Concerns...
Firstly I'll address the elephant in the room...ex mac city now Burnley U17 captain Leuluai was terrible. Honestly was the worst worst player on the park miles off it. If thats what gets you 3 years at burnley then we should all get our boots back on. He looked slow, lethargic, pushed off the ball and very non creative. Maybe just had a shocker but interested to see if he bounces back.
Every keeper at international level is a good shot stopper but not every goal keeper is a good decision maker or distributor...unfortunately Foord is one of those..he reminds me of Michael Woud. and thats scary. Foord learning his trade i guess but really needs to sort out the rough edges.
Issako? gassed after 20 mins.
Have we practised set pieces in the past year? It's the worst if seen from a nz side at any world cup.
The coach - his interview on NZF didnt give me much confidence before kick off it came across as lets just have some fun and care factor seemed low. When the cameras were on him it looked like he didnt want to be there...maybe thats just his persona but gees when you need a spark im not sure its coming from the coaching staff.
Positives....
Dylan Gardiner - was everywhere at the back cleaning up a lot of mess created by others around him. He was dominate in the air and strong in the tackle. Comes across as a strong leader with his talking and organising..dare i say it a young Danny Hay.
Thought our subs looked good when they entered with 30 to go. They came on when others around them were out on their feet but they caused the oppositions some problems. Sloane-Rodrigues looks classy, nice touches and direct minded, he was causing some problems for them, he probably needs to start. The #9 Ukich looks like if given more time he could hurt teams, he won 3 attacking free kicks with speed and quick feet and had a good shout for a penalty turned down late in the game, i'd probably look to start him next game considering the others didn't do too much. And the midfielder Mitchell a little light weight but tidy on the ball.
I thought the approach was ok despite it letting us down at times - we were trying to play football but in the heat and humidity it can be tough after defending for longish periods. It was good to see us chase the game at the end and have a crack although it opened us up a little in the late stages but ill put that down to tired legs.
Venezuela's top3 players just too good really.
My thoughts anyway...
Firstly I'll address the elephant in the room...ex mac city now Burnley U17 captain Leuluai was terrible. Honestly was the worst worst player on the park miles off it. If thats what gets you 3 years at burnley then we should all get our boots back on. He looked slow, lethargic, pushed off the ball and very non creative. Maybe just had a shocker but interested to see if he bounces back.
Every keeper at international level is a good shot stopper but not every goal keeper is a good decision maker or distributor...unfortunately Foord is one of those..he reminds me of Michael Woud. and thats scary. Foord learning his trade i guess but really needs to sort out the rough edges.
Issako? gassed after 20 mins.
Have we practised set pieces in the past year? It's the worst if seen from a nz side at any world cup.
The coach - his interview on NZF didnt give me much confidence before kick off it came across as lets just have some fun and care factor seemed low. When the cameras were on him it looked like he didnt want to be there...maybe thats just his persona but gees when you need a spark im not sure its coming from the coaching staff.
Positives....
Dylan Gardiner - was everywhere at the back cleaning up a lot of mess created by others around him. He was dominate in the air and strong in the tackle. Comes across as a strong leader with his talking and organising..dare i say it a young Danny Hay.
Thought our subs looked good when they entered with 30 to go. They came on when others around them were out on their feet but they caused the oppositions some problems. Sloane-Rodrigues looks classy, nice touches and direct minded, he was causing some problems for them, he probably needs to start. The #9 Ukich looks like if given more time he could hurt teams, he won 3 attacking free kicks with speed and quick feet and had a good shout for a penalty turned down late in the game, i'd probably look to start him next game considering the others didn't do too much. And the midfielder Mitchell a little light weight but tidy on the ball.
I thought the approach was ok despite it letting us down at times - we were trying to play football but in the heat and humidity it can be tough after defending for longish periods. It was good to see us chase the game at the end and have a crack although it opened us up a little in the late stages but ill put that down to tired legs.
Venezuela's top3 players just too good really.
My thoughts anyway...