I have yet to see anyone saying it's not time for a change.
The arguments seem to be that Ricki should be sacked for not playing the U20 squad and not playing like Spain - at altitude in front of 100000 against a side who are light years better than us. Us 'part time fans' don't think that is a fair assessment.
For the first 30 minutes the plan he used (the right plan) worked and then we made stupid errors. Sure there are a couple of selection questions (for me Ivan should have played in midfield and Siggy should have played ahead of plodder, and I have no idea what the story is with Fitzgerald) but for me the tactics were our only option. The tactics were not for our defenders to fuck up, and I'm sure they were meant to have a more controlled possession when they did win it. Unfortunaely the simple facts are that we are not that good. As Evald sais the sudden expectation that a side who couldn't string three passes together against New Caledonia should suddenly be able to do that against Mexico is laughable.
There are a generation of people that jumped on the bandwagon in 2009 and now think that is the norm. SInce then we have lost Nelsen, Elliot and Brown (our entire competent midfield) and were missing Reid (and to a lesser extent Payne). The nation and a pile of johnny-come-lately football fans have delusions of adequacy about this side and the depth and quality of footballers we have available.
Last time I checked the U20 players people are advocating start achieved exactly what at the U20 world cup? This is real football, not kids football yet people are saying that even though they were poor at the U20 world cup they would have been more competitive than the experienced players we used?
Please.
Did someone actually say we should have played like Spain or are you making a leap with that one ?
Very few teams have proved able to sit that deep comfortably against a competant opposition, and last time I checked the All Whites certainly aren't in the same league as a Mourinho led Inter or di Matteo's Chelsea, so I would challenge any claim that the tactics were right. At the very least they were not right for the personnel on the field.
Your argument against the U20s seems to be based on an argument that has the entire squad fielded against Mexico at the Azteca which is clearly nonsense. What many are advocating on here is using the U20 players that are already in the All Whites squad instead of unattached players with no form.
Clearly the experience vs youth argument debate has been well and truely put to bed after yesterday's fiasco.
I will add that I'm not interested in slating individual players for their performances yesterday but that I believe the starting team itself was wrong based purely on the football (or lack of) that the players have been involved in over the past few months.