Absolutely F u c k i n g dreadful performance. I'll save myself the last half hour or so and go and do something more productive with the rest of my Sunday afternoon.
We are a lame duck international side. All the bits and pieces are there to make something solid for ourselves on the international scene but we've got a f u c k i n g donkey at the reigns. 😠
I was out playing footy with my mates. Bought a bit of extra data so I could scurry off and watch the game on the sideline. Turned it on just in time to see the ball bobbling past Crocombe for the opener, immediately shut my phone off and ran back on. Knew exactly what was coming
Honestly, we need innovation. I don't care for credentials. Like are there no former players from overseas looking to have a shot at coaching. We need someone with some overseas perspective that can give a new dimension to this team. If we keeping looking for homegrown coaches we'll keep pigeon holing our philosophy to this oceanic style that we play that's outdated and utterly trash. We're just missing out on things we aren't exposed to and that's why we can only play wellish against Vanuatu.
Horrid performance by the All whites today. Training run for Mexico! Bazeley must surely be questoned around his tenior now. He ran a very unwilming campaign via the Olympics.. The team have no identity. Greenace and Bullock the same.. Boys club right now.
Think our closest chance to a goal all game was Smith at that corner.
Yip. Smith was the only person in white to get an attacking movement to threaten their goal. Wood and Waine may as well have stayed here in the thunder and lightning of England and watched on the net like me.
Supporter world's best and worst football teams: Waikato/WaiBop, Kingz, Knights, Phoenix, The Argyle, The Whites & the All Whites
Wait until after the USA game before writing Bazeley completely off, we are going to get much more favourable weather in Ohio midweek.
If we see the same thing again then NZF probably should start looking for a top coach to take over on a short term basis in 2026, Hiddink for Australia style. Though of course they won't. Bazeley will be coaching us at the World Cup I'm afraid.
Absolutely woeful. Every single player out there today should hold their head in shame.
The core group of this squad have been together long enough to put up a better fight and better football.
It’s time we start demanding answers and people in the media start asking the coach some tough questions because to me it seems like a get together/ catch up every single International Break.
Don’t wanna hear that 2026 and beyond is the goal.
What have we been doing the last 5 years? No time to waste in International football to await for players to come through and get better. You work with what you have and go out and do a job.
I’ve genuinely not seen any improvement in our NT performances since we lost vs Costa Rica in 2022. Players have obviously improved yes and we have more playing at higher levels than ever before, but our style of play is absolutely abysmal and we look like a bunch of individuals out there.
yes but you have weeks to acclimatise for a world cup, rather than being dumped into those conditions, against a team already well accustomed to said conditions, what is more important right now is developing our style of play which is almost impossible in such conditions coochiee
imanixsupporter
This is honestly a waste of time... 37 degrees. Mexico players are far, far more accustomed to such temperatures. We were DOA. NZF needs to learn a lesson for this and not schedule friendlies in hot areas/months.
This could be exactly sort of weather encounter in 2026
Is some truth with that. 37 degrees is horrid conditions. Don't remember ever seeing a game Stateside with water breaks.
But Stamenic, Cacace & Old have all been doing pre season in a hot European summer. Boxy & Tuiloma play in the US summer. Bell & Garbett played at the toasty Olympics. Barba, Smith & Crocs were in Vanuatu.
Gave up trying to sort out FIFA+ so watch it on a half screen without sound through some Mexican feed. Bit hard to comment but it looked a poor performance. Whatever Hay's merits as a coach, he was a strong character. A poor showing means the players should be getting some hair dryer treatment. Doubt that is Baze.
We keep forgetting Storm won the A league. This is what I think. Thoughts ?
I like it. Although I'd like to see Rojas get some serious minutes under his belt with the Nix this season first before getting another tilt at a starting XI for the AW's. Should be a pretty manageable task that.
As for Roux, for whatever the reason, it seems that there is a smoldering bridge somewhere that hasn't been tended to that's stopping him from being called up. Would like to have seen Wilkins first and foremost to be honest (either left or right - even if off the bench) but whatever is going on with the Roux situation needs to be looked at.
Can't believe this Hay revisionism. Hay had a much, much better squad at his disposal for the Olympics, and a far, far easier group. He didn't pick a Boxall in his absolute prime for the intercontinental playoff. And his final game, a 2-0 loss at home against a second-string Australia, was one of the worst football games I've seen live.
Bazeley may not be the answer but if he isn't then Hay wasn't either.
What the actual hell is this. Why do we keep selecting Boxall and Smith? Genuinely thought it was a joke . They are well passed it now. We all know our younger boys are more effective than our older ones
Thought perhaps Stamenic could have been put back into CB with Boxall. The Rufer and Bell in the midfield at least gives us our form players on the field.
Can't believe this Hay revisionism. Hay had a much, much better squad at his disposal for the Olympics, and a far, far easier group. He didn't pick a Boxall in his absolute prime for the intercontinental playoff. And his final game, a 2-0 loss at home against a second-string Australia, was one of the worst football games I've seen live.
Bazeley may not be the answer but if he isn't then Hay wasn't either.
Hay was better than Bazeley. More ego, more identity and had an idea of what he wanted from his teams.
As regards the Olympics squad, why did he know so late? Given the tournament he’d just had in the islands, surely he was able to have plans B and C in case two preseason tournaments were too many for many of his European contracted players?
He plays classic old football- wait until the momentum has swung away from you and they score and then make subs. Except in Bazeley’s case, wait a further ten minutes and until they’ve scored twice.
Bazeley was a disorganised mess in organising who was in fact available or not available for the Olympics.
I mean Jesus that wasn’t rocket science and half of this forum would have done a better job.
If he can’t organise that side of things then he isn’t going to be able to coach and organise a football team.
Think there will come a time soon when the Woods of this world start getting fudgeed off and I hope that happens soon because it’s the only possible chance of him being replaced.
yes but you have weeks to acclimatise for a world cup, rather than being dumped into those conditions, against a team already well accustomed to said conditions, what is more important right now is developing our style of play which is almost impossible in such conditions coochiee
imanixsupporter
This is honestly a waste of time... 37 degrees. Mexico players are far, far more accustomed to such temperatures. We were DOA. NZF needs to learn a lesson for this and not schedule friendlies in hot areas/months.
This could be exactly sort of weather encounter in 2026
It could also be much worse. The humidity is low in California and it's September. It could be hotter than 37 and more humid in July of 2026. You could also play a number of matches indoors or at night, there's no way of knowing until the draw, but experiencing this weather is a positive IMO.
Sure having time to acclimatize will help, but you can't really acclimatize to extreme heat. At some point you have to play at a certain tempo and you have to possess the ball a fair amount otherwise you're going to dead on your feet. Hopefully there's a lesson in there too about using your subs sooner than you might normally.
You talk about developing a style of play and obviously that is important, but if that style of play isn't adaptable to playing in the summer in the Western Hemisphere, I think it's a missed opportunity at the World Cup.
I can usually find a positive spin in the most dire All Whites games but that was truly woeful. It’s like Bazeley has no clue about tactics. We have the best squad we’ve had in years but when we play we are worse than the sum of our parts. I didn’t expect to win but I did expect a reasonable showing. We didn’t get that. It was a training run for a second string Mexican side who didn’t go all out. However, as terrible as the coaching is, the players were pretty unimpressive too. Key lowlights for me: - Crocombe flapping at the ball for their first goal; - Boxall’s passing game was non-existent; - Bell looked gassed in the warm up; - Cacace had a few terrible touches early on but came right; - Tuiloma’s fitness; - Very few instances of stringing good plays together.
We will never be at Mexico’s level but I would love to see us give a good showing vs teams in the 40 - 60 ranking space. Based on what I saw we won’t be doing that any time soon.
Boxy was very poor today. His ball speed is a liability. Notice the difference when Nando came on - gives our wide men time to put their head up rather than put them under pressure.
The ball speed was obviously spoken about at half time as second half was better.
Also Boxy just seem to get the ball stuck at his feet with sloppy touches.
We can’t have a CB with that level of technical issues if we are trying to play this way.
Still athletic but not sure he’s an option for 2026 purely based on the style of play. Even Smith looked better than him today but quite some distance. MetalLegNZ
Nelfoos
Titsmcgee
What the actual hell is this. Why do we keep selecting Boxall and Smith? Genuinely thought it was a joke . They are well passed it now. We all know our younger boys are more effective than our older ones
Boxall is more than good enough to be there. BIndon would be starting but is concussed. But yeah Surman > Pijnaker > Smith.
Smith has been better than Boxall today. Boxall's passing has been very poor. He hasn't led the line well at all.
Payne needs some game time clearly - so off pace it was embarrassing.
That’s a little harsh. I think we do have those players now.
Our game plan is putting us under pressure - ie key passes from non ball playing CBs. Ie we need two 6’s if we are going to “carry” 2 non balling playing CBs. So they can rotate.
And our tempo and ball speed are shocking- think England at the euros. Guys need to work on this like they do a press on defence- know when to lift gears. Palau
Why can’t we have midfielders who can control the ball in tight areas and value possession and play with attacking intent like the Mexicans. In 70mins of football I don’t recall Wood receiving one quality ball. We desperately need a match fit Singh to create those chances otherwise we will only ever be a team who scores from set pieces.
Yeah that game likely takes 1-2k off Auckland FC attendances going forward. I have never seen a more laboured and don’t give a toss match. imanixsupporter
Can't believe this Hay revisionism. Hay had a much, much better squad at his disposal for the Olympics, and a far, far easier group. He didn't pick a Boxall in his absolute prime for the intercontinental playoff. And his final game, a 2-0 loss at home against a second-string Australia, was one of the worst football games I've seen live.
Bazeley may not be the answer but if he isn't then Hay wasn't either.
I think this game highlighted that we need to play with two 6’s. If our wingbacks are going to push then we leave ourselves very exposed. Think the Mexican chance at the end of the first half when Libby was forward and Old was having to track back.
So I think we need to play a 4-2-3-1
We can then split the two CBs when we transition and rotate the two 6’s. It’s too much to ask of Bell to do that role alone when our CBs are so poor playing out.
If Marco or Garnett drops back to rotate I feel we lose impetuous moving forward.
Other thing is ball speed. No point having the ball if your pass just outs the next guy under pressure. Boxall as ball speed was as slow as an over 40’s player holding backs as not to do a hammy. Not good enough.
It's a pity footie is still a minority code back home in the public's eye, even though its NZ's most played sport.
If the ABs, BlackCaps or the English football/rugby teams served up that shower of shark, the public and media outcry would ensure the coach would be looking for a new gig today.
But this is NZ football, we'll bitch here, the media will stay quiet and we will be the worst team at the 2026 WC after which Baz will retire as only the third person to lead NZ at a FIFA Mens WC. 🤬
Supporter world's best and worst football teams: Waikato/WaiBop, Kingz, Knights, Phoenix, The Argyle, The Whites & the All Whites
danny hay picked Pijnaker and Tuiloma over Boxall against Costa Rica, he had no clue either. Shane71
Danny Hays teams were better at the oylmpics and the national team. Bazeley is leading us nowhere.
I agree that Boxy should have started, gutted me to spend all that money to go to the game and see him bench warm behind players worse then him but that AW side would have been all over today's side.
When I ran I to the team and Hay the day after you could taste the disappointment in the air. This coach would be stocked to achieve that result.
Supporter world's best and worst football teams: Waikato/WaiBop, Kingz, Knights, Phoenix, The Argyle, The Whites & the All Whites
Can't believe this Hay revisionism. Hay had a much, much better squad at his disposal for the Olympics, and a far, far easier group. He didn't pick a Boxall in his absolute prime for the intercontinental playoff. And his final game, a 2-0 loss at home against a second-string Australia, was one of the worst football games I've seen live.
Bazeley may not be the answer but if he isn't then Hay wasn't either.
No. The form Kiwi CB in first half of 2022 was Tuiloma. That slimmer version was on fire in the MLS, the first few months of that year. 5 goals by the end of May 2022, some of them absolute screamers as free kicks or with his head.
Remember Singh was unavailable for the CR playoff, and Billy T provided some welcome optimism even excitement, that the AWs could yes score a goal. Those attacking qualities papering over some of the cracks in his defensive game. But back then he was a must pick. Then Pijnaker came on at HT against Peru in the big warmup game and played well. Linking nicely with Libby, and Garbett (who had a storming game) down the left.
2 problems with Boxy then were, he was basically competing for Reid's spot in the centre of the 3 CBs, plus he missed quite a bit of the AWs buildup to CR game in preceding 12 months. Missed the Tokyo Olympics (shadow AWs), Jan 2022 window, plus the March 2022 OFC WC tourney. He was always sort of behind the 8 ball, missing games, when others like Nando were ever present. With reflection Boxall should have played against CR, but the whole defensive unit were to blame for Campbell's early soft goal. No gtee Boxy being there would have stopped it.
I just think after's today's poor performance the team needs a bit of a rocket. Ideally from the coach, and/or some louder stronger leaders in the group. But this team doesn't really have a Nelsen or Reid inspiring strong type of personality. From afar I don't think that is the Woodsman, or Boxy. Tommy Smith maybe. Certainly not Bazeley, and this is where I think Hay is really missed.
Badly need to see a reaction against USMNT, who themselves are under pressure after losing to Canada. If it's another meek AWs display against the US, then I will join the Baze #out brigade. They will undoubtedly have higher quality players than us on average across the park, but we can play much better than today.
Speak for yourself with that "with reflection" stuff, my heart sunk when I saw that starting XI for the Costa Rica game. Sure Tuiloma was on hot streak as a goal scorer at that time but even then we all knew that neither he or Pijnaker were reliable defensively. Tuiloma even then wasn't even a consistent 90 minute starter, he actually never has been throughout his MLS career.
Defense is what gets you through big tournaments and big occasions and it was unbelievably naiive from Hay to disregard such experience and solidity that day. We were punished immediately when Tuiloma allowed the winger to get past him with ridiculous ease, from a throw in situation, to put in the cross for that goal. Boxall would never have if he had been the RCB at that moment.
As for missing leadership, I think Rufer could provide that, if given the opportunity. I think Wood is a fairly good leader but it is just difficult to have a lot of vocal influence on the team when you are very isolated all the way up front all the time.
With Bazeley in charge this is the kind of sharke performance we can expect going forward - he continues to show a lack of vision in his selections, trapsing out the same old lineup that struggles everytime. Still selecting Bell despite multiple recent games where he has not shown his best, same with Boxall and Smith. The latter should be nowhere near an AW's short again. As for the keeper selections, WTF? He has three keepers in the squad and picks one who has had an ok season in league one, two from the Aleague (one of which was the best keeper in the league). I half expected Sail to be given the gloves, but I'm hoping he gives them to Paulsen against the US. Up front we have the ability to score, but right now our midfielders can't deliver the ball to them consistently to be a theat. Bell has to go, get Rufer on the pitch, even a half fit Singh would have done better. Garbett and Stamenic need to be showing more too. Thye come with all the hype but the performances need to be better.
