Just posted my new season preview blog, let me know what you think. Would appreciate a re-tweet if you're on twitter! Cheers
http://aleftfootforstandingon.blogspot.co.uk
James Dean's Blog - A Left Foot for Standing On
Just posted my new season preview blog, let me know what you think. Would appreciate a re-tweet if you're on twitter! Cheers
Thanks for that - now with added pictures - still learning how to use the blog platfrom ;-)
Good yarn, JD.
Good output, thanks and tend to agree. Hope your heart is right.
New blog up - what NZF needs from its next manager, looking beyond the Herbert years
I don't think (or should I say hope) what you have written is anything that's not expected. I expect Herbert to be gone, I expect retirements. What I want to know is who the likely (local) candidates are realistically. Putting aside the fair possibility of a foreign coach, tossing out names we know and that could realistically do it.
I think Fallon, Lochhead, Bertos, Christie and Ivan are definitely gone, I suspect Sigmund will site love of country to keep playing and Durante has only really started his international career. Smeltz will want to chase a goal scoring record and who knows with Killen. Some players will chose to stick around and some may get the 'you're not getting picked anymore' call too. There is enough young talent still there to form a team that looks good with Moss, Reid, Smith, McGlinchy, Rojas, Kosta and Wood good for 2018 and throw in some others like Payne, Keat, Roux etc. I think the next man really needs to look at what he is inheriting and get the formation right as you said. That for me, is the big key.
I'd like to see an Emblen/Nelsen axis but it think that's slim. Being the foil to Emblen would mean Nelsen does not have to give it his entire focus and can still do his Toronto gig justice while helping to develop that 'space' between him as a former team mate and now coach.
My view and I didn't go into it on the blog is you appoint a local guy but he knows that if you get to the WC he has to accept he may be assistant to a more experienced Hiddink like figure who you bring in for the tournament
And I'm in the Emblen camp but I'd love to see one of the recently retired guys as an assistant - say Simon Elliot
"...the brutalist 3-4-3 was a particular response to the strengths of the available players and a concentration of talent amongst central defenders and physical strikers..."
We still have that problem, as has been demonstrated in all of the recent AWs selections. We have a small number of competent defenders, and strikers, and no midfield.
Your contention that the 3-4-3 is "not replicable" doesn't really stack up. Ricki's successor will be faced with the same issue Ricki is now.
And in this is an insight into exactly the dilemma Ricki faces: "This is not a job for idealists or ideologues looking to impose a pre-conceived tactical framework, dreams of "combination play" and midfield rotation must be subservient to an element of pragmatism."
So on the one hand I think you've clearly stated the problem faced by the AWs manager. But in the next breath you've said we need something more (it's not clear what). You talk of how we "must dominate" the Islands, the "humiliation" in Dunedin and the "Honiara debacle".
I get the impression that you expect us to be the Bayern Munich of the South Pacific despite the limitations you've identified earlier.
We must "overcome the tyranny of low expectations" and in the next "we know our place in the football world".
I am confused.
On one point I think you are completely aligned with the views of NZF though. The coach of the AWs should take the Olympic team.
My roughy? Ricki won't retire when we fail to qualify. If the Board of NZF is still the same, it will put his vast experience to use coaching the Olympic team for Rio while his disciple Neil Emblem takes on the AWs rebuild.
Ricki's already said he's leaving at the end of this cycle, no? I'm sure I read something a while back from the horses mouth on that. Ricki's future is obviously a matter for him but I think he needs to take a year off and completely rethink his approach to the game - he does have experience which shouldn't be discarded but he's had both the top coaching jobs in NZ and right now he's looking like sliding out of both having undone all the good work he did in the early part of both jobs looking like he's run out of ideas. Playing the football he does right now, who other than NZF would actually employ him - there has to be an element of self preservation there as well.
I personally think we have a lack of experienced midfielders which has been exacerbated by the fact players have been preferred there out of position. I'd have been encouraging Tim Payne to leave Blackburn and find a club where he's going to play first team football and guarantee him a run of games if he did. I also think it's a shame nether Keat nor James featured in the qualifiers when we persisted with Killen in midfield (although I'm not convinced either is quite up to the job actually).
I think it's quite clear that the tyranny of low expectations specifically relates to our place in Oceania.
"We need to overthrow the tyranny of low expectations which meant we accepted struggling through Oceania qualification."
I absolutely maintain that we should be cruising through OFC qualification and we should be able to do so playing better football than our opponents (if we have limitations then what do the island teams have??), notwithstanding the odd away game where we may strike a terrible pitch or terrible ref or other random factor. We have better players and should be better prepared. I think that the improvement in the islands has been completely overstated to cover for two extremely poor campaigns, both the Nations Cup in Honiara (which has been done to death) but also the recent qualifiers - and I think coaching was a factor in both of those sequences of matches.
As to the something more, all I want is to see the team coached in a way that maximises the performance levels for a very talented, young group of attacking players. There's absolutely nothing wrong with setting up with a solid base, and in fact if you want to play direct then go ahead - just don't do it when your best attacking players are small and skilful. You cannot be happy with the recent discussion that Marco, clearly our best attacking player, will be left out of the away leg against Mexico because Herbert can't find a place for him in our XI?
Like with your blog, I agree with some of what you're saying and disagree with other bits. It does feel like you're wanting us to have our cake and eat it.
We can't be pragmatic strugglers and ball-retaining tiki-taka exponents at the same time, we have to have a clear sense of what we are and how we play.
I think to Ricki's credit he's always set his stall out to play the way he thinks we can best get results against good teams. You can't expect someone new to come in and be like Ricki sometimes and other times be totally different.
You mention Simon Elliott. Duncan Oughton would be another, perhaps Gavin Wilkinson while we are tossing about ex Kiwis that are coaching.
I think the talent of Island football has been overstated as well.
With the squad we have, on paper we should steam roll the island teams.
We don't - why? Part can be blamed on conditions/heat and its evident
when you see ACFC/Waitak hammer these club sides at home but struggle
away. But that does not account for the Dunedin performance which was
just dire. Attitude/laissez-faire approach? You can get that from the
coach but if as a squad, you don't, then the coach can stamp it out.
That reflects back on Ricki and I think that was evident with the
Honiara fiasco and by the same token, games since. I do believe the
media beat up there is a confidence issue and you are going to get that
if as a team, you feel there is no direction. When you see the
formations and experimentation we have been going, thats all Ricki. As
Smithy said, Ricki lays out his stand and thats a fair point. A good
coach also knows when he needs to find a different way to go about
things. That may sound contradictory but some of Rickis stuff has been
out there with Killen and Durante as prime example. Perhaps some things are not the direction he should have gone in for experimentation for finding what works and does not. You can't say in the last month that he has not exhausted every name possible bringing back all except Fitzgerald and trailing Roux.
The scary part of your roughy call re Ricki for Olys and Emblen running the AWs Smithy is that if its still the Frank and Fred show, it could possibly happen. I agree with JD that his experience has a use but not in a coaching capacity on one of the two top spots. It does not paint a good picture and in my opinion, sends wrong messages to coaches coming through, or in the frame already. Whose is out there? Throwing out names I come up in 20 secs - Bazely, Milicich, Colin Tuua, Stu Jacobs, Willie and thats just really quick. There will be others I have missed and should not have mentioned and while there many not be any that are better than others, at some point, there needs to be a change and I feel, as much as I have been a Ricki fan, like at the Phoenix, his time is done.
/ramble off
I think to Ricki's credit he's always set his stall out to play the way he thinks we can best get results against good teams. You can't expect someone new to come in and be like Ricki sometimes and other times be totally different.
[/quote]
I absolutely think that generally he got it right leading up to and at the World Cup. Like I said in the bit this can't be about imposing an ideology - it's actually getting the best out of the group of players we have available but I do think in the last 3 years it's got to the stage where our style of play means we're performing at a level that's less than the sum of our parts.
We're always going to be defensive against teams that are better than us, but we defend so much without any real plan about retaining possession, and invite so much pressure, that we inevitably concede. Against Bahrain we were pretty lucky not to concede over the 180 minutes and if we'd conceded we wouldn't have qualified. In the end it's too late to change things now for the play-off but in the future that has to change because a game based around set pieces doesn't actually suit the players we have now.
[quote=Smithy]
I think to Ricki's credit he's always set his stall out to play the way he thinks we can best get results against good teams. You can't expect someone new to come in and be like Ricki sometimes and other times be totally different.
Isn't that what coaching is about though? Ricki has one way of playing which works to a certain extent in some circumstances but is completely inappropriate in others
Some thoughts from Sunday's game, including analysing Jeremy Brockie's performance
That's a very good post and perhaps you have changed my opinion on Brockie a little. Cheers.
Good Post JD. WIll be interesting to see where Leo ends up, and that is my thinking around Lia also, he was ok at the start of the A League but the requirements have geared up in his position
Good Post JD. WIll be interesting to see where Leo ends up, and that is my thinking around Lia also, he was ok at the start of the A League but the requirements have geared up in his position
If any mods by chance read this could you change the thread title to something like James Dean's blog? Ta
New blog up after Phoenix 0 : Newcastle 0
A good read JD.
New blog up after Phoenix 0 : Newcastle 0
Really good points. Hope someone in the Nix is reading this!
Each of the blogs have been really good reads with some great points. Look forward to more coming throughout the season.
New blog on our misfiring attack - this time with pretty charts!
Another excellent blog. Up front is a definite concern with no outright pace or physicality. Cunningham showed he could be a threat coming from the bench against a tiring Sydney but am yet to be convinced by him starting. Brockie is the only goalscorer in the squad but when not scoring it doesn't look like he contributes much to the team. Huysegems is technically good but lacks a predatory touch for a striker. Hernandez will pitch in with a few goals eventually but looks over eager when he gets in goal scoring positions at the moment.
Will struggle to make the play offs looking so goal shy.
Another excellent blog. Up front is a definite concern with no outright pace or physicality. Cunningham showed he could be a threat coming from the bench against a tiring Sydney but am yet to be convinced by him starting. Brockie is the only goalscorer in the squad but when not scoring it doesn't look like he contributes much to the team. Huysegems is technically good but lacks a predatory touch for a striker. Hernandez will pitch in with a few goals eventually but looks over eager when he gets in goal scoring positions at the moment.
Will struggle to make the play offs looking so goal shy.
Nice blog JD. Agree with most of it, and in particualr the bit about the 3 man midfield.
Although I'm not sure you can claim that because we missed plenty of long passes that it reflects on our strength. There are numerous reasons for not making a successful pass. Lack of accuracy being the main one.
Nice blog JD. Agree with most of it, and in particualr the bit about the 3 man midfield.
Although I'm not sure you can claim that because we missed plenty of long passes that it reflects on our strength. There are numerous reasons for not making a successful pass. Lack of accuracy being the main one.
Our passing accuracy was the lowest of the season so far. 11.5% of our passes were 'long' which is about average for us this season, we are attempting over 400 passes per game so long passes are a small part of our game. But there is some truth to our lack of strength.
In terms of crosses (including corners) were are completing 21.6% for the season, which is only just bettered by Perth and Newcastle - of the teams we have played. Unfortunately since corners are bundled in that figure it will take some time to go through all our matches and work out how many are completed from open play. Anyway, crosses are not the most efficient means to scoring. In the 11/12 EPL season 16,744 crosses were attempted (incl set pieces) and resulted in 294 goals, 23.4% reached a team mate which is just better than what we are at the moment.
I do agree that the FBs do need to provide width at the speed with which we build play, otherwise we need to improve the speed of our transitions so that we are not so numerically disadvantaged in attack. Our improved defence is, imho, a lot to do with our increased possession play and slower build up - we don't turn over the ball in dangerous positions as often and with the extra CM we find it easier to play out when the opposition press. This results in us being able to move the ball up the field in a more controlled manner and many of the opposition have dropped to behind the ball. So it could be a toss up between being more defensively (and possession oriented) sound and possibly adding an attacking player or playing more lower percentage forward passes.
Nice blog JD. Agree with most of it, and in particualr the bit about the 3 man midfield.
Although I'm not sure you can claim that because we missed plenty of long passes that it reflects on our strength. There are numerous reasons for not making a successful pass. Lack of accuracy being the main one.
Yeah, maybe drawing a reasonably long bow with that one but I thought the chart at least was interesting.
wow that's some harsh words about Huysegems. You always feel with the guy there is going to be an unlock moment when all the goals that are piled up behind the door come spilling out...
He doesn't seem to have that Ifill nose or hunger for goal- but seems to have the right technique to finish, just of late that his finishes have been going the other side of the post and that we haven't created such a number of chances that those weren't noticeable.
he is a bit of a mystery that neither Ernie or Ricki were able to solve, but I think it is harsh to blame Ricki for it...
I think the strength claim is well founded. We spent ages having a short forward line and crossing in to it- but at least we had Browny getting on the end of some...You are right in that we have 4 wingers of whom two are manufactured strikers, but no out-and-out striker, poacher in the box, target-man, Louis Suarez...Also yes- Hicks got in position, but fluffed his lines. Lia has been doing some pleasantly surprising things in attack, but still can't really shoot for toffee. Manny can score goals- from right back and Reira hasn't had a shot yet IIRC.
anyway, this time tomorrow is 20 mins in to the game, and I hope we'll be ripping it up...!
wow that's some harsh words about Huysegems. You always feel with the guy there is going to be an unlock moment when all the goals that are piled up behind the door come spilling out...
He doesn't seem to have that Ifill nose or hunger for goal- but seems to have the right technique to finish, just of late that his finishes have been going the other side of the post and that we haven't created such a number of chances that those weren't noticeable.
he is a bit of a mystery that neither Ernie or Ricki were able to solve, but I think it is harsh to blame Ricki for it...
I think the strength claim is well founded. We spent ages having a short forward line and crossing in to it- but at least we had Browny getting on the end of some...You are right in that we have 4 wingers of whom two are manufactured strikers, but no out-and-out striker, poacher in the box, target-man, Louis Suarez...Also yes- Hicks got in position, but fluffed his lines. Lia has been doing some pleasantly surprising things in attack, but still can't really shoot for toffee. Manny can score goals- from right back and Reira hasn't had a shot yet IIRC.
anyway, this time tomorrow is 20 mins in to the game, and I hope we'll be ripping it up...!
To me he looks like a player struggling to adapt his game having lost pace after injuries