Asunto: National Team

That was harder then I thought it was going to be.

In the end made 11 changes to the squad of 40 (would have been more aside from the fact I'd moved a few already late last season).

Anyway so here are the changes.

Outs:
Ross Winterbottom
Dean Stephenson
Greg Selling
Elliott Prince
Todd Leijh
Neil Hay
Patrick Fox
Alex Farmer
Jay Curcija
Alexander Collina
Archer Brooks

The latter two were hard decisions to make. Brooks may come back yet I'm not entirely sure but I had a limit for places for position and he was on the outside of the cut.

Those coming in include:
Patrick Brain
Bill Stanton
Denis Franklin
John Brown
Oscar Sekulovski
Perry Houston (probably one of the ones I'd toss up if I decide to bring Brooks back)
Steven Brain
Noel Wilkin
Marshall Schofield
Ace Scuderi
Jackson Bresciano (interesting given I dropped him a season ago as I needed space at the time for others. Again probably on the edge if I decide to go a different pathway).

Our rematch against Dominican Republic turned out to be a walkover for us as they had deleted a the tactic. Shame the game didn’t go ahead as was looking forward to seeing what we could do better than a fortnight ago.

I think the positive is we gain a fair amount of ranking points back though so there’s a plus.

4-0 loss to Russia wasn't a good result. Russia clearly the better side but it gets incredibly frustrating when all the 50/50's go one direction.

First goal came from an initial save and then a lone defender picked up the scraps hoofed the ball downfield for it to come straight back and then that same defender giving a penalty away. I mean what can you do to stop that? It's our best defender, in sd form and stuffs a tackle up front on. I'm stumped on that one.

Second goal came from a foul and from the resulting fk another of our defenders couldn't land a tackle front on (again sd form) and couldn't even dislodge the ball and their striker just hits it into our keeper which rebounds into the net.

Third goal came from a mass through ball from defense, which we should have been able to cut out but our defenders just stand and watch it go through whilst their striker runs onto it. Tactically that doesn't happen in the tactic but ok understand our DM got pushed upfield and opened up that possibility. Still where's our equivalent?

Fourth goal came from our defender (sd form yet again) intercepting a pass but playing their winger and strikers onside and couldn't have put the ball into a better position for them. They took advantage and slotted it home.

Meanwhile we got no breaks, no balls in behind their defense and looked lifeless.

Even the foul count was 4-4 and we got 2 yellows and they got 0. Seriously?

Not saying we deserved to win, at times had Pondeljak too far forward and at other times had strikers not where they needed to be positionally but it just drives me insane when we continue to give away really soft goals and can't catch a break.

Low form sure understand, low skills - again fine undestand that too but we have neither for most of what happened today.

4-0 feels like a kick in the guts, when if we were being fair, a 1 or 2 goal difference is probably the mark for this match.

Probably a good case study for me to break down and see what I could have done better. We couldn't play a winger this match as we just didn't have the midfielders capable of doing a good enough job given form/injuries. Would have given us more scoring chances though if we had the player to take advantage of it.

Got the tactic wrong and we were smoked 6-0 by Denmark. Got the defensive line completely in the wrong spot (wasn't meant to press that much) and our defenders just constantly got beaten by their strikers. During general play we went alright but got destoryed whenever they had a free kick from our strikers being offside.

Also didn't help I didn't realise Whitley was unavailable. In the squad page and the lineup page had no indication he was suspended/injured so that caused some issues too.

Ultimately though it was a bit of a silly game. We had more possession, more territory and equal shots of which our shots were as easy to score as what they had.

6 from 10 vs 0 from 10. Seems fair to me.

Still was the wrong choice on my part defensively, which is a shame as we probably would have won if I had adjusted for their insane pressing. Again should have been aware of that too.

I think at one point they had 6 shots for 6 goals too including a long range strike after tackling a defender.

Been annoyed at our past few results but was a lot happier with the match today even though we lost. 2-1 loss to Austria who outrated us by 6 and who are ranked in the top 30 teams and we only conceded the lead late by giving away a penalty (which we saved but missed the rebound shot). Had striker placements not quite right but I was aware they like to shift defense up and back so was trying to catch them in transition. We got through a few times in the 2nd half but unfortunately McConville was unable to convert.

Otherwise reasonably happy overall but a draw would have been sweeter. Wasn’t even really caught out by their tactic switch either as I had noticed that earlier in the week and that factored into who I put where. Only drawback when they changed tactic is I didn’t account for us fouling right on the edge of the difference squares which resulted in our defs retreating into the box which led to their penalty. That should be fixable going forward.

We should gain ranking possibly from that result which is a change after some rubbish games (especially against Denmark we really should have done better there)

We should get an easier road now for the rest of the MWC so a chance to gain back some ranking points. In hindsight the Asian cup would have been the better tournament to enter but I wasn’t anticipating being blown away like we were last week.

Better result today just didn’t quite get the job done with a few slight miscalculations tactically

So the losers bracket if the MWC saw us take on Wales who finished 3rd on their group (including a result against NZ). They’d played the same tactic for many weeks and decided to do something different against us (typical). Planned for their usual tactic and so by them changing gave them some space to exploit and cause our defenders some trouble at times.

The pitch felt like we were playing on a cow paddock with the ball doing ridiculous and u predictable things. Added to the contest I suppose as we benefited once when the ball bounced over their defender for our striker to score. Still despite the humour of the moment it’s always concerning because it’s just another layer of rng to deal with.

In the end we got a solid 7-2 win, including winning both halves so it’s a pleasing result in that aspect and should restore some of our lost ranking points from that Denmark game.

I’ll have to check but I believe we now play the winner of Phillipines and Ukraine next week in the semis of the loser bracket. Either one of those will be a tougher match I think but it’s nice to know we can still put away sides we should.

If you watch games then I hope you all enjoy this one as it’s a high scoring game

Complete opposite match today against Ukraine. Very cagey match and was extremely pleased they went with the same tactic and even more so that positioning of players on our end was almost perfect. Striker placement wasn't exactly right but we were still able to generate some chances. Wasn't happy with Traj blowing a penalty over the bar and couldn't even get the keeper to make the save but will walk away knowing we won the match in the end.

1-0 result and we kept Ukraine shotless.

Into the "final" of the losers bracket, so effectively we're playing for 9th next week.

Looks like we play Austria again in the final match of the MWC and it’s for 9th. Going to be a tough ask next week that’s for sure. We were probably fortunate last time to only lose at the death.

We were well beaten tonight against Austria. Had to flip a coin as to which side they’d use their winger and guessed wrong. In the end their winger delivered too many goal scoring chances. We had a few early on but couldn’t capitalise.

Finished 10th in the MWC with the other teams from our group finishing 3rd/5th and 9th. Overall we had a tough group to get through and I thought we did alright except the game against Denmark.

Friendlies now for the rest of the season where hopefully we can match up against sides we have a good chance of winning.

Pretty lucky win tonight against Albania. Their midfield just repeatedly sliced us open. We managed to counter punch on the outside though which led to us having goal scoring chances which we took. Aspects of the tactic worked but we were definitely exposed at the back.

Apologies there have been no games in recent weeks. Unfortunately I’ve had to deal with some health issues lately and have had limited access to sokker. I think this may continue for a little bit longer yet but will let you know if it means I step down next season.

Look after yourself, cometer.

So I think in the interests of both the NT and my own situation I’ll not run for the NT for this coming season. Hopefully it’s not for too long though and I’ll be able to return to the NT job in the future. Apologies for the lateness in this with elections running but thought I’d post it now so the other candidates can be considered properly without waiting on my decision.

Been great working with you all (will still be open for advice etc but I expect this season, especially early on I’ll have limited time on sokker) and hopefully won’t be too long before I’m back with the NT.

Good call, cometer. Have a season out and see how you feel. You've put in a huge shift. I appreciate all your efforts and enjoyed sharing the successes. It'll be a challenge for anyone trying to fill your shoes.

Have a rest. Who knows, maybe you'll feel like having a go with the juniors if achmid decides to have a break? First thing though, look after yourself.

WCQ groups were redrawn. I would say it looks promising :)

Wow that's a great group.
Even the 2nd seed it beatable with some good tactics and a bit of luck.