat them 3-1 first time around, the 2nd time we got narrowly beaten when I had very little preparation for the game. Should be a close game though.
They played a lot of B-squad guys (we had a number of back-ups in too), so it wasn't a great test of the two sides.
The team played well. Tackling was good, passing was good. Sansom did well picking out Gilbert. Root had a little more trouble rounding his defender, but also made some nice crosses. The central midfielders were sharp. I've been impressed with Perry, and Richards made some nice decisions a clever little passes. Hopefully his form continues to improve.
Normally I would use an order to provide red-card cover the lone striker in an X-X-1 formation. In this match I had more subs and switches planned then usual, and since it was a friendly I put priority on that over red card coverage. The weak side flank middie did cut to the net, so there were still targets even without Gilbert (who was sensational before the card - a real headache for the Uruguay defense).
The team played well. Tackling was good, passing was good. Sansom did well picking out Gilbert. Root had a little more trouble rounding his defender, but also made some nice crosses. The central midfielders were sharp. I've been impressed with Perry, and Richards made some nice decisions a clever little passes. Hopefully his form continues to improve.
Normally I would use an order to provide red-card cover the lone striker in an X-X-1 formation. In this match I had more subs and switches planned then usual, and since it was a friendly I put priority on that over red card coverage. The weak side flank middie did cut to the net, so there were still targets even without Gilbert (who was sensational before the card - a real headache for the Uruguay defense).
Booked with South Africa this week. No restrictions. With B Gilbert, Morcombe, Edwards, Kilkenny & Findlay all certain to be out, there will be a number of non-regulars involved.
Hit snooze one too many times this morning. :P
Our tactic didn't have many changes from last week. 3 central defenders closed into a wall for their expected tandem striker tactic. Striker positioning was tweaked some.
Had hoped Watts would be marking their winger, but South Africa's manager switched sides - Campfens did a fine job. Defense as a group was good, though Kelly and Watts (the two senior guys) looked a little shaky at times.
Midfield was good again - notably Perry and Sansom. Pollock had a tremendous day (4 for 6 shooting). I'd had Priorie as the sub striker most of the week, but switched to Bodger out of fears we might be behind at that stage. Bodger picks up his 100th cap, and scores a goal to boot.
All in all, a nice and fortunate result. South Africa deserved a closer score. Any time goals like Perry's are going in for ya, you know you are having a good day.
Our tactic didn't have many changes from last week. 3 central defenders closed into a wall for their expected tandem striker tactic. Striker positioning was tweaked some.
Had hoped Watts would be marking their winger, but South Africa's manager switched sides - Campfens did a fine job. Defense as a group was good, though Kelly and Watts (the two senior guys) looked a little shaky at times.
Midfield was good again - notably Perry and Sansom. Pollock had a tremendous day (4 for 6 shooting). I'd had Priorie as the sub striker most of the week, but switched to Bodger out of fears we might be behind at that stage. Bodger picks up his 100th cap, and scores a goal to boot.
All in all, a nice and fortunate result. South Africa deserved a closer score. Any time goals like Perry's are going in for ya, you know you are having a good day.
that makes it 2 in a row doesn't it ;). Again a nice performance results in a solid win. I guess week 0 might be another tight game again as it appears you've got your tactics working for you again :).
Should help boost you up in ranking points as well.
Should help boost you up in ranking points as well.
It should, but I fear too much damage has been done to the ranking. Assuming 14 groups again next WC, 28th position is the cut off for second seeds (coincidentally, the position currently occupied by Australia :D).
New Zealand would have to make up ~150 points in the next month, which is not a reasonable expectation. We'll do our best, but it unless the format is expanded it looks like a #3 seed for New Zealand in the next qualifying tournament.
New Zealand would have to make up ~150 points in the next month, which is not a reasonable expectation. We'll do our best, but it unless the format is expanded it looks like a #3 seed for New Zealand in the next qualifying tournament.
It should, but I fear too much damage has been done to the ranking. Assuming 14 groups again next WC, 28th position is the cut off for second seeds (coincidentally, the position currently occupied by Australia :D).
What a convenience then Canada got a rough draw for the U21 WC :p.
I actually think it's going to be 15 groups next season if the NT's I expect to be introduced are in fact created. (Cuba, Iran, possibly Luxembourg). Thus making 30th the cutoff for 2nd seed, and having top 2 progress to the WC, then the best 2 of 15 3rd placed teams (talk about being cut throat).
New Zealand would have to make up ~150 points in the next month, which is not a reasonable expectation. We'll do our best, but it unless the format is expanded it looks like a #3 seed for New Zealand in the next qualifying tournament.
Yeah it's going to be hard, although you'll get 40 points or so for knocking over South Africa this week. I think 30th is gettable for you though and might sneak in a 2nd seed if the new NT's are created.
What a convenience then Canada got a rough draw for the U21 WC :p.
I actually think it's going to be 15 groups next season if the NT's I expect to be introduced are in fact created. (Cuba, Iran, possibly Luxembourg). Thus making 30th the cutoff for 2nd seed, and having top 2 progress to the WC, then the best 2 of 15 3rd placed teams (talk about being cut throat).
New Zealand would have to make up ~150 points in the next month, which is not a reasonable expectation. We'll do our best, but it unless the format is expanded it looks like a #3 seed for New Zealand in the next qualifying tournament.
Yeah it's going to be hard, although you'll get 40 points or so for knocking over South Africa this week. I think 30th is gettable for you though and might sneak in a 2nd seed if the new NT's are created.