AW v Slovenia Match Thread Sat 06:30 SS3

They don't look that good, but I don't think we deserved a draw. They created more and put their chances away.

Has bertos beaten his man at all tonight?

Interesting to see so much of lochead and so little of bertos in and around their box... disappointed we've not seen him running at their defense more

the guys still playing well but lacking legs up front now.. too tired

Yep

All over 3-1 Slovenia

I think i could have handled 2-1

oh well 3-1.. could have been worse.. we did miss our chances though

Thank f**k that's over.

Drew the 2nd half but Slovenia (despite the diving and the ref) still the better team.

I didnt think they looked miles ahead of us at any time in the game, you sure Dewhursts commentary hasnt biased you?

disappointed no other subs got a run. would of been nice to see clapham on for Elliot. Or even Mulli.

A goalkeeping error, some poor reffing and two superb free kicks. Apart from that did paston have to make many major saves? I think their keeper was just as busy as paston. Possession wise it looked pretty even and i wouldnt mind betting we had as many chances on goal. Also would be interested to see if we had more corners, Im pretty sure we did.

they were better than us, they looked pretty comfortable in the second half cruising. Wood getting taken off hurt us. Christie is a homeless man's Brown.

Our back 3 looked good and we were ok up front but the midfield was poor. Bertos was terrible all game & should have come off, to many aimless balls forward & poor passes. The midfield is a real worry, why there were no subs is a bit of a mystery as well.

on the positive side i think the two youngsters at the back played very well, and fallon caused them some problems. How i would love one of our guys to have genuine pace. Any kiwi ties with walcott..?

Leo has pace, but for some reason he's terrified of using it.

Two words: poor passing. And defending. That's four. Now that's seven. Arrgggg

Maybe he's worried he will go back in time.

Idiot

Don't think we played that bad. Certainly didn't get thrashed like the commentator was saying. If Wood buried his chance (probably should've) we would have been right in with a shot to win it.

Paston was a huge issue though. He was very bad all game and we can't afford that at the WC - I think he only caught the ball once or twice.


valeo2010-06-05 08:53:06

Replay of the game at 12pm ss3

I thought the two times of note in the second half that Paston punched it was more than a sensible move by him.  One time he couldn't see behind him at all (and he would have expected a striker there) so punching was less risky in case he didn't manage to gather it, while the other time the ball was a fair bit in front of him and he'd have had to clatter through several players to get it.

And on about the 50th minute mark, just after, Bertos beat his man 2 or 3 times when we had some good chances that came to nothing.

What was all that rubbish about the shirt?  I know why Nelsen's occured (but why did he not put on that shirt instead of the training one when it was bloodied - or was it the one with blood on it but we couldn't see it?) but what was with Brockie/Clapham?

Edit: Pledge ad sucked.  Towards the end it was alright, but Clapham just sounded stupid.
loyalgunner2010-06-05 08:55:59

Other positives: Reid, Nelsen, Smith combo looks good to me. Lochy very busy and some good runs. Fallon obviously dangerous and heaps of not very christian mongrel - love it. Smeltz I thought was pretty good too, and Elliot does put in some very good ball. Wood is getting better and better - hope we see plenty of him in SA.

That's what she said

Do one.

...so true.

why no after match interviews or breakdown of the game??

it seems that for some the expectations are getting a bit unrealistic

overall you'd have to look at these 3 games and view them as a success

in all 3 we have created chances - we learnt from the late loss to Aus and looked more secure in last 10 mins v serbia (albeit with no injury time from the ref)

We will take some learning from this game too


overall, we have identified a more solid back 3 and our front lads are working well off each other

Elliot is crucial (the Admiral too - but that almost goes without saying)

It's just the cultural barrier - they were actually laughing like idiots

I dont think it couldve been worse than 3-1. Slovenia didnt create that many chances and certainly didnt put themselves in the position to finish those that they did create. Two dives on the outside of the box and a fumble from Paston proved to be the difference as far as the score line went.
And I still think Reid looks a bit shaky in defence at times. And the refereeing was a f**king shambles, on and off the pitch.