Subject: [NT] Laufer

Well i thought I might give this a shot as well. I'm Laufer and I want to be Canadian national team coach. I'm a pretty new manager( 6 seasons in Sokker) but I already have some nice results under my belt, I won the League II.03 3 seasons ago with less than a mediocre team, and lost in the following Q match by 1:0 from Third Lanark, also won silver and bronze last 2 seasons in the respectable League II.03. I'm very passionate about this game ( spend about 4 hrs on an average daily here :), and the Canadian team. I will try to utilize my tactics, and the experiance I have, to the best of my ability to help Canada soar to new heights. Seca has done a marvelous job so far, and if you think I have a shot at filling his shoes vote for me. If I do win, I will work with everyone, and always be open to suggestions via the forum or sk mail. GO CANADA!!!

Your team has done well. And I think that you would make a great team Canada coach. Do you have ideas of how we can strengthen our national team? And can you tell me what language you speak in your guestbook? There seems to be a few Canadian teams speaking that same language.

I think that we have to approach the top teams in sokker with a little more defensive strategy than in the past. An old saying "Good offence is the best defence" doesn't apply that much in sokker as it does in real life I found. I'm not saying we should play bunker for 90 minutes, but merely having our mids in a slightly more defensive roles, which could mean an introduction of a new player here and there, that fits that role better than some of our standard players. I also think that form is very important, if a great player is in a really crappy form, we should give a chance to somebody else....

Oh and the second part of your question.....As you might or might not have noticed, there is quite a few of us here on Sokker Canada that immigrated to Canada from the ex Yugoslavia, so the language is Croatian-Serbian-Bosnian, whatever you wanna call it....

Thanks, I had been curious about that for a while. There is some very nice soccer being played in that part of the world. I wish that the Montreal Impact would bring over a big Croatian stiker to score some goals. (They havent scored in 4 games running now.)
And I think that Canada does have a few nice defensive midfielders - they have played in some of our tougher games. I agree that a deep rigid defense with just a few attackers, placed strategically is a great sokker counterattack formation for winning games.

I'm posting this question in the threads of the two front runners (at least, who I perceive as the two front runners). Any other candidates who wish to answer this question ... go right ahead! :)

Canada had a bit of a disappointing loss Saturday against Turkey. I realize you don't know specifics about Team Canada's roster, but could you make some general comments about what Canada might have done differently (tactically or with personnel) to get a better result from this match?

I thought the tactic was awesome you put up against Turkey Seca, the only thing that bothered me was the positioning of our players (Caron and Iginla) on free throws. I think that if they were closer to the thrower that would have resulted in more crosses and ultimately more goals. I still believe that if Caron wasn't sent off, Canada would've won this match. Defence was set up perfectly, ot trap worked like a charm, and Turkey would not score those goals if that side didn't open up. Like raskal said, it would've been a good idea to exploit the other side of the field as well, as Turkey almost seemed to mirror your tactic, and that winger would have a lot of room on the unprotected flank.....

Also a very good response. :)

I wasn't that unhappy with the throw-ins (two of our three goals were off throw-ins I think), but I think I know to what you are referring. And they can always be better. :) Throw-in tactics are absolutely key in NT matches - a disproportionate number of goals are scored this way.

Although Raskal also mentioned it, filling the vacant left midfield is a good observation and a very valid suggestion. I won't repeat the reasoning here.

First off, congratulations for running a classy campaign.

Secondly, congratulations on the election victory. You have some nice achievements with your club team. There is a big leap from second division Canada to the NT level, but I'm sure you're up to it, and look forward to your term.

Best of luck!

Congrats Laufer :) If you need any input please don't hesitate to ask.

Congrats Laufer !!

Congratulations. I am reading this thread before checking the election results, but it looks like you won and that you will be the nt manager. Do your damnest.

Congrats Laufer and good luck!

Congrats

When this campaign started, some "foreigner" asked why it wasn't time for us to consider an import NT manager.

Well, the reason is, we don't have to. We may not have a lot of teams, but we have some formidable-plus "non-import" coaches (thank you CFL for that atrocious word). I'm sure there are countries five times our size who don't have a single manager anywhere near Seca's calibre, let alone three or four like we have.

Go take your break, Seca, you've earned it and then some. Laufer (congrats!) will do a fine job, as would have raskal. I would have voted for both of you if I could have. I think we're going to keep hitting above our weight for some time to come.

Sorry, for the late reply, things are crazy at work.....thanx to all that voted for me....Team Laufer has assumed office..... (assistant coach Raskal). This is a new experiance for me so all the help would be appreciated from the managers in regards to the players' skills. Please send them to me so I can have a better overview of what's out there... I will not change the team much nor do I see a reason to deviate from the roster that Seca and Slavko have put together. So it's basically the tactics that me and Raskal will be working on (while drinking beer).....Again thank you for your support and trust, and LET"S DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!