And congratulations Nelfoos! Enjoy it, they grow up so quickly.
All Whites v USA | Cincinnati |Wed 11th Sept | 11:00am | FIFA+
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And congratulations Nelfoos! Enjoy it, they grow up so quickly.
Gold Cup is scheduled to start on June 14, so there may be limited time for friendlies in CONCACAF, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. There was talk of a big tournament with invited teams from three other confederations, but we shall see.
After they were flayed in the media again and with another sparse crowd in the stands, Aguirre got Mexico to raise their intensity level in their match with Canada. The result was Mexico committing 12 fouls in 20 minutes and a match that had no flow, few chances and more than 40 combined fouls. I thought Mexico had some good moments towards the end (a Mexican friend said Canada had more of the ball and Mexico had more of the chances and I think that's a fair summation), but it was a pretty grim affair.
Canada was in a bad way 12-14 months ago and is now on a good run of momentum after a managerial change. I fully expect Mexico and the U.S. to be similarly rejuvenated in a year or less. The Mexico v U.S. match next month is going to be very interesting.
And congratulations Nelfoos! Enjoy it, they grow up so quickly.
Piney promised an update to the All Whites power rankings yesterday, before getting distracted by the Klimkova news. May have to wait til Monday for it. I expect Rufer, Crocombe, Rogerson & Surman to get a bit of a bump, maybe Wilkins & Sutton (despite not appearing) and Old & Pijnaker too. Boxall in particular to drop down a little.
Wonder if Storm Roux gets any sort of mention, given Tuiloma was given a bit of a runaround by Pulisic at RB.
Wonder if Storm Roux gets any sort of mention, given Tuiloma was given a bit of a runaround by Pulisic at RB.
As a side note, pretty sure I read Roux made himself unavailable for the Nations Cup in June, which if true would suggest he's still in the wider picture.
Fair enough to make himself unavailable with a young family, and a lot of time away with the Mariner's big ALM season/Asian campaign.
Picking Wilkins to cover both LB & RB, at face value seemed a good idea. He's in season and playing both sides at a top level in Denmark. Bugger he got injured. If he'd come on instead of Tuiloma, he may have closed Pulisic down for that goal.
I'd say the biggest head scratcher re Roux, is Bazeley overlooking him for the games in Egypt in March, picking Ingham instead. But don't see Roux currently as any real upgrade on Payne.
Fair enough to make himself unavailable with a young family, and a lot of time away with the Mariner's big ALM season/Asian campaign.
Picking Wilkins to cover both LB & RB, at face value seemed a good idea. He's in season and playing both sides at a top level in Denmark. Bugger he got injured. If he'd come on instead of Tuiloma, he may have closed Pulisic down for that goal.
I'd say the biggest head scratcher re Roux, is Bazeley overlooking him for the games in Egypt in March, picking Ingham instead. But don't see Roux currently as any real upgrade on Payne.
Agree he isn't a big upgrade but he's on Payne's level, maybe slightly more capable going forward and slightly less solid defensively. but it's ideal to have a like-for-like replacement, as currently the likes of Tuiloma, Kirwan, Ingham & Elliot are miles behind. Sheridan currently a dark horse, looks promising enough to exceed Payne's level but hard to tell so early in his career.
We all had such high hopes for Elliot, he was so good for the Nix at the tail end of the first COVID affected season, starting ahead of Payne & Fenton at RB, but I don't think he has ever reached that level since he left for Greece over 4 years ago. Needs a big season to get back in the conversation.
We all had such high hopes for Elliot, he was so good for the Nix at the tail end of the first COVID affected season, starting ahead of Payne & Fenton at RB, but I don't think he has ever reached that level since he left for Greece over 4 years ago. Needs a big season to get back in the conversation.
Payne is weird. I swear his best work was shutting down that right side under a lot of pressure, preventing shots and crosses and also making the run to get on the end of a cross for Just just before he was taken off. That was top drawer stuff.
When he’s not at peak form he always looks like he’s about to break down and he’s often yelling at people.
We need attack from him which we didn’t get so much in that game, but it’s a tough game with good opponents. And if he goes up we have to cover him. He is demanding selection off the back of his great attacking season last year.
IIRC Roux probably has been playing around the fringes of the box more as part of a dominant team. But not so much on transition and not so much late into the box? I wanna say he’s fitter, but maybe his body language is just a bit less readable than Payne’s.
It’s fair to say RB is a spot we’re missing some consistency at, whereas at CB and in the midfield we have top drawer options currently, and Old wherever we play him is also capable. Hard to know if Roux or another candidate would provide that?
That was definitely Gary Neville’s virtue- the reliability of being consistently 85% is better than someone with a ceiling at 97%, but sometimes brings a 71% effort.
Is it wrong to also wonder if we could use Libby somewhere else? Right wing? Get the ball, run at defenders, find Wood or … anyone in the box or drop on your left and pick a spot. Just a thought.
I guess these are the last little tweaks and changes that can make an international manager.
When he’s not at peak form he always looks like he’s about to break down and he’s often yelling at people.
We need attack from him which we didn’t get so much in that game, but it’s a tough game with good opponents. And if he goes up we have to cover him. He is demanding selection off the back of his great attacking season last year.
IIRC Roux probably has been playing around the fringes of the box more as part of a dominant team. But not so much on transition and not so much late into the box? I wanna say he’s fitter, but maybe his body language is just a bit less readable than Payne’s.
It’s fair to say RB is a spot we’re missing some consistency at, whereas at CB and in the midfield we have top drawer options currently, and Old wherever we play him is also capable. Hard to know if Roux or another candidate would provide that?
That was definitely Gary Neville’s virtue- the reliability of being consistently 85% is better than someone with a ceiling at 97%, but sometimes brings a 71% effort.
Is it wrong to also wonder if we could use Libby somewhere else? Right wing? Get the ball, run at defenders, find Wood or … anyone in the box or drop on your left and pick a spot. Just a thought.
I guess these are the last little tweaks and changes that can make an international manager.
Gold Cup is scheduled to start on June 14, so there may be limited time for friendlies in CONCACAF, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. There was talk of a big tournament with invited teams from three other confederations, but we shall see.
After they were flayed in the media again and with another sparse crowd in the stands, Aguirre got Mexico to raise their intensity level in their match with Canada. The result was Mexico committing 12 fouls in 20 minutes and a match that had no flow, few chances and more than 40 combined fouls. I thought Mexico had some good moments towards the end (a Mexican friend said Canada had more of the ball and Mexico had more of the chances and I think that's a fair summation), but it was a pretty grim affair.
Canada was in a bad way 12-14 months ago and is now on a good run of momentum after a managerial change. I fully expect Mexico and the U.S. to be similarly rejuvenated in a year or less. The Mexico v U.S. match next month is going to be very interesting.