We've already published our reaction from the disastrous first leg of the All Whites World Cup qualifiers against Mexico. Now The Mystery Doctor and The Wildcard dig deep and dissect the campaign, looking towards the future and how we can someday get back to The Big Dance...

The Inevitable Second Leg:

Mystery Doctor: Even in Wellington, the All Whites looked pretty poor defensively against Mexico. I’m pretty sure that Ricki Herbert went for an older group in Mexico to be able to deal with the immense pressure of the situation and environment. Throw in to the mix that he probably knew that at least a few of his team would find themselves in yellow card trouble. So ultimately, designed or forced, Herbert played two pretty different teams that turned in pretty similar performances. I’m going to focus on the defence because in game one they gave little attention to any sort of attacking enterprise and in the other they were the complete opposite. The troubling thing for me is that it didn’t matter who was playing in a defensive position, the result was the same. In Mexico, the movement of the Mexicans really troubled our bunch and I thought that our defenders might try control this a bit better. Instead I saw Tommy Smith completely loose his man a couple of times leading directly to goals. Not ideal when your captain is not performing to his best and with inexperience on either flank the result was us being cut to shreds. I do feel like there are plenty of positives though. The young fullbacks Bill Tuiloma and Storm Roux were pretty darn good for youngsters who were thrown into the deep end. Tommy Smith would be much better with Winston Reid alongside him. Imagine a back four of Tuiloma, Smith, Reid and Roux? Pretty sweet hey? Further up the pitch, the All Whites need some true blue midfielders. Michael McGlinchey isn’t as good when he has to be the back bone of the midfield. He needs someone in there with him who is going to win the ball and get attacks going with crisp passing. How many times did we manage to win the ball, only to see it go straight to a Mexican?

Wildcard: I think that that midfield business is our biggest problem. Only Chris James was able to hold the ball up and distribute it in the middle of the park. It’s never been a strength of our team, but it shows you how much we missed a midfield general like Simon Elliott. Ditto can be said for Ryan Nelson’s leadership at the back. And Winston Reid. Ok, look, we weren’t at full strength were we? But neither were Mexico. I accepted long ago that we were probably gonna lose this playoff but what I refused to accept was the way we gave ourselves no chance through performance and tactics. It was better in the second leg (though Herbert’s hand was forced by suspensions), but we still got torn up by the pacey Me-he-cans. I also like the look of Storm Roux, and I’m really excited for Bill Tuiloma’s prospects (he’s playing reserves for Olympique Marseille). But where were the Reids and Smiths of this campaign? Herbert got complacent I think. We haven’t been uncovering the same hidden talent as last time – we don’t even seem to be trying. The Horror in Honiara came back to bite us too. A precious Confederations Cup place was wasted on Tahiti. Imagine how valuable that tournament would have been for this team, both for blooding youngsters and for big match experience for a squad – with the exception of Winston Reid – who simply never play against players of the quality of those that Mexico has in abundance. Our entire build up was a joke, with the cancelled friendly, the Trinidad draw without any of our top players and the general lack of interest. Plus Mexico clearly coped with ‘Wintery Wellington’ a lot better than we did with the altitude in Mexico City.

Media Bans & Bad PR:

MD: The only way to describe the 48 hours after the first leg against Mexico is weird. Coach Herbert went about his business in a manner which left himself open for criticism. Dumping a lot of blame on the players is something that no coach should do, ever. Coaches are coaches because they have a certain political ability to wriggle around questions. Herbert slipped up and let his heart and emotions take over. Then came the media ban which was a pretty shit media ban with Herbert doing an interview anyway. The public want accountability. There was none. Like I said, weird. Maybe NZ Football and NZ Cricket share the same PR company?

The Coaching Dilemma:

W: It’s definitely a good thing that Ricki Herbert is done. He’s run his race. In fact he probably ran a few laps too many. After the incredible highs of the 2010 World Cup, nobody was going to do anything to oust Herbert, but I think it’s fair to say that he didn’t have the same ambition and drive the second time around. This isn’t necessarily a blight on him, it was a different job after that. It wasn’t the backs-to-the-wall, all-or-nothing campaign, it was a matter of consolidation and building structures that could keep us at that level. Missing qualification for the World Cup is nothing – we’re not one of the top 32 teams anyway – but the stolid past four years have ultimately been a waste. Not sure where we go from here coach-wise. I think we have to go international though. There simply isn’t a local coach qualified for this role. Please, not Neil Emblen or Chris Milicich, not Chris Greenacre or anyone like that. We need to find another Ernie Merrick, somewhere somehow.

Looking To The Future:

MD: The future is bright, if managed properly. On the field we have some very talented players coming through the ranks. We currently do our best to keep tabs on our big names playing in Europe in our weekly Flying Kiwis articles. This will become much tougher as more and more young Kiwi footballers get opportunities overseas. They're getting these opportunities because they are bloody good young players.

W: The only thing with that is to make sure that we’re getting these guys in top leagues. Not 2nd Division in Finland (Spot Bet: $20 Chris James is playing for the Phoenix next year. Takers?), not Conference Leagues in England or that lot, but Premier League and Championship quality leagues. I don’t know how a national body moves to ensure that, other than simply encouraging the development of young talent. Showing the world that we have talented players worthy of international scouts will help immeasurably, but that requires All Whites success on the big stages. There’s no reason why it can’t happen.

Building Competition:

MD: The All Whites must play more football. Playing overseas could solve the problem of having to fly our stars in from all corners of the globe. It's much easier to fly guys around Europe and fly some Oceania based players together to Europe than trying to get everyone to this part of the world. What about playing at home? Well it obviously needs to be cost effective. We've seen how much money can be made from TV rights so we should be able to cover the costs of hosting a team. Any money made from tickets etc is a bonus. It only takes a bit of imagination. We have the players, now we need to see what NZ football is capable of. I don't have much faith to be honest. NZ Football has shown me time after time how little imagination they have. By nature, New Zealanders have to do things a little differently. We aren't big enough nor wealthy enough to do the status quo.

W: Most important thing on the list: Get out of Oceania. Or at least merge the OFC qualification path with Asia. Oceania Football serves an important role in promoting football in the South Pacific, but there is simply no competition there. As far as I see it, the top teams in Oceania should then join the Asian Football qualifying system. Just as Australia has done – look how that national team has gone from strength to strength ever since that merger! It’s not about getting the easiest route to the World Cup; that does nothing for the development of our team and players. It’s about getting these guys playing in competitive matches as regularly as possible. Even if we lose out in the second stage of that system, which is probably likely, that would mean we would have had potentially 8 games against good teams, four of them at home. It’s the best case scenario.

Mo' Money Mo' Problems:

W: Now it’s been revealed that we have a whole lotta cash after the Mexico playoffs. Almost as much as we made from the World Cup, thanks to ESPN Deportes and various other TV deals. So what do we do with it? Buy a coach number one. It’s becoming clear that NZ Football needs a shakeup too. Far too much scratching of backs and resting on laurels going on as it is. Gareth Morgan is offering a bunch of cash for the coffers too, but I think it’s imperative that he doesn’t get a say in changing our style of play. That is the coach’s role, and his alone. He should not have the shadow of Morgan’s chequebook held over his head as blackmail to play against the strengths of his squad. Results are all people care about in the end. So long as the money is spent looking to work towards on-field success, I think NZF will be doing their job. For once.