Subject: [NT] Friendlies

:) Perhaps got a little more attention due to the election.

Good try. A shame the final whistle wasn't blown at half. :P

Great gamble playing a wing defender on just the one side. Unfortunately it only seemed a matter of time before Belgium's quality shone through. Game seemed to turn with the Deroo substitution.

Wyn had a nice match even though he didn't score. Seems to me he's been breaking a lot more tackles recently, and against a couple of pretty good defenders. It's awesome when a player with that kind of finishing can create his own chances.

The day one of my player's NT wins a match against Belgium will be marked on the calender!

Not much of a chance. Their tactic was good and the players have quality.
It still was a good performance.
Only 2 shots from our strikers is not enough.
Wyn had his moments but afterall his technique is still too low, but I will keep working on it this season.
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Interesting match tomorrow for our boys as they face Seca's New Zealand. Should be a great game....

Thanks for the match. I'd hoped to limit Canada to long shots, but there were some nice through balls in the second half. Canada's strikers were much better finishing these then their New Zealand counter-parts.

I'm not sure if you don't know how to cover red cards, or just didn't bother in a friendly. If you don't know how, ask someone before the WC. You can get away with 2 defenders when you play against me, but against anyone else you're likely to get smeared. :)
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Madden was the man of the match.
That the red card was not covered made us almost lose the game.
I'm happy with the performance of W. Lav.
He had one nice to watch solo where he dribbled two defenders.
Too bad that the shot was saved.

Strikers had to do mostly distance shots so I'm quite happy with Wyns 2 out of 9 efficiency.
The tactics are still very vulnerable against teams playing wingers....

Madden was fantastic. Think there is also an argument to be made for Bradshaw, who made a number of breath-taking desperation tackles against full flight wingers and strikers.

Good match by our boys. Lavrynenko used his superior striking skills well from the range I thought. Amado with a goal and a beautiful through ball to set up Lav for the game winner. It shows when his form is better he is more then still useful. As far as covering for the red cards....I think I know how to do this although I never tried. The defender that's on the bench get's order to replace a player if he has a red card, put in first minute for the time of the substitution so that it happens as soon as the player is sent off. And put in the same player for 3 defender positions using the criteria above( since you are only allowed 3 subs). Does that make sense? My question now is who the hell goes off, since you are suppose to be a man down...a striker??

I really felt bad and sorry for Mr. Loop when he said that none of his players ever won a match against Belgie so I decided to do sth about it. I booked another friendly with Belgie this saturday but using my terms this time. Belgie will play with U21 players and we are allowed to play with players over 21 to make the match more fair and interesting. The game will take place in Toronto, and Belgium players said they are looking forward to visiting the Niagara Falls :))

I'm still shaking my head about this one. :P The 3 Canadian goals were well earned. How New Zealand only scored two baffles me.

I think I know how to do this although I never tried

It's amazing you got through a whole season with an NT without this coming up. Probably comes into play for me every other match. :) (Not a complete exaggeration - my 2nd season with New Zealand I had 9 players sent off in 16 matches).

The defender that's on the bench get's order to replace a player if he has a red card, put in first minute for the time of the substitution so that it happens as soon as the player is sent off.

The replacement player has to be on the field at the time of the card. So it's nice to have a DM in the line-up who isn't out of place as a back-line player.

I really felt bad and sorry for Mr. Loop when he said that none of his players ever won a match against Belgie so I decided to do sth about it

That sounds nice mate!
There are still 2 conditions to fulfil.
1. Wyn has to play for at least 1 minute
2. Canada has to win

Don't disappoint me!
;)

Well done nice win

Congratulations on the victory against Belgium. :)

It was very generous of them to play their U21s against our senior squad. We had a significant personnel advantage which we parlayed nicely into a win.

I still think you are making unrealistic demands of the defenders, particularly the wide guys. When they recover the ball they have a choice between kicking it out of play or launching a 60+ yard pass up-field. Against any reasonably skilled opponent this will likely result in very little possession and a lot of play in our end. I'd feel much more comfortable if you could position one of the midfielders as a more obvious outlet for these guys. Another option is playing the wide back-line guys with a MID order to make them think a little more about what they are going to do with the ball (tho they need pretty good tech if you are going to try this).

I also thought it was a little reckless using players like Bradshaw and Lavrynenko in this match (I assume they are part of the WC plan), but your luck has been pretty good lately ... guess there is little reason for concern. :)

Thanks for the win against Belgie! Finally :)

I was a little scared that Wyn doesn't get injured in such a friendly game right before the WC, but I promised you he would play, and it turned out perfect ;)

Please don't use the words injury and Wyn in a sentence without touching wood ;)

His form went down a lot the last 2 weeks but it's now brilliant again so everything fine.
Good luck btw.!

Friendly with Hungary starts soon.....A squads. Hungary is a very good and a dangerous team so our top players are expected to suit up for this one :)