All Whites v Korea | Tuesday 31st March | 11:50pm | SS1

Wow.... That's certainly radical enough.

if they say this, obviously he would have been there. Some big, big calls here. Exciting stuff. No Brockie even though he's scored four from four. 

"Jake Gleeson, who played in goal on the previous tour to China and Thailand, was unavailable for selection through injury."

No Tommy Smith

No Jeremy Brockie

No Glen Moss

This definitely sounds like a case of checking out two new goal keepers as Hudson continues to look for a back up to Moss.

He has to be just trialling players cause there is no Jessie Edge or Adam Mitchell that were in the last squad. He is certainly casting his net wide to see what talent he has. I guess when you are in his shoes, there is only one way you find out if your cattle is good enough or not and that's to pick them and find out.

I wonder what the go with Tommy Smith is though?

Also am I right in thinking Sam Burfoot never played for NZ U20s?

Ipswich are in the play off hunt. At this point in time, do you want to see what you have around and potentially have an EPL Tommy Smith, or pick him, Ipswich lose and a Championship Tommy Smith?

Isnt Chris Wood out on loand at Ipswich?

He was in UK at the time and arrived back in NZ to late to be selected

How bad can this affect the Nix? Game on the 29th, possible play off games. Not what I would call great timing.

I thought he would pick Tim Payne

Same with Cameron Howieson

How many defenders does that leave the nix for those crucial games??

Big advantages of being in Wanderers squad, opposed to elsewhere perhaps.

Can someone please update the Wikipedia page?

The latest squad got announced and my OCD is killing me cause it hasn't been updated.

I would do it myself, but I am not sure how to do it.

I tried and it was like [swg] >> [56 Smith] - [IPS,ENG]. I don't get it. 

Yes.

Hudsons got balls...I'll give him that

Green green defense....less than forty caps for eight players and Winston has got nearly half of those....ditto the midfield, Tuiloma is the second most experianced player

I can see Hudsons strategy....this squad has an Olympic look about it. He is in danger of a big thumping away in Korea with these players. Will questions start to be asked?  Probably not but there will be rumblings if we get a heavy defeat.

OTBC

No Jeremy Brockie - 4 goals in 4 games
No Chris James - arguably NZ's best player in the world cup play offs
No Tommy Smith - NZ's second best centre halve
No Cam Howieson - talented young player
No Tim Payne - talented young player
No Andrew Durante - NZ's third best centre halve
No Glen Moss - NZ's number 1 keeper
No Jake Gleeson - NZ's number 2 keeper
No Scott Basilaj - arguably NZ's number 3 keeper
No Shane Smeltz - in hot form right now in Sydney
 
I know there are reasons alot of these players weren't picked but still that is a HUGE number of experienced/good first team/close to first team players to not have in a squad to face Korea of all the teams.

Agree with this, but here is my take at it.

Chris James - Hasn't been called up since Uzbekistan, but maybe he doesn't fit the playing style of Hudson? 

Tommy Smith - Ipswich are in playoffs for promotion, I am a Norwich fan, and I would love to see them go up cause that means another NZ player in premier league etc.

Tim Payne - I heard he is on trial in the USA with Portland Timbers

Andrew Durante - is 32, turning 33 this year, for my liking a bit old but still good, but I see where Hudson is going and promoting youth for the All Whites

Glen Moss - Still looking for a back up for Mossy I reckon, but really dodgy against a strong side like South Korea

Jake Gleeson - Injured

Shame Smeltz - Yeah red hot form, but again, same issue as Durante, want to build for 2018.

The others, I have no clue why they weren't picked, but yeah, I could be wrong, but thats what I have heard.

In my opinion, Ricki Herbert was a good manager, a little too defensive for my own liking, but he wouldn't have done anything like what Hudson is trying to do now and as far as I know, if Herbert was still around, Lochhead and Christie would have been picked to play against South Korea. I like what Hudson is doing right now, and the squad seems very interesting so we will see what happens on the 31st :)

Have you actually watched the pravda interview with hudson below?

He clearly outlines his reasoning and why we have to play countries of the calibre of S Korea. My initial thoughts were "lambs to the slaughter" but I agree with Hudson that he needs to blood some new players. He's been transparent with us which is bloody awesome. I like his reasoning and I'm prepared for him to have some rope in these windows. Try to have a little faith.

I know you have to start somewhere but I'm picking we will get hammered in Korea.

I was going to do a similar breakdown. I would agree with most of this (except wanting to see Ipswich go up!). Now is the time in the WC cycle to try these guys - not 1 yr out. 

remember last time around Tim Brown got injured and we had to get Godfather out of retirement. not saying that was a bad thing - it would be good to know just how strong our depth is.

So long as they don't put in a substandard performance like Thailand then i'll be reasonably satisified.

Don't really want to see a world cup team in 2018 with two players "Unattached" players and 1 player who works full time in a bank again. But yeah, now is the best time, Herbert called Reid and Smith into the squad last minute in 2010, but lets be honest, he was lucky they were actually good. 

OTBC :P

Good point! but the All Whites SHOULD be playing two teams every international window, 1 Class team like South Korea, and 1 average as team like Philippines or something. The average team can be where all these players make their debut. 

If however you look at the players who are not in the squad, only two would be guarenteed of selection in the first eleven - if we were playing Mexico in a world cup qualifier tomorrow (Moss and Smith). Smiths absence could solely be down to Ipswich going for promotion.

So the actual team that lines up against Korea may not be too far of the finished article. Hudson does however get to spend a week looking at everyone (contact time I believe he calls it)

6 Nix in the squad, will they be gone for the game on the 29th, or is this what the charity game is about - to test and see who might be worth a call up or a recall to the game?

http://www.3news.co.nz/sport/eight-new-faces-in-al...

Hudson said Smith, Durante, Moss and Brockie left out because he wants to know more about young players in their positions and they would have been selected if we were playing two games.

I think that as much as there will be be people that absolutely hate it, there is one in-escapable fact: Hudson has been more transparent and upfront about the plans that any football manager I have ever heard of. 

This was not a surprise. Sure the names might be, but he said up front "half this team will be kids so some players will be rested" He has put his entire hand on the table, stuck his colours to the mast and is absolutely going with it. Yes we might get thrashed but I suspect he knows that's very much a possibility. He didn't pick a team to win, but to find out what he has.

In that respect, I can only say that I find him refreshingly honest in contrast to what is NZF and he has my support. If we get thrashed, I'll be able to look at the bigger picture on the Monday. You can guarantee on the Monday, Hudson will never die wondering that's for sure.

I agree with you Jeff but I wish he wasn't picking the Korea game as the one to do it. I can see us conceding 5+ goals. Not happy about that.  

Where is our second fixture in this window NZ football?

In 2.5 years we will be playing a massive play-off game to qualify for the world cup, probably against a team that on paper is significantly better than us. Maybe Hudson is looking to work with a core nucleus of players over this 2.5 years, moudling them into a very tight defensive unit that is able to contain teams and try to pinch a goal on the break. I can see some kind of plan where if we play South Korea now we lose 5-0, if we play them in a year we lose 2-0, and if we play them in 2 years we draw 0-0.

Yeah, it's not just trying players out to see if they're good enough, but also giving them that experience of travelling with the team, going to a different environment in terms of culture and maybe climate, and playing against quality opposition. If we have that playoff game and 4 or 5 first  teamers are injured or suspended then the guys being called upon to step up into the squad and maybe get some game time are going to be coming into an environment they're at least somewhat familiar with.

Hudson idea is a good one. I like seeing players like Crocombe, Stevens, Burfoot and Wynne getting a chance but I doubt about some others, I would prefer to see Brockie instead of de Vries (who's not so young) or Basalaj (maybe Moss considering the other side) instead of Marinovic. It's ok if he wants to bring some kids to the team but not so many, specially against South Korea. I can't see us even getting a draw with this squad. NZF should arrenge these friendlies but also others against minor sides like Myanmar, India or Indonesia

If you watch the interview you'll see exactly why we are playing a team of South Korea's calibre. This isn't about winning the next game it's about qualifying for the world cup.

I understand that but there's a difference between playing a game not caring about the result and get trashed