On that performance we could have drawn with Ryan Nielson at the back?
No we would have won. Most of their goals came from that weak point on the Right Back.
I have to say that hopefully this has envigorated Vicelich to stick around for the World Cup qualifier, because we need him. Here's hoping for the good confederation cup.
Bit harsh on Mulligan, the last two Italian goals were down to Brown.
Not harsh, just a discipline/concentration/position lapse. Mulligan on both occasion was pulled out of RB position into the centre when there was a centre defender sweeper already covering the man with the ball.
He needed to cover the man in his space, because there was no one else left in the line and there is always someone coming though there once in the box. It forces the centre defender to naturally adjust to accommodate a fellow defender when it was his (centre defender's) job to close the man with the ball down. Making two weak area unnecessary.[The centre defender has to close down and force the centre striker to shoot earlier and wide, we still have a keeper to shot stop, plus any re-bounds are covered by the wide backs] Position mistake in the box means no time to backtrack cover the space. Can't relied on anyone else to cover more ground than he would in the space given, no time.
But honestly he was actually doing well until those events. Fatigue added to his concentration and it became weaker in the second half. The defence line opened up at right back area.
If you watch Ryan Nelson play, he always cover the man in his space and leave the centre defence for the two players that are suppose to be there. He won't crowd the centre, There is really no need. Usually the defence outnumber the attack 4 to 3 with two centre defender to cover the middle at the last third in the box and the wide backs man to man against the wingers because of the limited space and time. Outside Ryan Nelson, we don't have a strong enough RB. Both Lochead and Mulligan are stronger on the LB rather than RB.
Not being harsh on him at all, It is very hard for a right boot right back. He is not alone in this. There is a natural drift movement to the left and he was up against an very quality attack. He will have the same problem against Spain but maybe not against South Africa or Iraq as much because he has improved at RB in this game, believe it or not.
What Ricki needs to do is to mark the time of when each player started to lose discipline due to fatigue in this game and be aware when to substitute them in the coming games. This is a larger concern to the coach in substitution. I understand Ricki not subbing early to extend the players match fitness and see where the players drop in fitness. This is a warm-up training session still, classified as a heavily session. Generally you have to very very pleased with their performance. The general energy of the team at a highly contestable level.
But no rest for the wicked . . . a massage session and rest with light carbs meals and then back into it a days later a light session, medium session and light session. Maintenance to keep energy up.
Ryan Nelson has done both centre defender and right defender. Whatever position he does, he keeps that space marked with good discipline because he has reliable defenders around him. He rarely makes mistake in his positioning and has an very high anticipation line and vision which is why he has been club captain. He has to be outpaced and tricked by the opposing left winger or left midfielder.
The thing is that Lochead is that he is really good at LB than Mully and Mully can do RB. You can swap them around but then you don't have Lochead drive down the wings on the right as he can do better on the left so it is not utilising as good. But Sigmund can do RB as well as CB and has a better backtrack. But Sigmund is very good as CB which is his prefer. Mully is better in the midfield than Sigmund.
Mully does not play as much on the LB as RB because there has been good players in that LB position wherever he has been to. Even Christie is challenging for the RB spot. Mully can be use a bit as RM in 3-5-2 but then Christie has that spot challenged as well. But Mully better than Christie in the centre midfield, and Chrsitie has a better drive down the right midfield which affects his backtracking if he gets too far ahead. However the CM spots are well covered in the squad and so Mully is not needed there. Mully has been used all over the field including striker even he didn't know where he was until recent times. Just a good all rounder hard working player with no special attributes that stand out much.
So yeah he can be a bit confusing but very useful depend on who is available and what the team strategy is.
