Asunto: National Team

Well we've got a few issues before the game today.

Howarth -> still bad form
Haereiti -> SI
Burns -> SI
Kohler -> SI

All falling to defenders. We're fortunate in that we're able to cover this without too much strife and we're only taking on Andorra. Expecting to go on and win this, goal difference is irrelevant at this stage but we'll try to go out and burn a few goals for the sake of it. Uruguay got 8 against Andorra so we'll be aiming for no less than 8 ourselves. As long as we get 6 though it will be a reasonable performance.

These are the games which are easy on paper but one slip up and you could find yourself chasing the pack. Indeed that was the case when we took on Bulgaria the first time last qualifying campaign and ended with a dodgy draw. So one needs to be just as careful against these kind of teams to try and eliminate any chance they have of being 'lucky' and stealing points they shouldn't be taking. With the 1 point against Hrvatska a fortnight ago, we're in a prime position heading into the next few rounds knowing that if we beat all the sides seeded below us from now on in we finish on 19 points. That means somewhere down the line that other 3rd placed sides must knock over points against the top 2 seeds. Ideally, I'd like to get a win against Brasil as well just to bump it to 22 points but first we've got to get through these next two games.

Andorra have been fairly predictable to date, 4 at the back, 2 defensive midfielders, 3 in midfield with 2 on the outside wings and a lone striker. I don't really expect them to change too much from that structure which gives us an opportunity to control the game and keep them defending.

We've played them before and won 6 - 0 I believe but I don't think that was our 1st XI, I'm pretty sure it was either a 2nd XI or an U21 side. I'll take a check to confirm.

I think Indonesia next week will have a better chance of stealing points off us, but I'm going to try and make certain that won't be the case as I believe we are good enough to participate at the next WC and I'm going to continue to push to get there.

Still have time to get competition captains in, and even to enter a side if you haven't joined but would like to.

I hope everyone enjoys the game and our *correction* second home game of this qualifying campaign.
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8 - 0 win. Better than nothing and is better than Uruguay managed. Felt we left a few goals still out on the field but I'll settle for 8. Much better than it was looking midway through the first half when we struggled to put the ball in the net. Didn't quite keep them shotless but never really gave them any room to attack. Possession and territory wise I thought we went quite well, just that final ball prevented us from scoring more. Perhaps next time we'll beat them by more than 10 :).

it should have easily finished in the 2 digits score range...
2-0HT felt largely undeserved considering what happened on the pitch...
You cant blame the scouting as Andorra did as predicted and your tactic was efficient in term of shots on goals...
shame about the finition but 8-0 is still a decent result

Pretty happy with Byers' accuracy in that game. Still wondering how on earth he got that assist.. Some good passes by Willis too, surprised to see the majority of shots go to ol Kris in the first half. Good win.

he shot, rebounded and storey finished off? Why wasn't that a legal assist, no other player touched it other than the initial palming away by the keeper. Storey dribbled around the keeper without being touched or tackled in any way and slotted it :p.

went to Hirons I believe cause he was unmarked at the back post and Byers was semi marked I think but it was unusual. Normally Byers gets more of the crosses from Willis.

... and doesn't Kris know it.

I'd blame his miss-rate on being surprised that Willis was passing him the ball in the air for multiple times in the one half :P
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The fact we had the unmarked striker for a number of crosses was really pleasing and the ability for Willis to notice this and still deliver pin point passes despite only being in excellent form was another high point of the game today. Indonesia went down 5 - 0 to Croatia today as well, so they're on the board in terms of wins now. Indonesia can be a very tricky side to put goals away, it took Croatia a little bit to get a comfortable cushion and it was still only 3 - 0 going into the final 10 minutes. Could be an interesting or frustrating game next week, so hopefully that was Hirons' off day with the boot and comes out and has a blinder next week. Probably didn't see as many threaded passes in behind the defense as I was hoping, probably had my strikers not quite running enough quick enough to make them happen. Still should be a testing game next week against a side likely to defend against us hoping to keep the score down.

2 hours to the really interesting match between Uruguay and Brazil kickoff though. A loss for Uruguay opens up a handy 4 point buffer over them, whilst a loss for Brazil gives us top spot in the group and a potential chance to qualify in the top 2 spots and not have to worry about other groups. I think I'd rather Brazil winning to give us the break over Uruguay and then to start worrying about 2nd place against Brazil in a fortnight when and if we get to that round as Indonesia is still going to be a game we need to be cautious about. We're stronger and on paper we should win but taking chances when they come hasn't been a high point of our NT so I've got a lot of thinking to do over the week.
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I guess that no one told Andy that he is without form ;)

Nice game to watch, and another step to get into WC!

Another 5 assists to Willis, can't complain. His passing was once again right on the mark.

Brazil just completely murdered Uruguay in that opening half. Fortunately for Uruguay, the 2nd half only had 1 goal in it.

On another note, those long ball passes from Brazil were just amazing to watch but at the same time made me shudder at the thought we have to play them in 2 weeks. Still Uruguay had major problems defensively, gaps the size of 2-3 players and at times only had those 3 at the back, which resulted in Brazil passing straight through their defense. So, hard to read a lot into that other than we'll need to be careful of their midfield and strike force as they are quite a team.

Think we remain 2nd now as well after 3 rounds, 2 points clear of Croatia, 4 points clear of Uruguay and 6 points clear of both Indonesia and Andorra.

Might just add quickly, a lot might already know but Carl Richter is now on the TL. Should be even more money into FCM's account.

Other NT Players:
Wesley Broxton's on a transfer announcement rather than the transfer list also, think that's been happening most weeks now actually, almost like the manager is trying to get offers together before selling off end of the season. That's just a guess though just from what's been happening the past few weeks.

For those who may be interested anyway, otherwise ignore this post ;).

Maras is not that much weaker than Richter :O how do you think, when could he possibly get to 1st team? He should be unearthly in pace this week, then divine easily till end of season and this'll be the time when he will start striker training...

Maras isn't that far off, but we've got a few others still progressing in front of him. Hard to say when he'll make that jump but at current speeds, maybe towards the end of next season, could even be earlier yet just depends on how things progress between now and then.

at last striker training :) and triple divine for Deroo :)

Will take a little bit though. Only magical pace+3 at the moment, needs about 11-13 weeks of training...

Good news for Gaever though and Willis, they'll get more pace training before end of their training :P