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Subject: [NT] Fixtures
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.
The first time I used the tactic, it was Khambule who was a bit of a weak spot - unable to get the ball to Mabizela with any consistency. Much better this time.
I'm not sure what can be done tactically to "force" Mabizela down the wing. There were two targets that distracted him from doing this - the striker, and Khambule, his feeder. The striker could (and should) be buried in the defense even at the cost of some offsides. I thought that positioning was ok - and that the striker came open moreso because the Canadian defense had more pace then Sait - but I should maybe double check that. There isn't really much that can be done to hide the feeder - the whole point of the tactic is to have a shorter, easier pass to the winger (also pulling winger defenders out of position). So the back pass is always going to be there. Since it worked good for the first part of the match, I guess all you can do is cross your fingers and hope Mabizela uses his space instead of passing back and stalling the attack.
I'm not sure what can be done tactically to "force" Mabizela down the wing. There were two targets that distracted him from doing this - the striker, and Khambule, his feeder. The striker could (and should) be buried in the defense even at the cost of some offsides. I thought that positioning was ok - and that the striker came open moreso because the Canadian defense had more pace then Sait - but I should maybe double check that. There isn't really much that can be done to hide the feeder - the whole point of the tactic is to have a shorter, easier pass to the winger (also pulling winger defenders out of position). So the back pass is always going to be there. Since it worked good for the first part of the match, I guess all you can do is cross your fingers and hope Mabizela uses his space instead of passing back and stalling the attack.
All set for Norway this week. Normal friendly, no guidelines. Bit of a tune up for the mini-wc which I believe begins next week.
Bleh. A winnable match that really, really, turned out badly.
I had no idea the shot ratio was that bad. Norway was certainly doing a better job of getting shots out of their possessions, but I didn't think it was that out of hand.
I didn't really view our tactic as the best chance to win, but I thought it important to change things up some. I was actually pretty happy with it. Mabizela had tons of space. The strikers were well positioned and in slots in the Norweigian defense. Our defense was line-up opposite their 3 offensive players. It was a little unfortunate Norway also went with 3 in midfield - meant the midfield battle became 3 1 vs. 1 match ups. These match ups went very badly for South Africa. Khambule was the only one close . Dafel and Khomane were badly outplayed by their opposites.
There was a fair bit of poor luck in this match too. It's often advantageous (especially if you are the poorer technical team) to be second to the ball. This is generally fairly random, and usually balances out over the course of the game. For whatever reason, it was really skewed to Norway today, with South African players regularly getting to the ball a split second before the opponent and being immediately dispossessed. To make matters worse, Norway almost always managed to turn this bit of micro-luck into a shot. :/
On 3 different occasions, J Sait was cleanly tackled from behind while in full flight (once by a midfielder!). He's our technique monster - those tackles should are very low percentage plays. A little more poor luck.
I'm reaching wits end with Mabizela. He had tremendous positioning today, and the service he received was better then normal. Yet he can't break tackles from the opposing midfield with any consistency, let alone the opposing defense. I guess we'll continue to blame form ... but it's getting discouraging.
Not a great way to head into the mini WC. I'm going to revisit the database and scout out a few players looking for more creativity in midfield. I hate to use a pylon like J Chacko, but with Mabizela playing poorly we need to find some offense somewhere.
I had no idea the shot ratio was that bad. Norway was certainly doing a better job of getting shots out of their possessions, but I didn't think it was that out of hand.
I didn't really view our tactic as the best chance to win, but I thought it important to change things up some. I was actually pretty happy with it. Mabizela had tons of space. The strikers were well positioned and in slots in the Norweigian defense. Our defense was line-up opposite their 3 offensive players. It was a little unfortunate Norway also went with 3 in midfield - meant the midfield battle became 3 1 vs. 1 match ups. These match ups went very badly for South Africa. Khambule was the only one close . Dafel and Khomane were badly outplayed by their opposites.
There was a fair bit of poor luck in this match too. It's often advantageous (especially if you are the poorer technical team) to be second to the ball. This is generally fairly random, and usually balances out over the course of the game. For whatever reason, it was really skewed to Norway today, with South African players regularly getting to the ball a split second before the opponent and being immediately dispossessed. To make matters worse, Norway almost always managed to turn this bit of micro-luck into a shot. :/
On 3 different occasions, J Sait was cleanly tackled from behind while in full flight (once by a midfielder!). He's our technique monster - those tackles should are very low percentage plays. A little more poor luck.
I'm reaching wits end with Mabizela. He had tremendous positioning today, and the service he received was better then normal. Yet he can't break tackles from the opposing midfield with any consistency, let alone the opposing defense. I guess we'll continue to blame form ... but it's getting discouraging.
Not a great way to head into the mini WC. I'm going to revisit the database and scout out a few players looking for more creativity in midfield. I hate to use a pylon like J Chacko, but with Mabizela playing poorly we need to find some offense somewhere.
Line-up is set for the Indonesia match.
I will be away this weekend, so I won't have a chance to view the match until well after the fact.
I will be away this weekend, so I won't have a chance to view the match until well after the fact.
Pretty competitive match. Indonesia played well, and a draw would have been a fair outcome.
The midfield seemed to have some better ideas with their passes. The attempts were more creative then in recent matches, tho in the end the result was the same as not a whole lot of those passes connected. I was pleasantly surprised by the creativity Letebe showed. Made some clever decisions with the ball.
The defense was a little shaky at times, but Roberts played very well and bailed them out on most occassions.
The throw-ins were a major source of frustration. I've complained before that the little back pass along the sideline shouldn't be so hard to complete - seem to need divine passing to keep the ball in play.
The midfield seemed to have some better ideas with their passes. The attempts were more creative then in recent matches, tho in the end the result was the same as not a whole lot of those passes connected. I was pleasantly surprised by the creativity Letebe showed. Made some clever decisions with the ball.
The defense was a little shaky at times, but Roberts played very well and bailed them out on most occassions.
The throw-ins were a major source of frustration. I've complained before that the little back pass along the sideline shouldn't be so hard to complete - seem to need divine passing to keep the ball in play.
That back passing from the throw does seem to plague the NT. So many wasted throws because of it.
I thought the team played well for the most part. It's made a huge difference having keepers like Roberts and Shasha in our NT's. :)
I thought the team played well for the most part. It's made a huge difference having keepers like Roberts and Shasha in our NT's. :)
We're booked with Bosna i Hercegovina for this weekend. They are ranked significantly higher then South Africa, but I don't think they are that much stronger. I'm expecting a competitive match.
Line-up is set for BiH. Roster is in pretty good shape. Midfield form (notably Mabizela and Khambule) has improved lately. Really the only complaint is Robert's form, which is midling.
It's a good thing I'm on my way out. That was an embarassing one-sided loss against a comparable team. I can' get the squad to do anything for me right now. Apologies.
I got the tactic I expected from BiH, and thought I had a pretty good counter tactic. Didn't work out. The two high-tech strikers were positioned wide so they only had to beat 1 angle tackle and then cut to goal. But either the didn't beat the tackle, or they didn't cut to goal, or they managed both but didn't take a shot. Part of this was my fault - they weren't positioned as aggressively as they should have been. Part of this was the midfield's fault for providing rather lacklustre service.
The midfield was soundly beaten. If I hadn't seen Mabizela's tackling for myself, I wouldn't believe it. I swear he's only made 1 or 2 tackles the whole time I've managed the team. :) He was a major disappointment today, as his opposite outplayed him by a wide margin. Khambule was a little better, but still bested. They could not control or recover the ball, which led to alot of play in our end. And passing again was suspect. Frustrating when BiH is making 50 yard passes through tiny seams to strikers in full flight, while our guys are lobbing balls into the middle of the field even though there is no striker within 40 yards.
The defense was ok. They looked kinda slow compared to the BiH strikers, and they kicked alot of balls out of play. Again, part of that may have been tactical - I thought I gave them outlet targets in Khambule and Mabizela, but maybe not.
I don't think we've beat a team of any quality yet this season. If anyone has some ideas or suggestions I'm happy to entertain them. :)
I got the tactic I expected from BiH, and thought I had a pretty good counter tactic. Didn't work out. The two high-tech strikers were positioned wide so they only had to beat 1 angle tackle and then cut to goal. But either the didn't beat the tackle, or they didn't cut to goal, or they managed both but didn't take a shot. Part of this was my fault - they weren't positioned as aggressively as they should have been. Part of this was the midfield's fault for providing rather lacklustre service.
The midfield was soundly beaten. If I hadn't seen Mabizela's tackling for myself, I wouldn't believe it. I swear he's only made 1 or 2 tackles the whole time I've managed the team. :) He was a major disappointment today, as his opposite outplayed him by a wide margin. Khambule was a little better, but still bested. They could not control or recover the ball, which led to alot of play in our end. And passing again was suspect. Frustrating when BiH is making 50 yard passes through tiny seams to strikers in full flight, while our guys are lobbing balls into the middle of the field even though there is no striker within 40 yards.
The defense was ok. They looked kinda slow compared to the BiH strikers, and they kicked alot of balls out of play. Again, part of that may have been tactical - I thought I gave them outlet targets in Khambule and Mabizela, but maybe not.
I don't think we've beat a team of any quality yet this season. If anyone has some ideas or suggestions I'm happy to entertain them. :)
That match was far more one-sided than I expected, though Bosnia seemed to have improved a lot. Their average mark of 70.2 for the match is impressive.
It's becoming unusual nowadays to see a team dominate so much without using the almost standard 5 defenders and 1 wing tactic. That they pulled off such a performance by playing 3 strikers, 3 defenders and no wing is quite an achievement.
It's becoming unusual nowadays to see a team dominate so much without using the almost standard 5 defenders and 1 wing tactic. That they pulled off such a performance by playing 3 strikers, 3 defenders and no wing is quite an achievement.
Aye. Well, they owned midfield which wasn't a complete surprise. They had 4 midfielders vs. our 3, and those 4 were pretty sharp players.
I knew they had improved, but I was also suprised with their 70 rating. That was 8 points more then ours. Ratings aren't everything, but 8 points is a pretty big gap. Given that their team ratings were only marginally better, it shows South Africa was at a big disadvantage in terms of pace, tech and PM.
We are booked in with Iceland this week. Pretty much the same message as last week. They are ranked higher, but comparable, and are the kind of team South Africa needs to beat. He's hoping for a better performance from team and manager. :)
(edited)
I knew they had improved, but I was also suprised with their 70 rating. That was 8 points more then ours. Ratings aren't everything, but 8 points is a pretty big gap. Given that their team ratings were only marginally better, it shows South Africa was at a big disadvantage in terms of pace, tech and PM.
We are booked in with Iceland this week. Pretty much the same message as last week. They are ranked higher, but comparable, and are the kind of team South Africa needs to beat. He's hoping for a better performance from team and manager. :)
(edited)
All set for Iceland. They have a nice side, and have performed well this season. Sturlaugsson is a player I've long admired.
South Africa will be missing Mabizela (SI) and Tavlibudine (suspended). A couple of big losses. Look for Khambule, who is in his best form in ages, to pick up some of the slack.
South Africa will be missing Mabizela (SI) and Tavlibudine (suspended). A couple of big losses. Look for Khambule, who is in his best form in ages, to pick up some of the slack.
I turned it off after 4-0. Congrats to you if you made it all the way through. :)
I got the expected tactic from Iceland. The hope was that the Khambule - J Sait combination would exploit the gap in the Icelandic defense. Sadly, Khambule almost never saw the ball. 5 at the back had 3 clustered CBs to deal with the 2 narrow strikers.
First half was competitive. Got a few bad bounces, particularly J Sait. Several times he got a half-tackle from the last man, just to have the ball skew 10 yards sideways. Mahule was doing a good job in the middle, but unfortunately tended to settle for a 20-25 yarder when many times he could have easily improved his shooting position. Nonetheless, there were several 5-6 yard headers that are pretty high percentage scoring chances that weren`t converted.
Second half South Africa started standing around and watching Iceland`s passing. They had two levels more passing in the team ratings, and it showed. Iceland`s 3rd goal was great - 5 perfect passes of build-up.
Don`t think we deserved the 5 goal pasting. First two Iceland goals were throw-ins that weren`t covered that badly (line pulled on the first one ... not sure how it wasn`t off-side). South Africa had many similar opportunities. Just seems to be where I`m at with the team right now. So it looks like if we want to keep above 1600 ranking points, I`m going to have to scale back the opponents. I can`t even compete with, let alone beat, a team of comparable skill at the moment.
I got the expected tactic from Iceland. The hope was that the Khambule - J Sait combination would exploit the gap in the Icelandic defense. Sadly, Khambule almost never saw the ball. 5 at the back had 3 clustered CBs to deal with the 2 narrow strikers.
First half was competitive. Got a few bad bounces, particularly J Sait. Several times he got a half-tackle from the last man, just to have the ball skew 10 yards sideways. Mahule was doing a good job in the middle, but unfortunately tended to settle for a 20-25 yarder when many times he could have easily improved his shooting position. Nonetheless, there were several 5-6 yard headers that are pretty high percentage scoring chances that weren`t converted.
Second half South Africa started standing around and watching Iceland`s passing. They had two levels more passing in the team ratings, and it showed. Iceland`s 3rd goal was great - 5 perfect passes of build-up.
Don`t think we deserved the 5 goal pasting. First two Iceland goals were throw-ins that weren`t covered that badly (line pulled on the first one ... not sure how it wasn`t off-side). South Africa had many similar opportunities. Just seems to be where I`m at with the team right now. So it looks like if we want to keep above 1600 ranking points, I`m going to have to scale back the opponents. I can`t even compete with, let alone beat, a team of comparable skill at the moment.
Very very harsh result - same possession, marginal territorial advantage, 11 shots to 15 but 1 goal to 6? Ouch.
I was tempted to reach for my remote to check the replays for a few suspiciously offside looking goals. The killer was the regularity with which the Iceland winger hit his strikers and they nodded into the net. I think it was willpower alone that kept Mahule running to score his goal before he got tackled. ;)
Very interesting point about the passing levels. We had superior shooting and defending levels (not that you could see that from the match) but those two levels of passing made a big difference.
I was tempted to reach for my remote to check the replays for a few suspiciously offside looking goals. The killer was the regularity with which the Iceland winger hit his strikers and they nodded into the net. I think it was willpower alone that kept Mahule running to score his goal before he got tackled. ;)
Very interesting point about the passing levels. We had superior shooting and defending levels (not that you could see that from the match) but those two levels of passing made a big difference.
Our passing rating was artificially low. I had J Sait in a wide position hoping he'd exploit that gap, and hoping he'd win some corners/FKs/throws. I was hoping he wouldn't pass too much - but he did try several little crosses. That will have brought down the rating ... a little. Excellent is generally where it sits and is a fairer reflection.
Part of it is also philosophical. I've long preferred a "rugged" midfield where most of the midfielders are oriented around ball recovery. Chacko and Letebe fit this mould. Their job is to get the ball back and feed it (by a short pass) to a more gifted offensive player - in this formation, that was Khambule.
That approach hasn't been working very well for me this season. The guys doing the ball recovery have been taking more offensive initiative - trying to make the key pass themselves, as opposed to letting the designated playmaker do it.
It wasn't really a problem today - Chacko and Letebe actually made some nice plays. But it has been a problem. In those matches where South Africa's shots are <5 you often see the defensive minded mids attempting to take on an offensive role ... leading to alot of turnovers and missed opportunities.
I'm not sure what the solution is. Whether there are tactical nuances I can try to entice more play to the creator. Of whether I just have to trade more grit for style.
Part of it is also philosophical. I've long preferred a "rugged" midfield where most of the midfielders are oriented around ball recovery. Chacko and Letebe fit this mould. Their job is to get the ball back and feed it (by a short pass) to a more gifted offensive player - in this formation, that was Khambule.
That approach hasn't been working very well for me this season. The guys doing the ball recovery have been taking more offensive initiative - trying to make the key pass themselves, as opposed to letting the designated playmaker do it.
It wasn't really a problem today - Chacko and Letebe actually made some nice plays. But it has been a problem. In those matches where South Africa's shots are <5 you often see the defensive minded mids attempting to take on an offensive role ... leading to alot of turnovers and missed opportunities.
I'm not sure what the solution is. Whether there are tactical nuances I can try to entice more play to the creator. Of whether I just have to trade more grit for style.