Sooooo...keeping in mind the yellow cards to Payne, Miazga, and Moore, who do we start in the back vs. Ukraine? I think Conor Donovan or EPB should slot in next to CCV, and then you can risk Moore on a yellow at RB, since Payne seems to be the starter now.
Regulations around the NZ world cup are here: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tou...ionsfu20wc2015newzealand_e_011014_neutral.pdf But I couldn't find the answer in there. Perhaps it needs to be looked at by eyes that weren't awake at 3am this morning.
I think we should too. Maybe only bring him in if it's close and we need a goal in the last 20 minutes or so. If they are blowing us out then no damage done to him and he will be fully rested for R16. If we are blowing them out then same thing. We only need a draw but UKR will push hard for the win and their rotation has been poor as well over the two rounds. They should be tired too but I know that Ukrainians and eastern europeans in general have a good motor so who knows.
I'm no coach, but I think it makes sense to give all the big guns a bit of rest for this one. Zelalem, Rubin and Hyndman can always play a half off the bench if the game is close enough to salvage. Plus, it'd be nice to see what others like EPB, Sonora, Thompson etc can do for a full 90. I know a win/tie enables us to avoid Colombia or Portugal, but whatever. I'm mobile, so hopefully this doesn't format terribly: BJ----Thompson Allen-------Sonora--------Arriola Acosta Requejo------CCV--------EPB----------Moore/Payne
I think the aim should be to have your players best positioned for the knockout round, not your match up. Worry about our players, not who we might play. I don't think we need to worry about attackers getting cards, and missing a knockout round game. It could happen, but its much more likely to happen with defenders and defensive types of players. I'd start GK: Steffen RB: Moore CB: EPB CB: Donovan LB: Requejo DM: Delgado CM: Sonora CAM: Zelalem RW: Thompson LW: Allen ST: Arriola
This looks solid. Rotates the guys who have played heavy minutes/are on yellows. Zelalem was a sub in the first game, I could see him starting and not playing 90. Plus as we saw this morning, he is the type of player who can change a game with one pass.
isnt there a 5 day break after the 5th? I dont think rest is needed. Usually (at least for me) it takes 2-3 days to get rid of heavy legs completely
I'm more worried about someone like CCV, Payne, Acosta or Hyndman picking up their first yellow, and being on a yellow headed into the round of 16 or Miazga picking up his second yellow and being out for the round of 16 match. Shaq Moore starting this game and getting his second yellow might be a blessing in disguise.
well CCV yeah. miazga and EPB i dont even know if there is a drop off in talent, but then again CCV and Miazga played together a lot more.
Watching Uruguay vs Mexico, I don't know all the hype before the tournament concerning Uruguay. They haven't looked good at all, at Fagundez probably would have been a better than most of their starters. Mexico is so predictable, and if you can contain Lozano, you can stop their team. I would love to see them in the round of 16, but if this result holds we might not get the chance.
I have a healthy respect for Mexico U-x teams. If we meet I hope it would be later in the event. I want to see as much of our U-20s as possible and US-Mexico games are just something else.
I'm not sure that playing Mexico would be such a bad thing. They can't defend, their best CM is having a bad tournament, their coach panicked and took their star GK out of the lineup for a worse GK and their offense is mostly one player. You wouldn't want to lose to your rivals, but of the possible teams we could face in the next round, I'd categorize them among the weaker of those teams. For us right now, there seems to be two main possibilities. If we win or draw against Ukraine, we get a third place team from groups C/D/E. The third place team from "C" is looking like it'll either be Senegal or Colombia, if results of games going on right now hold with Senegal the more likely opponent right now. Portugal looks to have 1st pretty secured, and Qatar looks unlikely to finish anything other than 4th. If results hold right now for matches in Group "D", each team will be tied on three points with three matches to go, so third place could be Mexico, Uruguay, Serbia or Mali. Third place in Group "E" is looking like it'll be Hungary. Brazil and Nigeria both looked very good in their first matches. If we lose to Ukraine, we'll probably get second in our group and play the runner up in Group C, which will probably be Colombia or Senegal, but more likely Colombia.