Asunto: [u21]cometer

I have never officially run as U21 manager but after relinquishing the Seniors a couple of seasons ago due to personal reasons I'm ready for another challenge. Australia deserves credible managers at both the U21 level and senior level and for this reason based on what we've got so far I'm applying for the U21's.

I'd have a few aims for the season should I be elected:

(i) Gain as many ranking points as possible to get as good a draw as possible for the following season and get us back to somewhere we belong.

(ii) Communicate to users to hopefully bring back some excitement and interest around both NT's.

(iii) Enhanced scouting then what appears to have been done in the past few seasons.

Admittingly there will be only so much one can do but I'd certainly look at improving our results as well in the process.

I'm not going into too many details but a short summary of my successes: (Most of you probably already know a lot of them).

* Only Australian NT manager left playing the game who has qualified our senior side to the world cup finals. A number of other occasions have resulted in narrow misses.
* Twice runners up in the Mini World Cup and another semi final exit.
* 10 seasons in charge of the Australian NT Senior side (correct me please if I'm out)
* 3 x Australia A League Champion
* 4 x Australia Cup Champion
* 3 x Champions Cup qualifier

Happy to answer questions if any are needed or if you just feel like making me type another long post or two :p.

Edit: Replaced multiple with the actual number of Australia Cups I've won.

(editado)

Thank god! I was starting to panic about another lost season of U21. I will watch games again :)

who are our key players for the present and future and how do you assess our chances for the world cup? (make cometer write a long post time!)

also, may as well post a link to your election page to make things easier for everyone :P

Given you have never had any experience in u21 team coaching, I was wondering what you think you could bring to the U21s that previous U21 coaches, particularly recent ones, couldn't, as in, why would you be any better?

Also what do you think your chances are of getting us in the 2nd pot for the next world cup draw, and how do you plan on achieving this?

Good question. To follow up: How should tactics differ for a 50 rating team compared to a 65 rating team?

Will you be using the U21 NT as a tool for growing and encouraging the Australian SK community, or are results and JWC qualification the top priority?

Good question. To follow up: How should tactics differ for a 50 rating team compared to a 65 rating team?
you want him to cut out your work :)

Cometer, no questions from me.
I just know you're the man to make this job one of the point of interest of this community again.
Borkos and you will make a fine combination for the NTs.

Dream team...

These questions are racking up... it's going to take 3 days to read cometer's responses! :D

These questions are racking up... it's going to take 3 days to read cometer's responses! :D

I was hoping 2 weeks to get me past elections without having people nitpick me :P.

@All: Answers are coming, probably come out later tonight :).

you did ask for it though :P

cometer, why are you so humble and modest?

Given you have never had any experience in u21 team coaching, I was wondering what you think you could bring to the U21s that previous U21 coaches, particularly recent ones, couldn't, as in, why would you be any better?

I think, particularly recently there has been a lack of recognition shown towards the Australian community for having the privilege of being in control of a NT side. In many ways it appeared to be treated as an extra team for those in charge rather than actively seeking to involve the users of that country. This is probably best highlighted by the lack of communication on the forums and every game appeared to be the same with the same players picked, same formation every week and the very infrequent communication to those with U21 players. Each by themselves are all plausible (such as same formation due to them being the best XI etc) but when everything combines together the impression does come across as a rather dull experience.

I would hope (or at least try) to turn that around to put the communication back in to the direction it should go. Afterall, the NT's are for the users not just the manager involved.

I would also hope I could come up with more consistent results then what we have been having because really our U21's are almost now into the 4th basket for WCQ purposes and we need to be heading towards the top of the 3rd basket as our immediate goals to give us any chance of progressing through groups. Maybe this comes about from playing the same tactic repetitively, or maybe there are other factors. Whilst it may be true that opposition have better players, in a large number of cases U21 matches can be won with the right strategy and it's about finding that balance.

Also what do you think your chances are of getting us in the 2nd pot for the next world cup draw, and how do you plan on achieving this?

Given I think we're about 500 ranking points away from the 2nd basket at present, I would be surprised if we reached the 2nd pot by the next world cup qualifying draw. Whilst I would never rule out anything, realistically the aim should be to close the gap between our current position and that 2nd pot cut off. By the following world cup qualifying draw there's a much better chance but that requires that we keep producing enough youth school players to continue to at least maintain our current position.

I've got a few possible methods of achieving this but it's about balancing both the results side with the community involvement side to get the best out of our NT side wherever we end up. So the aim will definitely be at this stage to look towards arranging matches that benefit ourselves not necessarily from sides below us ranking wise but from similar squad depth and going from there. A MWC for U21's if run might provide a few matches that could give us some boost towards making that top 32. At the same time it's important to focus on how we can best improve our U21 player pool so other methods I would be looking at investigating include scanning for potential players that have gone under the radar for a few seasons as well as trying to provide advice on future players potential and maybe even building upon a system such that we can negotiate amongst ourselves to train our own U21 side in Australia.

The possibilities are almost endless but there is certainly options there towards building towards an improved rank.

Good question. To follow up: How should tactics differ for a 50 rating team compared to a 65 rating team?

Depends where the strengths lie rather than ratings as such. U21's have a habit of having a few world class players and then gaps for other positions, particularly for those in a similar situation as ourselves. Rather than judging by ratings I'd be looking more at what strengths our team has and what strengths/weaknesses opponents (this includes managers and not just players) have before I decide how to set up a plan. That's just how I view things. Having a world class keeper for example can make marks jump significantly, as can playing 3-4-3 formations as attackers often get higher ratings.

That being said, against stronger opposition, tactics need to be far more precise (particularly in certain areas which often come back to bite, striker depth, defender depth, midfield positioning, throw setups etc).

There's no simple answer to say against teams with X do this, X do that, it's really based on what you can do and the best way to maximise your chance of improving.

I tend to be a bit more cautious though with stronger teams, but again it depends what's on the line and what they have. 5 defender tactics are not always necessary but you do need to be aware of what's going on from other countries.

In the end though I tend to form a plan of what areas I need to be wary of and opportunities that could arise and it's not just from the last match tactic but looking far more generally at opposition players and manager preferences.

I hope this hasn't avoided your question but from my experiences I've never really looked into rating as anything other than a rough guide as to what you may expect.
(editado)

Will you be using the U21 NT as a tool for growing and encouraging the Australian SK community, or are results and JWC qualification the top priority?

A bit of column A and a bit of column B. I'm hoping of prioritising both. I believe both are just as important.

If I don't encourage and try to grow the interest in the community, then future U21 players and our own leagues become weaker and less chance of obtaining success. At the same time users leave and we may end up where we don't have any NTs of any note. Similarly, why go through the endless hours of time required if the community just ignores it?

If we don't try to achieve results, then we miss out on the rewards that brings as well. The extra satisfaction that comes as a result of having a community with fewer users achieving these big landmarks which may spark more eagerness to continue to sustain a competitive side. At the same time if results fail to occur, interest of the NT's is lost and more people spend time with their own teams and we end up with the former situation.

How best to balance this is the key. How I intend to go about it well that's what I need to think about. I'll obviously start small and build up through communication in forums, maybe some form of competition to involve users but this could expand into other directions too, such as providing advice on the game, having others involved with offering suggestions/opinions as a sort of mentoring role.

I won't be personally hopping around trying to grab users but if we can maintain the set we have and build upon others knowledge to make it easier and give us a more competitive league then I'd be ecstatic.

All in due time but start small and build up.