All Whites Player of the Tournament

 

Granted Paston, Elliot, Reid and Smith had outstanding tournaments but Nelson is easily our best player and showed this in every game. Based on the games so far he should be in the tournament team.

 

If this was a school team it might go to Paston who played far beyond expectations, but this is the World Cup.

 

This is without taking into account Nelson's leadership which was crucial. It helped create an enviroment that brought the best out of the team. IMHO the key to our success was belief in ourselves and not backing down, Fallon's bullish confidence certainly helped but the belief was built on Nelson's leadership.

 

Reid and Smith were so impressive. They will hopefully be the bedrock of the AWs defence for years to come. They have maturity beyond their years.

 

Paston: let's face it, most of us feared the worst after his howler against Slovenia in the warm up game, but he proved us wrong in brilliant fashion. That double save today was one of the best at the WC so far in my opinion. He's been getting rave reviews from different commentators, journos, etc. Michael Lynch even named him one of his 10 'up and coming players of the tournament' (maybe a bit odd given that Paston's 34 years old!). I love that close up of him coming off the field at the end of the Italy match, all stern and strong, then he drops the facade and gives a big proud/humble grin.

 

Elliott played way beyond my expectations. Thought he was too old, slow and fragile but he was nothing of the sort. Tireless on defence, lovely long raking passes, and fluid one-touch passes to ease pressure and mount attacks.

 

Those are the players who stood out for me, but I thought the whole lot of them were wonderful.

 

My MOT is Neilson purely because of the way he seemed to be always in command, must of been a real boon to the young guys beside him.

 

Ellyatt is my number 2, he seemed to be the consumate midfielder, great distribution, calm under pressure.

 

Reed my number 3, he looked so composed, has great presence and didn't look outclassed at any point [and I'm not forgetting the Slovakia offside goal either]

 

Then Pastin, after his shakey start he hardly put a foot wrong. I'd expect a keeper to shine when under such presuure but after the start of the Italy game i didn't clench my butt cheeks every time the ball went near him. ?If I saw a cross coming over I'd think to myself - that;s OK Marc will get that easy.

 

Ones I thought did pretty well were:

 

Smit - solid, already at a good level club and is up to him to show them he is worth a starting spot - then who knows.

Vicelik - solid

Lockhead - solid

Berttoss - much improved from the Italy game on, I thought he looked back to his best and has regained his confidence.

Smellst - did his chances of playing in a higher league no harm at all. His goal, the cross for Reed's goal and other touches around the field made him our top striker and think that would have impressed some overseas clubs - at how high a level we will have to see.

Would - didn't see enough of him but he worked hard. He didn't really need a good Wc in terms of attracting interest, he already is in a Prem club and its up to him to impress there.

 

Those that didn't do much [by their standards]

Falloon - he didn't do anything to bring the chequebooks out. Busy but didn't achieve much. At the highest level players like him are quickly worked out and nullified by tactics fair and foul. Look at some of those other strikers on display like that Vitek? at Slovakia - they just latch on chances quickly and score. Different style of player I know but at the top level they pay strikers to score goals not to work hard.

Killain - bit the same as Roary; will have to depend on his championship form to get himself a new contract - did nothing to excite buyers in this tournament.

 

Others:

 

Barrin - absolutely fantastic, did not put a foot wrong during the entire WC. At no stage outclassed and looked to have the freshest legs of anyone when on the park. Also kept his shorts the cleanest of any player in the tournament.

 

Special note:

 

Ritchie Herebet - was very critical of him during the bad patch with the Nix but am now a die-hard fan of him. I think the strength about him is that he builds a great team culture - look at both the AWs and Nix, they all seem happy and have that work for each other till I die sort of mentality [epitomised by Siggy's attitude]. Tactical coaching is one thing [and he looks to have got at least 9/10 at the WC] but its this attitude that makes teams with lesser talent than others triumph over teams of stars and dollars.

 

That is all.... [and get over yourselves about the spelling of player's names - we all know who people are talking about, its the content of what is written rather than the spelling that is important.]