Subject: [NT] Greece

Good luck today! I'll be supporting Canada :)

Thanks. :) Surely random can't deal us 3 blows in the same qualifying round. Tho I am sufficiently nervous about what should be an easy match. :S

Underway against Greece.

Tactic looks a lot like last week - 352. I’ve long believed that a 352 was just as offensive as an X-X-3 formation. Some meaningful tweaks to midfield and striker positioning, but not anything one would notice without close attention.

They play a 442 against everyone else, but as usual, we got special attention last time when they played 5 at the back and an aggressive line. If they move the line up again there will be some offsides, tho I hope the 5 mids will help mitigate that.

The form woes in midfield compel me to use Ortega Santiago. I’m quite happy to do so. He will add a dimension to the offense that has been absent in recent matches. Notable that Renda, who’s been out due to form for seasons, is on the bench and should see some playing time. His very good form (sadly) is pretty respectable compared to his contemporaries.

I’m a little worried about ball recovery from the defensive midfield. We’re sacrificing grit for skill at that position. Hopefully it won’t be too big an issue. The pass from RDM to RW is not an easy one - hopefully Barrera can hit it with some consistency.

Our weakness defensively is in the flanks. If they play a winger, he will have some space. I don’t believe they can cross consistently, so I’m somewhat comfort doing this. Could mean less possession in their end, which might be good. I almost wonder if we’d be better off doing a little more counter attacking, rather then sitting in their end trying to break them down.

Kick-outs were an issue with this tactic last week. Can’t see it being any better this week as the wide defenders are not as offensively gifted. Hopefully our greybeards (Abbas Musa and Wagenaar) make better decisions then the kids did.

Clemens in net over Madden. Given the striker skill of the opponent I think Clemen’s better mobility is more of an asset then Madden’s superior shot stopping. Biron on the bench instead of Lavrynenko. Think his better technique is a bigger asset then W Lav’s better striking against this opponent (plus W Lav has 2 yellows).

A win is absolutely necessary. A duplication of our +5 would be wonderful, as it would vault us past Sweden (with respect to GD).

LINE-UP
Clemens
Wagenaar, Fichaud, Abbas Musa
Barrera, Omar
O’Hara, Iginla, Ortega Santiago (Iginla & OS shift at 55)
Wang, Amado

BENCH
Madden
Bradshaw
Renda (70 for OS)
Verville
Biron

Wang converts te penalty kick

And he scores a second time from the penalty spot

Great free kick by O'Hara

and wang hits the crossbar..again from a penatly.;
(edited)

Think that was Iginla's freekick you are referring to. 2 of 3 on penalties was great - way above our usual conversion rate.

IMO Greece was better in this match then either BiH or Austria were in their wins against Canada. Frustrating.

Haven't done the stats yet, but I was disappointed with the midfield. Particularly O'Hara, who had a score of chances down the right flank, and simply could not pick out a striker with his pass. OS was also a disappointment - but because he wasn't able to wriggle free enough to get passes away. As we've seen a fair bit this season, strikers were open, but the service wasn't quite good enough.

Once again, Amado was somewhat starved for service. Wang was positioned a little further upfield and seemed to be the favoured target - even though he was often offside while Amado was onside. :S

No surprise (given our fortune this season) that one of our steadiest defenders would get injured and miss Lithuania.

That last goal could be a big one. Means we are tied with Sweden in GD (but they are ahead due to goals scored).

I think Wagenaar played a great game. Saw some very nice tackles from his side and some great technique as well. His passes down the line towards O'Hara were splendid.
(edited)

Interesting. The negatives tend to stick with me more then the positives (partly why I've found doing the stats very informative this season). My impression was that he defended fairly well, but panicked too much when he had the ball resulting in a number of unnecessary kick-outs. This was an issue, because tactically my coverage of that one throw-in was very poor.

So I'll be curious to see what the stats say. :)

Congratulations to the win! You had the refere on your side :)

Good luck next week, perhaps we can travel to the World-Cup all 2 Nations, would be great!

Yep, the referee was kind. Perhaps making up for some missed calls earlier in qualifying (I'd say there was more ragged 18 yard box play in both the Austria and BiH losses). Good thing too - since our passing was not as sharp & crisp as in the previous meeting.

Both Canada and Austria have their fate in their hands, and as you point out, team success doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. Still, I can't honestly wish you luck until we've got our point. :D

Greece II Stats

Lots to discuss there. :)

Tackling numbers weren't great. I was concerned about ball recover by the defensive midfield, and rightly so - they struggled in this regard. Both Fichaud and Abbas Musa were rock solid. Wagenaar missed some tackles, tho none of them hurt. 2 of Bradshaw's 3 missed tackles resulted in a quality opposition scoring chance (and the Greek goal).

Passing numbers were poor. Very disappointing given a 352 (lots of short options) and a line-up chosen specifically for creativity. Fichaud and Abbas Musa had a horrible time picking out a red shirt. Of the 5 midfielders, only Barrera had a respectable game passing (and Renda in his brief contribution). O'Hara and Omar were particular disappointments.

And passing completion wasn't the worst of it. The successful passes lacked creativity. Given a striker in a gap and even with the defensive line, midfielders (particular O'Hara) almost always chose to make a short pass rather then something the striker could run onto. This meant the strikers had to constantly backtrack to pick up the ball, and then with no speed, attempt to dribble through the defender. (Note: this isn't a new problem - happened a lot in the second BiH match).

Iginla looked better on the left then Ortega Santiago, though neither provided much. Iginla wasn't effective in the #9 spot which was due in large part to the tactic. I thought Iginla would be able to over-power Saras (Greek DM) both offensively and defensively, so in places I lined him up head-on. Didn't turn out that way. Would have been more effective to always off-set him a little one way or the other.