All Whites v Socceroos Match Thread
Brown would be a huge loss. Midfield is our weakest area. Weemac is a good player but plays in a totally different way to Brown. You need grunt in a DM someone to run all day, break up opposition attacks, win back the ball, rough them up in defense, win turnover ball for Elliot to distribute. Weemac is more of a gliding/passing type midfielder who is more suited to a more forward or slightly wider role.
without Brown we are f**ked. I feel so much for him, if he is indeed going to miss out on WC. He's the most consistant player both at the Nix and AW's. He runs himself into the ground every week and has scored heaps last season. Elliott is more classy but you saw yesterday that he can't take the full 90' at that level.
+1
Reid looks lost until he slotted in the right centre back later on.
Everyone is a bit harsh on Boyens otherwise, maybe the memory of being the swing and a miss on the back foot against world class opponents at the confederation cup was still there. He is not a right back specialist, if he was, then he would have picked up the Socceroo who scored the 2nd goal and not wait to cover in the centre. He's not that blunder of a blunder. Maybe Jeremy Christie could have done the job at that position?
It's good to know not to place them in those positions and maybe we have to go for a 4-3-3 instead of a 3-4-3 when faced with the same problem.AllWhitebelievr2010-05-25 16:07:21
the team doesn't rely on one player only. but Brown is a KEY player in the team. And I know for sure that worldwide there are much better player in the midfield, but I'm looking at our tiny little Nation.
Who is going to replace him? Barron? McGlinchey could do the job but that's not really his position.
Elliot is another awesome NZ player but way too slow now.
AW's: Need more Brown!
the team doesn't rely on one player only. but Brown is a KEY player in the team. And I know for sure that worldwide there are much better player in the midfield, but I'm looking at our tiny little Nation.
Who is going to replace him? Barron? McGlinchey could do the job but that's not really his position.
Elliot is another awesome NZ player but way too slow now.
AW's: Need more Brown!
Agreed he is very important.
Honestly, who would you least like to lose for the WC?
Arguably Nelsen (best player), Paston (Moss already suspended)....I'd suggest Brown would be third in line.
Who is going to replace him? Oughton!
AW's: Need more Oughton!
Awnsered.
I think the problem for our midfield last night in the second half was partly related to the amount of long ball we played forward. We would be back in defence with our midfield helping there and then as soon as we won the ball we were sending it forward to the front 3 who were holding as high a line as they could. This in turn meant that when the front three recieved the ball the midfield were having to cover too much ground to get to support positions fast enough. I hope we vary our play a bit more so we dont end up with that problem. Even though Fallon, Woods, killen and Smeltz are big lads they can actually play a bit with the ball at their feet. We dont just need to make use of their height but should also make use of their footwork.
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/01/20/86/87/provisional1305.pdf
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/01/20/86/87/provisional1305.pdf
did you read that document, on the front page it says
FIFA required a list of 30 players from all 32 countries prior to 11 May - we gave them such a list. Unlike every other country at the World Cup, we initially released a list of 23 then a list of 7 - FIFA "announced" a list of 30 for every country on 11 May as per their regs.
FIFA will "announce" a list of 23 for every country on 1 June, and the document states very clearly that the list of 23 must come from the list of 30.
After that date, injured players could be replaced by players from outside the 30.
So, in order to include a player from outside the 30 at this point, Ricki would have to include Tim in the 1 June list of 23 just so that he could then name a player not included in his list of 30 after 1 June. If he has to replace Tim, then surely he would want to have that player included in the squad from the earliest date, which means putting him in the list of 23 for 1 June.
Besides, by excluding Duncan from the 30 Ricki was clearly saying that he doesn't rate him. Why would he change his mind now?
Before the two red cards and our two injuries to our attacking midfield players who were shutting them out of the game...
wait...
Ver Beek is lying if he says he didn't make this a tactic. The ref should have penalised them as their actions deserved...and I kinda wished we'd seen some retaliation. FFS Oar was allowed to take a cheap shot at RYAN NELSEN. He shouldn't even be allowed on the same pitch.
Edit: though we should be proud they didn't. And should have finished the job and continued to play them off the pitch
martinb2010-05-25 18:56:41
I think it shows our ranking could be higher. Smeltz is majorly out of form. Had a poor end to his season at Gold Coast. He can play much better than he has so far...
Brown off was a major loss and Elliot had to do a looot more defence and just got tired. McG and Elliot wasn't a combo. Without Brown and Bertos we lost shape and let Aussie play a bit...
FFS Oar was allowed to take a cheap shot at RYAN NELSEN. He shouldn't even be allowed on the same pitch.
More impressive than Reid, definitely - Winston has talent to burn, but Tommy seems to have a cooler head on his shoulders.
yep, bit concerned we lost all shape when brown and bertos came off though.
Agreed.
Agreed.
It feels rather strange that an All Whites side has reasonable depth in both attack and defence. But judging on the performance of those two last night it has to be said that we do. Midfield still a bit light though.