Subject: [NT] Japan

you know what i meant! :P

I assure you my wingers are better then Tomilson or any of the wingers you have played. But it's funny because they dont cross as well :'( The crossing by our wingers was beautiful in the game
(edited)

The wingers did a good job of penetrating before attempting the pass. Sometimes they pass too early (thought Deathstrike's wingers did alot of premature passulation in the New Zealand Cup final).

I made a conscious effort to select players with decent passing for this match - as far as I can see, this is the first time New Zealand has achieved a "solid" passing rating.

Return leg this week. :)

With Croatia lurking next week, there will be some line-up adjustments due to card considerations. These regulars will get the week off to protect their availability:

Bodger (no choice), Harris, Kelly, Richards

Dave Chadwick also has 2 cards, but will play - hopefully he can steer clear of trouble.

Haven't finalized the line-up yet - will send notices after Thursday's form update.

Sent the notices to the managers of participating players. :)

With those 4 regulars sitting out, there is an opportunity for some others to really step forward and show what they can do. Watts, in particular, will have real opportunity to shine (or suck) in this one.

Game time. :)

Same basic tactic as the last meeting. One of the wingers has been moved inside to a more central role. This is to promote as few more through balls. Some other small offensive and defensive tweaks.

Couple minor experiments today. Trying B. Gilbert at more of an inside midfield position - he’s not the stereotypic player for the spot, but I think he may perform well there. J. Chadwick as a flank defender is also a bit exploratory.

Watts is going to be a key, as he takes over the central midfield position for the sitting Kelly. D. Chadwick also a key, as he picks up the slack left by Bodger’s absence.

Hird, who is threatening to climb out of his form hole, takes penalties. Atkinson freebies. Kilkenny covers Watts in case of red card. Matthews takes Gilbert at half. Tomlinson takes Atkinson at 55'. Bowen takes Roza at 75'.

Same margin as last time. This represented some good effort by the forwards, as I felt the midfield service, aside from a couple nice passes from Atkinson, was not very good. Passing just wasn't crisp.

Thought J. Chadwick looked good on the flank. Tough to say how Gilbert did - it was a very compact formation. He would shine more in a stretched formation. I doubt I would use Watts like that again (wouldn't have this time except I was trying to spare both Kelly and Richards). His offensive skills aren't that much different then Kelly's, but enough (I guess). He wasn't the "quarterback" I was hoping for in central midfield.

Croatia next week. Hopefully form will smile kindly - I notice Bodger is in a bit of a slide again.

I agree with much of what you have said - I noted a few things down during the match. Intrigued by the 55th minute substitution (actually 58th I believe, but who's counting!) after you commented about not liking to sub before 60 minutes or something to that effect. Probably worked out in the end..

Looking at the percentages, it seems I am right in thinking the game was pretty leftcentric for us. Atkinson was alright, Tomlinson didn't seem to play as if he was in divine form. I agree about Jason Chadwick - he was probably our man of the match. The right wing centralisation didn't appear to work out very well.. I think there were 3 times when Gilbert/Matthews dribbled from the wing and shot (badly).

Watts did have an Ocker Shocker. All in all, even though we dominated possession and play in half, I think we were lucky to even score 8 goals (they were deserved though). Perhaps Bodger's killer instinct was lacking?

Bring on Croatia!
(edited)

Watts is a defender or striker, not a midfielder though :).

Yeah why on earth was Watts playing in Midfield =D?

I think you misunderstood about the subs (more likely I didn't explain it well). I don't like using the last sub at 60 minutes. 30 minutes is a long time to go hoping to avoid a knock. Atkinson has been subbed at 50-55 most every match due to his stamina - that's about as far as I think he can get before he tires.

Re: Watts. I had planned to use Richards in that spot. When he picked up his 2nd yellow last week, plans changed. :)

I liked the job Kelly did in the previous meeting. The difference in offensive skills between Kelly and Watts is just 2 levels of PM. I didn't expect that big a drop off. (My main complaint about Watts was that on several occasions he tried to dribble through the defence, rather then distribute the ball. I thought his DEF order would mitigate this - it didn't).

I strongly considered using Robben there, who has a somewhat different skill set. He likely would have done better (tho not assuredly). In the end, the decision came down to playing the 25 year old, or the 21 year old. I thought using the 21 year old was in the best long-term interest of the team.

a win is a win is a win

Good job young fella, i'll bring a round of drinks for you too!!!!!

Thanks! If you leave now you'll be here ... Tuesday? :D Better put alot of ice in them.

I should add I appreciate the questions and feedback. I'm always happy to explain the thought process - sometimes that's the only way to tell if you're lucid. :P

ah no, i meant we'd drink them fort you :)

might take a trip across the border when i go to the US though :P

solid performance by New Zealand. Good luck against Hrvatska next week.

just watched the match and i think it went pretty good. Probably wouldn't use the defense against better teams but i dont think you would anyway. Watts was indeed quite dismal, but as gibbage said, he is only a defender and not a middie. I'll ignore what he said about the striker part though because thats rubbish.

Form has gone down with Bodger again too, yeah, but it didn't show as red.. oddly my TD went down too though.

Chadwick did indeed play a v nice game, i thought Hird did too esp considering the form he is in. I have to disagree with snowy about Matthews shooting though, he was trying to pass and it came too close to the keeper. I actually think he had a good match with some good passes, some were capitalised on but he wasn't given credit (ie, assist)

I dont think we would've done much better with Bodger too. His form is making his performance dependant on how he feels that day, i wish he'd go back up to divine!