The performance against Mexico was poor. Wood acknowledged that. He promised a reaction to that, and fair to the team and Bazeley they did respond.
Fair bit of luck today. Pepi's first half goal is not ruled out, and the game may have gone differently. Then yes Waineo with a flukey one. But most importantly the team played much better.
I was watching without sound on a US stream that kept dropping out, but from that limited viewpoint I liked the Bell, Rufer & Stamenic midfield. We just seemed far more defensively solid today, less over run. That then gives you something to build off, and grow confidence from. Some of the counter attacking esp in the 2nd half was exciting. Especially with subs like Old on. Maybe that's his best role for now with the AWs. Off the pine with 35 mins to go, as bodies tire, and the field opens up.
Sure the FIFA rankings can be misleading, but these 2 teams, Mexico (17th) & USA (16th) are the highest ranked teams we have played in a long time. Even Sweden who thrashed us 4-1 last June are only in at 29th. Australia at 24th. Against these teams we ain't going to win the possession stakes - even if we are better than the past - so we need to be set up defensively solid, and ready to pounce on the counter. This is especially true when we don't have Singh. Is just a continuous pattern now that without Singh, Wood lacks service.
No doubt the Mexico performance was hindered by the heat, and limited preparation time. If NZT can get Bazeley a very solid leadup campaign from mid 2025 onwards, including 2-3 quality friendlies just before the 2026 WC, I'm optimistic we can play more like today, than 3 days ago at the 2026 big dance. We will also need to be lucky with injuries come then. If both Wood and Singh were both out for example, it could all be very toothless. Bad enough when one is absent. So fingers crossed after a long 2025/26 European season we get lucky with a healthy squad.
FYI - 0-0 at HT in Texas between Mexico & Canada.
Fair bit of luck today. Pepi's first half goal is not ruled out, and the game may have gone differently. Then yes Waineo with a flukey one. But most importantly the team played much better.
I was watching without sound on a US stream that kept dropping out, but from that limited viewpoint I liked the Bell, Rufer & Stamenic midfield. We just seemed far more defensively solid today, less over run. That then gives you something to build off, and grow confidence from. Some of the counter attacking esp in the 2nd half was exciting. Especially with subs like Old on. Maybe that's his best role for now with the AWs. Off the pine with 35 mins to go, as bodies tire, and the field opens up.
Sure the FIFA rankings can be misleading, but these 2 teams, Mexico (17th) & USA (16th) are the highest ranked teams we have played in a long time. Even Sweden who thrashed us 4-1 last June are only in at 29th. Australia at 24th. Against these teams we ain't going to win the possession stakes - even if we are better than the past - so we need to be set up defensively solid, and ready to pounce on the counter. This is especially true when we don't have Singh. Is just a continuous pattern now that without Singh, Wood lacks service.
No doubt the Mexico performance was hindered by the heat, and limited preparation time. If NZT can get Bazeley a very solid leadup campaign from mid 2025 onwards, including 2-3 quality friendlies just before the 2026 WC, I'm optimistic we can play more like today, than 3 days ago at the 2026 big dance. We will also need to be lucky with injuries come then. If both Wood and Singh were both out for example, it could all be very toothless. Bad enough when one is absent. So fingers crossed after a long 2025/26 European season we get lucky with a healthy squad.
FYI - 0-0 at HT in Texas between Mexico & Canada.