Subject: [NT] Lithuania

Qualifications get underway this week with the toughest group opponent - Lithuania.

Sokker Lithuania
Lithuania is one of the older Sokker nations, entering existence the same season as Canada. With ~160 users Lithuania qualifies as a "small" Sokker nation. They would seem the model for other small nations, maintaining a high ranking (currently #5) and very strong roster. I can't recall a time when Lithuanina wasn't in the top 10 - they've rarely been out of the top 5.

Lithuania NT
How have they maintained such a strong team with a small user base? Some pretty dynamic strikers for a start. (Lithuania's previous manager used to say they had a couple of good strikers and not much else. I think a more accurate description would be some phenomenal strikers, and pretty darn good everything else). Emilijus Kuèinskas is one of the best non-Polish strikers in the game. And he wasn't an every-game starter during the World Cup last season. :S

Lithuania elected a new manager this past election. Sillu is a very good manager - he has experience leading Estonia's National team, and his club is amoung the best in Estonia's top domestic league. He is also a well respected member of the Sokker community.

Head to Head
A comparison of the rosters shows Lithuania with an edge at every position. If Parker was in better form, Canada would have the stronger keeper. Though Lithuania's players are stronger, Canada's are comparable - a result by Canada would be an upset, but not a monumental one.

Previous Meetings
Canada has only played Lithuania once before - in a friendly 5 seasons back. I was the manager then. It .... wasn't pretty (6-1 drubbing, shots were 26-3). The match was a friendly leading up to the World Cup - I had several back-ups playing (the likes of Curt Zobahan, Domingo Piel, Ibrahim Robinson, and a very young Francois McGhee). They played their A-side. :D

I was truly amazed by the technical abilities of the Lithuania strikers in that match - they plowed their way through the Canadian defense time after time. (This was just my second match as an NT coach ... had me wondering what I'd gotten myself into).

I had another shot at Lithuania last season with New Zealand in the World Cup. It unfortunately occurred during a week where there was a severe defender shortage on the New Zealand roster. I attempted to play a possession game (the thinking being deny those great Lithuania strikers the ball by holding it yourself). It didn't turn out so good - another 6-1 result. Tho in this case the game was (IMO) much closer then the score indicated.

This Match
If Canada has any chance to win the group, it will need at least a draw out of this match. I don't expect Canada will be able to match Lithuania's goal differential as qualifying progresses - so if it's going to finish ahead, it will likely have to do so on points.

First match of qualifying is always tough, especially when up against a new NT manager (as it's a mystery how the new guy will deploy his troops). The previous Lithuania manager played a defensive counter-attack against everybody. I expect that stance will change, but other then that ... it's hard to say.

I have a tentative tactic in place, tho I'm not convinced it is the correct approach. :) Any loyal Canadian managers who would be willing to provide some feedback on the match plan should drop me an SK mail.

Managers of participating players will be notified after Thursday's update.

drop me a line Seca about what you plan to do & I'll see if I can shed some light....

I am sure you will do the best you can, like you always do, but like raskal said drop me the line-up and I will see if I can convince you otherwise hehee.

It'll likely be another day before I contact managers of participating players ... still some important updates filtering in. :)

Tactic is ready. Well, 4 of them actually. :) Though I've mostly made up my mind as to which one will be used.

Good luck, we gonna need it for sure, let's get some luck on our side.

I just watched the other game in our group Bosna i Hercegovina - Österreich 2:2. Bosna was a way better team today but the tactical approach by the Bosnian manager wasn't the good one. They won territory and possesion but there was nobody in the middle to feed the lonely striker.

Underway against Lithuania. Thanks to Raskal, Lorne, Slavko for their input.

First match is difficult, as it’s tough to know how a new coach will handle things.

I watched half of Sillu’s league matches from last season. Not sure how much good it did. (Think I picked up a few tendencies that may show up with the NT). He’s a striker trainer, and in the recent past hasn’t strayed from an X-X-3 formation. Tho Lithuania has nice strikers, I don’t really expect that approach. A 4-4-2 with a couple semi-offensively positioned wide mids is my best guess.

I really wanted to play a 4-5-1 geared towards possession (big possession is a nice way to nullify strong opposing strikers IMO). But when Amado couldn’t hit a barn with his shot Sunday I had concerns. Then Iginla’s form dropped Thursday and the doubts got stronger.

So going with a 4-4-2. Won’t have as much possession, but hopefully will do more with it. Caron provides some width if Lithuania closes down the middle. Amado is out wide a few times - not really expecting him to score from out there, but he may eat some minutes, and maybe get some throws-corners-cards. The central striker (Wang-W. Lavrynenko) is supposed to be a “sniper”. He hides in the defense until possession is established in the offensive zone, and then drops back - hopefully for an open, if slightly longer shot. Amado crashes the net.

Defense is playing reasonably aggressive - hoping to push play up the field (and maybe get some offsides). Downside - more breakaways and more cards. Two defensive midfielders occupy the passing lanes to reduce through balls - if we can win 50-50 balls, and Fichaud can outrun their strikers to lobbed balls, I’m optimistic the defense will hold up well.

IMO the 4-5-1 is more likely to score a “tactical” victory, but has a greater chance of failure. The 4-4-2 should keep it close, and if we get some micro-luck (50-50 balls, loose ball timing, ...) or macro-luck (red card, knock-out shooting performance, ...) a result may ... err ... result.

Line-Up
Parker
Villaneuva, Fichaud, Wagenaar, Abbas Musa
Bradshaw, Dehere, O. Lavrynenko, Caron (O’Hara 70)
Amado, Wang (W. Lavrynenko 60)

Bench
Clemens
Mayard
Malhotra

Wang takes penalties. Freekicks are open (both Ruben and Olaf are excellent freekick takers - sniper might actually take some if close to the box).

Heehee. Welcome to my nightmare everyone! Typical Seca-managed NT match - 2 red cards against, and one of those asinine pass-goals.

Got pretty much the tactic I expected from them. Even with 11 men it was a struggle in midfield. Lithuania was generating better opportunities. But the defense held pretty firm. Still looked good with 10 men. But down to 9 it was no contest.

Amado played well. Parker too. Fichaud had a nice match. Bradshaw looked very sharp.

The wingers were not effective - couldn't get that step they needed to get by the defense.

The 451 may have worked better, but in the end, 2 red cards against will sink you no matter what you play. Hopefully next week the referee will cut us some slack. :)

Very good approach to this game Seca well done. Only one thing I can see is playing Caron wasn't just a good move today.

An exciting game to watch. The second goal for Lithuanian was soft, but they missed other good chances. In the end it could have ended differently, but two red cards to defenders is tough to beat. The first red card to Musa was dealt with fabulously by pulling Dehere back. Good game.

A 4-4-2 with a couple semi-offensively positioned wide mids is my best guess.

Haha, did you read my mind? :)
It's may favorite tactic though as well as the most simple and solid one in my opinion. Didn't want to take any risks in the first match

The match was horrible from our side though, didn't manage to take advantage at all from your first red card. The second goal from us was just a failed cross and we were even luckier that you had the second red card that gave us the victory in the end.

A solid match from your side, great tactics. I don't want to think how it could have been without your red cards :)

An exciting start though. Good luck and all the best for the next matches!

I know what you are saying. :) But O'Hara was no better. I don't think that Iginla, given his form, would done any better.

Another central midfielder probably would have been a better decision. Omar helping Olaf would have provided more to the effort then the winger. I really thought we'd have more success down the flank.

good game...unlucky seca...
liked the offside trap, worked well
if not for the red cards the game would have finished differently, i'm sure of it