What is that meant to mean? We had every right to complain about the Greek game. And we have every right to be delighted by the showing today.lthomas20
That's two draws against much higher ranked opponents in the last two windows... wonder where the screaming and shouting from people after the Greece game has gone.
People taking friendly matches too seriously and feeling the need to attack the coaching staffs credentials and NZF every time a match doesn't go to plan for us.
Every time we lose a game the critics come en masse and criticise Bazeley and co, but after a good performance, there's relatively muted silence from these people. It just stinks of people having an agenda against the current coaching setup from the get-go.
Interestingly we seem to be scoring against decently ranked team (Sweden, Qatar, DRC, Ireland) more frequently under Baze than we did in the Hay days.
Watching back over the first twenty minutes we tried to play, but Ireland were relentless.
Payne was trying to get forward, but in defense Stamenic and to a lesser extent Bell will have lost the most prestige. Stamenic covering Payne and Singh got beaten one on one several times and struggled to prevent the ball in.
McClean and Johnston ran riot.
And obviously Singh couldn’t roam free if his defense out wide was essential and we couldn’t retain the ball.
Up until the mistake that lead to the goal the CBs did well to clear cross after cross I thought.
There seemed to be some discussion with Bazeley when Crocombe went down around the 27th minute.
Not sure what changes were made, but we came into the game more in the second half of the first period, perhaps with Ireland’s intensity dropping after the goal too.
Who are the young guys? Dibley-Dias might be watching Stamenic and Bell there? And potentially Leuluai too might be watching with interest? With Rufer and Conchie a little further off? I feel like Rufer might have clattered Johnston early on, with a bit of feeling!
Don’t think we can blame Wood much, despite the opinion of some above. We had little to no possession in the first spell. If he’d played a full game, I’d say he would have challenged the keeper. He’s also a good decoy for the midfield strike power we have.
The other interesting thing would have been what would have happened if we could have kept it to nil longer. The Irish press was high energy, but couldn’t have lasted 90 minutes. I think we should have reacted to their energy sooner, however.
Crocombe seemed very assured with ball at feet, playing long passes to retain possession with class.
A few poor passes in the first half, but credit to keeping their heads in it. Garbett made up for errors with a lovely goal. Payne showed a good level of confidence even though he'd been under the pump, to make that run across the box to assist the goal. Boxall and Pijnaker both happ to linger on attack and be involved. Cacace excellent, Singh superb. Well done coach on getting these guys believing.
Watching back over the first twenty minutes we tried to play, but Ireland were relentless.
Payne was trying to get forward, but in defense Stamenic and to a lesser extent Bell will have lost the most prestige. Stamenic covering Payne and Singh got beaten one on one several times and struggled to prevent the ball in.
McClean and Johnston ran riot.
And obviously Singh couldn’t roam free if his defense out wide was essential and we couldn’t retain the ball.
Up until the mistake that lead to the goal the CBs did well to clear cross after cross I thought.
There seemed to be some discussion with Bazeley when Crocombe went down around the 27th minute.
Not sure what changes were made, but we came into the game more in the second half of the first period, perhaps with Ireland’s intensity dropping after the goal too.
Who are the young guys? Dibley-Dias might be watching Stamenic and Bell there? And potentially Leuluai too might be watching with interest? With Rufer and Conchie a little further off? I feel like Rufer might have clattered Johnston early on, with a bit of feeling!
Don’t think we can blame Wood much, despite the opinion of some above. We had little to no possession in the first spell. If he’d played a full game, I’d say he would have challenged the keeper. He’s also a good decoy for the midfield strike power we have.
The other interesting thing would have been what would have happened if we could have kept it to nil longer. The Irish press was high energy, but couldn’t have lasted 90 minutes. I think we should have reacted to their energy sooner, however.
Crocombe seemed very assured with ball at feet, playing long passes to retain possession with class.
When he’s fit and ready, I can see Dibley-Dias taking Bell’s starting spot. If Bell gets back into form at Viking it’ll be a good battle though.
Leuluai is a lot further off if his U17 WC performances are anything to go by.
Rufer and Conchie I can see making the squad if they perform well this season.
Watching back over the first twenty minutes we tried to play, but Ireland were relentless.
Payne was trying to get forward, but in defense Stamenic and to a lesser extent Bell will have lost the most prestige. Stamenic covering Payne and Singh got beaten one on one several times and struggled to prevent the ball in.
McClean and Johnston ran riot.
And obviously Singh couldn’t roam free if his defense out wide was essential and we couldn’t retain the ball.
Up until the mistake that lead to the goal the CBs did well to clear cross after cross I thought.
There seemed to be some discussion with Bazeley when Crocombe went down around the 27th minute.
Not sure what changes were made, but we came into the game more in the second half of the first period, perhaps with Ireland’s intensity dropping after the goal too.
Who are the young guys? Dibley-Dias might be watching Stamenic and Bell there? And potentially Leuluai too might be watching with interest? With Rufer and Conchie a little further off? I feel like Rufer might have clattered Johnston early on, with a bit of feeling!
Don’t think we can blame Wood much, despite the opinion of some above. We had little to no possession in the first spell. If he’d played a full game, I’d say he would have challenged the keeper. He’s also a good decoy for the midfield strike power we have.
The other interesting thing would have been what would have happened if we could have kept it to nil longer. The Irish press was high energy, but couldn’t have lasted 90 minutes. I think we should have reacted to their energy sooner, however.
Crocombe seemed very assured with ball at feet, playing long passes to retain possession with class.
When he’s fit and ready, I can see Dibley-Dias taking Bell’s starting spot. If Bell gets back into form at Viking it’ll be a good battle though.
Leuluai is a lot further off if his U17 WC performances are anything to go by.
Rufer and Conchie I can see making the squad if they perform well this season.
Bell looked unfit and out of form in both games. Needs to up his game.
Being at the game, the Irish were confident of a win against us. They wanted it as a confidence booster. They are still hurting over the RWC and saw this a chance to get some revenge for that (different codes of course).
Fair result in the end for two teams that struggle to score and keep clean sheets.
I think that’s a positive takeaway tbh! We were good in the second half, but several players who only had reasonable games can play much much better, so imagine if our top players all hit some form, say for the World Cup!
Just watching the game for the first time, only saw the first 10 minutes this morning, just got to HT. Ireland really switched off after their goal didn't they? Hilarious to see Boxall playing as an advanced midfielder for a good few minutes late in the first half. Echoing everyone's comments about Bell here but why is he built like a centre back all of a sudden?
Edit: love that the team's heads didn't drop after the Ireland goal
Edit 2: Boxall is a freak. Never seen a 35 year old CB as fast as he is. Maybe he can carry on til 2026 after all
Edit 3: FIFA+ still thinks Tyler's last name is Bidon
FT thoughts: we were definitely improved but I don't think we were actually all that great. I think Ireland were pretty disinterested and uninspired and it's hard to draw conclusions against a team like that. I hope Payne gained some confidence from that outing, as RB is one of our weak spots and he hasn't really every shown his best in a white shirt but that was getting there. Good to see that it was just Singh having an off day vs Greece, he is such a joy to watch. Still need to see forward players that aren't Garbett and Singh stepping up consistently.
Fun fact: Tommy Smith now has the same number of caps as Jeremy Brockie... with twice as many goals (51 caps each, 2 to 1 on the goal count).
More thoughts from this international window...
They may have made a big deal about bringing in Tony Readings as a full-time assistant coach but it’s pretty clear that Simon Elliott is the true consiglieri in this team. Whenever the camera cuts to Darren Bazeley on the bench, it’s Elliott that he’s whispering to. Elliott did the press conference before the game too. Bazeley probably does have limitations as a tactical coach, as we’ve seen with his youth World Cup teams, but he’s got a great staff around him here and it really does feel like a collaborative effort. Including a large amount of say being withheld for the players themselves. The lack of ego involved is so refreshing.
Max Crocombe is our best goalie, there’s no doubt about it. Dunno how long that’ll stay true given how many keepers there are in contention but right here right now it’s Max Crocombe. He looks so assured. So composed. He’s a fundamentally sound GK with experience in tough games (FA Cup quarter-final, National League promotion final) who perhaps isn’t as good with his feet as guys like Nik Tzanev or Michael Woud but he fills you with a sense of security that those two don’t. Alex Paulsen and Kees Sims are the two most exciting younger prospects but at the international level you usually want an experienced head like Crocs. Only problem is that he plays in a league that doesn’t break for international windows which has prevented him from being available for three of the last four fixtures. That’s just something we’ll have to deal with until Paulsen signs with Midtjylland or Copenhagen or wherever.
Early on, Mikey Johnston (24yo winger for Celtic) was looking absolutely unstoppable jinking inwards from the left wing. The AWs didn’t seem to know how to handle him and it was hard not to regret the lack of a searing dribbler like that in the New Zealand ranks. But he actually didn’t create that much from those situations and was basically a passenger in the second half. Never mind then.
Tim Payne is in the same bag as Matt Garbett in having had fantastic second halves after less impactful beginnings. Payne always showed good intent but there for a while there, marking Mikey Johnston, he looked like he was on the brink of mistake just like Pijnaker eventually made.
Then T. Payne gained belief along with the rest of them and ended up delivering great performance, carrying on his superb form for the Wellington Phoenix. There aren’t many A-League players in this squad so you’ve gotta be doing huge things to make the All Whites from that level. Not only has Payne been doing huge things... he’s now staked a strong claim for the starting right back role.
It’s been frustrating watching Libby Cacace hang back and fire underpar crosses into the mixer these past few games. Despite his magnificence at the Phoenix, he actually scored more goals (4) than he had assists (3) in the A-League. He’s at his best when he’s: a) dribbling, and b) overlapping and cutting back. We’re still not getting enough overlaps out of him (as much to do with the team as it is with the player) but mate when he started angling those runs infield? Molto bene. Mi piace. Voglio vedere di più di questo.
Mentioned earlier that Pijnaker was the only player based in Ireland in either starting line-up. Ireland had nine players in England and two in Scotland. New Zealand had ten different nations represented: England, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and England again. The two English players being from League One and the Premier League so not exactly comparable there either. All six Irish subs play for English clubs. The NZers used subs based in England, Denmark, Australia, and England again.
Is Sarpreet Singh now the most important All Whites player? Kinda think he might be. Chris Wood needs service and Singh is a serviceman. Stamenic and Bell help balance each other out so that if one is missing at least the other is there. Nobody else can do what Singh does for this team. Cacace is up there too but no team’s most important player is their left back... well, apart from Canada. But that’s why Alphonso Davies plays on the wing (or at least wing-back) for his national team.
BazeBall update after 7 games: 1 W | 3 D | 3 L | 5 GF | 11 GA (plus half a game against Qatar in which they were 1-0 up when it got abandoned)
Feel I might watch these two or three times a day for quite a while…Damn, we were fairly good. We really could have snatched it. Is it Champness awake after Libby’s strike? Bindon’s header? Where Mata got himself into good spaces, but couldn’t quite fashion a deadly strike? There are reasons we expect awesome things and are disappointed otherwise- this is a very very talented bunch with some amazing potential.
Sarpreet and Cacace were superb in that second half for very different reasons. Singh was just floating out there, his passes so measured and intricate. Cacace showed his strength, power and engine. Very different but two outstanding performances.
Stamenic was composed, strong. Just what we need at 8. Garbett likewise bit still needs to pick his moments.
Bell is a worry tbh. He gave the ball away in some dangerous areas - almost leading to a goal and his passing was petty inaccurate. I know he's a smart guy, gives 100% but he's nowhere near clinical enough for international football or a decent eurpoean league on the basis of these last couple of games. Like garbett he is very guilty of overplaying.
Boxall - so solid. Ageless. Pijnaker - I get the left foot is nice to have for a CB pairing aspect of picking him but he needs to stop making a clanger of an error every game. We cant start each game down 1-0 from pencilling in a Nando or Woud error. He's got hea[s of potential but hes also guilty of overplaying. This will be fixed - just would prefer to see it fixed at club level first.
I think Baze should have given Lewis a bigger opportunity in place of Bell) and Bindon ahead of Pijnaker - Bindon looks a real prospect.
Yeah I was a bit disappointed Lewis didn't get more mins, he's started the ALM in good form. But he's not really a like for like with Bell. If Lewis was there you'd have to have Stamenic go deeper to get the ball off the CBs.
A few months back I thought Bell was still okay (remember a lovely assist against China for Garbett's goal at the ROF) and Brondby was just a blip in his career. But now less optimistic. His return to Norway has coincided with Viking's form dropping away, and he's even been benched for 21 yr old Patrick Yazbek (called up to wider Socceroos recently) a few times there now. He's the heir apparent AWs captain, and when in form crucial to how the team build up possession.
Hopefully he can fix things in 2024. But is going to be interesting watching Dibley-Dias next year, who will presumably be going to the Paris Olympics with Oly Whites.
And agree Boxall & Bindon, could soon become the first choice AWs CB pairing. Hopefully evergreen Boxy can go 2 more years to 2026. Still got some pace which is encouraging. He really was bombing forward impressingly in Dublin. He might do that less against a more dangerous team on the counter than the Irish.
We lose more points for losing to Greece as expected than we gain from drawing with Ireland which was unexpected!
Fudgeing hell FIFA rankings are an absolute laugh
I mean, it somewhat makes sense to me that a draw is not considered directly inverse to a loss. Had the team won then there would be an argument but they didn't. It's hard for me to say a loss and a draw in two friendlies should see a team go up in the ranking points. The rankings formula (rightfully so) has a lower multiplier for friendlies so the effect of the draw wasn't so great as had it been a qualifier (we would have gone up in points had it been).
As it was, we lost 2.81204 ranking points following the loss to Greece, and gained back 1.88056 after the draw against Ireland. So the window had the net decrease of 0.94 (FIFA use only two decimal points), which is very little.
For reference, this is the ranking formula for the Greece game: =1198.41+10*(0-(1/(10^(-(1198.41-1442.96)/600)+1))) (gives the ranking coefficient after the Greece game as 1195.6)
Where: 1198.41 = NZ ranking points before the match; 10 = multiplier for a friendly played inside a window 0 = multiplier points for a defeat (1/(10^(-(1198.41-1442.96)/600)+1)) = expected result formula 1442.96 = Greece ranking points before the match
For the Ireland game (taking into account the points lost by Ireland after losing to the Netherlands): =1195.6+10*(0.5-(1/(10^(-(1195.6-1401.48)/600)+1))) (gives the ranking coefficient after the game as 1197.48 (0.01 rounding difference))
Just for interest, had we, for some reason, been in Euro qualifying and these two matches had been qualifiers, we would have ended the window in 103rd. Jumping one place to ahead of Guinea-Bissau. A -7.03011 for the Greece game and +8.9164 for the Ireland game would have resulted in 1200.3 ranking points.
Wins in these two friendlies would have taken us 1212.4 ranking points and 101st spot.
The best thing we could do for our ranking is to constantly schedule friendlies against crap teams that we will beat. But obviously that is totally in contrast to what will actually make us a better football team - getting results against teams in the 50-90 kind of range.
The best thing we could do for our ranking is to constantly schedule friendlies against crap teams that we will beat. But obviously that is totally in contrast to what will actually make us a better football team - getting results against teams in the 50-90 kind of range.
I suppose an argument could be made that we could run a sort of B team of nz based players multiple times a year and go and beat some island sides to bump up our rankings.
I know it wouldn't mean much but it might improve the publics perception of the team if we were ranked higher.
