The squad is predictable and it's strange that people are surprised at the amount of defensive midfielders and lack of attacking options. Pim is a defensive minded coach, extremely especially in away games. He will approach this game the same way he approached the Bahrain game and look to play deep in defense and hope for that lucky bounce/error to snag a goal. He will be relying on Cahill or Bres to carry their goal scoring form into this game. I'm not sure he is even interested in even looking to push into the attacking third too much in fear of leaving us open to the quick Japan counters. McDonalds inclusion in the team would take pressure off Kennedy but i'm guessing Pim will go for Kennedy up front alone. Sometimes the best form of defense is attack and with us not expected to win away to Japan, any positive result would be a bonus and virtually have us on a plane to South Africa. Steffenuttos inclusion boggles me for each game, Carney's inclusion in the team let alone the squad is puzzling. Maybe he is a back up for Chippers. But surely Carle, or Triosi with their form and match fitness would have been better options. At least we have
I think Komano is a better player. And feel a lot more secure knowing he's controlling a side with Uchida on the other. He doesn't get pushed around either as he's fairly strong for a small Japanese defender (173/76kg)
Aussie BigSoccer Talks, Pim Listens Also, looks like Holman is taking Emmo's spot, cloud over Chippers still. -------------|Schwarzer|----------- Rat Boy----Neill----Moore----Chippers? ---------Culina-------Grelleri------ --Holminho------Cahill---------Bresc-- ---------------Jesus
I'm not surprised by it - in fact I kind of expected it - but I am a little disappointed that some of the in form boys like Djite and Troisi were'nt picked. I totally forgot about Carle but he is definately another player stiff to miss. I think these guys are even more unlucky considering the list AverageWhiteMale put together. That squad is a little short on match fitness. Whats a worry is that we're approaching the end of qualification and there are guys that are being picked for these squads that I don't think will be up for it if we make the world cup. I think we desperately need to find better depth at CB than North or Coyne. Thats why i'm disappointed that guys like Spira, Milligan, Leijer and even Kisnorbo (I hope one of these guys sorts themselves out before the WC) havn't seen more game time. I don't see guys like Sterjovski being there either so surely Troisi and Djite should have been included in this squad. It will also be interesting to see how Rukavystya and Holland go at their new clubs because they might go past some of the guys that are being included in these squads soon too.
Spira is another one i had forgotten. Sure he needs more experience but isn't he playing weekly in German Div 2. That's gotta be stronger than guys coming out of English Div 2 hasn't it, as well as better for the future. How's Leijer going by the way?
Leijer's on the bench for the Canaries, hasn't got any game time yet. Spira is injured. Milligan has a lot of work to do rebuilding his bridges after last year's flameout, if he can get the right attitude and get back to serious work at Shenhua he'll get another chance.
Spira hasn't been playing lately. I think he had about 7-12 games earlier in the season, got injured and hasn't played since. Leijer just moved to Norwich in the first division to get regular game time. He has been playing very well for the Fulham reserves as captain and is often in their bests.
Spira BROKE is ankle if IIRC only a couple months ago. He's still injured methinks and looking at his game log..he looks like he was a regular until the injury so i assume he's still injured
I think I read on the FCN thread recently that Spira was fit and that Nurnberg had a different preferred CB pairing but I may well be wrong. When did Spira break his ankle??
A few months back, nasty one too. Ruled him out of Bahrain and this game and he's still out for Nurnberg.
Man thats a pretty bad injury!! Hope he gets well soon. The big positive out of that article was that he was as good as called up to the NT squad before doing the injury. I'm glad Pim has taken notice. I think when he gets back its realistic for Spira to be the third in line to the CB position with Neill and Moore ahead. I was hoping he'd get some game time with the NT as it would help him get a move to club in a higher standard league - not that Bundesliga 2 is that bad.
There's a bit of discussion around p6-8 and in the All Asia thread. The gist is it'll be his usual 4-2-3-1 only with Holman in Emmo's spot. The only questions are wether Chippers is fit and who plays LB if he isn't.
My guess: ----------Schwarzer------------ Wilshire---Neil--Moore---Chippers ---------Grella--Culina---------- -Garcia*-----Cahill--------Bresc- -------------Macca**----------- *Can't see Holman starting since he hasn't been playing for AZ due to flu + injury. Can't see Sterj starting either since he's only played 2 games. Comparatively Garcia has started 5 or 6 of the last 10 games, so he should be quite match fit. He's also been to quite a few training camps and played for us in friendlies, so he should be familiar with Pim's system. **Jesus: No Goals + No Game Time = . He's also better as an impact player in a counter attacking line up.
I do not want to see Kennedy up there by himself. It just makes no sense. The defense, as a rule, will be quicker than he is, ergo he might be able to physically unsettle them, but they, in return, will run rings around him and cut him off too easily. Two strikers or nothing, mate.
I noticed that Vinnie wasn't in the Blackburn squad that beat Sunderland in this mornings FA Cup game. Anyone know why??? *(Hoping he's ok)
It's not worth the risk for either Chippers or 'Arry. They should be seen as long term prospects and we still have 4 more games in the next 4 months in this qualifying stage to go. We've already lost Emmo for the rest of the qualifiers, no need to risk more top liners. Even if we were to lose this game we would still be 5 points clear of 3rd place in our group at the half way stage with 3 out of the last 4 games being home games.
That sounds like safety-first defensive thinking Loyalty I can live with Carney at LB, it just pains me to see him out of position (not to mention us getting ripped down the left)
Agree but I doubt Verbeek will tinker too much with his gameplan. Is McDonald in the squad? Forgive me I've been a bit busy lately to catch up with the in's and out's. If so, It'd be nice if he finally started showing at international level what he show's at Celtic. It'd be problem solved.