This half to me really shows how Wood Stamenic and Cacace are LEVELS above any other player in our current national team setup. Individually they would make a mockery of any of these USA players.
As good we all think the likes of Paulsen, Surman, Bell, Singh, Bindon etc are they’ve proven nothing or very little of being able to establish themselves in decent European leagues/ anywhere else in the world.
A big difference from playing in the A League to anywhere else in the world is on full display.
Don’t think we will really see a lot of these players really peak until after 2026 so important to be patient and not jump to conclusions, but also to tamper expectations on these players too.
He was way more quality a few years ago. Not been impressed these last years. Just seems 5% too slow or pass not quite right. This game he has not been too bad but not a player I am thinking of going forward. Peverell
I was disappointed with Bell . He was the weakest of the overage players by a fair distance.
If only Ben Old was able to play today! Oh wait he's starting for ASSE against Villarreal. Hope they are happy denying him the chance to be an Olympian.
Bindon is not a right back. I hope after this game that we mix things up in game three. Play Sheridan and try out the Bindon/Surman partnership against a top team in France. Nothing to lose now
If only Ben Old was able to play today! Oh wait he's starting for ASSE against Villarreal. Hope they are happy denying him the chance to be an Olympian.
It wouldn't have made a difference, absolute sack of sharke today. For his career and long term for 2026, I'm happy at least he's getting a shot at a full preseason.
Bindon is a decent centre back, just playing out of position. Probably should of played 3 at the back in this game with a rb and no wingers and two up front. We do miss cacace and stamenic in this team. Garbett putting in a good shift as usual. It will be interesting when we play the usa national team in September. The usa team just have more athletism than us. Bell is a good player, but his lack of athletism will not let him get to the next level.
It’s been a bitch of a night, watched the formula one qualifying hoping Perez would choke again so it gives a chance for Lawson. Snuck into Q3 and then ended up on the front grid!,
I really hope this swimmer can come though in a few minutes and score a medal.
I don’t think I have the stamina to watch this poorly coached and above all selected football team play France.
An inquest needs to be held after this tournament into how and what communication Bazeley had with clubs.
Agree about the communication with clubs. I remember Payne being interviewed at the very end of the Nix season and saying he had not heard from Bazeley about the possibility of going to the Olympics, when it was clear he was one of the ideal over 23 picks. Surely a well organised coach should have approached Payne and the Nix months in advance.
And then Cacace all of a sudden two weeks before the Olympics saying how keen he was to go but not having any idea about whether his club would let him go just days before the squad was belatedly announced. Why didn't he know? Why wasn't communication entered into months before, and a decision reached weeks in advance?
From the outside it seems like NZF and Bazeley approached clubs late and that probably didn't help our chances of getting players released.
Something to cheer about. Bizarre that Herdman and Bayliss started and Randall didn't
Quite happy for Randall to be honest. Was a little fearful for his pro career after his jaunt to the USA with Charleston didn't pan out. Hopefully a strong season ahead for him up in Auckland. 🤞
This half to me really shows how Wood Stamenic and Cacace are LEVELS above any other player in our current national team setup. Individually they would make a mockery of any of these USA players.
As good we all think the likes of Paulsen, Surman, Bell, Singh, Bindon etc are they’ve proven nothing or very little of being able to establish themselves in decent European leagues/ anywhere else in the world.
A big difference from playing in the A League to anywhere else in the world is on full display.
Don’t think we will really see a lot of these players really peak until after 2026 so important to be patient and not jump to conclusions, but also to tamper expectations on these players too.
Paulsen is at that level too. Will be playing Prem this season I think.
He was way more quality a few years ago. Not been impressed these last years. Just seems 5% too slow or pass not quite right. This game he has not been too bad but not a player I am thinking of going forward. Peverell
I was disappointed with Bell . He was the weakest of the overage players by a fair distance.
I'd probably take Rufer over Bell for the All Whites, which would have seemed insane a few years back.
People are maybe right about Bell in that he could perhaps be a bit more athletic, but I really think he has turned a corner and is on his way back to his best. Honestly seemed like the best player on the park for us for most of this game.
This game reeked of minnow mentality and ended up in a minnow result. Really it starts at the top.
Bazely oozes disorganization, you just know the players have no faith in whatever he's trying to get them to do. They don't look connected at all. 11 Individuals on the park. Even last game we were lucky not to have conceded 4.
I am so disappointed. Not because they lost but the manner in which they lost. What worries me is though we're missing 4-5 key players this is almost our main national unit especially in the next couple years and we got dominated.
It was a horrow show tonight but it all started with Garbett giving away a penalty needlessly, and a second coming shortly after out of some dead ball penalty area pinball, and the boys did not respond well. We need to learn to keep our heads, shut things down for 10-15 minutes in moments of adversity, and then try to build again. Today we could not stem the bleeding, but on another day it might not be so bad. We still had our moments and some good play here and there, and we were well understrength. I'm not so despondent.
I'm hoping we turn things around a bit against France, I think we are capable of playing well and coming away with a respectable loss.
USA were the better side,we couldn't match their ball winning and speed in midfield. But we were disappointing,some ordinary defending early on, silly penalty to give away to start it off. Not impressed with Singh at all. Ref let too much holding and barging go,and the Americans took full advantage.
This game reeked of minnow mentality and ended up in a minnow result. Really it starts at the top.
Bazely oozes disorganization, you just know the players have no faith in whatever he's trying to get them to do. They don't look connected at all. 11 Individuals on the park. Even last game we were lucky not to have conceded 4.
I am so disappointed. Not because they lost but the manner in which they lost. What worries me is though we're missing 4-5 key players this is almost our main national unit especially in the next couple years and we got dominated.
I get what you mean, but also 4-5 players is half your starting eleven. The likes of Bayliss and Herdman wouldn't get close to a full strength side. Bitterly disappointed but, providing we can dump Bazeley (big if) at the closest opportunity, we still have a huge ceiling with this crop of players
I don’t think we can be too harsh on pro clubs that don’t release their players for Olympic duty i.e Cacace, Old etc. The truth is the Olympic football tournament is considered as a Mickey Mouse tournament by most of the pro football world. It is not in a FIFA international window. The French coach Henry said recently that over thirty of his first pick players had been blocked by clubs. It’s the French D team that NZ will face next
as was Garbett, trying to make up for the penalty... I think the boys lost their heads and will learn from this, hopefully Bazeley does too, it can't happen again Oi Oi Edgecumbe
All downhill from the penalty. I thought Singh was trying hard to make things happen.
Bazeley is contracted until after the World Cup. If NZF had any sense they'd have made him earn the right to take the team to the tournament, giving themselves the opportunity to bring someone else in, say, after qualification was secured. Would have been tempting to many coaches, an 18 month job like that. But we all know NZF are morons so no surprises there.
we still have the worst GD in the group... we will need a win vs France now no matter what. It isn't happening
Edit: what I just said is straight up wrong. But we could beat France and still easily not make it out of the group, as USA is likely to beat guinea as well, and France are now ahead in their game. We needed to lose by 1 at worst tonight to give ourselves a real chance of making the quarters, that GD swing was a killermrsmiis
60 minutes in, and it's still France 0-0 Guinea. Can we dream?
