All Whites v USA | Wed 12 Oct | 1:00pm | Four Kings

I honestly think we are only a central midfielder away from being a really good team, like actually could do something good.  You just worry that under pressure we could give things up in the middle of the park against a team that really focussed on putting pressure on there.  Wood is great, Reid is a beast, the back three looks pretty steady.  The wing backs are decent.  We have some good wide players and a bit of depth in attack.  It's just that midfield.   

Tuiloma the answer? Or if Smith does come back, Themi could revert back to holding Midfield?

Wood and Kosta up front if we want goals. A midfield of weemac - Thomas and rojas should create enough on the deck delivery for goals in the qualifiers. Be nice to see the AW at home for the first time since 2014. Actually quite excited for the WCQs. 

great stuff, so pleasing to see this from us! well done anfony! some thoughts:

- many of our players are improving rapidly - lewis and colvey in particular, also patterson and dyer

- the game was shown on espn. i wonder if the MLS will come calling for our semi pro players

- the goal marinovic let in was astonishingly awful, like jason batty vs brett emerton awful, but it seems out of character. i think he's opened the door for gleeson

- we now have 2 good left backs!

- mcglinchey is a central midfielder. of course we have always known this, but the phoenix need to use him there (and not alongside 47 other centre midfielders)

- i was delighted to see durante play so well especially with his willingness to press the ball, which is no doubt because he knew winston would cover him

- fenton has lost it. he's not the player he was or could have been. sad. he's young enough to resurrect, but he needs to do something starting with proper conditioning

- graham got shown up today. couldn't handle 2 games in a few days. i reckon he'll be good for us. but we need storm roux.

- boxall = awesome. is not a full back

- themi was great when he came on, we have 4 strong centre backs

- kosta = class. should be in europe

quite cool when you think about it, kosta and wood were in the same NZ U17 team as strike partners

i think our midfield will be fine. lewis was good and will get better. he'll be a regular for auckland at the very least and could surely go pro sooner rather than later. currently our best 3 are mcglinchey, rojas and thomas, which i think is strong in terms of work rate, skill and ball retention.

tuiloma may well find himself filling holes in our first XI and at this stage that means playing right wing back in our strongest team and playing in midfield if any of the other three are injured

I thought we were well organised a keep our shape at the back. Reid, Dura and Boxall provided excellent cover. Obviously as others have said Reid was immense- just so athletic and a class act. I thought Boxall was very physical and I like him in that central defensive position to sweep up in behind if full backs push on. 

Graham did ok again. I'm not sold on Colvey. I just don't like a right footed player playing as a wing back- crosses always going towards and  I away from the GK. He's too one footed to play at LB so for me it's Wynne, Doyle ahead. Good engine though and willing runner. 

WeeMac did well in a foreign position. But the 5-3-2 shape makes playing as a midfielder a tough ask. We weren't great in transition (for the first 70 mins when the game has it structure) and when the ball was played to WeeMac and back to the Defender there was never a second midfielder showing so it got hit to Wood. WeeMac did well esp as he got forward. We desperately need a true 6 (either Riera or Tui) with WeeMac playing as an 8. But for me WeeMac was a stand out as dos very well in what was a hard position.

Lewis did well off the ball and worked hard but again wasn't as effective playing so deep as isn't as confident reviewing the ball so deep with his back to goal. 

Rojas. AWOL. Unfortunately he does that. He needs to figure out how to get in the game more as we need his brilliance.

Wood. Class. The guy was like Reid and had such a presence.

Patterson. Did ok. He's only 19 and not playing first team so did well all in all. Just needs more composure.

Cameron - sad to see him come and go. He hasn't played much football this year. I would like to know if he was injured or just subbed. 

Hudson. You have to hand it to him it's been a good tour. Looks like he has settled on a back 5 (thanks Ricki). I think we were very organised at the back and brave. We were still average in midfield and got out-muscled there and didn't transition well. Upfront we were good. 

I think off the ball we are good. Strong at the back and organised. Focus for Hudson with the qualies has to be on looking after the ball more and the transition. I hope we see Riera in the side and/or Tui back in DM so WeeMac can lay further forward.

That was fun, gave the US (DC United) support a beer shower for our equaliser, gave them plenty of warning, "hey DC United fans, I hear you like beer showers"....

:)

To pick Tommy and Albert Reira

It can be very difficult to play against less skilled and organised opponents at any sport. Along with the weather, location etc, these are great levelers. Still, we have to live in the world of Oceania so must adapt, I'm pretty sure that is what AH was trying to do, we didn't look very convincing but at least we won  [apologies to the anal 2nd Best] in Oceania I suppose.

I thought the way the much maligned Dyer played, would have put him on the radar of any scouts at the game.

That was the first big mistake by Marinovic in an AWs shirt, but it was a howler. To his credit he made some fine saves late in the game. Still letting in that goal, wouldn't have helped his chances of being signed by a bigger club. Who'd be a keeper.

In the stream I watched the commentator made a bit of a disparaging remake about  - 'NZ can't be too fussy about where they get their players, the keeper plays football in German 4th tier'.   However he was generous in his praise later saying AWs were dominating 2nd half.

Pity Gleeson had an injury, and didn't get to play either of the games.

Wouldn't go that far; he ran fast and a lot but his touch was still horrendous.

Liked the old skool  line up at kick off for second half..5 across the line!.  Lasted about 15 seconds but...

Also the Phoenix have young midfielders in the mix, particularly Rufer and Singh. Rufer had a good game last week and said in an interview that despite the fact that he's usually played as an attacking mid or striker he's keen to take the holding midfield spot. That could be simply because (like us) he's identified it as the weakest part of the Phoenix midfield and therefore the easiest place to get a first team slot, or it could be that he relishes controlling the game from the middle and being that deep lying play maker, regardless if he gets a crack this season he could be an option for the AWs.

I think Rufer when he first arrived at the NIX played there, but Hudson pushed him further up?

I though Dyer did ok, he made a nice telling run through the centre before releasing Patterson out wide and physically seemed to match up, not easy for an amateur 19 year old.

Dyer today, compared to what we saw a year ago, big difference. I can see why Hudson likes him, he has potential as does Lewis once he learns he has more time than he realises and can keep possession a little longer.

Hudson said he wants to build depth and I think he is, we have 4 players in the team tonight under 20 and they looked ok!

One more thought, some people (media etc) have been quick to say we have played Mexico's and America's B sides so the reflection isn't perhaps real... but is this really our A side when we think who is missing for whatever reason.

Keat, Smith, Tuiloma, Thomas, Henderson, James, Smeltz, Doyle etc

This team was certainly our best assembled squad for a while, but clearly isn't our best possible team.

Smeltz is not an A side player anymore I think...just like Brockie isn't(but for different reasons)

Only Tuiloma and Thomas (and Smith, his history aside) would clearly come in to improve the XI that started v Mexico. 

Tuiloma for Lewis (and then swapping with McGlinchey); Thomas for Kosta; and Smith for Boxall. 

I also think even if Smith wasn't there,then Durante might come in for Boxall, if Tuiloma is around to provide long throws.

Smeltz doesn't fit in to the XI, Wynne is better than Doyle, and none of the midfielders are upgrades on McGlinchey and Rojas.

which one?

Who is this Mcglinchey fellow? I do recall a player of the same name who was quite involved for Central Coast a few years ago? Same guy?

Today was a great day to be a football fan.  Lead both tv1 and newub news and even crowd goes wild.

I'd forgotten what it felt like to be proud of and excited about our national team. Awesome!

A great performance. I am so pleased they followed up one outstanding performance with another one nearly as good.
Reid and Wood were terrific. Boxall and McGlinchy nearly as good. Dura good. Kosta excellent impact. Patterson could have had four, but I guess one will do!
Well done Mr Hudson, You have won me over.

The whole A side and B side thing is rediculous, they didn't have all their stars out but all of those players are in the mix for the first team and are fighting to be involved. They are also all solid pros and on paper any team that the US puts out is going to be miles better than a team with players from Eastern Suburbs in it.

In fact, I'd go so far as say in a number of cases the B team is going to play harder than the A team because they are fighting for those positions.

The main thing is a team of fringe players aren't going to be as well drilled as the first team, but then with the amount we get together neither are we.

the 1986 argentinian world cup winning side contained several players who only had a handful of caps at the time

in addition to the points made by others above, my point is that, international football has always been a game where the best teams have plenty of breadth and carry deep squads. the very best normally play, but often the players considered to be the 'next best' are over looked for those who contribute to the desired system, or who are fresh enough to do the hard work

we can't do this, because we're a tin pot country. but mexico and the US sure can and they sure do and both nations will chose squads of a similar 'strength' over the the next 12 months and they will beat very good teams with these apparent 'b' squads

the fact is that we were competitive with two super well functioning teams, with big budgets, high class coaches, many pros to chose from and who have many games under their belt

so well done to us

We could certainly learn a thing or two from the yanks about the service of booze at our A-League matches.

Queues non existent, jeez you don't even have to leave your seat. Tall cans & a decent selection.

Westpac on Sunday wasn't bad, short queues and Garage Project everywhere

I haven't been to the football in the us but the selection at the baseball in SanFran is budweiser, miller, and anchor. I'd much prefer garage project.

But yes menus at the back of the seat in the expensive seats is nice.

What I really like about this team is that the youngsters have speed to burn, real genuine pace

I can understand it in the context of, if we are going to play a similar side in a qualifier we cant necessarily expect it to be that level.  So people within our team/fan base being realistic about the future, not the result.

I hate it when its used to undermine a result.  Ultimately the USA and Mexico put up the best squad they could/wanted to, our results were earned.  If they underestimated us and put up their D team they still get a big fat draw to NZ because its the team they put up.

Yep. Also like how McGlinchey stepped up his game and got them going. Hudson should make WeeMac a priority for his motivational juju stuff imo.

Of the players available for selection when all fit and leaving aside those seemingly definitely discarded by Hudson, this in my opinion is the best NZ eleven that would fit Hudson's preferred formation:  

Moss; Wynne, Themi, Reid, Boxall, Roux; Tuiloma, McGlinchey; Barbarouses, Thomas; Wood.

The starting line-up vs. Mexico was closer to our best eleven.

So I rate the result vs. USA highly considering that Wynne, Themi and Roux didn't start in defence and that the starters Durante, Graham and Colvey really are bench players, along with sub Brotherton.

Barbarouses only came on late vs. USA when he showed he was worth a start vs Mexico. Bring in Tuiloma and Thomas and relegate Patterson, Lewis and Dyer to the bench, and the team will be stronger in future.

When / if everyone is fit, there will now be some good competition for places.

I still rate Moss our best keeper, followed by Gleeson, than Marinovic.

Supplementing my chosen eleven above, I'd have Smeltz in the squad since he still offers something as a player (especially if Wood got injured  - then where would the goals come from?), retain Patterson, discard Fallon (not playing at a good enough level and too slow and is past it), maybe bring back Boyd (playing at a decent level, is young and has pace), bring Doyle in (left fullback cover), retain Durante (experience and reliability), and look at some of the Scandinavian players (Henderson, Keat, James) as midfield options.

Coming out of left field (and depending on his form in the SS Premiership) bring Brock Messenger of Canterbury United into the wider training squad and pick his brains - he's already played against the full Argentina team this year (who knows, it could be Argentina in the play-off).

Brock played the full 90 for his American club side against Argentina's Copa America first choice team with Messi, Aguero etc. in Argentina's last hit-out before the Copa in June. He showed me the photos with him and Messi, Aguero etc. on the weekend. By the way, they only lost 3-1. Played behind close doors, no cameras or mobile phones allowed - photos allowed after the game.

Smeltz changed the modern AWs by himself as he was a natural marksman. Right, left, header. He always had an eye for goal. 

I don't know if we need the current Smeltz, but I do think we need a player like him. A striker around the box might not be able to help press, but I think if we had a 6- yard striker able to get on the end of Kosta's delivery we would have scored more. He always seemed to have that poise in front of goal, and would happily take a touch to change the angle of the shot or wrong foot the defence, but no more than that!

I think we need another one or two genuine 6 yard goal poachers in the squad. 

And definitely against the Islands I would much rather have him than someone who presses because he will get chances and he is likely more than likely to put them away

Would Smeltz still be ahead of Watson in the pecking order?

Easily.

Pressing doesn't always equal goal scroing skills. Brockie did a lot of pressing between drinks at the Nix

Watson / Smeltz... different roles.

Watson arguably had the better year, despite playing only half a season in a struggling team.

Agree with basically all of that. I really like our first choice team. Lets hope they're all fit for the Confeds.

Fallon's value comes off-field; Boyd and the Scandos all seem out of the picture, and there's no real need (beyond Keat - who has been injured? - as a DM)

Brock Messenger would be looking for an answer to a problem that doesn't exist, but is possibly worth a geez v New Cali or Fiji 

If you have to pick two of Marco/Thomas/Kosta to play as the links between midfield and Wood it's Marco and Thomas surely?