All Whites Vs El Salvador SS3 1pm

All Whites to tackle US run without stars

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/soccer-football/news/article.cfm?c_id=86&objectid=10805467

"Ryan Nelsen, Winston Reid, Rory Fallon and Tony Lochhead are the All Whites stalwarts expected to be missing on the first leg of The Road to Rio next week."

Vicelich to captain I assume. 

Not sure if this has been posted, can't find it. Squad for this year. Most interesting points are Tim Payne and Cameron Howieson.

Goalkeepers: Jake Gleeson (Portland Timbers, USA)**, Glen Moss (Wellington Phoenix), Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix)

Defenders: Michael Boxall (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix)*, Ryan Nelsen (captain, Tottenham Hotspur, England)*, Winston Reid (West Ham, England), Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town, England)

Midfielders: Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Brockie (Wellington Phoenix), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United), Cameron Howieson (Burnley, England), Dan Keat (Los Angeles Galaxy, USA), Michael McGlinchey (Central Coast Mariners, Australia), Tim Payne (Blackburn Rovers, England)

Forwards: Marco Rojas (Melbourne Victory, Australia), Kosta Barbarouses (Alania Vladikavkaz, Russia), Rory Fallon (Aberdeen, Scotland), Chris Killen (Chongqing, China), Shane Smeltz (Perth Glory, Australia), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion, England)

* Not for US tour

** Only for US tour

Would be great for them to get a few minutes off the bench in some of those games! Especially with Cam having multiple countries he is eligble to play for

Oceania Nations Cup is the key to the nationhood ddecisions for both of those two and Marco.

Have a listen to the Fever poddy tonight when it's up to see where Cam's loyalties lie.

I think Fallon's not travelling to the USA either.

Gleeson is still injured (along with with half of the Timbers team ) accroding to the lastest Timbers injury report 

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2012/05/matchday-preview-houston-welcome-portland-bbva-compass

Gonna ask Mao where he's at with recovery, last I heard he was out for the summer (U.S summer that is).

SO, I hear Gleeson is back in training somewhat, but theyre bringing him back extra slow for the Olympics. 

News of the good kind but not quite hard.

Sky have come to the party and will be showing the games live on SS3

Damn farken strait they will.

I think chris james is in a goodform right now in the finnish premier league and would have been a better than Aaron Clapham.

I see on the NZF article that Elliott is listed as injured...really...injured...surely hes retired given hes no longer playing club footy?!

I think chris james is in a goodform right now in the finnish premier league and would have been a better than Aaron Clapham.

Why?

Just because the Finnish league is overseas it must be better? 

He hardly tore up the NSWPL last season and that's pretty close to ASB Prem standard.  Andy Bevin seems to be having a bigger impact at APIA so you would think he'd be ahead on the list.

Cam and who is the other guy plus Marco?  Is T-Payne elligible for another nation too?

That's great.. are the dates for the games set yet? I can't find them.. cheers

Check the Road to Brazil thread, the times and dates for the games are posted there.

SKY TV COVERAGE DETAILS FOR THE TEXAS HOE-DOWN:

ALL WHITES v EL SALVADOR: HOUSTON THURS. MAY 24, 12.30 PM NZ TIME: LIVE SKY SPORT 3

ALL WHITES v HONDURAS: DALLAS SUN. MAY 27, 12.30 PM NZ TIME: LIVE SKY SPORT 3

BOOK THOSE EXTENDED LUNCH BREAKS FOR NEXT WEEK !!!

THE 23rd ANNUAL

"TEXAS HOE-DOWN"

Come and make the 2012 "Texas Hoe-Down" a GREAT event!

The Texas Hoe-Down is a country and western dance tradition. A fully sanctioned American Country Dance Association qualifying event, the Texas Hoe-Down offers an exciting weekend of country & western dance partner, team and line dance competitions, a "Wealth of Workshops", plenty of opportunities to dance and professional dance exhibitions in a star-studded Saturday Night Super Show! 

Note that the Honduras match is Sunday 27, not Saturday 26 as I originally posted above. 

I've corrected my post above.

Sorry, but I was relying on the Christchurch Press newspaper which had it wrong.

Don't trust the NZ Football website either- it lists the US dates for both games and they're of course a day behind us...

Uncapped Auckland City duo Ian Hogg and Adam McGeorge have been added to the All Whites squad for impending World Cup qualifiers in the Solomon Islands and internationals against Honduras and El Salvador, with Ryan Nelsen’s injury-enforced omission now confirmed.

Well, those call ups better have been made with Olympics in mind, otherwise you really have to wonder why Daniel isn't included. 

So for the US tour we have 5 defenders listed and 3 forwards. Our midfield has scored 1 goal in 84 games between them.

11 of the players out of the 19 have not played more than 5 games.(including 4 debutants)

I guess in theory we will only play 3 defenders? with two midfield wing backs. also Brockie could be included up front as they will prob play 3 upfront and need a 4th on the bench.

Anyway. Exciting team, it is always good to see so many young talented guys for the future in the squad. i am hope than can impress.

based on history we will probably lose 3-0 and 3-1 at a guess.(hopefully that's are reverse jinx)

Goalkeepers
Jake GLEESON (Portland Timbers, USA – 1/0)
Glen MOSS (Wellington Phoenix – 19/0)
Mark PASTON (Wellington Phoenix – 29/0)

Defenders
Michael BOXALL (Vancouver Whitecaps, CAN – 3/0)
Ian HOGG (Auckland City – 0/0)
Ben SIGMUND (Wellington Phoenix – 19/1)
Tommy SMITH (Ipswich Town, ENG – 9/0)
Ivan VICELICH (Auckland City – 74/6)

Midfielders
Leo BERTOS (Wellington Phoenix – 40/0)
Jeremy BROCKIE (Wellington Phoenix – 25/0)
Aaron CLAPHAM (Canterbury United – 5/0)
Cameron HOWIESON (Burnley, ENG – 0/0)
Adam MCGEORGE (Auckland City – 0/0)
Michael MCGLINCHEY (Central Coast Mariners, AUS – 11/1)
Tim PAYNE (Blackburn Rovers, ENG – 0/0)
Marco ROJAS (Melbourne Victory, AUS – 3/0)

Forwards
Kosta BARBAROUSES (Alania Vladikavkaz, RUS – 5/0)
Shane SMELTZ (Perth Glory, AUS – 37/17)
Chris WOOD (West Bromwich Albion, ENG – 18/2)

So likely starting line-up from Ricki if its the 3-4-3?

                                    Moss

          Sigmund            Vicelich             Smith

           Brockie    McGlinchey    Rojas    Bertos

                        Kosta   Smeltz   Wood

to be honest, i am not sure a 3-4-3 is the best line-up with this squad.

for starters we are missing out two best premiership standard central defenders Reid and Nelsen.

also with Brown and Elliot out you are missing the slower workhorse type defensive midfield.

we have a very attacking minded midfield to choose from, have to ask two of them to also defend in a wing back position seems a bit counter productive. lets start to trust our back 4.

missing a couple of key strikers in the squad it might be worth switching to 2 up front.

My preffered line-up:

                                   Moss

          Sigmund      Boxall    Smith        Hogg

        Brockie      McGlinchey   Clapham   Rojas

                            Smeltz   Wood

Then sub on all the young guys to blood them.

I assume Hogg's selection must have Olympic motivation, because there is no way that he is a better footballer than Andy Boyens. Bar one shocker vs the Spainards at the confeds, Boyens have performed consistently at the top level and should be there or there abouts.

Performed consistently at the top level? You're taking the piss! Plus Ian Hogg gives us left back cover when Tony Lochhead isn't there.

 I'm a little worried about how central midfield stocks without Tim Brown. Huge hole there, especially without Simon Elliott. Wouldn't be surprised to see Ivan Vicelich in that role (next to Michael McGlinchey) just because of his experience. 

Is this a joke?

I don't know how come a lot of people are overrating Clapham. The only time I saw him with the AW's he looked lost on the pitch. Also he made many trials in the A league and even Herbert didn't want to sign him with the phoenix...

Defensive midfield looks very lean....its a shame that Keat is not there. I expect Vicilich will be DM to give them some solidarity and experiance. A central mid of Clapham and WeeMac looks way too light for this level. 

I can't remember when we last had a team full of promising young players....If the midfield functions OK and we can get some regular ball to Rojas, Costa and Wood then we can expect to score a goal or two. 

Quiet a few of the guys have not played for a while so you would expect them to be a bit rusty. I don't expect them to win....but it will be interesting to see how some of the younger guys respond to international pressure.

Who's heading to Back Benchers Thursday lunch time then?

Four Kings for me. 

Probs Kings for me but I have a 14:00 meeting I can't skip out on so we'll see.

Get King's to live pause the game while you are gone?

will try to get into the Bencher - but even 15 mins at the end looks a stretch - bugger

Likely #allwhites XI v ES ... Paston, Boxall, Sigmund, Smith, Bertos, Vicelich, McGlinchey, Hogg, Rojas, Smeltz, Barbarouses

Not too far away from what I was thinking. Good move on starting Hogg, it's a great opportunity to see what he's got at this kind of level.

Im not sure how tall Hogg is but that is a short strike force.

Cool 3-4-3 again. Good to see Herbert sticking with a strategy that clearly isn't working.

Depends how much defensive work Vicelich and the two wingers do. If Vicelich sits back in front of the two CB's and makes it almost a back 4 it could work. As discussed on the podcast, if you were to play a back four, who would be the RB and the LB? We don't have a player who can play RB, therefore for the players we have available, 3-4-3 is the best formation.

I won't take anything but a win tomorrow, a draw just won't be good enough against El Salvador.

Been together for a couple of days vs a side that has been playing qualifiers together, missing our first choice Centre backs.

I want a win but I'm not feeling it.