Subject: [NT] World Cup Qualifying

4:1
Wang made all 4 goals, great match he played.
Overall not nice to watch, but a very important win!
The midfield misses a lot playmaking, it looks like.

The striker on the non-winger side isn't getting any balls.
He should be moved infront of the goal, but not on the far left side.
The cross won't get there and if it does, you won't score from there.
Get both strikers in front of the net when the ball is on the wing so they can take the header!

Pretty easy win. Well done Laufer. :)

All or nothing from Iceland. Didn't really like the gamble. IMO Iceland doesn't have the depth at defense to pull that off. Wang ran roughshod over the right side. He's pretty good against a press.

I didn't like the way central midfield was done in the Canadian tactic. The two CMs were endlessly criss-crossing each other, doing tons of running and not getting very far. I'm still not fond of the proximity of the two CMs considering weaker competition.

Didn't like the Malhotra selection either, but the O Lav substitution corrected that. :) I thought we might get a Renda siting today with all the knocks in midfield.

Very important win for Canada today, Wang played great. Iceland was going for the offside trap which works 75% of the game, but you will always get caught 3 or 4 times a game and that's what happened here. The two Defensive midfielders, Barrera and Malhotra were totally out of position, I was anticipating 2 strikers to linger around there but it turned out they were pushed more up because of their defensive structure. Fichaud tackled great, but too many panic kick-outs. I was going to go for Renda on the left mid, and have 3 at the back (with 2 DM's in front) but opted not too at the last moment and it turned out like a very good decision in my opinion. Also selection of Madden turned out like a good choice as his form is on the rise and it was visible in this match. Still waiting for Brussard to explode on the international scene, open net and a breakaway misses, he should've scored at least once, but his time is coming......

Congrats to the victory today lads... my tactic didnt work but my tactic name did ;D
See U in the WC... I hope.

Yes, good luck in the rest of the qualification. Your tactic was well thought out again, but it didn't really work because like Seca said, you do not have the depth in your team to pull it off for 90 minutes.

U are right but i wanted to try something special... i could have used similar one that last gaem but how fun is that :D

Well you're now in a bit of a difficult situation as even if you win both your remaining games you may not necessarily qualify if other results go against you. In saying that though, I'm pretty sure you'll make it if you win both games.

"The two Defensive midfielders, Barrera and Malhotra were totally out of position"

Are you playing Barrera as DM? I don't think he fits that position. He is a normal midfielder

? Iceland has two easy wins, and should finish with 21 points. With another match against Tunisia, they may well have one of the better GDs amoungst 21 point finishers.

For them to miss, I figure 3 of these 5 have to be upsets.

Sweden over Netherlands
Belarus over Spain
Peru over Belgium
Australia over Croatia
Colombia over Italy

Upsets are possible, but they aren't that frequent. :) Iceland could still catch Canada in GD given the matches remaining on the fixture list (unlikely).
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yeah, certainly they're in a very strong position, but as you've stated they only really need I suppose 2 upsets, unless they jump NZ on goal difference.

I was just stating they aren't entirely home yet, neither are we despite being 1 pt ahead of the chasing pack but if results fall sour next qualifying round, they might find themselves short.

Wouldn't ride off us beating Croatia yet either, we came pretty close last time around, but I'm certainly not going in with the favourite tag but do feel we need another point against them to qualify. Just have this ugly feeling 21 points will be the mark, rather than 20.

Barrera's technique is too low to push him up field. He is always in top form that's why he has an advantage at that position over some other similar players.

OK, that is good reason, but his defence is not great for MD. I was thinking of him more like a MC. But you have all the stats for all the players

Nice to see us grab the three points :) Wang's header in the 41st minute was sweet! Thought there was a bit of the pitch not utilized to it's fullest by both sides though.

I know you were concerned about two centrally placed strikers Laufer but surely one DM could have handled that threat perhaps? Having the remaining player as more of a LM to fill in that gap.....Just a thought. Not sure of the pace or defending capabilities of Barrera but I know Verville can handle that...he can make a pass or two too :)

I know Gonzo can handle that, and more. That's why he was spared for Finland, didn't want to risk an injury

Don't like the sound of that. :( This was an absolute must win match. If Gonzo was best suited for the position then he should have played. That he might get hurt and miss a less important match 3 weeks from now shouldn't be a consideration.

I was very confident with the players selected :)))
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