Guys, Elliot is no Scholes but he is the only NZer (other than Nelsen or maybe Vicelich) who has the vision and composure (key emphasis on that) to play the def MF role - this was made very clear in SA last year at Confeds. Brown is too scared to touch the ball at All White level yet at A -League level the commentators talk about him as if he is a goal scoring mid filelder of Gerrard's quality (even though they are all from 6 yards out from his head and he missed everything from 10 yards out from his feet). Point is - there is a massive gap between the A League and international levels.
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On the All Whites (sorry wrong thread) Ricki cannot play Brown and Elliot. It has to be Mac and one of them. Brown simply cannot play def mid at All White level as his vision, touch, passing and composure are not up to it. I admire the guy's stickability and guts but I think he is just not up to that level.�When he plays you need a Lia and Muscat with pace to tidy up behind him, Eliiot doesn't have that pace so gets exposed.
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For the Nix Elliot would be more than fine. For the AWs you cannot play them together..
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Matt�
Pretty good analysis, Browny's nowhere near good enough at international level. The problem is you can't play McG and Elliott in the middle together as Elliott's legs are a bit too old now, so he needs someone closer to him to help out defensively. Pretty much the only reason why Brown's in the starting XI imo.