the 2 under 20 signings

Jenkins, Draper, Spoonley were my picks

Phil Edgington would take 1 spot for me.

 

That Pele kid grew up in Onehunga I think. . . .

 

Good question. If we had a RM position in need of filling, but the only U20 player available for that postition was rubbsih should we still sign him? I think not. Tehre obviously has to be a balance, and this is where the Manager has to back his decision. Personally I'd still go after the strongest candidate irrespective of position (except for GK), due in part to the competition for places it would build. A classy youbng full back can still be developed into a resonalbe left, right or central defender, likewise with mid-field players. However, a rubbish RM would likely still be pretty garbage in any other position . ..

 

Of course this argument represents the extreeme, and the scenario is not likely in real life, but the implications apply, at least I think they do.

There was that lad from the aussie league we called in short-term last year, no need to waste another spot on a keeper.

I havn't spoke to Phil Edgington recently, but last I heard he hadn't even talked to Ricki and the last thing Ricki said about the Phoenix to the U20 lads was that he'll wait 'til they get back from Canada.

 

I guess I'm meaning we need to grab the best players in the squad if we can which kind of goes without saying

 

Was disapointed with keat, gave the ball away alot, as did most of the boys, panicked when simple options avaliable.

 

 

Spoonley could get picked up by an overseas club... arguebly he is our best player.

Attempt to sign Spoonley and kill two birds with 1 stone and if he rejects then grab another promising keeper maybe Phil Imray.

I couldn't see much of the game. But of what i saw it was either hit or miss for the strikes and he didnt really have that much influence on the game.

 

Looked the goods when he was on.

And agree on Spoonley, he didn't have a lot to do, and when he was called into actiopn it was nearly always routine. He did everything confidently, but that's about all. He didn't have a chance to do much more. The jury's out.

I still say sign Boxall.

Some of you don't read - He won't sign.

 

Keats: He is better off staying in the US- may improve in time.

 

Keats gave the ball away so many times again, his shooting was rubbish, he got pushed off the ball and couldn't tackle very well. His header on goal at the end should have been directed across the goal for the two kiwis in the middle, at that level he would never score from there. 

The good things about Keats was, some of his long balls into the area where effect and accurate, good vision. He also ran around alot.

 

Brockie: Leave him in the National League to start again and prove himself.

Saying his name makes me cringe. He is everything we don't need from a striker.

Not quite quick enough. Can't quite beat players, First touch is not quite there, can't quite get to the ball in time to get a shot off. Isn't quite accurate enough.

His good points. Considering his bad points; he actually seems quite confident. You need a little arrogance as a striker. He is solid enough. Has enough vision.

 

Draper: Worth looking at a bit more

He had energy, spark, confidence. A bit of pace and vision. Still needs to be worked on a bit more. get a bit sharper and experience. Nothing exceptional about him, but for some reason gives me hope.

 

Boxall: Sign him

He has the goods of a Centre back. the build , he seemed pretty calm and cool headed. He pushed up a couple of times, so has the confidence. he was pretty consistent compared to the others in the team. He is no super star, but Central defenders are not supposed to be. There would be no harm in signing him as one of the last 2 spots.

 

Craig Henderson: Looked ok, but he is best to stay in the US

He played well. I liked his style. He played kind of like Chris James at times. He set up the best opportunity of the match and worked hard. He held possession quite well and gave himself space.

He gave me confidence.

 

Spoonley: Decent enough keeper but people are saying he wont sign anyway.

He is good enough from what i can see.  goalie for the future i suspect for the All Whites.

 

Of the rest of the players Roydhouse should have been subbed off for wasting opportunites down the flanks, don't let him take any more corners. the fullbacks hogg and peters are a little to slow and small. Clapham seemed ok when he came on, but didn't get much time. Edginton played ok, solid enough

 

Thats about it. Overall. All the players were a little out of their league understanably. But they did enough to keep face. Lets hope we can go out against Mexico without a thrashing. Mexico seem to be the best side in the pool and with these teams having 20 or more shots against us. A 5 or6 nil thrashing would not be unlikely.

 

 

What was Elrick and De Jong going on about saying that Gambia were going to lack structure? They were bloody structed. Solid centre backs, wide midfielders who pressed high and didn't allow us to get the ball out the backline.

 

De Jong. . . we've had this conversation before . . . . lol

It seems to be that the midfield is the real weakness in NZ football at all levels, we seem to lack any spark or direction. All to often the midfield drops to far back and crowds the defence giving the opposition midfield to much room to play and when on attack there is no zip and we try to knock aimless or hopeful balls that end up going to the opposition. 

 

I am encouraged by the fact that the NZ national team coaches  are now trying to play a more fluid passing game and as the current crop of player are not really used to this it will take a while to gel. The more we try and play this style at all levels the more the midfield players will develop and the skill levels will grow.

 

We need to look at the conditioning of our players as well, they can run all day but need more general strength and speed development. 

 

I do think that Drapper could be a good player to pick up as an under 20, when he came on things seemed to liven up a bit.

 

Dissapointed with Roydhouse's hair cut can someone please tell him that the rats tail went out in the late 80's, whats next a Kevin Keegan perm?  :)

Thats avery good/interesting point. Its true. I would almost say that we seemed fitter than Portugal and Gambia. We could have run all day and some more.

 

But you are right. Maybe in key areas we need to work on different physical elements and training. Get some speed in the strikers and wing backs. Bulk up the Central defenders and midfielders. 

 

Maybe we can make them a bit taller too.

 

 

Looks like he doesn't have many to choose from if most of them wouldn't even be interested in signing.

 

It will be interesting to see who he goes with.

 

I think jenkins could be shaped in to a good player, especially out wide he likes to go on the outside of the defender and usuall skips past and puts in a cross.

 

I thought roydhouse was the fittest, but some of his passes and free kicks were horrible.

 

Boxall the most consistent. Draper unfortunatly reminded me of a young Zdrillic......looks and play......but id still rather him over brockie (what a shocker!!!)

 

 

I think rick will go for jenkins and boxall. Could be a totally leftfield choice though, we'll have to wait and find out! Maybe an aussie?! Who was the young travis dodd guy that lunatic was talking about a while ago???