By the ends I mean we qualify for Confeds Cup 2017 and can start planning for that. I'm not expecting a miracle turn around but if my 2 options are a) play ugly and qualify for the above or b) play well and not qualify I'll always take option a. I totally agree that we should be doing way better, but hopefully without the fear of failure (ie Horror in Honiara) the improvements will begin.
Why do we have to exclude the option where we play well and qualify?
I dont see any good reason why we couldnt have taken the same approach to football that NC did and still win. In fact i am sure we would have won comfortably if we had tried to play the way they did. Overall we have better quality players than NC and could have beaten all the teams here if the coaching staff actually allowed the players to play the way they have been since they were kids.
I have been watching some of those players since they were 8 year olds. They havent been taught to play this way, its alien to them.
People mentioning how poor Tuiloma has been but he simply hasnt been allowed to play the way he has since he was a kid. Do you think he has to play this style even in the lower French league he is playing in?
We are playing ugly and just winning but we are easily capable of playing more intelligently and winning easier than whats happening. I utterly reject this idea of having to play this way to ensure qualification. We would be qualifying with more comfort if we were playing a style of football that suits the players better and also fits the way they have been taught to play over the last decade.
Worst AW coach since that irish guy who spent more time playing golf than coaching. Forget his name right now.
Mate, great post. Completely agree.
The defensive minded strategy Hudson is adopting just says to everyone "I don't have confidence in my systems or our players". Why is it that some managers defer to the route one, sit back strategy when the stakes are high when other managers (IMO the better ones) say I back my systems and my players to play OUR way. It's similar to Ricki at the World Cup - he didn't back the guys to score a goal to get through to the next round...
The game against the Solomons when we'd already qualified just showed how much better we look when we press, hold the ball and try and play. That game suits our players and it's actually lower risk because a) we have the ball for longer and b) we win it back higher up the park.
It's ironic that he's asking players who are ill equipped to play route one to play that way. It's actually more risky than playing the pressing, possession style but your average pundit belives that route one is less risky (maybe- but NOT with players that cannot play that way!)
I think that is most people's issue. If we were actually good at route one and winning games decisively most on here would go "ok it's not my preferred strategy but it's working". Instead we are not playing the style of play that our players are most suited to, playing route one really badly, and relying on luck to get us through.
I just wish that Hudson would back his team rather than sell us this cr&p and make it out like its a winning strategy. It's not- it's a I don't want to lose strategy. Well Anthony- in football certain teams (Italy) have won playing that way (granted) but PNG are going to be playing to win and I think we need to be positive to win this game...