He's more than welcome to land a hatrick in this match to prove me wrong but it genuinely looks like from all his performances in the all whites jersey so far Max Mata's gonna be out of his depth in the A League next season .
He's more than welcome to land a hatrick in this match to prove me wrong but it genuinely looks like from all his performances in the all whites jersey so far Max Mata's gonna be out of his depth in the A League next season .
Tend to agree, don't think he's got the chops for it at all.
He's more than welcome to land a hatrick in this match to prove me wrong but it genuinely looks like from all his performances in the all whites jersey so far Max Mata's gonna be out of his depth in the A League next season .
A League standard is around middle EFL League 1. If he struggled there, won't do more in Auckland but I'd love him to prove us wrong. Need more kiwi strikers.
Wood......massive gap .... Waine..... big gap..... everyone else (Mata etc).
No one has looked impressive so far to be fair. Don't really know what our game plan is either? Knock it around at the back and then randomly pump it long and see what happens?
i guess I meant mostly full strength. Expected a few more changes for what is a dead rubber, give the rest of the squad some minutes sort of thing. Mata a downgrade on Waine obviouslyloyalgunner
I don't see how Mata in for Waine is full-strength.
Would like to see Greive get a run in the second half over Mata as well, as it just might worth seeing what he's got in the bank before it gets to semi finals crunch time.
Without it being detrimental to us closing out the game and getting the result wouldn't mind seeing Vanuatu get one goal as the home crowd have been fantastic and I have no doubts the celebrations would be immense.
Pitch, conditions, desire, tactics, bazely? Anyone else bored? We seem to play to the level of our opponents somewhat. Maybe I expected too much, but I'd thought we'd look a bit more clinical and decisive.
Pitch, conditions, desire, tactics, bazely? Anyone else bored? We seem to play to the level of our opponents somewhat. Maybe I expected too much, but I'd thought we'd look a bit more clinical and decisive.
We look dreadful. Absolutely no plan from what I can tell
Am I watching the same game as all the people whingeing on here?
We look fit, creative and able to socre goals. People tipping a tight defensive clash like 1-0 totally wrong, we have cut them open with ease all game.
Don't get the Mata hate - played decently. Just has been fantastic and enjoying Ben Olds impact off the bench.
Well done boys - an impressive, sound win. And I wasn't bored unlike some here 🙂🤔
4-0. Job done. I thought it would be closer, but then I expected Baze to run out a more 2nd strength side being a dead rubber. Surprised he waited so late to bring on OVH & Randall, and that Conchie didn't get on at all.
Tahiti or PNG don't sound much chop, so expect a similar result in the semi next Thursday.
I'd prefer Fiji can beat Vanuatu in their semi, just so we play someone different in the final, plus get maybe a final look at Krishna in this part of the world.
Pitch starting to look a bit bumpy, so as someone else said hopefully no rain between now and next week.
Vanuatu have a number of diamonds in the rough. Their worst player is easily their keeper.
That lad at AFC looks very handy.
I wonder if AFC is scouting this tourney at all?
I doubt the Nix or AFC, from the AWs 2 games so far have seen anyone in the SI or Vanuatu teams (sans CCM contracted Kaltak) even close to being ALM visa quality.
I think you may possibly be watching a different game. Or I am.
Ben Old started I believe. lthomas20
Am I watching the same game as all the people whingeing on here?
We look fit, creative and able to socre goals. People tipping a tight defensive clash like 1-0 totally wrong, we have cut them open with ease all game.
Don't get the Mata hate - played decently. Just has been fantastic and enjoying Ben Olds impact off the bench.
Well done boys - an impressive, sound win. And I wasn't bored unlike some here 🙂🤔
I haven't watched more than a few games of OFC Nations Cup over the years. But I thought this looked better refereed than in the past. The Vanuatu play was more skillful and less reckless and dangerous than I've seen at OFC in the past. And the Fifa+ coverage is a step up too. Would that be a fair impression?
I haven't watched more than a few games of OFC Nations Cup over the years. But I thought this looked better refereed than in the past. The Vanuatu play was more skillful and less reckless and dangerous than I've seen at OFC in the past. And the Fifa+ coverage is a step up too. Would that be a fair impression?
Seems a good assessment to me. As rough as the quality from the island sides is its significantly better than it used to be.
I think you may possibly be watching a different game. Or I am.
Ben Old started I believe. lthomas20
Am I watching the same game as all the people whingeing on here?
We look fit, creative and able to socre goals. People tipping a tight defensive clash like 1-0 totally wrong, we have cut them open with ease all game.
Don't get the Mata hate - played decently. Just has been fantastic and enjoying Ben Olds impact off the bench.
Well done boys - an impressive, sound win. And I wasn't bored unlike some here 🙂🤔
Didn't see the game due to travelling out of town, but it sounds like we played a lot better then v Solomon Islands?
Will catch up on a replay later on, but happy to hear Elijah Just had another stormer of a match - A goal, and two assists. He's too good to be playing Danish 2nd tier stuff for another season. Hopefully something materialises for him for a move up the chain back over in Europe at some point soon.
For all the criticism of Mata he gets his largish frame in scoring positions. 1 goal and basically the oggie was his as well. Should have had at least 2, maybe 3 goals but again he's putting himself in positions to score. The pass from Just that he hit against the cross bar seemed to bump a bit off the surface. Will be very interesting to see how he goes at ALM level.
The AWs had a lot less energy for sure when Greive came on, but yeah in comparison he was totally anonymous.
I feel like NZF are probably going to be quite frustrated with this whole Nations Cup endeavour.
We lost out on at least 20% of the FIFA ranking points on offer when New Caledonia dropped out, and the other OFC nations are no match for what is effectively a second string All Whites side, even with the favourable Islands conditions.
I think NZF's initial instinct to skip the Nations Cup to instead play friendlies against more challenging sides was probably the right one. In fact, what might have been best would have been to send a completely u23 side, with maybe one or two first teamers like Cacace, Payne and Rufer so as to not be completely disrespectful like Newcastle were vs the All Stars, AND have the All Whites play some friendlies too.
I feel like NZF are probably going to be quite frustrated with this whole Nations Cup endeavour.
We lost out on at least 20% of the FIFA ranking points on offer when New Caledonia dropped out, and the other OFC nations are no match for what is effectively a second string All Whites side, even with the favourable Islands conditions.
I think NZF's initial instinct to skip the Nations Cup to instead play friendlies against more challenging sides was probably the right one. In fact, what might have been best would have been to send a completely u23 side, with maybe one or two first teamers like Cacace, Payne and Rufer so as to not be completely disrespectful like Newcastle were vs the All Stars, AND have the All Whites play some friendlies too.
With New Caledonia pulling out so late in the piece, I'd have thought both us and Vanuatu would have been given auto wins and the ranking points that go with it.
