Subject: [NT] Croatia

Agreed - the throw-ins were very poor. I knew they would be. It is a deficiency of this kind of 4-3-3. Just don't have enough flexibility to do nice throw-ins without bringing a forward back (which defeats the purpose of the 4-3-3). :) I was counting on Richards winning a few balls from his opponent - he wasn't up to the challenge today.

Hmm Like I told you I did not expect you to win this game. Croatia are a really good team.

i dunno about that, Croatia has a strong team but the way they played today, i think we could've beaten them had circumstances gone our way (being their tactics more predictable etc :P)

Well done Seca you are doing really well! Dont let this silly lost get u worried. We still love you ;) No pressure eh?

agreed, doing incredibly well. I have been very impressed with your use of tactics and huge communication! I think a match-up between you and bball with full teams at some point is a must :P

I second that or third it. We still love our coach :)

I think it was one of those games were the tactics could have been better, but our defence wasnt on the job like it normally is.
The throw ins didnt go our way and the offsides hindered our attack.

That would be a good game to watch bball and Seca :D

Get a chance for a little redemption this weekend. :) Have a tactic & line-up in place, though I expect they will be tweaked repeatedly before Saturday.

I have a good idea of what I want to do the next two weeks. Will happily discuss with any loyal and interested New Zealand manager. May take some persuading to change my course tho. :)

Injuries becoming an issue. Progressed to "Stage 2" on my injury scale (affecting on-field product, but not yet limiting tactical options).

Line-up won't be finalized until after Thursday's form update. Will send notices to managers of participating players then.

i think you should use DEFCON instead of stage for injury evaluation :P

Heehee. I'd have to reverse my numbers (think DEFCON1 represents the greatest threat). :) Has a nice ring to it tho.

Still one personnel decision to be made, but the rest of the managers of participating players have been notified.

The injuries to Bodger & Richards make a tough challenge that much tougher. :S But I'm optimistic the team will perform well.

Underway. :)

Last time I went for the win and played a risky 4-3-3 counter strategy that did not work out. Going more conservative this time. The tactic is based one I used with Canada against Italy in the last round of qualifying (resulted in a draw), and is similar to what Bball used against Croatia in the World Cup last season.

Job 1 is to alleviate some pressure from the central defense by marking the flanks better. Job 2 is to reduce offsides - one of the two forwards is still positioned very aggressively, but the other is safer. Also, the two offensive middies should help “filter” the ball (last time most passes by-passed the midfield - made forward positioning much more important).

There are a few player selections that may be a little questionable. Injuries and form are really challenging the team depth.

Pritchett takes Atkinson ~60. Robben may come at 60 depending on the game situation. Hird takes penalties, Atkinson freebies.

Have caught a little break with Ku e out injured, tho with their depth I doubt he will be missed too much. Even if the tactic works perfectly (no guarantees :P) New Zealand is going to need a few lucky bounces to get a result.

My apologies everyone. :) In the "Rock-paper-scissors" element of tactics I blew it badly against Croatia ... again.

For the first time in like a season Croatia abandoned the flanks, which made the spread defense a waste. (I'm not sure why we warrant such special treatment - Croatia has used the same formation every Q-match ... except the two New Zealand games. :D).

Without a strong presence in the middle of the field (Watts played really well, but was out-numbered) the team was outshot badly. The freekick goal and the final goal (very difficult angle) were tough ones to concede, but the result was certainly fair.

Thought Gilbert played well in midfield. When I shifted him to forward, the offence seemed to dry up. Liked Kelly's game today too, as well as the aforementioned Watts.

The worst of it all is that both Kilkenny and Kelly will miss Canada next week. I was nervous about cards and having the two other big teams back-to-back, and it really couldn't have worked out much worse. :(

Decent game. We lost by 3 goals, and had far less shots on goal, but until those 2 late goals we were still in with a chance at getting a draw. Kelly and Watts were both pretty solid, and Taylor had a few good saves early on. Obviously their forwards are a bit better - I was impressed with Oleg Malec.

I'd agree Taylor played well. :)

Malec was indeed too much for Kilkenny on this day - out-muscled him for the second goal, and of course the sending off...

Not a great day for Harris - two Croatia goals after he mis-handled balls. He'll need to be better next week with Kelly & Kilkenny out. :)

i really dont think much else could've been done, that Malec is pretty darn fine! Unlucky about the cards and suspension and i dont think many, if any, other managers out there would've done much different with the same scenario, great damage control i reckons

Hird played nice when he got the ball i reckon, Gilbert was good, as was said, and i dont think anyone had a bad game really (ex Chadwick free kick :P)

Ah well, next week win against Canada ;)

This was the tactic I had intended to play in the first meeting. If the 4-3-3 hadn't been so successful against Canada, I would have stuck with the plan.

If it had been used in that game, then Croatia's wings wouldn't have been quite so effective in the first match (I tried to be quiet about their effectiveness to avoid "tipping the hand"). Then, even if New Zealand had lost, I feel we would have had the "high ground" tactically (Croatia adjusting to us rather then us adjusting to them). As you said, New Zealand was compelled to take the flanks away in this one.

I'm still a little surprised Croatia completely abandoned the flanks. It takes them away from one of the strengths of their team. And I rarely use 5 at the back - not at all with New Zealand, only once in my last season with Canada, 3 times with my club over the past 2 seasons. If I'd had the nerve to throw that 4-3-3 out there again, it might have caused them some real trouble (that tactic is very strong in the middle, and would have given 1:1 marking by their defenders on NZ strikers).

The Chadwick FK was pretty miserable. :P I was optimistic when I saw him take it - he was one of the team's best passers on the field at that point. When trying to score an upset, a team has to make the most of its chances (the Gilbert led 3 on 0 and the Atkinson led 3 on 0 come to mind - neither of which resulted in a shot).

Glad you're optimistic about the Canada match. :) I've been optimistic about each game so far (even the Croatia games). But with 4 starters out already (and league matches still to run) I'm not presently feeling very good about New Zealand's chances against Canada. :(