TEAM FOR PLAY OFF

Bazza = utility i guess. The new Christie.

prob trying to squeeze Fallon in there too is a bit much. Maybe Tinoi Christie in the hole

To agressive greenie, remember we're not going o have the ball for long periods.  Plus with that formation you're closing all of the space for bertos.  he needs to be in the front three and drop one of them plus ad an extra midfielder

I'd prefer another defensive midfielder so Elliot has a bit more freedom to attack, Oughton would be best IMO, otherwise Brown or Barron. Then play McGlinchey in midfield and Bertos, Smeltz and Killen/Fallon up front.

Not sure if Vicelich should start.

my whole approach is based on the fact that Brown needs to prove himself between not and then, and if he doesnt ...

I can't remember if I've had a stab at this already or not, but:

any reason you left out our best player?

Smeltz/Killen take your pick I guess. Smithy2009-08-24 09:18:57

Going for the no keeper formation? Underrated, that one.

Admittedly I am more in favour with Smeltz having more of a belt because he is scoring goal accurately from his feet. He hasn't missed much at all.

When you have very little team training time before an one off game. Some of the factors that you considered for selecting a striker would be the number of goal scoring attempts, shots on targets, goals per game and the regular gametime. Smeltz fits the bill very well.

Killen may get some game time but since it is a friendly, I imagine that Smeltz and Killen will get a half each with Fallon. We already know how they perform together at the confederation cup.

Of course, having McGlinchey in the midfield opens the question of how could have been with McGlinchey with Smeltz and Killen and how much ball service he could have given them along the lines that they run with each other.

What we really need is a number of game to assess what is best for us. And having Fallon and McGlinchey at this late stage on debut gives selection problems. What we did at the confederation cup only can highlight that weakness combination we had but not the strength combination we now have with new players in. Since we do not have much game time, we have to have some experiment focus on the combination. We really need to have another game to incorporate experimental combination of two players in the midfield and forward blocks before setting with the ideal set up, but we have only give the debutant a full game and split the game time in half between Smeltz and Killen.

for the friendly game, I would think that Killen would start since he has not much game time recently and then the flexibility of subbing Smeltz with at least with 30 minutes of game time. If it was a serious competitve game, then I would start Smeltz without a doubt.

I'm surprised that some of you have a massive hard on over Smeltz as an international striker.

i dont think you can not start Smeltz - Marius Lacatus2009-08-24 11:54:35

oh and Smeltzs AW record is legendary

Oh great, now Nelsen is injured and according to the Blackburn site... "particularly as his knee has flared up again, so that will be some considerable time."

For the friendly match I would give Fallon a spell, to get his debut out and away as well as giving his time to form combos with the other AWs. You can't expect him to be on the field in the WCQ play-offs (which is a big thing) without a full game with his fellow AWs. He may end up as our only forward, if Smeltz gets injured and Killen gets red card or whatever and then we are up the cheek without a paddle expecting a big miracle. Who wants to be in that situation? Strange things has happen in WCQ play-offs before.

In return, we see that Killen has perform well in the AW shirt and he hasn't had that much gametime, so Fallon may be a good revelation. Fallon maybe an very good channel man in our team rather than a targetman, in a slightly different role internationally compared to club. We just have to see what he's got at international level with the other AWs to form a better opinion.

Anyway, the defence problems were obvious, but with Scott being our likely RB, I would feel happy for him to get regular start there.

The key thing we were unable to sustain adequately in the confederation cups was our midfield. Elliot had hardly much help in the midfield and with McGinchey, we are sure to get a better central midfield pair than we have before. Get Bertos, who is getting back to his near best and it's only Brown for the defensive midfield duties for the away game. With Elliot and McGlinchey, Brown would not feel under pressure to combine having another passing option besides Elliot. The connection among the midfield suddenly look very tidy and obvious.

With Nelson, McGlinchey and Fallon, we have strength all three blocks, a large difference for our AWs. In some way, our play-off opposition would look at the Confederation Cup performance and not really that prepared for the difference. It could be our blessing that they did not play in the confederation cup.

Really, to watch the two Bahrain and Saudi Arabia playoff games would gives us hints about any new players that they have gain, but I think there is very little changes in their squad after the FIFA rule change as most of their players are home-based and have not played in another international youth team.

as i said before

Have you read some of the views of people who watch Phoenix games ?

nelsen  will play,  he was taken off because he is such an influential player,,that  the  manager and himself, did not want to risk him., 

Feverish2009-08-24 18:38:01

Has Nelson ever played in the midfield?

Only in Championship Manager...

...and for DC United.

...and in fictional argentinian characters disney fantasy storybook.