Asunto: National Team

885k gets you in II...
885k leads you nowhere in II...
:)

The poor guy is in III ;) Getting to II would be a great outcome I reckon!

Sure, that's where the fun is but that's where the managing aspect of the game comes into play because if you want to be competitive you have to be aggressive with your club strategy.
I feel that aspect is not so important in III where a good bunch of player and an average tactic would do the job.

Well for the 3rd time in a row we take on strong opposition. This time the #2 ranked team (of those in the tournament) going into the MWC. We're without Beauchamp again but we should be alright, depends what Bosnia try to do. They've always appeared to prefer using the 4-3-3** against minnow sides but when it comes to the crunch against stronger sides they resort to a more defensive option. Against NZ they went in with a 4-2-2-2 I suppose you could call it. 2 dm's where 1 of those two pushed up with the wide midfielders causing havoc down the flanks. Then against Schweiz last season they used a 5-1-2-2 formation where they pressed up the field to control territory.

None of those tactics really worry me too much but again wouldn't surprise me if they went in with one of those 3 types.

So with the scouting completed (and openly expressed) they've got some dangerous midfielders. Seen a few of their games now and they drive home 50m through balls like you wouldn't believe, a lot like Brasil did against us a few seasons back.

Important game this because I feel whoever wins out of us and Bosnia this week will go on and win the MWC. Well, at least will make the final. No disrespects to either Russia or Japan but they're not quite the same threat as either Bosnia or ourselves.

A win here would make it 3/3 against strong sides so that's the plan. Again though, Bosnia are one of those teams that can make goals from nothing and that could become a problem.
(editado)

weekly rant, let's throw a 80-90m pass through a hole and then have our strikers run and get the ball over magical+ paced defenders and score (Y). Brilliant....

Anyway we got the win, wasn't pretty, conceded a few dodgy goals (one from an offside, one from the spot which was pretty harsh, and one from a 80-90m pass)

End of the day though we are through into the semi final against the winner of Russia and Japan. We've knocked off Norway,Canada and Bosnia in the last 3 weeks now :).

Tbh I wasn't expecting the 4-3-3** even though they use it frequently so I didn't exactly try to match up against it and it hurt a fair bit. I was expecting either the 4-2-2-2 they used against NZ or the 5-1-2-2 against Schweiz so the tactic tweaks were modified to counter those.

Still they suicided that game by playing 3 at the back. Taking away the 3 "dodgy" goals they only put 1 past us of any quality and that came from not covering the throw properly on the right side of defense.

Not the greatest display but we still came out on top and deserved the win. Probably should have won by something like 6-2,7-2 rather than 5-4.

A win's a win. Onwards and upwards!

I think that Japan and Russia are even weaker opponents, than Bosnia. At least imo you are basically in final.

That's what I said in my pre-match game. The winner was likely going to win the tournament or at least make the final.

Considering we've beaten now Norway (rank #3), Canada (rank #5 or was it 7 ill check that), Bosnia (rank #2) it's about time we got a somewhat easier match.

Thought Bosnia were stupid to go in with a back 3, it's suicidal really and they only got close due to some clumsy M.E actions that really shouldn't have happened.

As they say though a win's a win and adds to the ranking points. Looks like we could have an earlier fixture than planned between our two sides ;).
(editado)

As they say though a win's a win and adds to the ranking points. Looks like we could have an earlier fixture than planned between our two sides ;).

So we can beat you twice in one season, can`t go any better than this:)

Actually our toughest match is still ahead. Ireland and Bulgaria are both quite strong. Don`t even know which one I prefer.

We'll see, we'll see. It's all talk until it happens ;).

True but NZ should still have the strength to overcome both.

Your keeper might be the deciding factor though, since Taylor's out.
(editado)

We'll see, we'll see. It's all talk until it happens ;).

I am just teasing, it`s fun. Don´t take it very seriously:)

Perfect timing, we've got Beauchamp back and we've also suddenly seen form rises to several key squad members including Haereiti, Oliveira (I thought I'd never see that happen) and Broxton. We've essentially got our entire squad to select from for a change.

Should be a winnable game to put us into the MWC final for the 2nd time, where I don't think anyone can dispute the fact we've deserved to be there (if we win today), especially considering the sides we've had to eliminate just to be in this position we find ourselves in.

I suppose on similar logic Bulgaria should make the final, although it would be fun to beat the kiwis in a final ;).

First thing is first though, got to knock over Japan. They'll defend like crazy here, a flat back 5 across the back and 3 supporting defensive midfielders covering the strikers. That then leaves them a total of 2 players to use elsewhere. That should give us some confidence to pin em in their own half and score from one of our bound to be many shots.

The game should be enjoyable although no doubt highly frustrating if we struggle to put the game away early.
(editado)

Congrats, I hope we can beat Bulgaria.

Thanks. Yeah your game is going to be tough but I still think you should be able to pull through and make the final even more heated ;).

Willis delivered as always :)

Next week kangaroo vs kiwi:)

Well done Vilpu. Just like WC2010 in South Africa... Australia vs NZ in the final. ;)