Asunto: National Team U21

Our group for the U21 WC is as follows

U21 Group G

1. Česká republika U21
2. Bosna i Hercegovina U21
3. Australia U21
4. New Zealand U21
5. Indonesia U21
6. Īrān U21

Must say I'm pretty happy with this group. Last season Ceska managed to get up to a rating of 60, but Bosna only got to about 54, and with us being able to get to 53, we have a really good chance of making it through to the finals, and with some good management, I really don't see why we couldn't do such a thing.

New Zealand were only rating 44-45 and with such a small country, we should be able to topple them without too many issues, and the other two aren't worth mentioning.

Whoever gets the U21 job has a huge opportunity to really perform and put their hands up in the Australian community eyes, however, I will see anything less then 2nd as a failure

I wouldn't have a problem if we finished 3rd but were able to grab points away from either 1st or 2nd, though if we lost all 4 games and finished 3rd I'd feel slightly disappointed.

I don't think we've got the skills. Our marks are inflated because of Galea.

I'm more concerned about the lack of options for U21 manager and the on again off again communication which seems to go missing at times.

New Zealand were only rating 44-45 and with such a small country, we should be able to topple them without too many issues, and the other two aren't worth mentioning

they`re tougher than they look :)
the results will be very close

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True. As I see, we have weak midfield if we compare it to the one from this season. Forward is quite good (Hirons is very nice and Barnes will do). Defense, on the other hand, is much much weaker now :(

This squad will be nice next season when they turn 21y ;)

And the owners of U21 players should focus on the main skills training (passing for mids, defense for defs, forwards are ok)

All in all I am convinced I can try to manage Australia in the Championships. On summer holidays, I wasn't at home so the only thing I did, was setting up the squad :(

Seriously, if nobody is willing to take care of the U21 I CAN do it. With some luck on our side, we will be at least 3rd in the group.

Our squad looks pretty weak this season IMO, but 2 weapons like Hirons and Harries will paper over A LOT of cracks. A couple of seasons ago we beat a lot of teams with higher marks playing 7 behind the ball with Griffiths and Barnes up front. Formations of 4-3-1-1-1 and 3-4-1-1-1 that force the players at the back to pass to the weapons. Harries is getting higher marks than Griffiths did, and Hirons won't be far off Barnes. Example:
http://online.sokker.org/comment.php?matchID=12804944
Back then we had good defenders and midfielders with defence, but stacking the back will still work against U21 level tech. Use lots of DM's to keep the defence in position.
Just my 2 cents ;)

I think Hurricane has done well, and deserves a chance. Unless Cometer, Naph, Achmid, Tiger, Vivski, Minkee etc steps up to the plate.

One of my beliefs and often influences how I vote is that I believe people deserve 2 seasons if they want it. Thus, I'd support Hurricane to have another season with the U21's. This upcoming WCQ season should be entertaining and I'm looking forward to seeing how we go.

Thanks guys. I have 2 ideas of how tactic for this WC should look like. Of course stacking defense and counter attacking :)

Nice... 2 reds :/

I am not sure which tactic did better. The only thing I know is that Harries can't execute even a simple pass. And running brings nothing as I see. The problem is that we don't have better mids this season :(

Why 5 backs? Not req'd at U21 level in my opinion. There isn't enough tech/pace at the level of player to burn your backline on the outside. It leaves the midfield way too open especially with 2 strikers and a winger playing.

Bad luck on the reds. Better luck next time.

Why 5 backs? Not req'd at U21 level in my opinion. There isn't enough tech/pace at the level of player to burn your backline on the outside. It leaves the midfield way too open especially with 2 strikers and a winger playing.

Same question I had. If you play 5 backs, 2 strikers and 1 winger you end up with nobody in midfield and we don't have the skills to play out from the back to hit our front runners.

By the looks of the shot count and NZ's tactic, it would appear they sat their defenders right back and you left our strikers too close to halfway which results in being easily tackled.

Time to rethink your strategy, if you don't have midfielder skills, don't moan, do something about it. Playing fewer midfielders when you don't have midfielders isn't the best option.

New Zealand were only rating 44-45 and with such a small country, we should be able to topple them without too many issues

Yes I saw ;) 1-0 for Kiwis ;P and rating 41,6 for NZ and 46,5 for You.

I still believe we should be able to topple you without too many issues. IMO the tactic used last night was incorrect when playing a lesser country, and we also suffered a couple of red cards, not a good combination really

Guys, but who can I put in midfield? More weak players leads to worse playmaking..

I see that the wing-based tactic is inappropriate when Harries has no passing at all.

But you are wrong if it comes to 5 defs. If I had played 4 defs, the result would be even worse.

There's always options mate, depending on what you expect the other teams tactic to be.

Hindsight is always a good thing, which is why I don't want to say i'd do this or that, but if our midfield is weak, you could try stacking it, playing with a high defensive line, have a few more layers, that way they have more backup.

I know you are trying your best as U21 NT which everyone appreciates, as shown by your reinstatement as U21 coach, and this game with all the "improvements" has become quite one dimensional as far as tactics go, but if we are struggling to move the ball to the strikers, then you need more mids to control the middle, and hopefully out "stronger" backline will hold up better in defence

I haven't seen Australia u21 in action for quite long time, but since I have some experience with u21 I will add my 2 cents [Au$ cents :p] to the discussion:

5 defs are a very good idea in u21, especially when place extremely high. In fact I think that defensive approach gives more than the offensive one. Not always of course, a lot depends on the players available, but...

and we also suffered a couple of red cards
the second one was in the 86`th minute :)

i must admit you have some weak defenders, much weaker than what we have at nz with 6-7 active users
usually every small nation has quite decent defenders, the real issues are midfielders and strikers
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