All Whites V Saudi Arabia Friday 6 Sept 6.15am SS2

I'd get Daniel in there

I lolled

And with that Bullion put the reality back into NZ football.

Sigmund(Bertos) Reid Smith Hogg(Lochead)

                            Vicelich(Durante)

Barbarouses(Brockie) Mcglinchey(Howieson) Rojas(Killen)

                              Wood(Smeltz)

Subs: T. Payne, C. James, J. Spoonley,  A. Clapham, J. Musa,

Isn't that 10 players?

Yeh it depends on what formation Ricki picks but these are the players I would have out on the field getting loads of game time together in preparation for the playoff. I was pleasantly surprised he played a back four today.

I thought Barbarouses played really well today even though his finishing wasn't that great he created a few chances (forgot T. Payne)

he had some dodgy moments, but generally had a debut to be happy about. 

a few people on here don't seem to understand the role of a defensive midfielder, especially in a side that is set up to play without the ball for long periods. 

as for never passing forward, watch the game again and you will see that this is just plain wrong. 

he got caught in wide defensive positions a couple of times. 

one of the highlights for me was the work of the midfield three, especially their positioning without the ball.

reid:

thought he was very composed in general play.  looked a class above to me.

what worries me about him is that he loses his head whenever there is conflict.

i also don't like the gamesmanship.  i've got no time for this from a new zealand team.  we've always played hard and fair.

wasn't impressed with wood in this regard either

jeebers, didn't killen look sharp!  full of energy and made good runs

http://youtu.be/wKjxFJfcrcA

I agree people confuse a DM and an AM

Here is where I think he failed in his role

1: the Saudi were allowed to knock 30 y balls through his patrol zone. Durante gets a little slack because he is not a midfielder and Butler is so should know better.

2: ball winning, he did little of it. Most of it was line clearing by the back 4 to get us out

3: he leaves his feet far to often for this level of football

4: as we mentioned, him and Dura got dragged out of position and need to show better positional discipline

Again he was not terrible but I don't think he is the answer - I needed to see more of his wares or at least be able to say 'he is promising'. Ivan is better in that role but whether Ricki wants to play him there is a different story. I thought he coughed up stuff all possession but I also thought he should have been looking for James as opposed to Reid/Smith.

some good points there.  he wouldn't be in my first XI, ideally we'd have a better version of his type of player and by better i mean he would be stronger in each of the four points you mentioned.  but we are so weak in this department that i would rather see either butler or ivan in  midfield than a flurry of wee men.  for me it's substance over style, especially at this stage of our world cup qualifying campaign (i believe that as soon as this one is over we need to re-invent ourselves like we failed to do after the last world cup)

i agree with what you said in point 1:, but believe that our deep back line was equally as culpable for this happening; the field was very stretched

Lochead kicked away long balls that found no-one all day long. Got to go. Hogg a better option but what about this?

Moss

Roux Reid Dura Smith

McGlinchy James Payne/Howieson

Kostsa Wood Rojas

Personally going forward I believe we need to keep the 4-2-3-1 formation if we are to progress on the world stage.. RB and CDM still huge holes but given time I believe one of the youngsters Fenton,Roux or Tuiloma can do a job at RB also was very impressed with James in the middle..

For the qualifying game i'd like to see.

                           Moss

          Siggy   Reid  Smith  Lochhead

                   James    Ivan

         Kosta      Mcglinchey         Rojas

                           Wood

After the qualifiers:

                           Moss

  Fenton/Roux  Reid Smith   Tuiloma

                   James     Keat/Payne

      Kosta      McGlinchey     Rojas

                          Wood  

Does anyone know where you can watch the full game somewhere ?

"The forgotten man of New Zealand football, Chris Killen, has given a timely and spectacular reminder of his goalscoring abilities ..."

Maybe I am biaised, but he how can he be a 'forgotten man' when he has scored 4 goals in the last 5 All Whites games?

From the horses mouth James has been playing DM for his club side. Very odd he didn't get a go there for the all whites. Can only surmise no one has actually watched him play recently. He has to start there on Tuesday

He moved back into that role once Howieson came up. But agree, would like to see him there next game.

(and add in another player to the line up)

yeh that's a tricky one. Siggie shouldn't be right back. Lochie if he isn't playing regularly is a liability at left back and perhaps anyway. Also don't like Emblen. Irrational dislike, but I think Ricki would be better off with a deputy who didn't want to be coach like he did in Brian Turner or was it...Raul Blanco? can't remember...

I had a feeling that to win we might be better off using James like Elliot and putting Wood/Killen with Marco/Smeltz/Kosta upfront and playing like we did last time with Bertos and Brockie as wingbacks ...

                                                   Moss

                                    Siggie    Winnie   Tommy

Bertos                       Howieson/converted CB    James        Brockie

                                 Wee Mac/Marco/Kosta

                        Marco/Kosta         Wood            Killen

I don't think we'll win trying to play ball on the deck slick passing football. Honduras or Panama will be better than us. Kosta on the bench for mine- he's good, will be a good impact player, but I'm not convinced about him starting...The only worry there is that no one has got gas in midfield. 

Unless I am mistaken, you've named far too many players Martin. 

Yes your Emblen thing is irrational. He is a bloody good coach. Next AW coach for me IF he gets his tickets (he has none)

/= this thing means a player bracketed in a position.

343...ahh dammit got one to many mids haven't i....maybe the hodurans won't notice...

I guess i'll be happier with Emblen if he's involved with a successful international team...

Why not tommy smith left back? Dura and Reid CBs. We have more RB options -siggy, Leo, brockie, tuiloma, Roux. They are all better options than Lockhead or Hogg at LB.