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Subject: [u21 NT] Friendlies
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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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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Players and tactics set. Since the players ages were updated this morning, this has been changed to an u20 friendly. Managers of the players selected have been sk-mailed.
Soundly thumped 0-4 by Greece, though at least we fashioned 8 shots to their 13. We had no answer to Aleksopoylos and the score would probably have been worse had he not been substituted.
Tactics weren't too bad, though the gaps in defence were apparent. As has become the norm, we were stronger in the second half but failed to take our chances. Champion really came into the match more as it went on but I would've preferred if he saw more of the action as he was the star of that lineup. The central striker didn't see much of the ball and Cole had to work really hard on his debut.
Next weeks match is a friendly against Bolivia for the u21's. Despite Bolivia being numerically larger than us, I'd think we've got a shot at beating them. It would be good to end this campaign on a winning note.
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Tactics weren't too bad, though the gaps in defence were apparent. As has become the norm, we were stronger in the second half but failed to take our chances. Champion really came into the match more as it went on but I would've preferred if he saw more of the action as he was the star of that lineup. The central striker didn't see much of the ball and Cole had to work really hard on his debut.
Next weeks match is a friendly against Bolivia for the u21's. Despite Bolivia being numerically larger than us, I'd think we've got a shot at beating them. It would be good to end this campaign on a winning note.
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Held in the game pretty well considering the skill gap. As you predicted, the Greek strikers were strong - the South African defense was clearly overmatched. The first Greek goal was very low %, and a poor omen. :(
Thought Lechesa's shot in the 63rd minute was one of the worst I've seen in Sokker. :P Not sure what he hit the ball with, but it wasn't something to do again. Coach gave him a pretty quick hook immediately after. :D
Thought Lechesa's shot in the 63rd minute was one of the worst I've seen in Sokker. :P Not sure what he hit the ball with, but it wasn't something to do again. Coach gave him a pretty quick hook immediately after. :D
The Greek youngsters look strong hey... Hopefully our youth pool will catch up soon. I have quite a few younsters at the moment in the Rovers United youth school that look like they will come out between incredible and magical, but the earliest one is sitting at 24 weeks, so not soon then. I thought the representative (Bikwani) from Rovers United did pretty well. He missed the penalty in the 80th minute, but at least got most of his shots on target and made life hard for the Greek keeper. After the mess he made on his debut (missing an open goal) he did alot better and hopefully his first goal for South Africa under 21 will come soon.
Heh, missed an open goal and now missed a penalty. Poor lads confidence must be a bit low. I agree though that he did look useful when he came on.
The Bolivian coach has yet to log in, so he has not yet accepted the match invitation. This means that I have not been able to work on tactics. Hopefully he shows up some time soon.
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It's now been a week since the Bolivian coach last logged in. I'll try sending out messages to other coaches today to see if I can get a replacement match for Friday.
Friendly set with Hayastan (Armenia). We played them twice during the u21 WC Qualifying campaign, winning both matches 1-0. Let's see how the new u21 squad does.
Tactics have been set and mails sent to managers of players on the team sheet. Here's hoping for a winning end to the season.
Elections close on Sunday. Next season will likely see us involved in the u21 Mini World Cup (unofficial tournament for teams that didn't qualify for the WC) and possibly the u21 African Nations Cup (another unofficial tournament), with some friendlies to fill the gaps.
Elections close on Sunday. Next season will likely see us involved in the u21 Mini World Cup (unofficial tournament for teams that didn't qualify for the WC) and possibly the u21 African Nations Cup (another unofficial tournament), with some friendlies to fill the gaps.
Nice match against Armenia. The glitches & confusion that sometimes happen getting friendlies arranged is one of the worst aspects of the NT manager job.
Really deserved a little better. Armenia packed a number of players in down low, so a large number of shots were blocked/deflected.
I originally thought this tactic was asking alot of Champion (to make a fairly long pass to Chenene), but he did well. I really liked the match Bax had - made a number of good decisions and quick little passes.
There was a passing play ... I think in the 69th ... that was one of the nicest I've seen from the U21s this season. Started from a well planned throw-in, and splashed the ball around really well - too bad they couldn't finish it off right. :)
Great work! The team looks poised to have a good season with a number of returning players to key positions.
Really deserved a little better. Armenia packed a number of players in down low, so a large number of shots were blocked/deflected.
I originally thought this tactic was asking alot of Champion (to make a fairly long pass to Chenene), but he did well. I really liked the match Bax had - made a number of good decisions and quick little passes.
There was a passing play ... I think in the 69th ... that was one of the nicest I've seen from the U21s this season. Started from a well planned throw-in, and splashed the ball around really well - too bad they couldn't finish it off right. :)
Great work! The team looks poised to have a good season with a number of returning players to key positions.
This weeks friendly will be against Vietnam.
They have 510 users. Their u21 squad currently consists of 35 players averaging R2.2m in value.
This season they have scored marks of 42.8 - 40.8 - 42.7 - 41.4.
We have 17 users. Our u21 squad currently consists of 40 players averaging R3.2m in value.
This season we have scored marks of 51.4 - 51.1 - 43.5 - 48.1.
Despite Vietnam's bigger user-base, we will go into this match as the favourites. Our boys will be looking to put yesterdays disaster behind them. The next four weeks will consist of friendlies in preparation for our next unofficial tournament, the African Cup of Nations.
They have 510 users. Their u21 squad currently consists of 35 players averaging R2.2m in value.
This season they have scored marks of 42.8 - 40.8 - 42.7 - 41.4.
We have 17 users. Our u21 squad currently consists of 40 players averaging R3.2m in value.
This season we have scored marks of 51.4 - 51.1 - 43.5 - 48.1.
Despite Vietnam's bigger user-base, we will go into this match as the favourites. Our boys will be looking to put yesterdays disaster behind them. The next four weeks will consist of friendlies in preparation for our next unofficial tournament, the African Cup of Nations.
The scoreline in the Vietnam match was closer than it should have been, considering our overall superiority on the field in terms of possession,territory and shots, but we eventually did managed to come away with a win. Chenene racked up another hat-trick, scoring the winner in the 74th minute, for a final score of 3-2. Our average mark of 53.4 was a season best.
Today we have a friendly against Switzerland in a mixed aged friendly. We are restricted to a maximum of five 21 year old players in the starting lineup. As a result, the team is a little different but gives some youngsters a chance to impress.
Switzerland have 345 users. Their u21 squad consists of 35 players averaging R5.6m in value. This season they have scored marks of 57.7 - 55.5 - 55.5 - 55.8 - 51.0.
Clearly we go into this as the underdogs and will have to tighten up at the back if we are to get anything out of the game. We also need to improve our conversion rate up front. In the five matches this season, we have scored 11 from 67 shots while our opponents have scored 11 from 53 shots.
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Today we have a friendly against Switzerland in a mixed aged friendly. We are restricted to a maximum of five 21 year old players in the starting lineup. As a result, the team is a little different but gives some youngsters a chance to impress.
Switzerland have 345 users. Their u21 squad consists of 35 players averaging R5.6m in value. This season they have scored marks of 57.7 - 55.5 - 55.5 - 55.8 - 51.0.
Clearly we go into this as the underdogs and will have to tighten up at the back if we are to get anything out of the game. We also need to improve our conversion rate up front. In the five matches this season, we have scored 11 from 67 shots while our opponents have scored 11 from 53 shots.
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After conceding a goal from Switzerland's 1st chance in only the 3rd minute, I feared the worst. As it turned out, it didn't get any worse. The boys put up a great effort and were not overawed.
Switzerland had the better of the match as expected but we managed 6 shots of our own, even hitting the bar once when Lechesa probably should have scored. On another day, our opposition might have put away more of their 13 chances but I thought we did a good job at the back of forcing them to take largely low probability shots.
With Vincent Ngaduana struggling with his form, we have few options up front right now. Hopefully that will improve by the time the African Cup of Nations comes around in four weeks time.
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Switzerland had the better of the match as expected but we managed 6 shots of our own, even hitting the bar once when Lechesa probably should have scored. On another day, our opposition might have put away more of their 13 chances but I thought we did a good job at the back of forcing them to take largely low probability shots.
With Vincent Ngaduana struggling with his form, we have few options up front right now. Hopefully that will improve by the time the African Cup of Nations comes around in four weeks time.
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Our friendly opponents this week are Australia. They have 127 users and their u21 squad consists of 38 players averaging R3.4m. We currently have 19 users, a squad of 40 players, and they also average R3.4m.
Australia's marks and results this season:
46.4 (3-1), 47.9 (1-2), 50.9 (2-1), 50.2 (2-4), 51.3 (2-0), 42.5 (1-4) => won 3, lost 3, best mark 51.3
Our marks and results this season:
51.4 (0-1), 51.1 (1-1), 43.5 (6-0), 48.1 (1-7), 53.4 (3-2), 51.6 (0-1) => won 2, drew 1, lost 3, mark 53.4
We look quite evenly matched and it should be an entertaining match.
Australia's marks and results this season:
46.4 (3-1), 47.9 (1-2), 50.9 (2-1), 50.2 (2-4), 51.3 (2-0), 42.5 (1-4) => won 3, lost 3, best mark 51.3
Our marks and results this season:
51.4 (0-1), 51.1 (1-1), 43.5 (6-0), 48.1 (1-7), 53.4 (3-2), 51.6 (0-1) => won 2, drew 1, lost 3, mark 53.4
We look quite evenly matched and it should be an entertaining match.