France have made nine changes to their lineup. It gives the kiwis some hope as maybe the bench players won’t be 100% in match mode. Staying tight and compact will be the key and try and frustrate them. Conceding an early goal would be a disaster.
It was all going so well but there was always the feeling the floodgates could open any minute now.
Another soft and sloppy defensive concession akin to the USA game. Couldn't even make it 20 minutes. That's really got to be the only one the boys can afford from here on out or it's curtains.
Really sloppy goal to concede. Looked like Bell was passing it back and then a ricochet off Surnam right to the feet of the scorer. It’s not a disaster as we are moving the ball about with some fluidity and even had a few shots and corners. I think the heat is leveling the sides out somewhat.
Goal was unlucky - ball could have richoched anywhere, but galls to their striker who literally 2 seconds earlier was off side and standing in the middle of no where.
I suppose you'd say mission successful if we hadn't had that one single defensive brain fade that soured proceedings. But hey we've had some shots off which is nice.
I don't think France is really making much of an effort to put us to the sword due to the heat and their group standing so hopefully we can catch them napping in the second half.
Yeah France look very poor, and we definitely carved out some nice attacks later on in the half. We looked like we didn’t even belong on the same pitch in the first 20, and that goal was comical, so I’m glad we’ve asserted ourselves a little bit so we don’t look like deers in headlights
Result was nothing less than expected, this team almost feels like we've taken copy of the women's team play book and followed, no attack options, no plan b, just trot out the same old tactic even though we've got to try something different - Bazely out!
We won a game - a result that in all honesty was not expected. When then proceed to lose the other two as expected.
Against all sides we showed decent moments in possession and created opportunities.
Overall, I'm ok with what was put out at this tournament. Not a huge fan of Beazley, and think he got some selections wrong - but overall, he and the team did fine, if not better than expected.
There's not much more any other coach could have done with the players available to him. I thought Singh ran himself into the ground trying to make something happen. His touch is so much better than our other midfielders and attackers.
There's not much more any other coach could have done with the players available to him. I thought Singh ran himself into the ground trying to make something happen. His touch is so much better than our other midfielders and attackers.
This is true, in which case I continue to ask why was Bell picked to start ahead of anyone else, his impact was low on all three games. For mine he shouldnt have been part of the squad at all - his skill level has plummeted in the last 12 months.
Bell was playing in a midfield trio with a guy who couldn't get a game in the German 2nd division and another guy who was an inpact sub in 2nd tier Dutch football 3 months ago and you somehow expect him to match it with the French and American midfields?
Garbett was great on attack for me this tournament, but was very weak tracking back at other times, just like Singh. Bell was doing the donkey work and covered a lot of ground.
Bell is a good solid player, a very solid player by NZ historical standards, but he is not world class as people seem to expect every NZ team player to be. Its not realistic of where we are at as a nation.
Bell was playing in a midfield trio with a guy who couldn't get a game in the German 2nd division and another guy who was an inpact sub in 2nd tier Dutch football 3 months ago and you somehow expect him to match it with the French and American midfields?
Garbett was great on attack for me this tournament, but was very weak tracking back at other times, just like Singh. Bell was doing the donkey work and covered a lot of ground.
Bell is a good solid player, a very solid player by NZ historical standards, but he is not world class as people seem to expect every NZ team player to be. Its not realistic of where we are at as a nation.
His club can have him, my expectations of an over age player at the olympics is to be one of the better, standard setters of the team. For mine that isnt Bell any more, he has degraded at the international level could easily be replaced by Rufer, whose passing is better and tackling is well beyond what Bell does. Watching Bell is like watching an aging footballer who has lost pace and is struggling to keep up with the younger guys, so he is grabbing the shirt more often to gain an advantage, he's a liability.
Expected result, but even more disappointed in the football played and performance of certain players this tournament. Some I thought would rise to the occasion disappointed and it shows how far off a lot of our players are from playing football at the top levels.
Bell, Boxall, Surman immediately come to mind personally. Very poor and from a senior player like Bell who showed so much promise years ago he has seriously stagnated the last couple years.
Boxall isn’t up to it no more.
Surman while young has had a tournament to forget and will learn from this. Hopefully this tournament won’t push him down the pecking order at Portland. Needs time to develop before being a starter for AW.
Singh tried but nothing came off as did Waine.
Garbett had flashes but it’s really hard when you’re playing slightly out of position and a midfield combination with Bell and Garbett is just not it.
Gillion showed heaps of promise in his cameos. As for the rest of them they’ll learn from this but unfortunately the likes of Herdman and Bayliss had been sent out to fail the first 2 games. Shouldn’t have been on the park let alone the initial squad.
For me this tournament proved that Marko Stamenic is our most important player. Yes Wood and Cacace will be mentioned and rightly so, but my fear for this team pre tournament was the lack of athleticism and ball playing ability in the middle of the park. He’s the complete package and can do honestly everything to a very high standard at this level.
We don’t score goals with Chris Wood anyway and that’s not even debatable ( not his fault either), so I’m glad Waine got a chance to have 3 games to himself and have this experience :).
I'm happy we put in a better performance today than against the USA - if we'd played like that again it could've been a blood bath.
Sure we still made some errors for the goals, but they weren't as bad mistakes as against USA.
I think we gave away more shots today against France than the other day against USA yet we conceded one less so at least that's something!
Great shot from Bayliss near the end there - would've been a hell of a goal if it the keeper didn't manage to get a hand to it.
Overall we managed to win the one game we thought we had a chance to going into the tournament, so as disappointing as the losses were, and as disappointing as much of our play was, it's good for the young players to get playing time against higher quality opponents than they are used to in OFC tournaments
Result was nothing less than expected, this team almost feels like we've taken copy of the women's team play book and followed, no attack options, no plan b, just trot out the same old tactic even though we've got to try something different - Bazely out!
Totally agree. This is Phoenix game style all over, which is expected when the majority of the players are Phoenix and the coach is in the Phoenix pocket - let’s stack the defence! What is needed is a neutral National coach with no Phoenix affiliation, choosing players with creativity- especially needed in the midfield, players who have skill to retain the ball, players who have actually had plenty of game minutes and not sat on the bench (regardless if in Professional clubs or not), players who can keep position and not kick long hoping for ‘some luck’ as Bazely likes to put it. Why didnt we looking at some of our young players who are studying/playing at high levels in US universities or playing for other clubs through Europe. Instead some of these players were chosen who have had very little game time this season.
I think a double pivot in midfield- Conchie/Bell might have made life easier for us. I liked the 3 at the back as well, which keeps players closer to their natural positions. OVH/Sheridan could between them cover RWB just fine, especially if they’re then tasked to get forward, with Bell or Conchie covering the space behind them.
Anyway. Tougher games than Mexico and they’ve always knocked us around.
Are any of the highlights going to be available at a later date? As I mentioned before this usually doesn’t record great defensive performances, but it’s better than nothing.
This is the first I've ever heard of Bazeley being affiliated with the Phoenix
And Herdman is in a similar level to what was mentioned and he got found out, if this forum is to be believed? Younger kids are not likely to be the answer.
The better players could have been the over-age ones, but they’ve got pre-season, but that’s not a failing of the Nix or Bazeley. Probably.
And damn, yes wouldn’t mind Chief in charge at all, but Bazeley is the guy who put his hand up for the job seemingly nobody else wanted.
I wonder what would have happened if we had taken Roux & Rufer instead of Boxall & Bell. They both arrived late and would have been a little more jet lagged than the rest of the team.
Roux & Rufer are coming off incredible club seasons and would have been fresher after a few weeks off and been able to join the team earlier to aid the team's preparation. Roux would have massively improved our weakest position, and Rufer & Conchie would have already had a decent understanding between them and could have been the core of a decent midfield. Rufer probably wouldn't have allowed that shambles of a first 15 minutes against the USA to occur on his watch.
It is bit strange in fact given how noted our right back struggle is that Bazeley hasn't been specifically asked why he hasn't picked Roux in recent times. Is it is simple as Roux not making himself available, or does Bazeley just not like the guy, or what?
Disappointed to be going home but proud to have got our second ever win at the Olympics this campaign. #Paris2024 has been great, roll on 2028. pic.twitter.com/VRrrWUwdVv
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) July 31, 2024
