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Subject: [NT] Fixtures
Good luck! Won't be able to watch it live this week, but hopefully later this afternoon. Always look forward to it.
Thanks guys. :)
Was a better effort then last week. Score was misleading ... the match was much closer then that. South Africa got an excellent game from Roberts, who earned his clean sheet.
Had the impression we were on the wrong end of the technique vs. tackling match up at a number of positions. But the passing was much improved over last week. The defenders passed to midfielders more often (instead of trying to pick out strikers), and the midfielders took advantage of some space in the opposing midfield (especially after the red card) to move the ball around fairly well. The 6 shots for seemed a little low - a few problems with the final pass, and like last week, some hesitation from the strikers taking the shot.
Was much happier with the tactic. Striker positioning was good laterally, though a little too aggressive. Despite this, the strikers did a pretty good job of staying onside. Weren't too many offsides until later in the match.
Most played well. Roberts and Mulekelayi especially well. Dafel too was a standout for me. Was nice to see Fish play a little better (still hampered by his form). Malatsi was one who had a poor match. Was caught out a number of times (fortunately Mulekelayi was keeping an eye on him). Batchelor, who replaced Fredericks, was outclassed.
With no killer offensive middie, I set a striker to take freekicks. As is usually the case when a striker takes freekicks, the average freekick distance was ~50 yards. :P Still, Mahule did not too bad.
All in all, this should be an encouraging match for South Africa fans. Israel is a community of reasonable size and maturity. To have our U23s perform well against them is a definite positive. There are a few holes in the age bracket, but it's really quite promising to see almost half the U23 side contributing regularly to the A-squad.
Was a better effort then last week. Score was misleading ... the match was much closer then that. South Africa got an excellent game from Roberts, who earned his clean sheet.
Had the impression we were on the wrong end of the technique vs. tackling match up at a number of positions. But the passing was much improved over last week. The defenders passed to midfielders more often (instead of trying to pick out strikers), and the midfielders took advantage of some space in the opposing midfield (especially after the red card) to move the ball around fairly well. The 6 shots for seemed a little low - a few problems with the final pass, and like last week, some hesitation from the strikers taking the shot.
Was much happier with the tactic. Striker positioning was good laterally, though a little too aggressive. Despite this, the strikers did a pretty good job of staying onside. Weren't too many offsides until later in the match.
Most played well. Roberts and Mulekelayi especially well. Dafel too was a standout for me. Was nice to see Fish play a little better (still hampered by his form). Malatsi was one who had a poor match. Was caught out a number of times (fortunately Mulekelayi was keeping an eye on him). Batchelor, who replaced Fredericks, was outclassed.
With no killer offensive middie, I set a striker to take freekicks. As is usually the case when a striker takes freekicks, the average freekick distance was ~50 yards. :P Still, Mahule did not too bad.
All in all, this should be an encouraging match for South Africa fans. Israel is a community of reasonable size and maturity. To have our U23s perform well against them is a definite positive. There are a few holes in the age bracket, but it's really quite promising to see almost half the U23 side contributing regularly to the A-squad.
Good performance, well done. True, the scoreline was a bit flattering. However, it was no fluke and was all the more commendable considering Israel paper advantage according to average marks.
How about the great mark that Mahule put up?! Keep working with him Theunis. :)
How about the great mark that Mahule put up?! Keep working with him Theunis. :)
Friendly against Germany this week. As I understand, they will be easing up a little with their line-up. I am endeavouring to play a competitive 11 without using too many oldsters that won't benefit from the little training perk.
Could be interesting. Could be ugly. Hard to say. :)
Could be interesting. Could be ugly. Hard to say. :)
Not really that interesting. The way the offense has been struggling, after the first German goal was scored it was pretty safe to head to the exits.
Germany let up some by playing 2 young strikers and a young winger. The rest of the team was pretty well capped, and superstars like Konrad and Suster played. So really, only Germany's finishing should have suffered. With that in mind, it was a decent match for South Africa - holding them to 9 shots and 3-4 quality scoring chances.
The thing to watch when playing Germany is their passing skill. Back to front, they move the ball around incredibly well. In this match, they played two true wingers which requires a pinpoint pass from a defender, else there is a turnover. They do it marvelously, and only conceded a handful of throw-ins. (If I were to use a tactic like that, there would be 15-20 turnovers guaranteed). Quite a luxury.
Mabizela's positioning might have been questionable. I didn't expect him to create anything with his technique against a team like Germany (born out in the match - he didn't break any tackles), so I was hoping he could create something with his tackling. Played him in spots where I thought he'd be able to interact with the defense. Thought this might make for some chances, especially considering the accuracy of the outlet passing lately. Didn't pan out. He would have been better off closer to the sideline.
Some of the striker positioning was poor too. At times J Sait was a little too tight to the midfield. Again, with how the offense has struggled lately, I should be erring on the deep side and taking a few more offsides.
Mapela's pace off the bench was once again quite noticeable. Unfortunately he fumbled the first (all?) 3-4 passes sent his way. I'm really excited about the strikers coming through (Sait, Mapela, Mahule), but at this point none are the multi-dimensional weapon you'd really like at the position.
Germany let up some by playing 2 young strikers and a young winger. The rest of the team was pretty well capped, and superstars like Konrad and Suster played. So really, only Germany's finishing should have suffered. With that in mind, it was a decent match for South Africa - holding them to 9 shots and 3-4 quality scoring chances.
The thing to watch when playing Germany is their passing skill. Back to front, they move the ball around incredibly well. In this match, they played two true wingers which requires a pinpoint pass from a defender, else there is a turnover. They do it marvelously, and only conceded a handful of throw-ins. (If I were to use a tactic like that, there would be 15-20 turnovers guaranteed). Quite a luxury.
Mabizela's positioning might have been questionable. I didn't expect him to create anything with his technique against a team like Germany (born out in the match - he didn't break any tackles), so I was hoping he could create something with his tackling. Played him in spots where I thought he'd be able to interact with the defense. Thought this might make for some chances, especially considering the accuracy of the outlet passing lately. Didn't pan out. He would have been better off closer to the sideline.
Some of the striker positioning was poor too. At times J Sait was a little too tight to the midfield. Again, with how the offense has struggled lately, I should be erring on the deep side and taking a few more offsides.
Mapela's pace off the bench was once again quite noticeable. Unfortunately he fumbled the first (all?) 3-4 passes sent his way. I'm really excited about the strikers coming through (Sait, Mapela, Mahule), but at this point none are the multi-dimensional weapon you'd really like at the position.
Ok, MarcL start, so I unsubscribe, good luck !
Macedonia this week. I don't know a great deal about them. They did give Canada a pretty good scare in qualifying. The line-up will feature mostly the up & comers again, with essentially all the veterans getting the week off.
Hallelujah.
I went through a spell with NT New Zealand a few seasons ago where the goals dried up, and it felt like they would never score again. I was starting to get the same feeling. :S Just begging for someone to win a 50-50 header, break that one tackle. Quite a relief in minute 54.
Tactically, some of my forward placement was (again) not aggressive enough. Macedonia played a deep defensive line, which I (again) did not fully anticipate. Not sure if the tactical trend is shifting - for a while there noone played off, and the field was always very short.
I wanted to make particular note of Mahule's performance. When the offensive unit as a group is struggling, you really look for an individual to step up and create. Mahule didn't strike the ball all that well, but he created a number of good scoring chances all by himself in limited minutes. That was great to see.
Otherwise a pretty steady performance. Dafel, Chacko and Letebe were solid in midfield. Would love to see Fish break the odd tackle and make a few more passes, but he's coming along. Defense was sharp, with the youngsters Malatsi and Malashe looking especially active.
I went through a spell with NT New Zealand a few seasons ago where the goals dried up, and it felt like they would never score again. I was starting to get the same feeling. :S Just begging for someone to win a 50-50 header, break that one tackle. Quite a relief in minute 54.
Tactically, some of my forward placement was (again) not aggressive enough. Macedonia played a deep defensive line, which I (again) did not fully anticipate. Not sure if the tactical trend is shifting - for a while there noone played off, and the field was always very short.
I wanted to make particular note of Mahule's performance. When the offensive unit as a group is struggling, you really look for an individual to step up and create. Mahule didn't strike the ball all that well, but he created a number of good scoring chances all by himself in limited minutes. That was great to see.
Otherwise a pretty steady performance. Dafel, Chacko and Letebe were solid in midfield. Would love to see Fish break the odd tackle and make a few more passes, but he's coming along. Defense was sharp, with the youngsters Malatsi and Malashe looking especially active.
Up against Canada this week. A team I know fairly well, and a manager I've had quite a bit of experience against. They have quite a strong team, but haven't had a very good season. Kinda hoping they don't return to form this weekend. :P Though there were a couple of goals scored, would be good to see the offense really start clicking again.
Davie's last match as U21 coach today was also against Canada. We dominated territory, possession and shots. They had a player sent off in the first minute. We lost 0-1. Hope your game goes better!
I guess we can't complain about the senior match.
Canada's major problem this past season has been some lethargy by the manager. Tactics are pretty static. Got exactly the formation and line-up expected from Canada.
Tried the load-outlet in the midfield in an effort to exploit the flank. Worked beautifully for the first 15-20 minutes, with South Africa all over Canada and several quality scoring chances.
And then it abruptly stopped working. Two reasons. South Africa began to give possession away very cheaply (a ton of kick-outs by the defense, some poor passing) - so the ball did not get to Mabizela with the same frequency (the strikers had almost no luck pushing through the middle-right). Also, Mabizela turned into a fool. He wouldn't run down his open flank, but instead made a variety of ill-conceived passes back or into the middle. Very frustrating, especially after watching the first 20 minutes.
The red card should have opened things up - from then on, Mabizela was matched up against a midfielder (one with decent tackling skills, but still a midfielder). But he couldn't beat him with his tech, and missed some tackles that I expected him to make that would really have sprung him. I guess we'll blame it on form once again - but he really should have done better.
The defense made some mistakes - a number of bobbles that could have been very costly. But in the end, the only Canadian goal came off of a throw-in that should have been covered a little better - manager's fault.
Chacko came in for some emergency offense. But he probably came in too early, and likely should have taken Dafel rather then Khomane. Was a long time to play with a boat anchor in central midfield.
Roberts was good. Khambule another stand-out for me. Dafel a bit of a disappointment.
Canada's major problem this past season has been some lethargy by the manager. Tactics are pretty static. Got exactly the formation and line-up expected from Canada.
Tried the load-outlet in the midfield in an effort to exploit the flank. Worked beautifully for the first 15-20 minutes, with South Africa all over Canada and several quality scoring chances.
And then it abruptly stopped working. Two reasons. South Africa began to give possession away very cheaply (a ton of kick-outs by the defense, some poor passing) - so the ball did not get to Mabizela with the same frequency (the strikers had almost no luck pushing through the middle-right). Also, Mabizela turned into a fool. He wouldn't run down his open flank, but instead made a variety of ill-conceived passes back or into the middle. Very frustrating, especially after watching the first 20 minutes.
The red card should have opened things up - from then on, Mabizela was matched up against a midfielder (one with decent tackling skills, but still a midfielder). But he couldn't beat him with his tech, and missed some tackles that I expected him to make that would really have sprung him. I guess we'll blame it on form once again - but he really should have done better.
The defense made some mistakes - a number of bobbles that could have been very costly. But in the end, the only Canadian goal came off of a throw-in that should have been covered a little better - manager's fault.
Chacko came in for some emergency offense. But he probably came in too early, and likely should have taken Dafel rather then Khomane. Was a long time to play with a boat anchor in central midfield.
Roberts was good. Khambule another stand-out for me. Dafel a bit of a disappointment.
I also noticed the abrupt change in Mabizela's play during the match. I wonder why he suddenly went from terrorising their defence to virtually useless.
Some of Chacho's passes just further emphasised how important it is for us to get a really top class playmaker/passer in midfield.
Agree about Khambule. Did his job very well.
Some of Chacho's passes just further emphasised how important it is for us to get a really top class playmaker/passer in midfield.
Agree about Khambule. Did his job very well.