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Subject: National Team
Woodenberg was a fantastic prospect. I hope he can be saved, and soon. Good idea.
It was actually naphtali that thought about the possibility of TBF being replaced and whether players were worth trying to save. I then took it a little further and went through all bots in II to see if there were any players of worth. I'll need to play Newcombe in a NT game though before TBF get replaced to ensure he gets listed.
If my calculations are correct though, Roar FC should be the next side replaced so long as it's before league games.
It was actually naphtali that thought about the possibility of TBF being replaced and whether players were worth trying to save. I then took it a little further and went through all bots in II to see if there were any players of worth. I'll need to play Newcombe in a NT game though before TBF get replaced to ensure he gets listed.
If my calculations are correct though, Roar FC should be the next side replaced so long as it's before league games.
For those unaware, we take on Ukraine this week in a friendly match. Format still yet to be confirmed, I'm hoping to have that confirmed tonight. More info on that tomorrow.
The NTDB is slowly getting updated, I've received a number of responses to those I sent out so thanks to all who have responded. I'm gradually working my way through them.
Of slight concern at the moment is the decreasing user base size. We're now down to 77 users which is one of our lowest user numbers since 2005, when we had around 40-45. As the userbase declines, we'll get a smaller player pool for both our U21's and Senior NT sides.
I think that's about all for now. As always any questions on anything NT related feel free to skmail myself and I'll do my best to answer them :).
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The NTDB is slowly getting updated, I've received a number of responses to those I sent out so thanks to all who have responded. I'm gradually working my way through them.
Of slight concern at the moment is the decreasing user base size. We're now down to 77 users which is one of our lowest user numbers since 2005, when we had around 40-45. As the userbase declines, we'll get a smaller player pool for both our U21's and Senior NT sides.
I think that's about all for now. As always any questions on anything NT related feel free to skmail myself and I'll do my best to answer them :).
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Well, at least we have a more active NT manager. The last manager was a disaster in every way.... he also didn't even bother to let me know he was dropping Beauchamp from the squad after 72 games.
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I try to ensure that if I drop players or bring them into the squad that there is some form of notification and justification for why players are dropped. Hopefully that continues to happen throughout the season.
The last few NT managers have been disasters...
Cometer's community efforts as NT coach are worth a lot more to Australia than any tactic nous (not that you are not good anyway Cometer :) )
Cometer's community efforts as NT coach are worth a lot more to Australia than any tactic nous (not that you are not good anyway Cometer :) )
The Ukraine manager has failed to respond to my skmail I sent on Wednesday/Thursday evening which was to discuss the format of the match. As a result I have no option but to assume they are going to use their strongest XI and so at the risk of losing valuable ranking points, we're going to go in with a 2nd XI. I was initially hoping for an U24 or U25 game but that will have to wait for another week.
Info about the match is in the Australia Association forum for those that are interested.
I've dropped 4 players from the squad to make room for some of the players that are likely to feature today. Those dropped include:
Clint Deeley
Gareth Laurie
Stacy Nesic
Stephen Wirrpanda
Nesic should come back into the squad during the next week. I'm not so sure about the other 3 but if they aren't brought back in, I'll be sure to explain why :).
I've dropped 4 players from the squad to make room for some of the players that are likely to feature today. Those dropped include:
Clint Deeley
Gareth Laurie
Stacy Nesic
Stephen Wirrpanda
Nesic should come back into the squad during the next week. I'm not so sure about the other 3 but if they aren't brought back in, I'll be sure to explain why :).
Elrich is about 3 weeks away from equalling Deeley's skills. He is yesterday's man!
Wasn't the result I was seeking. Goulding butchered a number of golden chances including a penalty and we let in a softish goal when Sterjovski got tackled and they whipped in a cross.
Doesn't really help that they went in with 1st's but I knew that pre-game given they didn't respond to my skmail.
No excuses, it wasn't the plan. I think I had the front line a bit too shallow given their deep defense and it restricted the number of chances we were able to generate. We still cut through their defense on a number of occasions but just couldn't convert. I think Goulding is going to find himself on the outer now that's 2 games he's played and both times butchered chances that a few seasons ago he wasn't doing. Call it random, call it luck, I believe there's been some tinkering with efficiency rates and it's just a case of finding a striker who's able to convert properly.
Doesn't really help that they went in with 1st's but I knew that pre-game given they didn't respond to my skmail.
No excuses, it wasn't the plan. I think I had the front line a bit too shallow given their deep defense and it restricted the number of chances we were able to generate. We still cut through their defense on a number of occasions but just couldn't convert. I think Goulding is going to find himself on the outer now that's 2 games he's played and both times butchered chances that a few seasons ago he wasn't doing. Call it random, call it luck, I believe there's been some tinkering with efficiency rates and it's just a case of finding a striker who's able to convert properly.
The deep defense worked quite nicely I thought. Might be worth adding that to my repertoire, though I probably play deeper than many already.
Disappointing that neither Sharpley, nor Kearton got a shot off given some of the positions they had the ball. And yes, Goulding should have done better as well.
Disappointing that neither Sharpley, nor Kearton got a shot off given some of the positions they had the ball. And yes, Goulding should have done better as well.
Not quite sure where to put this exactly... but now gone are the days of TBF terrorising Australian Sokker. A sad day for Australia losing one of the arguable Legendary clubs. At one stage supplied close to the entire Australian NT midfield. You will be missed.
Yeah that's a big shame. Awesome team back in the day.
Yeah sad to see TBF being replaced. Also sad to see new teams still entering into II causing mass problems to sponsorship and also problems in that they get spanked on a regular basis needlessly.
Anyway their players are listed for those interested in picking up a player. A few of them aren't too bad.
In other news, we've got a game scheduled against Jamaica in an hours time. This should be a pretty comfortable win and I don't think it would matter which players we used. I'll give a bit more info shortly.
Anyway their players are listed for those interested in picking up a player. A few of them aren't too bad.
In other news, we've got a game scheduled against Jamaica in an hours time. This should be a pretty comfortable win and I don't think it would matter which players we used. I'll give a bit more info shortly.
Comments in Australia Association for further details.
Hayastan almost put us into a very healthy position but just fell short against Slovensko. Still they kept the goal difference minimal, so we should be in a position where we are in 2nd place come our double header with Slovensko.
Slovensko concern me though, their last 2 performances haven't looked at all flash and they've come away with 1 goal wins making them look easy pickings but their ratings suggest otherwise. They're just as likely to turn it on against us in a few weeks time but we'll try to make sure thta doesn;t happen. I'd be happy at this stage to square off 1 win a piece with Slovensko given our goal difference advantage. Obviously the aim is to grab at least 4 points off Slovensko though so that we're in the box seat to qualify.
Slovensko concern me though, their last 2 performances haven't looked at all flash and they've come away with 1 goal wins making them look easy pickings but their ratings suggest otherwise. They're just as likely to turn it on against us in a few weeks time but we'll try to make sure thta doesn;t happen. I'd be happy at this stage to square off 1 win a piece with Slovensko given our goal difference advantage. Obviously the aim is to grab at least 4 points off Slovensko though so that we're in the box seat to qualify.
Been a busy week, as I'm sure it has for most of you.
Today is probably the most inconvenient time for a sokker NT WCQ match (that being Christmas day) we take on Hong Kong who have performed reasonably well to date, beating Jamaica 4-1, narrowly losing to Slovensko 1-0 and then last round losing to Poland 5-0 (although it wasn't the strongest Poland XI out there like with their 6-0 demolishion of us).
They appear to like to favour the 5-3-2 approach and it wouldn't surprise me if they stuck with the same formation again this week as they've used the tactic every match this season. I'm still considering how I'm going to approach this game but a win is crucial to take into next week.
I'll try to get around to posting some statistics between the two teams, but there is a player likely to start for Hong Kong that has played in the Australian leagues, namely Shang Wai Kwok. Fortunately, he appears to be in tragic form so if he is selected again it should make it easier to keep him quiet.
I don't expect a lot of you to see or read these today but I hope everyone has a great Christmas for those who celebrate it.
The more goals we can put past Hong Kong, the greater the chance of having a goal differential lead on Slovensko coming in to a double header over the next 3 weeks.
Enjoy the game, whether that's live or sometime in the next few days.
Today is probably the most inconvenient time for a sokker NT WCQ match (that being Christmas day) we take on Hong Kong who have performed reasonably well to date, beating Jamaica 4-1, narrowly losing to Slovensko 1-0 and then last round losing to Poland 5-0 (although it wasn't the strongest Poland XI out there like with their 6-0 demolishion of us).
They appear to like to favour the 5-3-2 approach and it wouldn't surprise me if they stuck with the same formation again this week as they've used the tactic every match this season. I'm still considering how I'm going to approach this game but a win is crucial to take into next week.
I'll try to get around to posting some statistics between the two teams, but there is a player likely to start for Hong Kong that has played in the Australian leagues, namely Shang Wai Kwok. Fortunately, he appears to be in tragic form so if he is selected again it should make it easier to keep him quiet.
I don't expect a lot of you to see or read these today but I hope everyone has a great Christmas for those who celebrate it.
The more goals we can put past Hong Kong, the greater the chance of having a goal differential lead on Slovensko coming in to a double header over the next 3 weeks.
Enjoy the game, whether that's live or sometime in the next few days.