Subject: [u21 NT] Friendlies

We have a few gaps in the program during World Cup qualifying, so I'm trying to fill them with friendlies. I've tried to schedule matches at the u19 level, to avoid any injury risks, and with similar level opponents to ourselves, but this isn't always possible.

Week 3 -> u19 vs Finland
Week 7 -> u19 vs Norway
Week 11 -> u19 vs Australia
Week 14 -> u21 vs India
Week 15 -> u19 vs Greece
Week 0 -> u21 vs Bolivia

Fun time for the youngsters this weekend as we prepare for our first u19 friendly, against Finland (Suomi).

Finland have 604 users (23 logged in right now) while we have 15. If users are a guide, this will be tough. In our favour is that the Finland coach will likely not have too many 19 year olds in his regular u21 squad.

The youngsters went down 0-3 to Finland but I thought they put up a very decent fight. We were perhaps a little too defensive (I tried to keep the workload down for the defence due to stamina worries) which is reflected in being outshot 2-9.

Substitute striker Bikwani missed a sitter in the 71st when a cross from Champion beat the Finland keeper, leaving the goal wide open and Bikwani only having to tap in from inside the small box. He hit the post. A few minutes later Finland scored their third.

Tactically, there was little way of knowing what the opposition would do, being the first time either of us was fielding an u19 side. Knowing that Zulu, Champion and Bax would be our key players, I opted for a formation that would maximise their time on the ball and it worked pretty well.

We've got 3 more u19 friendlies lined up for the season and I plan to make sure that all our youngsters get some match time.

Next week we're back into the u21 WC qualifiers with an important match against Macedonia. It's one we must win to keep our hopes alive, and they're not to be underestimated.

As an additional note, the following players got their first caps in the Finland match:

Tsotesi, Skhosana, Buckley, Malatsi, Roskruge, Chembo, Rhode, Bikwani and Cox.

Still uncapped amongst the u19's are:

Masanbo, Hufkie, Fernandez, Lechesa and Lehoko.

I get the impression that these matches, and the u21's in general, will help in terms of encouraging more managers to train our youngsters. If our youth schools keep pushing out decent players, giving them some NT time should improve their chances of being seen as valuable trainees.

I enjoyed today's friendly. Thought you gave them a pretty good run considering the skill gap. Very nice tactic, and some good South Africa play - particularly from the defense (though they gave up some unnecessary throw-ins, tactically the throw-ins were covered exceptionally well). Most of the Finland goals were kinda scrappy, and might have been prevented if the defense had another gear.

Thought most everyone played well. Chembo maybe a bit of a disappointment. Few times he tried to dribble through a defender when a cross clearly would have been a better decision.

Yes, it was a good friendly, but the skill gap showed a bit. If it wasn't for the very good tactics - we might have gone down by a few extra. Pity the substitute striker from my club couldn't find the net from inside the six yard box - I'll have a word to him about it - hehehehe. In his defense he hasn't been scoring much for the club lately, as I have positioned him more as an attacking midfielder than an out and out striker and thus the moment might have been too big for him. Another player from Rovers United - (Stiker come defender) - Buckley played really well I thought and suprised me with his defensive skills as I am training him hard as a striker. Maybe I should re-think that, but he has been scoring some very good goals for the club - tough one. Good luck for the next friendly and hopefully the Rovers United youngsters can contribute some more.
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Great to get some input from a local trainer. :)

Keep up the work with training Buckley as a striker. His defensive ability will actually serve him well as a striker in the future. The issue with the u19's is more a lack of good defenders, so I used him at the back. Once his pace and tech improve, he'll be too valuable up front to use at the back, most likely.

Oh, your boys gave me a heck of a scare in the cup match yesterday!

Hehehe. I could not believe that we were actually still drawing the game with 10 minutes to go and I was hoping that I could at least push your guys to extra time (never thought we has a realistic chance of winning), but you made a good substitution and he got the winner. Good luck with defending your title in the superbowl.

The boys have got their second u19 friendly coming up tomorrow, this time against Norway. It's much the same situation as last time, though Norway aren't quite as big as Finland. They have 197 users with 15 logged in right now.

I know that they will be scouring their clubs for u19 players and in fact only have 8 in their squad right now. This will give us some sort of chance. However, they've got a 19 year old keeper worth over R19m, in superdivine form, that is scoring marks in the 85 range! Somehow, I don't see us scoring too many goals... ;)

My main objective is again to give the youngsters a run, get a few more guys their first caps (I'm using our second choice keeper for this reason), and avoid picking up injuries for the WC qualifier next week.

Of the youngsters, we've got one out injured (Mgqamqo) but will otherwise be at full strength. The form situation isn't too bad, with only a few not in the greatest shape.

Picking the lineup and choosing the formation is proving difficult. I'll send out sk-mails to managers once the team is settled.

The youngsters went down 0-2 but I'm happy with the way they played. Although the match stats don't look great, it must be taken into account that one of our most valuable players (Champion) was sent off in the 25th minute. That left a gaping hole right in the spot where their winger was sitting.

We had some golden opportunities to score, even one where the ball had beaten the keeper and was inches from the crossing the line, but just could not beat their monster keeper.

A bunch more youngsters got their first caps and hopefully their managers will protect them and train them well.

Next week we're back to u21 WC qualifying and I have to try to figure out if there is some way to beat Bosnia.
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The u19's are back in action this week, this time away to Australia.

Australia
Users: 103
Rank points: 1906.90
Number of players: 40
Average form: incredible
Average age: 20.6
Average value: 4 935 700 R
Total value: 197 428 000 R

South Africa
Users: 18
Rank points: 1619.64
Number of players: 40
Average form: outstanding
Average age: 19.7
Average value: 2 821 000 R
Total value: 112 840 000 R

Australia are not a huge Sokker nation by numbers, but very large compared with us. As you can see from the stats above, the average value of their u21 squad is not very far off double ours. This match will be a challenge for the youngsters.

As Australia haven't yet played with an u19 squad this season, there isn't much to go on in terms of tactical expectations.

EDIT: The stats above include only four u19 players in the Australian squad, so perhaps it won't look quite as tough once they have found enough to play against us.
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Good try. Hard to compete when you are losing almost all of the 1 vs. 1 battles. The fine pace of the Australian strikers was too much for the South African back line.

Ouch, thumped 0-4 and deservedly so.

I don't think the tactics I used were too bad, but think that it didn't really suit the players I had on the field. The defenders were outmatched (we really missed Zulu) and I should have known that before we started. The engine quirk of the keeper trying to distribute to the wing when he's well inside the opposition half was compounded with most of the other players trying to do the same.

At least we had one or two chances of our own, not least of all a cracking free kick by Davies. Davies found himself shouldering most of the workload and could develop into a very useful player with proper training. Champion couldn't quite land the crosses in the right places, but he caused their defence all sorts of problems.

Watching the performance of the defenders in this match has had an effect on my view on their skill requirements, and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can come up with the next time these youngsters take to the field. They're scheduled to face Greece in 4 weeks time.

Tomorrow we face India in an u21 friendly.

South Africa u21
Rank points: 1592.81
Number of players: 40
Average form: incredible
Average age: 19.7
Average value: 3 199 900 R
Total value: 127 996 000 R

India u21
Rank points: 1732.18
Number of players: 37
Average form: incredible
Average age: 20.2
Average value: 3 627 028 R
Total value: 134 200 000 R

In their qualifying group for the u21 WC, India averaged marks of 50.3 (finishing 3rd on 14 points) while we averaged 49.4 (finishing 3rd on 18 points). On paper, they would appear to have a small advantage, but it's close enough that this must be seen as an opportunity to gain some valuable ranking points by beating a team higher up on the ladder.

Bleh, my tactics were poor. Looked better on paper. That said, I gambled De Generaal would go with the other tactic to block the wing we usually use.

Disappointed we didn't get a draw out of it though. We managed to outshoot them 10-6 but most were way off target. Down 0-1 due to a fumble at the back. :(
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The youngsters take to the field this week, facing Greece in our 4th u19 friendly.
So far, the u19's have lost 0-3 to Finland, 0-2 to Norway, and 0-4 to Australia.
The Greeks are going to be a similarly tough nut to crack but we'll give it a good go!

This is the type of player we could be up against:

Periklis Aleksopoylos, age: 19

club: Fc Austla Rähnid, country: Hellas
value: 5 314 000 R, wage: 32 600 R
unearthly form, good tactical discipline

tragic stamina hopeless keeper
solid pace average defender
brilliant technique very good playmaker
unsatisfactory passing brilliant striker

On the plus side, they only have 7 in their squad so far and this guy is easily their most valuable outfielder. They have a fantastic R13m keeper that produces marks as high as 80, so scoring will be just as tricky as keeping them out at the other end.
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