The U21 Socceroos – Season 69 Confederations Cup – Round of 16 + Quarter Finals

by damo11

U21 Confederations Cup 2019

Australia – The Road to Victory

Filling in for grinner again this week (we want you back!), the Aussie U21 squad met expectations and then a little more by bowing out in the Quarter Finals of the U21 Confederations Cup.

Again, with no insight to the Aussie U21 Socceroos whatsoever, I can categorically say that after the group stages, it was always going to be tough for the country to compete against the big wigs.

A great Round of 16 matchup against MZ Country saw the side win 2-0 in what was a largely one-sided contest. The 4-4-2 formation worked well to provide 17 scoring shots on target, while retaining much of the possession. An early and a late goal to Neville Burmeister did the trick as the Aussies went to the Quarter Finals.

The Quarter Finals saw the Aussies face off against the Brazillians, in what was always going to be a tough matchup. Outclassed by a much larger country, there was little room for any continuity as they peppered in a 0-5 win thanks to 23 shots on target  to 5.

Pearce Hines went from 10th to 12th in the Golden Boot leaderboard after failing to score in the final two matches, however, Neville Burmeister would be equal 15th, had the tables allowed to show all equal scorers on 5 goals.

In the end the Brazillians went on to the final but fell short. To come up against the best along the way is no easy feat and the Aussies should be proud of their efforts.

The future is still bright for U21 Aussies as 20-year-olds Steve Panetta, Eliot Aroege, Brayden Orvad, Andrew Mckay, Aaron Argoud, Martyon Everett and Carmichael Bungaard are all eligible for U21 World Cup Qualifiers next season.

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The U21 Socceroos – Season 69 Confederations Cup – Game 4 + Playoff Stages

by damo11

U21 Confederations Cup 2019

Australia – The Road to Victory

Filling in for grinner this week, I’ve got a classic one-match review to go here. With no insight to the Aussie U21 Socceroos whatsoever, I can categorically say that a 3-1 win over the U21 Panama side was a great relief for the nation as they took out an undefeated campaign and went to the top of Group 3 without too much drama.

https://gph.is/g/aergXqZ

Pearce Hines has gone into 10th place of the leading scorers for the U21 Confederations Cup 2019 tournament thanks to his 6 goals from all four games.

The final 16 sees Australia facing the traditional rival of U21 MZ Country, who ended up placing 2nd after three matches in Group 8.

You can follow the match here on Sudnday morning at 6am AEDT.

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The U21 Socceroos – Season 69 Confederations Cup

by grinner

U21 Confederations Cup 2019

Australia – The Road to Victory

Ok well let’s not get carried away here, but we were drawn into a group that was filled with hazards from the powerful Canadians to Panama who had a major impact on our senior squad in the last competition. To round out the tricky trio is the unknown entity that is Vietnam and Ecuador who have already shown their ability by defeating us in a friendly 1-0.

This is not going to be an easy run for us but with old hand Mrutgers09 by my side, I have every confidence in our abilities to make an impact on this tournament.

Game 1

Vietnam Vs Australia

Not the easiest of starts but not a bad way to ease into the water and the Vietnamese put up a fair amount of resistance before finally succumbing to our boys. Its was Neville Burmeister who got the ball rolling after 8 minutes but the home team played well and kept everything tight until half time with the score remaining the same. In the 57^th minute Hines doubled the lead and things began to look comfortable but there was no time to settle as only 6 minutes later the Vietnamese bagged their first to keep them within reach. Burmeister was taken off and the rejuvenated front pairing of Hines and Boyce paid dividends shortly afterward as Hines took a beautiful chance to put us 2 goals to the good again. Once again though the plucky Vietnamese side came back and made the score 2-3, setting up a very tense final 10 minutes. With the home team throwing everything at us, it gave Arneil Boyce the space he needed to bag his first goal of the tournament in injury time and put the result beyond doubt.

Game 2

Australia Vs Ecuador

As I mentioned before, Ecuador had already beaten us 0-1 in a warm up game for this tournament so we knew going into this that was not going to be easy. Things started off well with Hines smashing home one of his first chances after 23 minutes to put us where we wanted to be but great play from the visitors meant Danny De La Rosa found the space to level on the half hour mark, and then deftly slide a second past a struggling Panetta to line our boys up for a good half time screaming at. Something must have worked in that dressing room as Hines levelled only 6 minutes into the second half and 10 minutes later Burmeister put us back in the lead.

The visitors made a swath of substitutions shortly after and it only took Guerrero 4 minutes of field time before he levelled the game once again with a stunning finish. Both teams were looking for a hero, and with 12 minutes left we got one. Pearce Hines stepped up for us once again and hammered home what turned out to be the winning goal despite intense pressure from the away side right up until the final whistle.

Game 3

 Canada Vs Australia

This was it, the game against group favourites, Canada. A win would see us through but anything else would leave us in the mire, still struggling for qualification. If there was anytime we needed the boys to step up, then this was it.

In what turned out to be a very tense and tight game, played out in the middle of the park, the heroes emerged in the forms of Mack Hunter, who bagged the vital goal and Steve Panetta who managed to keep his first clean sheet of the tournament making 11 saves for the game. Even with the incredible pressure the Canadians put onto us looking for an equalizer, our backline stood strong and we emerged winners, qualifying for the knockout stages.

Game 4

 Australia Vs Panama

At the time of printing we still have one final hurdle to cross, and finally have our time to hand out some revenge on the Panamanians. It will be another tough game and will determine who we play in the next round so tune in and cheer our boys home.

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National Team Article Season 57 & 58

Seniors

World Cup Qualifiers

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	Hungary	3	2	1	0	16	2	14	7
2	Australia	3	2	1	0	12	3	9	7
3	Peru	3	1	0	2	12	6	6	3
4	Honduras	3	0	0	3	1	30	-29	0

Results

1	04-05-2016 04:00	Peru – Australia	2 – 3
2	08-05-2016 04:00	Australia – Hungary	1 – 1
3	11-05-2016 04:00	Honduras – Australia	0 – 8

Our most important game was the first, as Honduras was a freebie and Hungary a challenge. But to progress we needed to beat Peru and we played well using a short passing tactic, but our dominance wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.

Match Facts	PE	AU
Goals	2	3
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	0
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	0	3
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	0	2
Shots	4	20
Possession	48%	52%

Both Boyde Minne goals were cancelled out, so it was up to Remy Bundy in the 65^th minute to score the winning goal and give us the points advantage over Peru. We had more combined shots from our midfielders and supporting striker Tyler Boyd than Minne and Bundy.

10	B. Minne	St	2	5	5	5	100%	0		0	0
12	R. Bundy	St	1	1	1	3	67%	1	0%	0	0

Up next was our toughest game of the group. Hungary are a better team than us, yet Bryce Fazey in goals played the game of his life.

2

B. Fazey

Gk

0

0

0

16

63%

0

14

0

Stopping Hungary from scoring the winning goal, despite hungary having twice as many shots on goal.

Match Facts	AU	HU
Goals	1	1
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	0
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	3	1
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	0	0
Shots	9	17
Possession	50%	50%

Tyler Boyd scored in the 10^th minute, then through heroic defence and a big slice of luck we held the lead until the 80^th minute, which was enough to get us a draw and guarantee a spot at the World Cup.

The match against Honduras was party time. We amassed 34 shots on goal to their 5, Tyler Boyd bagged a double from only 2 shots and Bundy scored a 30-minute hat-trick coming on as a sub in the 60^th minute.

24	B. Edwards	Mf	1	1	1	9	89%	3	33%	0	2
20	T. Boyd	St	2	2	2	6	83%	0		0	1
34	Í. Kilmister	St	1	6	5	4	50%	1	100%	0	1
10	B. Minne	St	1	12	12	4	100%	1	100%	0	1
12	R. Bundy	St	3	13	13	0		0		0	0

Match Facts	HN	AU
Goals	0	8
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	0
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	0	4
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	1	0
Shots	5	34
Possession	52%	48%

Our Scorers

	Player	Team	GP	G	YC	RC
1	Remy Bundy	FCB	3	4	0	0
2	Boyde Minne	PAO	3	3	0	0
3	Tyler Boyd	YUM	3	3	0	0
4	Barnabas Edwards	KJU	3	1	0	0
5	Ían Kilmister	佟楼队	3	1	0	0

2015 World Cup

Group 8

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	Portugal	3	2	0	1	11	3	8	6
2	Ireland	3	2	0	1	5	7	-2	6
3	India	3	1	0	2	5	8	-3	3
4	Australia	3	1	0	2	4	7	-3	3

Results

1	01-06-2016 04:00	Ireland – Australia	3 – 1
2	05-06-2016 04:00	India – Australia	3 – 1
3	08-06-2016 04:00	Australia – Portugal	2 – 1

Against Ireland the boys just didn’t show up to play, they weren’t terrible and the short passing tactic was sound. But the overall performance wasn’t there and we got beaten across the park. If we were to go through we now needed to win against both India and Portugal.

Match Facts	IE	AU
Goals	3	1
Injuries	0	1
Yellow cards	1	1
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	2	3
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	1	0
Shots	17	11
Possession	55%	45%

Next up was India, we switched to wings and were the better side, having the better of play across the park, yet Boyde Minne went down with an injury early on and Bundy couldn’t score either, while we watched India take their chances to put us out of the tournament.

India Stats

Total

3

12

10

102

65%

68

37%

13

27

Australia Stats

Total

1

17

14

115

77%

45

47%

8

35

As you can see this just wasn’t our game either, the difference between this and first game was we were the better team yet still lost.

Match Facts	IN	AU
Goals	3	1
Injuries	0	1
Yellow cards	2	0
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	2	3
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	1	3
Shots	10	14
Possession	48%	52%

So knowing we were eliminated, the pressure was off and the boys rocked up to the game with no expectations. Perhaps that helped, I don’t know, but whatever happened the bad luck evaporated. Our keeper Bryce Fazey had a day to remember as he stopped all but one shots on goal.

2

B. Fazey

Gk

0

0

0

17

82%

0

19

0

This allowed Boyd and Kilmister to take their chances, stealing us a win and our first points of the competition in a game we shouldn’t have won.

20

T. Boyd

St

1

5

5

8

50%

3

67%

0

2

34

Í. Kilmister

St

1

2

2

1

0%

0

0

0

Match Facts	AU	PT
Goals	2	1
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	0
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	2	4
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	1	2
Shots	10	20
Possession	47%	53%

Our Scorers

	Player	Team	GP	G	YC	RC
1	Tyler Boyd	YUM	3	2	0	0
2	Rex Weeks	YUM	1	1	0	0
3	Ían Kilmister	佟楼队	3	1	0	0

U/21’s

2015 Confederations Cup

Group Phase

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	U21 Chile	5	4	1	0	20	3	17	13
2	U21 Peru	5	4	0	1	22	4	18	12
3	U21 Australia	5	3	0	2	12	7	5	9
4	U21 Mz Country	5	1	2	2	8	12	-4	5
5	U21 Singapore	5	1	0	4	6	19	-13	3
6	U21 Lebanon	5	0	1	4	3	26	-23	1

Results

1	11-02-2016 04:00	U21 Peru – U21 Australia	4 – 0
2	14-02-2016 04:00	U21 Australia – U21 Chile	0 – 2
3	18-02-2016 04:00	U21 Australia – U21 Mz Country	3 – 1
4	21-02-2016 04:00	U21 Singapore – U21 Australia	0 – 3
5	25-02-2016 04:00	U21 Australia – U21 Lebanon	6 – 0

It wasn’t a great start to the campaign as the elected NC was too busy to scout and organise enough friendlies until a week before the start of the tournament. As such in our early group games we are still figuring out our best line up. But the with the top 4 teams progressing we could afford to lose a couple and still progress.

Because of NC inexperience the first game was played with an invalid default tactic. As such we got nothing out of it and having only played 3 friendlies before the tournament started were a long way behind in understanding how the team played together.

Match Facts	PE	AU
Goals	4	0
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	1
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	4	1
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	0	0
Shots	22	3
Possession	54%	46%

In the second game we gave Anvisco the chance to play his preferred lineup, they didn’t do too badly and the match was even across the park. We were unlucky to concede an own goal early in the first half, but no one could break through in open play until the 96^th minute when Manuelo Escuti scored for Chile giving them a 2-0 win.

16

M. Escuti

St

1

1

1

1

100%

4

25%

0

0

Match Facts	AU	CL
Goals	0	2
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	1
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	5	2
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	0	1
Shots	9	8
Possession	47%	53%

Against MZ Country we benefitted from them receiving a straight red card in the 37^th minute and won the match 3-1. Without the red card we may have lost, as the stats were even despite being 2-1 at that point and playing 11 against 10 men for the rest of the match.

We’ve got Alberto Mcjenkins to thank for winning the game, which helped us further define our starters and sub combinations.

17

A. Mcjenkins

St

2

6

4

5

60%

2

50%

0

1

Match Facts	AU	DC
Goals	3	1
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	0
Red cards	0	1
Free kicks	4	0
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	1	1
Shots	9	11
Possession	52%	48%

Next up was Singapore, with a settled backline our goalkeeper Myles Hands played his best game of the tournament keeping a clean sheet.

25

M. Hands

Gk

0

0

0

8

63%

0

11

0

Allowing Alberto McJenkins to score 2 goals and Ellis Haeberle 1 goals as shots on goal were even for both sides, despite us have 61% possession.

17

A. Mcjenkins

St

2

3

3

4

100%

0

0

1

22

E. Haeberle

St

1

3

3

0

3

0%

0

0

Match Facts	SG	AU
Goals	0	3
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	1
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	4	2
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	2	2
Shots	11	11
Possession	39%	61%

Against Lebanon we decided to change things up, giving our 10AP winger and AP midfielders a chance to show what they could do. They impressed us, but we kept in mind that our opponents were the weakest we’d faced in the group, still the wing tactic worked and gave us options for a hybrid tactic in the final stages.

19	J. Gilding	Mf	0	0	0	14	86%	4	50%	0	7
15	W. Reid	Mf	0	0	0	14	71%	5	80%	0	7
45	B. Block	St	1	3	2	4	100%	4	0%	0	1
6	P. Palmington	St	0	3	3	31	71%	0		0	0
4	K. Richards	St	1	8	7	5	80%	4	0%	0	0

Subs

3

L. Lingwoodock

St

1

3

3

3

100%

1

0%

0

1

17

A. Mcjenkins

St

3

6

5

2

50%

1

0%

0

Match Facts	AU	LB
Goals	6	0
Injuries	1	0
Yellow cards	0	4
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	7	1
Penalty kicks	1	0
Corners	1	0
Shots	21	3
Possession	59%	41%

Final Stages

The Last 16

U21 Australia – U21 Argentina

1 – 3

Unfortunately, we drew Argentina as our first knockout opponent. A daunting task, yet we prepared well began the match with wings, it was a tough first half as we were outplayed, yet the defence held up and we entered the sheds at 1-0 down thanks to our keeper and defenders.

25

M. Hands

Gk

0

0

0

13

77%

0

14

0

99	J. Flisfeder	De	0	0	0	6	50%	7	43%	0	4
11	J. Mcinnes	De	0	0	0	4	100%	3	100%	0	0
12	B. Kepert	De	0	1	0	11	45%	12	67%	0	11
18	D. Hanlen	De	0	0	0	5	20%	3	100%	0	1

The second half was much better as we matched Argentina to level the scores with a 59^th minute Lowrey Lingwoodock goal, only to watch them immediately score a goal to take the lead back.

3

L. Lingwoodock

St

1

3

1

5

20%

3

33%

0

0

Our best period of play came when we used our subs to change the midfield and switch from wings to short passing for the last 20 minutes of the game. We controlled the play and had a few chances to level the scores without finding the back of the net, before Biggs Kepert conceded an own goal from a corner. An unfortunate way to concede our last goal for the tournament, but we had played our best game despite losing 3-1 and being outplayed for the first two thirds of the match. Alberto Mcjenkins was our best player for the tournament, with Myles Hands in goal close behind him.

Match Facts	AU	AR
Goals	1	3
Injuries	0	0
Yellow cards	0	0
Red cards	0	0
Free kicks	6	1
Penalty kicks	0	0
Corners	0	2
Shots	5	18
Possession	43%	57%

Our Scorers

	Player	Team	GP	G	YC	RC
1	Alberto Mcjenkins	ZOX	5	7	0	0
2	Lowrey Lingwoodock	YUM	6	3	0	0
3	Keith Richards	FCJ	5	1	0	0
4	Braedan Block	JW	5	1	0	0
5	Ellis Haeberle	AFC	2	1	0	0

Written by Scruttino

Interview with Scruttino by Gerrad_08

1. Q) Australia NT team has not been able to perform well in the last couple of seasons any reasons as to why the performance has dropped

Well, the U/21 campaign was compromised by a first time NC who was busy with his working life, we couldn’t get in contact with him until a few days before the tournament which hindered our preparation. There were other problems, but in short Troy and I had to run the side from NCA positions and you can’t do much like that. Then we changed NC and the senior campaign was a lot better. Still some minor problems due to another first time national coach’s inexperience, but overall we had time to prepare, with the luck abandoning us in our first two World Cup group games.

1. Q) Are you a firm believer of the Transfer Market ability to find the right price for your players would still be the same if the 6 permit rule was not there.

Good players will always sell and the top talent are regularly selling for more than 10 million AUD. It’s the average player that are selling for much less. Having 9 foreigners means that you can effectively buy a new team, which in a limited market such as Australia is required to be competitive on the world stage. It also means that if your own youth academy doesn’t produce talent during a rebuilding window, you can still build a good team if you have the cash to do so.

1. Q) How many foreigners do u have in your squad and why

I currently have 8 foreigners on my squad, I’m searching for one more reasonably priced players with potential as I rebuild my team.

1. Q) What type of Formation does u prefer?

In season 59 my team will all be 22 years old or younger, so they don’t have the collective aerial passing balls to pull off a wing formation. I run a short passing tactic with a 5-man spine that works out as a 3-5-2 formation. When I need to defend against a wing attack I’ll run a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield and one sided attack. In 1-2 more seasons I’ll try out a wing attack.

1. Q) Which manager you try to replicate

I don’t have a specific manager I try to replicate. Though I admire Jose Mourinho because his team are built on defence first before attack. In Australia our real life NT coach Ange Postecoglou plays in a similar way to Pep Guardiola teams in terms of, hold possession of the ball, stay in your positions and trust your teammates to advance the ball into the final third where you can be creative. If you could combine the two styles that’s what I’d be trying to do.

1. Q) Do u think smaller nations will be able to compete with teams like Argentina, Poland and the rest?

In short no, smaller nations don’t have the collective youth academies to come close. 15-20 people developing players can’t compete with 100-150+ people doing the same thing. The difference is chalk and cheese. Australia has made a couple of U/21 international finals but never won one. We did win a Confed Cup in 2013 when playing wings was found to be the premier tactic, but not all countries used it then. So we got ahead of the game through good planning and capitalized on the advantage, but the campaign also received some luck. In season 57 I coached Australia as they won the Clash of the Legends 2^nd edition, but that was a team of superstars, the best of the best we’ve ever produced so it made the playing field between countries more even. These days our best chances to win a trophy or reach a final are the U/21 tournaments when we produce a good group of players.

1. Q) What do you make of the new sim?

It’s not that different from the last one. Man marking and defensive play is better, penalties for going a man down or having an informal tactic has been reduced, and you can plan who goes back went receiving a red card. Wings remains the dominant tactic for reasons of unrealistic passing accuracy over exorbitant distances.

1. Q) Also what changes would u like to see some changes to improve the sim?

Give aerial passing different difficulty settings for short, medium and long passes. Implementing through balls so players receive the ball on the run. Midfielders using the full width of the pitch allowing for a standard 4-4-2 formation to work. Continuing to reduce strikers back passing the ball when they have a clear shot on goal. Preventing striker from dribbling the ball straight into the goalkeeper as if they are trying to run them over.  Make heading for defenders the equivalent of tackling in the air. I’ve more but those are the most pressing concerns. You can’t fix this sim to incorporate all of them, so I’m one of those more interested in Sim 3 when it arrives.

1. Q) Why have you chosen the team name u had?

When I began this MZ journey 7-8 years ago my team name was the Jokers, for obvious reasons as a Batman Comics fan. Our emblem was the flying J with wings, it stayed that way until about 5 seasons ago when I felt it was time to move on. So I had a think about it and Amputees FC had a good ring to it, plus it allowed me to create a really cool one winged badge symbolizing the loss of a wing (arm). I’m not an Amputee myself, but have always admired how people just get on with life regardless of how few limbs they have.

1. Q) U have not been able to break into the Top league any specific comments

Well I won the A-League Championship/Seniors National Cup Double in season 55, then sold up and dropped back into Division 1 to rebuild with a balance of 55 million AUD. I began competing again in the World Leagues and Youth leagues in season 58. I’ve been promoted twice this season in the U/18 world league and won promotion in all my Youth Leagues. I’m not sure I’ll ever reach the Top Leagues in any them as my intention is to build a senior team, so when the current players are too older for U/xx comps I won’t replace them with players of the same standard.

1. Q) How much time do u hang out in MZ?

Quite a lot, I post regularly in the A-League messageboard and put my bit in here and there in the forum’s.

1. Q) Do you have any rivals within MZ whom you just want to beat (E.g. between Australia and New Zealand)

Not really, Aussies and New Zealanders get along very well. We’re a small community so feuds rarely spike out of control. It’s true some managers are not the best of friends, but I’ve only had to mediate one feud that got out of control. In terms of wanting to beat a specific team, everyone wanted to beat Arrested Developers when they were still around. We don’t have a standout team to hate at the moment, the championship window is so small now that people win 1 or 2 A-League titles and then sell up. If not, you become a team of deteriorating players who are still good, but see their title chances fade with each additional season.

1. Q) How many times have thought about quitting the game and what made you change

I’m a very laid back person, I don’t get angry or frustrated often, so rage quitting has never been an issue. If I did stop playing the game it would be more through a lack of interest, or when circumstances change. For instance, if I took a job in a remote part of the world, which training as an Anthropologist is a possibility, I’d have limited access to the internet. There will come a time when I don’t write the zone and hand those tasks over to another. I’m just waiting for such a person to come along before life circumstances force me to stop writing and the aussiezone disappears from print.

Written by Scruttino and Gerrad_08

National Team U/21s and Seniors

Under 21s

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	U21 Sweden	3	3	0	0	14	1	13	9
2	U21 Ecuador	3	1	1	1	8	6	2	4
3	U21 Australia	3	1	1	1	7	9	-2	4
4	U21 Israel	3	0	0	3	1	14	-13	0

Sweden def Australia 6-1

We went into the game knowing Sweden would have us covered in terms of pure talent. Assuming they would play wings we played a wide back 4, and went with a short passing tactic mainly due to the squad’s slightly higher count of passing vs AP.

Australia def Israel 4-1

After leaking goals against Sweden we changed things up to a wings tactic and saw some positive signs against the Israelis. Lawson was enormous on the wing before going off injured, setting up Milligan for 2 and Algoud for 1.

Ecuador drew Australia 2-2

This was our make or break game to qualify for the World Cup. Ecuador had a superior goal difference after getting a bigger result against Israel than what we managed in the earlier group matches. We stuck with the same wings tactic that we employed against Israel with a few minor tweaks. It was a disastrous start as we conceded 2 goals in the opening 11 minutes, but we clawed our way back to draw level in the 75^th. Lawson and Milligan were again a deadly combination with Milligan netting both goals.

Despite having more chances than our opponent we had to settle for a draw, and thus our World Cup aspirations came to an end.

Notes from the National Coach

Our Under 21 depth was found lacking, with all Aussie managers seemingly hell bent on either creating defenders or strikers. We only had 2 players in the whole squad capable of playing on a wing and little to no AP in the mids to get it to them. Hopefully the next NC will have more to work with if we all start training passing and AP in our next lot of youths/U21s.

Thanks to Eric and Troy for their contributions, it was like pulling teeth to get anyone to put their hands up to assist from the top echelon of Aussie managers, so appreciate you guys stepping in with some tactical advice when requested.

Seniors

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	Chile	6	5	1	0	17	6	11	16
2	Argentina	6	3	2	1	27	7	20	11
3	USA	6	3	2	1	27	10	17	11
4	Australia	6	3	2	1	15	10	5	11
5	India	6	1	1	4	7	17	-10	4
6	MZ Country	6	1	1	4	9	28	-19	4
7	Guatemala	6	0	1	5	3	27	-24	1

Our fixture in the group stages effectively meant our fate was decided in the first three round as we came up against the MZ minnows in India, Guatemala and MZ Country.

India – 3-1 win

We dominated this match but couldn’t convert our chances, with only 3 goals from 21 shots.

Goals: Minne 2, Beattie 1

Best: Aliendi in defence was huge shutting down their winger (26 tackles, 23 intercepts), Minne with 18 shots for 2 goals was also serviceable

Guatemala – 1-1 draw

This was a shock result and had the potential to derail our campaign. Guatemala matched our performance, and our 5 man defence against short passing didn’t work as well as anticipated.

Goals: Minne 1

Best: Bunworth down back was the only one to stick tackles (71%) and Minter off the bench as a winger stepped up in the last 30 mins after Nolan did nothing all game.

MZ Country – 3-0 win

Solid team performance reverting back to a regulation wings tactic against a weaker opponent.

Goals: Minne 2, Bundy 1

Best: Kilmister in the mids setup plenty of play and defended well. Knevett in the backs was also solid on their winger and hit targets distributing from defence.

USA – 3-3 draw

Probably our best performance for the tournament, and the first time we went in as underdogs. Again we went with a fairly standard wing tactic (if it’s not broken why fix it?). We went up 2-0 early, and were 3-2 up until a last minute equaliser by the US in the 92^nd.

Goals: Minne 2, Shorten 1

Best: Minne converted a lot better this match with his 2 goals from just 6 chances, and Shorten’s work through the mids was vital.

Chile – 1-2 loss

Our only loss for the group stages came against Chile. We matched them in terms of stats, but their 91^st minute strike sunk us. Minne was goalless for the first time this tournament.

Goals: Beattie 1

Best: Most of the play was through the mids, with Feutrill and Kilmister the standouts. Beattie also played his best game for the tournament.

Argentina: 4-3 win

Knowing we were safely through the group stages, this was a chance for our B team to get a run to avoid cards for the playoffs. In a simming of epic proportions we scored 4 goals from 10 chances to steal a victory from a much more fancied opponent. This time we snuck in the late winner in the 95^th

Goals: Kinnard 2, Aroege 2

Best: Duncan in goals has a huge 26 saves, and Gillingwater through the mids hit plenty of targets

Playoffs

China – 3-4 loss

This game was a seesawing affair, with China coming out of the blocks quickly to go up 2-0 in the 17^th minute. The team rallied with Minne bagging 2 in quick succession before Feutrill gave us the lead in the 54^th. From there a red card to Aliendi made life hard, and China took the chances equalising not long after before putting the final nail in the coffin in the 91^st minute to end our world cup campaign.

Fair to say a combination of injury and the red card played a key part in the outcome of this match, but nevertheless we were competitive against a much larger nation and walk away with our heads held high.

Goals: Minne 2, Feutrill 1

Best: Christina in defence was a workhorse, and Minne again converted well to cap a spectacular tournament.

Written by Senile Old Men

Aussie National Team Football

U/21 Conferations Cup 2015

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	U21 Uruguay	7	6	1	0	28	5	23	19
2	U21 Australia	7	6	0	1	27	8	19	18
3	U21 Mexico	7	4	2	1	20	7	13	14
4	U21 Canada	7	4	0	3	23	12	11	12
5	U21 Peru	7	3	1	3	17	13	4	10
6	U21 South Africa	7	2	0	5	13	26	-13	6
7	U21 Malaysia	7	1	0	6	10	18	-8	3
8	U21 Guatemala	7	0	0	7	3	52	-49	0

The Big games were against Uruguay, Canada and Mexico. Though at the time we did know that all top 4 sides progress into the final stages. We lost to Uruguay but won against everyone else.

Last 16

U21 Uruguay – U21 Australia

2 – 4

In a strange draw we had to play Uruguay again. Seriously Managerzone should employ a seeded draw for the final stages of all competitions. But we had the better of the game without putting the score on the board. We levelled it up late in the game before a red card to Uruguay gave us a penalty which our central defender Bunworth slotted and Robbie Kruse sealed with his 2^nd goals as a sub.

Quarter Final

U21 Australia – U21 Mz Country

3 – 0

We entered the match favourites for the win and took hold of the game with a great display of football in the battle of the small userbase countries. A deserved victory which Kruse again sealed with 2 late goals as a sub.

Semi-Final

U21 Australia – U21 Indonesia

3 – 2

Indonesia have come on leaps and bound in recent years. Their national team is no longer the easy beats they once were and we got a slice of luck with Indonesia receiving a red card early in the game. Despite having the man advantage, more shots and possession we couldn’t put Indonesia away and the levelled the match late to send it into extra time. Once again Kruse was on hand late in the second half of extra time to give us the win.

Final

U21 Argentina – U21 Australia

9 – 1

Knowing that we were massive underdogs and going to face a wing tactic we sort to employ a one sided short passing counter. Sadly things went very wrong and we accept the blame for a poor tactical decision in the final. But still Australia doesn’t reach many finals so overall the team played very well.

Given that many of the players from the previous U/21 squad have now made the seniors national team, we are hoping that people keep developing these players so that the future of the national team remains strong.

Top Scorers

Pos.	Player		Team		Goals
1		Adriana Rius		Quespikay	25
2		Carlito Tevez		☆VaMpI®3 † DyNaStY★	21
3		Thomas Milton		Xeneize FC	16
4		Best Štriker		Kelab Bolasepak Penambang	14
5		汪旭延		辽宁东北虎	12
6		Urbano Timo		СА ЩУРМОВАЦИ	12
7		Efraim Larrauri		Flamengo	12
8		Robbie Kruse		Dewrang Lions	12
9		Alonso Saucedo		Guayacol United	11
10		Donn Grover		CAMBA CUA FC	11

World Cup Qualification 2015

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	Spain	3	3	0	0	11	3	8	9
2	Australia	3	1	1	1	7	4	3	4
3	Moldova	3	0	2	1	3	6	-3	2
4	Malaysia	3	0	1	2	3	11	-8	1

We lost to Spain, yet played well against the other two with a draw being more frustrating than a fair result. So we had to wait to the final round of matches to guarantee progress and thankfully Spain didn’t throw their game allowing us to get through.

Top Scorers

Pos.	Player		Team		Goals
1		Nedžad Antončić		Sanderlend	11
2		Haşmet Metehan		ΧΑΤΖΗΚΥΡΙΑΚΕΙΟ PIRAEUS	11
3		Cyprien Bourry		Destroy Inmature Enemies	11
4		Niko Kobelt		Sundens BK	10
5		Ekhi Zumel		Casi Empato	10
6		Yiğitcan Yücesan		PURE FF	10
7		Rudolf Üksti		Munsi	9
8		Dany-Adams Raniers		Steaua FC Iasi	9
9					9
10		Ryan Giggs		…	8

World Cup 2015

	Team	M	W	D	L	+	–	=	P
1	Netherlands	3	2	1	0	11	1	10	7
2	Romania	3	2	0	1	5	7	-2	6
3	Australia	3	1	0	2	3	9	-6	3
4	Italy	3	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

This was a tough group. Really tough. In the first matches we got the better of Italy in a close game. Unfortunately we couldn’t produce the quality against either the Netherlands or Romania. So our campaign ended at the group stage.

This World Cup represented the end of an era for many older players of the squad, deterioration will kill them off before the next senior national team competition. So we’ve refreshed the squad with young talent and no players are olders than 31 for now.

Top Scorers

Pos.	Player		Team		Goals
1		Sérgio Neto		Varsel	12
2		Yiğitcan Yücesan		PURE FF	9
3		Anselmo Gauargi		Ultra Copos FC ™	8
4		Wouter Kleine		Eintracht Apfelstrudel	7
5		Johan Brandsma		Sorogain	6
6		Joel Rubio		Aiolikos FC	6
7		Marcos Pissa		Deportivo Andaluz	6
8		Florencio Bühler		King of Bongo Jr	6
9					6
10		Villiam Mårtensson		Digital Monsterz FC	6

Written by Scruttino

National Team Review – U21s

National Team Review – U21s

by National Coach eric_the_eel

There are a number of ways I could summarise my first season in charge of the National team. Satisfying yet frustrating, close but no cigar, happy to have done us proud, gutted to have missed out, or anything else you can think of that describes missing out on the round of 16 at the U21 World Cup by a solitary goal. Here’s a summary of the season and how we went.

Firstly a warm thank you to everyone that voted for me as National Coach. It is an honour to have your support and belief in me and I hope that results and communication on the forums have gone some way towards satisfying your Managerzone cravings. As soon as I was voted in as head coach I appointed bestplaymaker213 and scruttino as my assistants. We have been working hard on selection and tactics for 85 days (and counting) and are all enjoying the challenge.

Our first challenge was picking an U21 squad, setting a whole lot of friendlies, and preparing the team for the U21 World Cup Qualification tournament. We completed 15 friendlies preparing for the tournament with 7 wins, 2 draws, and 6 losses, including good performances against Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic and China.

We entered the U21 World Cup Qualification Tournament with the task of finishing in the top 2 and qualifying for the World Cup, something Australia hasn’t managed since 4 seasons ago. A tough draw handed us Ecuador, Brazil, and England. With a wing tactic and short passing tactic fully tested and prepared, we had a gutsy win against Ecuador, a solid loss to Brazil, and a dominant draw against England, providing us with the following table:

Success, and a guaranteed place in the U21 World Cup! This gave us a few weeks off to prepare further before the world cup began, and we played 13 further friendlies trying to get the squad ready, winning 6, drawing 3, and losing 4, including beating Brazil, Portugal and Greece. However we were dealt a blow to our hopes of getting out of the group stage when we were put with Finland, Italy and Germany in Group 2.

What can you say? Dominated the first game and won 1-0, dominated the second game and drew 2-2, played an even third game and lost 1-4. A great defence was let down by a lack of depth in our strikers. The final table?

To be honest we were all pretty gutted that we hadn’t made it through the group, after some great performances from the team we really thought we had a good chance to make the knockout rounds, something the Australian U21 team has only done once before. However it wasn’t to be, and now we begin working towards the Senior Team for Season 52. Thanks to scruttino and bestplaymaker2134 for their hard work so far and we look forward to continued success next season!

Australia U21 Squad Results Summary for Season 51:

Played 34, Won 15, Drew 7, Lost 12, Scored 63, Conceded 66

Australia U21 Squad for Season 51:

The heat-map and the game-graph

Written by Dagriggstar

Introduction
So during the Managerzone U21 football world cup we had a group stage game between Australia and Italy. Most of the feedback in the Australian comments thread was that they felt a little unlucky, but sometimes these results happen. On the Italian side I assume they said some things in Italian that I don’t understand. If you look at the “regular” stats for the game, you’ll probably notice that Australia had 18 shots while the Italians only managed 10 and disregard most of the other stats. What makes shots a better measure than say team passing % or possession I believe is that shots indicate at minimum that you had the ball down your end of the field in shooting range. The shot stat is prone to being skewed however from double or even triple saves from an individual attack. This gave me the initial idea for a “Heat Map”.

What is a heat map ?
A heat map basically measures how much time the ball spent in different parts of the pitch during a game. I divided the pitch into 15 cells, then calculated how much time the ball spent in each cell as a percentage of the relevant time period (So first half, whole game etc). The cells are then coloured based on how long the ball spent in each cell, higher percentages being indicated by the colour red and lower percentages by the colour green. This gives you a visual idea for where the ball was during the relevant time period. Theoretically, the more time a team spends in attack the more likely they are to score.

How is this data gathered ?
I should mention here that as I am not a robot, there is likely be some errors. But lets start with a picture.

Firstly I’ve used a program called sketch it to draw over the top of the game. Then I’ve played the game on the slowest speed setting the whole way through, while recording when the ball enters and leaves each cell. I’ve excluded time from play stoppages (Goal kicks, subs etc) so the data would not be skewed by this (Including goal kicks would’ve meant much higher values in both attacking areas for example).

So can we see what one looks like ?

So here is the first heatmap. It actually (in my opinion) suggests that the game was indeed pretty even, the majority of the game being played in the central parts of the pitch. However it is also clear that the Australians were much better at getting the ball deep into their attack, with the ball spending ~10% of the game there compared with ~3% for the Italians. At this point it should be pointed out that the Australians used wing play for this game, while the Italians used a short passing tactic. As you may already have picked up on from just watching games, wing play is actually the more direct tactic, ie you can get the ball deeper, faster. Hopefully one day when long balls manages to differentiate itself from short passing we will have a direct way of attacking down the middle of the pitch. But anyway, onto some more heat-maps.

So earlier I mentioned that we can look at heat maps over time and this one is from the first half of the game. At this stage, both teams lined up playing down the top side wing, as a result the ball spends just 1.58% of the time anywhere on the bottom side wing. The main difference to the full game heat map is that the Italians are clearly getting the ball into attack but cannot get past the Australian defensive midfielders. The Australians largely bypass this problem by attacking down the wing.

59 minutes into the game and the Australians have now made all of their subs. They also switch the wing they are attacking down, so now they attack down the bottom side with wing play as opposed to the Italians attacking top side with short passing. The results…

…Are impressive from an Australian point of view. Whether the subs resulted in the improved performance or it was the wing switch, the tactical genius of Australia NC eric_the_eel resulted in the Italians spending much less (Just shy of 10%) time forward. On the flip side the Italians waited until the 87th minute to make their subs, who combined to touch the ball on a total of two occasions. As a result of the switch, the Italians are forced to attempt to attack through the middle of the pitch, rather than going through either top-side or middle. This narrows their attacking corridor, making it easier for the Australians to defend and helps explain why they managed to keep the ball in their attacking areas more during this part of the game. Despite all this attacking, it took until the 89th minute for the Australians to score an equalising goal, ending the game 2-2.

Hold on, despite all of this attacking the game finished 2-2 ? Shouldn’t Australia, having had almost twice as many shots and twice as much ball inside the 18 yard box have won ? Well probably, but before drawing anymore conclusions I thought I’d look at something else I could do with this data…

Introducing the “Game Graph”

Now just what are you looking at ? Well this graph looks at how much time in the last 10 minutes a team has spent in different parts of the pitch (Deep attack refers to within 18 yards of the goal-line, attack includes attacking midfield). On the x axis we have a few “events”, AUS/ITA indicates a goal to that team, the first two subs are Australian substitutions (One was a double) while the final sub was an Italian triple sub. This graph actually suggests that the Italians were on top early (About the first 20 minutes we see the blue Italian attack line above the green Australian attack line), before a period where the game was pretty even before the Australians eventually became the better team as the game went on. It also suggests that in the ~15 minutes before the first Australian subs were made, the Italians were in-fact running out of stamina.

Conclusion
Well I guess I agree with the general consensus in the Australian community, that the result wasn’t really indicative of the match. I’d also say that eric_the_eel (the Australian NC) out-managed his Italian counterpart scaramozzino. If you look at the result in the context of the group, well it put Australia in the box seat to grab second spot but a 93rd minute goal meant they lost out on goals scored for to the Italians. This may also suggest that the key behind the effectiveness of wing play is that it is easier to get the ball deeper into your attack, allowing your defence to set up a midfield wall, rather than wing play being easier to score with itself. That isn’t a debate that should be developed over the course of an individual game and I’m sure many have their own opinions on it.

Anyway, if I find some more time I’ll probably run another of these for the U21 world cup final, it hasn’t been played yet as I type this out so is still in the extremely maybe category.
/dagriggstar

National Team Review

Written by dagriggstar

With a new election upon us, I thought I’d take the chance to look back at the hoffs tenure as national team coach. Since he did all his communication with the community via the forums, what better way to sum up his tenure than with his own forum posts. I have omitted a few short ones that didn’t really say anything much. If you can’t read the posts, click on the pictures they will become larger.