The Road To Brazil 2014 via Wellington feat. Mexico

He can also drive a bus.

Yes JV but butler is hardly a standout at asb level. He looked v ave against saudi

Defender shouldve come in

I hope (but doubt) that this doesn't mean Vicelich will play as a CB. Way too slow for that these days

Oh god. Vicelich and Lochhead starting at the back. I think i have just been hit by the fear.

So Butler had a chance to impress Herbert, did poorly, and got selected. Either Ricki Herbert can't spot talent, every other player we have listed being worthy is unavailable, or he has already decided he wants the player when he selects them in the first place regardless how they perform.

Butler and Christie are shocking selections

Fitzgerald Howieson probably thinking ah well fuck it then

Butler a very interesting choice. I just don't get how non-professionals are selected ahead of professional players! How the hell can someone who does not train professionally every day be remotely fitter, or have better skills than someone that does. 

I wonder what the go is with Herbert and Boxall. 

I hope NZ Football have a good think about the next coach they appoint. FFS they better keep him on a short leash, As for Herberts' justification of his selection, I wish I could give him a kick in the head so he could have an excuse for being such a thick witted dumbass!

#shitsgettingreal

give it a rest you lot. noone want to read your bickering.

sad thing is he may play in Welly depending on suspensions...

Interesting...so we are playing using CB's at the back. One of them gets injured and we replace him with a DM. Who has been playing local club amateur football all winter in NZ. Meanwhile we have two professional centerbacks we could have called on, Fitzgerald....currently starting in the J-league and Boxhall from the Nix. So if say Smith gets injured in the first 10 minutes in Mexico who is the cover?

Please not Ivan.....he will be holding the midfeild together. Please not Tuiloma....he's just a kid starting out.

This is getting more bizarre by the minute....has Herbert completely lost the plot?

The Butler selection is a surprise. Herbert constantly said in his 7 years at the Nix that there was too big a jump from local amateur football to the A-league. But he seems quite happy to take players like Clapham, Butler etc to international level over players who are doing OK in good pro leagues offshore. Things are very odd in Ricki-land

Pasha Bulker ? Buffy ? Maritime ref ?

I think we have to seriously question Herbert's grasp on reality with his choice of Jake Butler over either Boxall or Fitzgerald to replace Reid. Seriously, I think he has thrown in the towel already and is just playing his favourites like Lochhead, Christie and now Butler, who was turned inside out by ACFC in the charity shield match and is at best only a good ASBP player. Fitzgerald is of J league standard!

Is there not time for a medical intervention and a quick replacement of Herbert by Nelsen just for the playoffs. I can see a train wreck otherwise.

On a positive note NZF have sold the TV rights to the home leg playoff for a couple of million dollars so at least we'll come out of the whole debacle with a few extra millions in the bank.

Yeah ...good luck with spending that .....

Bluemagic said:

I think we have to seriously question Herbert's grasp on reality with his choice of Jake Butler over either Boxall or Fitzgerald to replace Reid. Seriously, I think he has thrown in the towel already and is just playing his favourites like Lochhead, Christie and now Butler, who was turned inside out by ACFC in the charity shield match and is at best only a good ASBP player. Fitzgerald is of J league standard!

Is there not time for a medical intervention and a quick replacement of Herbert by Nelsen just for the playoffs. I can see a train wreck otherwise.

On a positive note NZF have sold the TV rights to the home leg playoff for a couple of million dollars so at least we'll come out of the whole debacle with a few extra millions in the bank. 

In terms of the ASBP, the quality of this league and the players in it - very few of our top current all whites have come through this league. You can generally gauge the quality of the league by the number of Internationals it produces, the number of current Internationals and ex Internationals playing in it. Crowd numbers and televison rights are also key indicators - people will only pay to watch quality.

The A-League has got eg: Shinji Ono, Del Piero, Emile Heskey, Brett Emerton, Harry Kewell who are all ex Internationals who can't get contracts in any of the major leagues overseas, but who still provide a degree of quality in the A-League sides they play for. Ivan does the same for Auckland City and like the others, plays at a level which suits his current playing ability.

Rojas, Reid, Wood, Smith, McGlinchey were not developed through playing in the ASBP league. (Wood may have had a fleeting time in it but was not developed in it). Players whose only hope of regular first team football rests in playing in the ASBP league, are well below the standard required for any team, contemplating going to a World Cup. As sad as that may sound that is the unfortunate truth for NZ Football.

The way forward is:

1.  A far better scouting system, tracking players doing well overseas, eg: those in the US system which today has produced some of our best players eg: Nelson, Elliott, Browne. Don't expect parents to come on the forum and pump their kids up before anyone knows they exist. Most overseas players need clearance which is provided by NZ Football and they should have a database with all these details. With the internet there is no reason why this database should not be kept up to date - match reports are readily available with Match Stats, especially in the US where they just about count everything.

2. A revision of the ASBP, forcing clubs to develop our younger players in lieu of filling the sides with ex-pat European players and players from the Pacific Islands, who will never play for NZ. The Irish had a system which brought through their best generation of players in Roy Keane's era, where they had an U23 Academy which trained in a professional environment and the players from that Academy had to start for their club teams in the two professional tiers every week. That supplied approx 40 players being developed on a full time basis, which the part-time professional league couldn't do, similar to our ASBP League. If you look at the number of minutes the youth players get in the ASBP it's embarrassing. No wonder they get disenchanted and either give up or head to the State Leagues in Australia where they get to play and get paid. They in turn become another level of NZ players playing overseas who are not tracked.

The most contentious issue is the development of our elite younger players. NZ Football needs to partner with the professional academies throughout NZ (a model now being used in most developed football nations, rather than just leaving it to self serving clubs, where winning is the prime objective), so that these academies can thrive and bring the level of professionalism and skill based development, that will one day see the ASBP producing players into the A-League and other professional leagues throughout the world.

+1 to a lot of that newby1

I am a massive proponent of something Reg22 said whereby the regs need to say 'no more than 4 players in the team whom are not eligible to represent NZ'. Bring the Kiwi players back to the front of the competition.

So someone born in ethiopia who moves here at 3? You would exclude them?

That would allow the like of Imray (who I would assume being a 5 year resident and having an NZ passport) and Aucklands Daniel Koprivcic (who I assume would also have an NZ passport) to be classified as Kiwis as per FIFA regs.

Except their "local league team" Club America which provide ten players to El Tri have also been crap recently - they lost at the Azteca to Costa Rican club Alajuelense (yes, "who?") last month which eliminated them at the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.

All I can say is there are four Major League Soccer teams into the next round of ten and Arabe Unido (no, I'd never heard of them either) - but Club America weren't good enough to make it.

So, if the team currently third on the Costa Rican league table can beat Club America home and away, surely there is some hope that the All Whites can get a result vs. a Mexico team based on them & sharing the same coach !!!

The wonderful Club America go down in flames at the Azteca October 22:

http://www.concacaf.com/video/club-america-vs-alajuelense-highlights

They lost the first tie away in Costa Rica in August too: 

http://www.concacaf.com/video/alajuelense-vs-club-america-highlights

Also check out this report on Mexico v Finland last week highlighting Mexico's defensive frailties v Finland "B" (Finland League eleven):

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/30/soccer-mexico-qualcomm-stadium-finland/

Highlights Mexico v Finland 30 October: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVu7MAePGKk

We can get a good idea of how Mexico will play by watching previous Club America games: 

For what it's worth, you can see various highlights and full matches of Club America here:

http://livefootballvideo.com/teams/america

http://www.matchhighlight.com/index.php?s=Club+America

Mexico team World Cup qualifying - highlights & full matches (full matches at bottom): http://livefootballvideo.com/teams/mexico

v Costa Rica (full game): one video for each half of game:

http://www.matchhighlight.com/full-match-game/fifa-full-match-game/costa-rica-v-mexico/

v Panama (full game):

http://www.matchhighlight.com/full-match-game/fifa-full-match-game/mexico-v-panama/

Hope at last! Cheers once again Big P! Arriba you All Whites!

Chris Wood to miss Leicester's game v Forest because "Leicester can't afford a private jet" for him to fly to L.A.:

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-City-striker-Chris-Wood-set-miss-Forest/story-20051822-detail/story.html

"City were hoping that the NZF would allow Wood to travel after the clash with Forest at the King Power Stadium, but the All Whites will not compromise.

City boss Nigel Pearson said it was disappointing for Wood and City, but stressed he understood New Zealand's tough stance.

"Unless New Zealand's Federation alters its stance, I think it is probable that we won't have him available," said Pearson.

"It was possible only if the chartered flight was available and we are not in a position to do that.

"The scheduled flights don't allow us to get him there in the time-frame.

"It is unfortunate because he has just forced his way back into the side and scored a goal. The player is really disappointed."

where will the temporary seating be in westpac stadium? Right around the whole thing?