I thought about putting these in the "analyzing...Slovenia" thread, but I like the idea of having a thread more dedicated to analyzing actual clips. If anyone can find clips of Algeria that from the last two Egypt matches, those are probably worthwhile. I think most here are fairly familiar with England...Slovenia seems to be the one we as followers can educate ourselves on most. Win over Russia This is from the win over Russia last month. The sequence leading to the goal starts at 1:46. It's one of the better goals I've seen from qualifying. They seem to exhibit a fair amount of passing creativity. It's not just that they're good passers; there are a couple of different points where they create a situation out of some deft passing (see the near goal on the sequence running from :06 to :18. They do an excellent job exposing ball-watching from the Russian CBs. more [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AThm-11dPpU"]first match against Poland[/ame] the goal is at 1:04 (Poland has already scored on a penalty). Again, a very nice play, this time the brilliant cross via the backheel. They seem a bit more creative than your usual Eastern European side. The Czechs in 2006 were quite talented, but they didn't have a lot of flair. (Granted, I am basing this off the first 7 minutes I've seen of them.) Let's add more and discuss.
Here's the return match against Poland, a 3-0 Slovenia home win. Some decent finishing on the 2nd and 3rd goals: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGWcRWNNpHE"]YouTube- Qualifiers 2010 Slovenia - Poland[/ame] Here's Slovenia hosting Slovakia, which was Slovenia's home opener in the final qualifying round (after the initial 1-1 draw at Poland). They won 2-1 over the eventual group winners: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MlDvd7ABpo"]YouTube- Qualifiers 2010 Slovenia - Slovakia[/ame] Hard to tell too much about them from these clips, but they seem to have some pretty clever passing at times. Much more stylish than you would assume an Eastern European team would be.
Here's Slovenia at Czech Republic, a 1-0 loss for Slovenia where it appears they deserved better: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HztNePMmJ9U&NR=1"]YouTube- Qualifiers 2010 Czech Republic - Slovenia[/ame] Once again, some clever passing carves out chances for them, but they don't look particularly stout in the back at times. Slovenia at Northern Ireland (another somewhat unlucky 1-0 away loss; goal is pretty soft): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USQ7zaKCMCY&NR=1"]YouTube- Qualifiers 2010 Northern Ireland - Slovenia[/ame] Earlier home leg against Norn Iron (two late goals in a 2-0 win): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQwlO0TtdK0&NR=1"]YouTube- Qualifiers 2010 Slovenia - Northern Ireland[/ame]
great stuff. bummer some of the videos don't work. Wish we could see bittorent of some of their games.
All of the links work. Some of them have been flagged as not embeddable. In those cases, just click the "Watch on Youtube" link inside the window. Slovenia are a very crafty side. They don't make many mistakes on defense and will score some elegant goals which are created out of nothing. They could be one of the dark horses of the tournament, and at our expense. They aren't that athletic. That could be our saving grace. Mistakes in our back line will be punished. However, we could possibly run them ragged. I just don't know. We play them after a likely loss against England, so we'll have to get at least a point. Of course, if we beat England ... OK, this isn't the analysis thread, so I'll STFU now.
Solely based on these clips, I would agree it looks like they might lack a bit of athleticism. In the first clip, Poland was able to exploit their wings. I like our matchup of Landon and Demps against their wingers. That being said, they had some very nice and creative goals in those clips. Of all the games, this one scares me the most because I don't think anybody truly has a good grasp on this team. I really hope they don't become the darkhorse of the tourney.
Though I'll admit I'm no Slovenia expert, I think it is more accurate to compare them stylistically to Yugoslavia (of which they were a part until 1992), Croatia, or even Hungary or Bulgaria rather than some hulking eastern European team that plays route one and relies on set pieces. Now, tactically, they don't have the horses that Yugoslavia or Croatia had, so they don't play as aggressively, but the passing skill is still there. These guys aren't Poland.
They're more physical than they are "stylish." They're not a possession team, and they have a reputation for being difficult to break down and having good fitness, scoring lots of late-game winners and equalizers. But they have some craft, and can conjure goals out of not much, as you can see here. Somewhere between a stereotypical Balkan side and a stereotypical Eastern European side, to simplify. They're going to be a very difficult team to take 3 points from, and we really need to go for the 3 points.
It will be interesting to have played England, where we are going to be at a significant midfield quality and overall speed/tempo disadvantage, and then play these guys, against whom it appears we should have the better in both of those areas. Slovenia only allowed four goals in 10 group games, so despite what appears (in highlights) to be modest athleticism and vulnerability on the wings, they kept a lot of clean sheets. Then again, their groupmates (Slovakia, aging Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Poland) are not exactly explosive offensively. This feels like a game where we will have the better of the play, but they will manage to carve us open a few times and probably score. We're going to need to pot a couple to get the three points. I think we can. Set pieces could be a very big factor on our side in this one.
QFT. What's weird is that they're better than us on paper yet they've already been written off by a lot of folks. I hope to the Gods that we don't frakking take them lightly.
They have a very good keeper... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r19o0bBdUV4"]YouTube- Samir Handanovic[/ame]
For anyone who wants full Slovenia games PM me, I have links where you can download them. I am trying to put some more online but having a bit of trouble with the hosting places.
He seems to be quite in demand these days, too http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ted-link-drives-Udinese-asking-price-15m.html
MLS.net has video highlights of each World Cup teams' qualifying campaign in their Road to World Cup 2010 section. Here is Slovenia's qualifying highlights