Subject: National Team Season 2

Hey guys.

A few progressions have been made so far. I've sent a lot of messages to NT managers and have received a few players. I'm looking at getting the database from Radek later today and then I'll make a tactic for our first opponent, Wales.

Anyway the fixtures are below. The one's with ?'s are unconfirmed. Any questions, comments, queries or concerns (feedback!) would be great.

2/12 Wales
9/12 Andorra?
16/12 Nippon?
23/12 Malaysia?
30/12 Hayastan?
6/1 Dominican Republic
13/1 Honduras
20/1 Hong Kong
27/1 Shqiperia?
3/2 Costa Rica?
10/2 Srbija
(edited)

are u entering in the new nationals tournament?

Edited to include a game against Costa Rica and 2 more confirmed.

I don't think we'll enter the new nations tournament. They're struggling to put it together and I didn't want to enter it because it might have meant missing out on fixtures against the teams if it didn't go ahead. Still no e-mail from Radek which is really disappointing though.

Just let me know how I can help.
As 4 raddek he does take sometime 2 reply but he always replies.

okay guys orders and tactics are set for the game against Wales. Couple of key players are injured but I think we've got a fairly nice team. We desperately need a really good DM but Mahesh Das will get the role against Wales.

Could everyone please check out the NT Press Release on player abilities and could everyone who has a player in the NT PLEASE SEND ME AN SK MAIL WITH THEIR UPDATED STATS! Thanks in advance.

Let's hope we put up a good showing today :)

This is up in the Press Release:

Could everyone with a player in the NT please send me the latest abilities of their player(s) and also what they are training. I desperately need stats from everyone to update the Indian database. Don`t be shy to send me new players either as I`ll always take a look. The following is a GUIDE as to the skills a player would need to at least be considered for the team:

Goalkeeper: Solid+ Keeping, Average+ Pace

Defender: Good+ Defending, Average+ Pace

Midfield: Solid+ Passing, Poor+ Playmaking, Average+ Pace, Average+ Technique

Striker: Solid+ Striking, Average+ Pace, Average+ Technique

If you have a player close to the required stats or better in some and worse than others (e.g poor pace but very good defending) or they`re under the age of 20 and you consider them a decent prospect, please send me their skills and they will be added to the database.

Thanks.

Well, 2-1 loss to Wales. I was actually quite impressed. Our defending was very good. Their forwards had really good technique but the way the defenders were positioned meant they hardly ever had to tackle from behind or from the side. Also despite the few shots from us I think we can be positive. As Ratnakar our AM, a key contributor to the attack and the guy who should provide most of the final balls, was sent off early.

Das had a good game at DM as he really protected our defenders well. Last time we played Wales we lost 4-0 with 11 men on the field throughout. So to lose 2-1 with 10 men for 70 minutes is quite impressive.

Our subs did ok, although Lanka's technique cost us a goal. But Pavani was excellent and I'm delighted we've got 2 really good DM's in Pavani and Das and Uttam is also on his way up. Down the track Pavani and Uttam should serve the country well.

Would love any of your thoughts or feedback and would consider anything. Overall I was really impressed though but our defenders still need to go up 1 or 2 defensive levels and our strikers need technique. Also Ratnakar was a bit disappointing while he was on the field, I thought he'd be able to control the ball a lot better than them. But more positives than negatives to take out of this game and quite a good performance. :)
(edited)

Firstly I must commend u on the fine work u've done.If it wasn't 4 the red card we could've easily had a draw or better.Ratnakar however has been in tragic form for a few weeks now,how do I get his form up?

I normally use Sudhakar as an AM in Ratnakar's place and Ratnakar as a forward.I must say our defense was awesome esp the central defenders.

However I think that with opponents equal or worse than wales it would be better if the wingers played one position more towards the centre and the DM played one position further up towards midfield.

Yeah we'll have a look mate. Pavani was causing problems from DM when he got on. Ratnakar's not a forward, he's an absolute gun midfielder. Just needs a bit more playmaking at international level. But for you he'd be an ideal midfielder. But I can understand why you're using him as a striker at the moment. Though he would miss quite a few shots haha.

Anyway I will consider the wingers. Might even be worth pushing them up a bit too. We might come out with a totally different tactic next week though ;)

We've got Andorra this week guys. Part of the New Nations Tournament. Here are the fixtures:

9/12/2006
Shqipëria vs. Israel
Makedonija vs. República Dominicana
Honduras vs. Hong Kong
Moldova vs. Rossiya
Malta vs. Malaysia
Costa Rica vs. Cymru
Hayastan vs. Belarus
Indonesia vs. Nippon
Andorra vs. India

16/12/2006
Israel vs. Makedonija
República Dominicana vs. Honduras
Hong Kong vs. Shqipëria
Rossiya vs. Malta
Malaysia vs. Costa Rica
Cymru vs. Moldova
Belarus vs. Indonesia
Nippon vs. Andorra
India vs. Hayastan

23/12/2006
Shqipëria vs. Makedonija
Honduras vs. Israel
Hong Kong vs. República Dominicana
Moldova vs. Malta
Costa Rica vs. Rossiya
Cymru vs. Malaysia
Hayastan vs. Indonesia
Andorra vs. Belarus
India vs. Nippon

30/12/2006
República Dominicana vs. Israel
Honduras vs. Shqipëria
Makedonija vs. Hong Kong
Malaysia vs. Rossiya
Costa Rica vs. Moldova
Malta vs. Cymru
Nippon vs. Belarus
Andorra vs. Hayastan
Indonesia vs. India

6/1/2007
Israel vs. Hong Kong
Shqipëria vs. República Dominicana
Makedonija vs. Honduras
Rossiya vs. Cymru
Moldova vs. Malaysia
Malta vs. Costa Rica
Belarus vs. India
Hayastan vs. Nippon
Indonesia vs. Andorra

The first 3 matches of every week are group A, the 2nd 3 are Group B and the final 3 are Group C. As you can see we're part of Group C. I'll definitely be going out for the wins and I certainly think we're capable of doing well.

Very impressive game. Defence did their job very well and u managed to score 1 against them too. Keep up the good work Cloete :).

Very good performance, defence looked very solid.
Midfield wingers could be placed a little bit to the center as their midfielders had a lot of space to build an attack through the center, which caused some troubles (and freekicks).

In attacking positions the defence was drawn back almost to the own penalty area, did you have a particular reason for that ?
I guess it could be the defenders are lacking speed and stamina....

Exactly right. The defenders didn't move at all when the ball was in their half or the first square of ours. I sat them very deep and gave them very little work due to low pace and stamina. I also knew if I sat them quite high the Cymru players would get round the side. Which is exactly what would have happened as they played with 3 forwards, all of whom had tech at least equal to our defenders I think.

For the match against Andorra I'll take a close look at what they did last match and adjust it accordingly. With regards to playing the wingers too wide, I did that deliberately as they had a distinct lack of pace and lowish playmaking. But with highish technique I figured their midfielders would be coming in from the side all the time and we could beat them which happened a bit. Neither winger had any defending and as such there was little point in trying to get them to tackle. Not much pace either.

Thanks for the feedback though guys. Hopefully we get a bit more from Indian players.

Andorra is a dark horse, hopefully they'll come up with 11 players this time ......

Andorra is a dark horse, hopefully they'll come up with 11 players this time ......

you can say that again ;)