Oly Whites vs Romania | Wednesday 28th July | 8.30pm | Hokkaido, Japan

I think we managed the game well. The onus was on them to win once Hondorus bottled it.

A few nervy moments, but we always looked in control. Given the inexperience of our center pairing we have got to be pretty happy. 

Credit to Hay for playing Woud... he had a good game and made the saves when the needed to be made.

Thank all the gods for that! Geez! Be interested to see if we try different tactics when sitting back isn't an option.

A bit disappointed not to win the pool, but excellent to progress.

Stensness MOTM for me.

lol... disappointed not to win the pool. Are we NZ?

So who are we likely to get in the Quarters?

The concern is despite the excellent 60% possession, we created only 1 shot on target.  Definitely an improvement on Honduras game, just the next work on now to use that possession to create, and find a way to either create space for Wood, or use the other 2 forwards more effectively if Wood is being tightly shut down.

MetalLegNZ

lol... disappointed not to win the pool. Are we NZ?

So who are we likely to get in the Quarters?

After the SK game, it was in our hands.  I still believe we are a much better team than Honduras.

Probably Japan, maybe Mexico (edit: outside chance of France if they give Japan a hiding now)

Quaark.  We are through.
A very ordinary attacking display but we are there.
Whoo hoooo!!!

Given we rotated some players, did any of the new starters do enough to keep their spots?

I hope Elliot stays ahead of Ingham who needs to learn to pass. Stamenic would deserve to start ahead of Lewis but is suspended so I expect to see him back in. Does Garbett stay in... he didn't do too much in my eyes, but no glaring errors either.

I'd say bring in Stranger and push forward Stensness but he has been very solid in the back.

MetalLegNZ

lol... disappointed not to win the pool. Are we NZ?

So who are we likely to get in the Quarters?

 Sets up an outside chance of a Trans Tasman semi Final if Aussie top their pool tonight, and get past Ivory Coast in the 1/4s

What a weird feeling - dire football securing one of our best ever outcomes for a NZ team at a tournament.

It would have been terrible not to have got through - we should have beaten or at least drawn with Honduras and if we'd absolutely had to win that last game I reckon we would have been well capable of beating Romania. We never really had to go into an all-out glory or doom attack mode however so I guess the next game will be telling. great that we've got another game though - that's 4 decent internationals in a week (for an 'almost' All-Whites)- as opposed to maybe 1 every 2 or 3 years - nice for a change!

Shark ballsed that up ignore me

aitkenmike

I feel like we have been by far the better side, but also that we could concede any moment.  Boy we are missing Reid (and Boxall).

Also, getting very tired of all the rolling around on the ground, and shouts from (I assume) their bench.

I think Pynacker and Stensness both did well in CB.  We again lacked up front with any attacking creativity or urgency.    No friggin ideas.
But who cares?  We are through.
A massive achievement and congratulations to the lads.

Maaaaaaatt

If Japan beat Mexico or draw then Japan 

If Mexico beat Japan then Mexico, unless France beat South Africa by 5 goals more than Mexico beat Japan by (eg mex 1 - Jap 0 & Fra 6 - RSA 0)

 May be a bit difficult as France vs Japan and SA vs Mexico

Stensness has been a bit of a revelation really as well. Nice to see. 

Maaaaaaatt

If Japan beat Mexico or draw then Japan 

If Mexico beat Japan then Mexico, unless France beat South Africa by 5 goals more than Mexico beat Japan by (eg mex 1 - Jap 0 & Fra 6 - RSA 0)

Mexico isn't playing Japan though. Its Japan vs France and South Africa vs Mexico. 

If Japan beat or draw vs France we play them, so they are most likely. 

If France win then Mexico beats South Africa as expected it will be down to gial diff between Mexico/France/Japan which means it would likely be Mexico unless France smashed Japan. 

Peter Snell or John Walker class it's not. But a best ever Olywhites result. 
Great defensive and lethal counter-attacking effort v Sth Korea. Some nice play versus Honduras undone by errors. And a fairly turgid and toothless but tidier game tonight.
What does that add up to them delivering in a knock-out game vs better opposition?

Stensness agent should be fielding calls. Clearly a stand-out, and given he is playing out of position surely it only builds a stronger case for a club to look at him.

Just has grown into the games to (quiet second half) and is another I think who is capable of playing at a higher level.

Looking forward to Mexico (who I expect we will face).

We are lacking someone or something to help out Wood up top. Either get the ball to him or score goals while he’s being defended. Our crosses don’t seem to be doing it. I’m not sure we have that piece of the jigsaw though. Some great pieces of brilliance and then some absolute sharke passes straight to the opposition under no pressure. 

MetalLegNZ

Stensness agent should be fielding calls. Clearly a stand-out, and given he is playing out of position surely it only builds a stronger case for a club to look at him.

Just has grown into the games to (quiet second half) and is another I think who is capable of playing at a higher level.

Looking forward to Mexico (who I expect we will face).

I think Japan is more likely, they are fav on the betting markets against what I don't think is a great France team and only need a draw to take first in the group. Japan beat Mexico earlier in the tourn. 

I'd prefer both of them to Brazil or Spain. 

siac

MetalLegNZ

Stensness agent should be fielding calls. Clearly a stand-out, and given he is playing out of position surely it only builds a stronger case for a club to look at him.

Just has grown into the games to (quiet second half) and is another I think who is capable of playing at a higher level.

Looking forward to Mexico (who I expect we will face).

I think Japan is more likely, they are fav on the betting markets against what I don't think is a great France team and only need a draw to take first in the group. Japan beat Mexico earlier in the tourn. 

Wow, wouldn't that be a challenge?

MetalLegNZ

Stensness agent should be fielding calls. Clearly a stand-out, and given he is playing out of position surely it only builds a stronger case for a club to look at him.

Just has grown into the games to (quiet second half) and is another I think who is capable of playing at a higher level.

Looking forward to Mexico (who I expect we will face).

One wonders who might be making those calls?   I hope Hay is mindful that Stensness can still play elsewhere. 

Stensness and Joe Bell for me. Bell could take Cams place at the Nix. Stensness back here would make a solid midfield. 

Lonegunmen

Stensness and Joe Bell for me. Bell could take Cams place at the Nix. Stensness back here would make a solid midfield. 

 No way bell is coming back. He is starting in a decent european league

That was great fun.

Stensness super solid.

Bell did really well.

Loved Stamenics performance.

Thats a mark in the ground heading into quarters.

Pijnaker looks a wonderful player also.

Hey guys i missed the game but looks like we went though, Did we defend or were we attacking? 

Japan up 2-0 against France, so it looks pretty certain that is who we will get in the quarter. 

Korea are better then Japan and we beat Korea, so bring them on!

Watched the game again. Made hard work of all three games now. That Romania side is not great. They qualified by making the semis of the 2019 UEFA U21 Championship. But their squad is completely different. Only one player has started both the semi and today's  games and one is on the bench. Effectively this is their B or C side made up of players from a pretty poor European league. 

Nice to see us be a bit more proactive but think that was more to do with Romania retreating to their 18 yard box as soon as they lost possession. Still couldn't create anything of note despite having more possession. Wood still heavily isolated, often with at least two defender on him. 

Not sure why we took Champness off as it seemed to offer us a bit more of outlet than McCowatt did/does. He actually got in behind a couple of times. Don't think   Garbett did much of note. Couple of nice touches for Stamenic and I think he probably benefited from us having more time in midfield than in the other games. but still annoys me how many touches he takes at times. He's suspended so assume Lewis will come back in. I'd start Elliott and Champness again. 

More broadly on Hay. A system is meant to bring out the best in your players, right? Well Wood has been a lone ranger up top with not a lot to feed off. Cacace hasn't been as productive going forward because we haven't have possession and when we do, there is just Wood to try play it to. Bell and Stensness have been excellent and probably reflect how much they have had to do. So our good defensive players have been busy/good, and our good attacking players have been quiet. It's all backwards.

Poco

Hey guys i missed the game but looks like we went though, Did we defend or were we attacking? 

Yes we went through, we are playing Japan on Saturday. We had much more of the possession (at least it felt like it, I haven't checked stats), yet failed to create good chances. Meanwhile Romania had a few decent chances despite not having much possession. We controlled the game, but always felt one mistake (or good Romanian attack) away from losing. Not a good game for any neutrals watching. The guys were looking a little tired, so only 3 days until the next one is going to be tough against a team as good as Japan.

Japan. 9pm Saturday.  Bring it in. 

kwlap

Japan. 9pm Saturday.  Bring it in. 

8pm?

Joe Bell, Garbett, Woud, all  had big games. Mental prep for this game absolutely on point - all players confident and focused as f. 

can't complain too much, we made it out of the group. 
We dominated this game too, had all the ball just created very little.
Maybe that was the tactic, Romania had to do all the goal scoring and they also had very few chances.
Good solid learning game, we defended well and controlled the play, hopefully we can build on it and create some chances.

2ndBest

Watched the game again. Made hard work of all three games now. That Romania side is not great. They qualified by making the semis of the 2019 UEFA U21 Championship. But their squad is completely different. Only one player has started both the semi and today's  games and one is on the bench. Effectively this is their B or C side made up of players from a pretty poor European league. 

Nice to see us be a bit more proactive but think that was more to do with Romania retreating to their 18 yard box as soon as they lost possession. Still couldn't create anything of note despite having more possession. Wood still heavily isolated, often with at least two defender on him. 

Not sure why we took Champness off as it seemed to offer us a bit more of outlet than McCowatt did/does. He actually got in behind a couple of times. Don't think   Garbett did much of note. Couple of nice touches for Stamenic and I think he probably benefited from us having more time in midfield than in the other games. but still annoys me how many touches he takes at times. He's suspended so assume Lewis will come back in. I'd start Elliott and Champness again. 

More broadly on Hay. A system is meant to bring out the best in your players, right? Well Wood has been a lone ranger up top with not a lot to feed off. Cacace hasn't been as productive going forward because we haven't have possession and when we do, there is just Wood to try play it to. Bell and Stensness have been excellent and probably reflect how much they have had to do. So our good defensive players have been busy/good, and our good attacking players have been quiet. It's all backwards.

Yes Danny Hay is so awful. All he's done is won our first game at the Olympics and progressed from the group for the first time. Call that progress? Er, well actually, yes it is.

I'm also concerned by our goals this tournament. They have been a wordlie out of nowhere, one that was created from a massive deflection that fell to our striker, and a very good counter attacking goal. So in three games we didn't really break a team down once they got players behind the ball. Relied lots on delivery from wide, but didn't have anyone playing centrally between the lines that could create some uncertainly and space for Wood.

I notice that the players seem to be covering for Dingham. Woud coming out of his box again because he'd watched Ding get done a couple of times one on one with Romanian attacking players, Lewis sprinting to cover a header Ding had gone up for in case he didn't make it, commentary noting "he had no idea" where the player he was supposed to be marking was (just like the first Honduras goal), and he always seems to go for a first touch pass, check back and then pass backwards. 

Callan Elliot may have copped a yellow, but he was by far a better player at right-back than his replacement. His partnership with Champness looked really promising too. It's interesting to watch a coach sub on players that actively unbalance a team, and result in worse play - but Hay did it.

We played a dull but effective game against S. Korea, brightened by Wood's winner which seemd to galvanise our side, an error strewn game against Honduras, where we just seemed to lose the ability to cut through them after our second goal, and one good half where we seemed to test Romania and then one really horrible half of not trying to score at all and hanging on at the end.

Yeah, we've qualified, but this style of play isn't winning us any new supporters - and seems to involve our players playing below their individual level of ability to suit the gameplan. 

Not a fan, won't be watching Saturday. 

won't be watching Saturday... you don't have to support the coach, but you should still be watching  the lads play.