Asunto: National Team U21

Nice pops

Today's match was quite the mixed result.

Very happy to beat the 36th ranked side, but really should have had a much higher score difference as we absolutely dominated them.

Anyway, a win is a win.

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They were flattered by the 2 goals from 4 shots.

Well we got the 1:0 win over UAE but it was a lot closer than it should have been.
The game was actually quite a good one to watch, with both teams having some great opportunities to score, and generally the players from both sides played fairly smart.

By the end though, we were dominating, our strikers just couldn't find the back of the net, particularly McConville who was given the whole 90min, but was 0/9

This is the first time keeper Brain was given the nod over Ponting, and he certainly impressed in goals.

With the latest round of update mails being sent out, the team is looking much more stable and rounded with a couple of surprises forcing their way in.

Thought I'd do something a little different, and post the Australia vs Australia A lineups in the time I have been the U21 coach.

All skills were taken as at the end of their respective 21yo season, to keep it all comparable. The numbers next to the players are the season in which they competed as a 21yo.



Both lineups are 5-3-2

The bench for Australia has GK-Def-Mid-Mid-Att
The bench for Australia A has GK-Def-Mid-Att-Att
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For increased tactical efficiency, don't forget to set the size of the stadium. A wider field helps with extreme tactics. A short pitch piles up the opposing players

U20 Mini world cup starts next week.
First up, we get to play last editions runner up. Talk about bad luck in the draw.

Will certainly try my best to get a result, but if we lose, we get to go back to building ranking points ASAP

As I do every season, here is a progression of how our team has gone since I first started managing the U21 squad, and a quick look at the health of our players coming through. A little late reporting this season, but close enough

So where are we now?

Users: 12 --> 13 --> 17 --> 20 -->20 --> 25 --> 33 --> 44
Rank: 50 --> 54 --> 52 --> 60 --> 62 --> 60 --> 53 --> 51
Rank points: 1587.30 --> 1554.23 --> 1598.71 -->1344.67 --> 1196.70 --> 1271.27 --> 1578.69 --> 1546.97
Number of players: 38 --> 40 --> 40 --> 40 --> 40 --> 40 --> 40 --> 40
Average form: excellent --> excellent --> very good --> excellent --> Formidable --> Outstanding --> Outstanding --> Outstanding
Average age: 19.9 --> 19.9 --> 19.5 --> 19.5 --> 19.3 --> 19.5 --> 19.6 --> 19.7
Average value: 518 811 AU$ --> 373 570 AU$ --> 338 350 AU$ --> 352 310 AU$ --> 352 360 AU$ --> 497 530 AU$ --> 540 830 AU$ --> 643 110 AU$
Total value: 19 714 800 AU$ --> 14 942 800 AU$ --> 13 534 000 AU$ --> 14 092 400 AU$ --> 14 094 400 AU$ --> 19 901 200 AU$ --> 21 633 200 AU$ --> 25 724 400 AU$


So having a quick look.
Users have not actually gone up despite the number rising. All the "new players" have been added in by certain foreign individuals, and intentionally never logged back in too. So we are the same as we have been for a number of seasons.
Rank continues to rise which is good to see. I think we may have even been ranked 50 when the age update occurred.
Age is a little higher. Value and total value have both gone up which is promising. This is slightly inflated because I have included more GK in the squad, but it still looks like we have a very strong squad for this off season

For me the most important one to show the improvement is the ranking points and rank. To get back from under 1200 to around 1550 in the space of a season and a bit is huge. Rank going the same way from 62 to 51 is also a step in the right direction.

Keep up the good work mate. Arguably your role is more important than the Nat manager as you’re nurturing the future pipeline and providing key guidance on player development.

Love the increase in value. Doing a great job bringing through each group of talents. U21 is such a critical time for the development of the future stars. Must be rewarding to see the next generation starting to have an impact with the senior NT.

Thought I'd make some Underage teams. Remember just because you don't see your player does not mean they are not in the running (ie the U21 Strikers have 5 on the same number of skill points, but I can only list 3), and especially in the young ages, your player may be listed as a defender but be getting trained as a future striker, this is fine, it's based purely on current skills, and sometimes some positions are just very weak until we get more pulls in the future, especially in U18s


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Nice. I have a player from my youth school in all age groups there except the current u21 one.

That's very useful, thanks!

I’m going to have to lift my game. Only one Chelsea player across those squads.