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Subject: NT matches: Friendlies
Doesn't matter, that's a lot of ranking points ^^ And Eesti can take back the 3rd place in the world ranking too :))
we play in next week u24 with israel please update players u24
(edited)
(edited)
I think - whoever Nippon's NT coach was this year - that he did a good job!
tactic against dominican republic was too optimistic
Friendlies in this season
week4 Venezuela
week 8 Cameroun
week 12 Canada
week 15 South Africa
week 0 Moldova
week 1 Latvija u25
week4 Venezuela
week 8 Cameroun
week 12 Canada
week 15 South Africa
week 0 Moldova
week 1 Latvija u25
We have a complete schedule for the season. Nippon, as usual, will compete in the Mini World Cup which starts next week. The team will have plenty of tough matches, but we can gain a lot of ranking points from countries like Österreich, Portugal or Slovenija if we succeed in beating their U25. I'm going to use younger players against Nicaragua and O'zbekiston to inspire the training of future NT-players, otherwise I intend to play with our best team on the rest of the matches.
week 2 - Crna Gora
week 3 - MWC group stage
week 4 - MWC group stage
week 5 - MWC group stage
week 6 - MWC best 16 or Andorra
week 7 - MWC quarters or Nicaragua (~U25)
week 8 - MWC semis or Portugal U25
week 9 - MWC final or Österreich reserves
week 10 - Rossiya
week 11 - Pilipinas
week 12 - O'zbekiston
week 13 - República Dominicana
week 14 - Belarus U25
week 15 - Ecuador
week 0 - Bosnia i Hercegovina TBA
week 1 - Slovenija U25
week 2 - Crna Gora
week 3 - MWC group stage
week 4 - MWC group stage
week 5 - MWC group stage
week 6 - MWC best 16 or Andorra
week 7 - MWC quarters or Nicaragua (~U25)
week 8 - MWC semis or Portugal U25
week 9 - MWC final or Österreich reserves
week 10 - Rossiya
week 11 - Pilipinas
week 12 - O'zbekiston
week 13 - República Dominicana
week 14 - Belarus U25
week 15 - Ecuador
week 0 - Bosnia i Hercegovina TBA
week 1 - Slovenija U25
We just had a match against Crna Gora. I decided to go with a generic, conservative tactic since I didn't really know what to expect from them except that I expected a winger hence the five defenders. It worked quite well, defense was stable, the midfield could create chances for the strikers and despite the positioning of the forwards were not so good, we had more than enough clear opportunities to score goals - but that didn't happen. Our opponent's goalkeeper saved every single shot while they managed to convert one of their two headers. It's way too hard to score from one-on-ones and way too easy to do the same from headers, I think this is the biggest flaw in the match engine and now you see why I think that :/
Unlucky loss, at least the team performed well. I'm especially delighted with Fukui, who did a great job in stopping the wing attacks. Hopefully next week against Cuba, we will be able to score and end the long, winless streak Nippon has currently.
Unlucky loss, at least the team performed well. I'm especially delighted with Fukui, who did a great job in stopping the wing attacks. Hopefully next week against Cuba, we will be able to score and end the long, winless streak Nippon has currently.
Nicaragua arranged a match with another opponent, so our U25 team is going to play against Uruguay U24 instead.
In the last two weeks we had matches where we could gain a lot of ranking points with a good result.
Unfortunately last week the Uruguay U24 was too strong for our U25 team. Since the match was arranged on the fly, I had no room for negotiations, the agreement I made with the opponent coach was already favorable for us. Originally I didn't want to play a 5-4-1 but since we only had one decent striker, I had no other choice. However, the match clearly showed that despite the rather decent average rating (~57) the team was weak both on the offense and the defense. The keeper-problem will be solved with Hara, the defenders will manage with a bit of improvement, but the lack of strikers really worries me. Even Endo is weak compared to the current first-team forwards :/
Today, we played with the Portugal U25. While the result itself is satisfactory, we outplayed a slightly stronger opponent and in my opinion we deserved the win. The defense stopped their attacks well, controlled the midfield (mostly) and had more clear opportunities to score, but the divine keeper in their goal played better than ours. I also have to mention that despite our agreement, Portugal had a 26y old player on the pitch, and an important player at that since it was the defender who guarded Kobara. They also had two other 26y olds on the bench so it was definitely intentional and not just a careless mistake. We might have won with a weaker defender at that position, that's why I can't let it pass without pointing it out. I'm afraid that Belarus might do the same so I'm going to review our schedule.
Unfortunately last week the Uruguay U24 was too strong for our U25 team. Since the match was arranged on the fly, I had no room for negotiations, the agreement I made with the opponent coach was already favorable for us. Originally I didn't want to play a 5-4-1 but since we only had one decent striker, I had no other choice. However, the match clearly showed that despite the rather decent average rating (~57) the team was weak both on the offense and the defense. The keeper-problem will be solved with Hara, the defenders will manage with a bit of improvement, but the lack of strikers really worries me. Even Endo is weak compared to the current first-team forwards :/
Today, we played with the Portugal U25. While the result itself is satisfactory, we outplayed a slightly stronger opponent and in my opinion we deserved the win. The defense stopped their attacks well, controlled the midfield (mostly) and had more clear opportunities to score, but the divine keeper in their goal played better than ours. I also have to mention that despite our agreement, Portugal had a 26y old player on the pitch, and an important player at that since it was the defender who guarded Kobara. They also had two other 26y olds on the bench so it was definitely intentional and not just a careless mistake. We might have won with a weaker defender at that position, that's why I can't let it pass without pointing it out. I'm afraid that Belarus might do the same so I'm going to review our schedule.
For the past five weeks, Nippon went undefeated which allowed the team to climb up to the 61st place in the world rankings meaning most likely the NT will clinch a spot in the 4th pot for the next World Cup Qualifying phase.
I'd like to highlight the win over Österreich, even though we were a bit lucky, we managed to capitalize on our chances there. It wasn't their strongest team, but several of their players played in the World Cup so it wasn't a weak line-up either. Anyway, I'm proud of that win.
After that we played a deserved draw with Russia, the two teams were evenly matched; and easily defeated the Philippines with our reserves even though I had to substitute in a few major players to increase the score. Our U25 also performed well against Uzbegistan.
Then Nippon played against the Dominican Republic whose NT-coach is a good friend and a rival of mine in my home country. They were slightly stronger in the attacking department and my tactics are usually not working well against Red_Pirate's tactics which was the case here as well. The team managed to pull off a draw though, so I'm pleased with this result too.
And finally yesterday we had a match against Belarus. As I suspected, their NT-coach screwed me over since they were supposed to play with their U25. At least they didn't field their best team but their reserves instead. In the end, we got defeated 3-0 and Sahara got injured too so the outcome was not even close to positive. Since Nippon was missing its best midfielders due to low form, injury and suspension, the loss is not too surprising though.
Three weeks left in the season, the NT has a rather tough schedule but I want to get at least two wins out of these three matches and end the season on a high note.
I'd like to highlight the win over Österreich, even though we were a bit lucky, we managed to capitalize on our chances there. It wasn't their strongest team, but several of their players played in the World Cup so it wasn't a weak line-up either. Anyway, I'm proud of that win.
After that we played a deserved draw with Russia, the two teams were evenly matched; and easily defeated the Philippines with our reserves even though I had to substitute in a few major players to increase the score. Our U25 also performed well against Uzbegistan.
Then Nippon played against the Dominican Republic whose NT-coach is a good friend and a rival of mine in my home country. They were slightly stronger in the attacking department and my tactics are usually not working well against Red_Pirate's tactics which was the case here as well. The team managed to pull off a draw though, so I'm pleased with this result too.
And finally yesterday we had a match against Belarus. As I suspected, their NT-coach screwed me over since they were supposed to play with their U25. At least they didn't field their best team but their reserves instead. In the end, we got defeated 3-0 and Sahara got injured too so the outcome was not even close to positive. Since Nippon was missing its best midfielders due to low form, injury and suspension, the loss is not too surprising though.
Three weeks left in the season, the NT has a rather tough schedule but I want to get at least two wins out of these three matches and end the season on a high note.