Thoughts On The All Whites vs Thailand
That was disappointing.
The draw with China (click here for those thoughts) was one that we could have won, but it was still a positive outcome against a side that had been piling up some good results of their own recently. In fact, they beat this Thailand team 3-0 not that long ago. China was the tougher task and it was clear after the first few minutes that Thailand was a winnable game for the NZers.
Anthony Hudson named an unchanged starting XI. Interesting but not surprising, he’s picking teams to get results. If these were his best players a few days ago, well nothing’s changed. Bill Tuiloma overcame that hip injury that forced him off as a precaution in the second half against China.
We had the technical and physical advantage. Unfortunately the pitch was a bit of a minefield but so has the odd A-League one been in the past. Same for both teams, etc. So the passing game was gonna be a level harder. That didn’t stop us from dominating early.
Just like China, Thailand were fragile defensively. They had plenty of trouble with the size and strength of Chris Wood, but we really didn’t make too much of that, with the offside flag negating his impact. That’s clever defending on Thailand’s part, finding a way to nullify us, but the lack of adaptability was annoying. Still, the early chances were all falling our way. Unfortunately we fluffed ‘em all.
Kosta Barbarouses had the best chance. Getting on the end of a pull back in the box, he somehow missed the target completely and probably caused many a spilled cup of coffee from NZ fans trying to stay awake. There were plenty of wild efforts from distance too, something we didn’t see a lot of against China aside from Chris Wood’s first 15 minutes where he shot from everywhere. Tim Payne’s shooting is not a strength, to put it lightly, while Bill Tuiloma flashed a couple wide. On in particular was off target, but he crushed that thing and if the radar was just a little better it would have been a classic goal.
It was pretty awful to see Marco Rojas taken off after half an hour. Presumably he picked up a knock and we can only hope it won’t cause another set back in his club campaign. This was not a pitch in which you wanna leave an injury prone guy with a niggle on to battle away, so ‘safety first’ wins. Tim Payne came on (to kick the ball into the stands a few times), settling in alongside Tuiloma with Wee Mac moving into Rojas’ spot. We weren’t quite as slick and dangerous without Marco up there.
Against a weaker team, this should have been an opportunity to dominate the stats. That didn’t happen, we seemed to struggle with the responsibility of being the better team, of needing to dictate the play. There was some nice, intricate stuff, though probably not the kind of football that will be possible against the better sides.
Our fullbacks responded to the extra room (Thailand didn’t press as hard as China) by getting forward and linking up in some good ways, but we just didn’t keep the ball well enough. Too often we were dispossessed and there was far too much space behind for the counter attack.
By the last 10-15 minutes of the first half Thailand were on top. It was the same case against China, where a strong push and a momentum shift before the break led to the All Whites conceding. Jake Gleeson made one absolutely superb save in the spell, delaying the inevitable. We didn’t clear the ball and we got pushed back.
The goal came, an unsaveable rocket, and you have to wonder if this is the downside of such a youthful team. With an average age of 21, there’s plenty of enthusiasm but not enough experience and composure, especially at the back. It’s a lucky thing that we have Winston Reid to return.
The second half saw us having to defend in an equal measure. Thailand had found some confidence and they continually pegged us back. It just goes to show what a difference a goal makes. If we’d scored first like we should have then this may have been a comfortable win. Instead we let them into it and they took away our lifeline.
Jeremy Brockie came on for Kosta at half time and went straight into an offside position where he stayed for the rest of the night. Too many offside, too many fouls. And our set pieces, mostly McGlinchey’s responsibility, were far worse than last game. You can’t blame the pitch for that.
It was good to see Hudson making attacking substitutions. He wasn’t settling for a ‘performance’, he wanted a result. That stuff matters, it’s what we wanna see. Winning games. Kane Vincent, who plays in Thailand, came on for a debut, Dan Keat and Tyler Boyd also making appearances.
We still had the killer instinct to take shots despite more of a passing mentality, they just weren’t good enough shots. And in the 77th minute we were 2-0 down. Jake Gleeson made the initial save from a deep, low shot but parried it into the path of an attacker. He came out to smother it but the ball went in under his foot. He made some good saves but these were a messy few seconds.
It really could have/should have been more. Tim Payne made an incredible headed clearance off the line, it was amazing but also an open goal missed. Jake Gleeson made another top save with his foot, another flashed off the crossbar.
As we pressed for a goal we left more and more room for them to attack in, and too often we asked Chris Wood to turn a long ball into something special, which once or twice he threatened to do. Tommy Smith drew a good save from a header with five minutes left but we never did find the net. 2-0 was a really poor result, the defence was a mess at times and we panicked more than once.
Bill Tuiloma was a big positive. He didn’t complete 90 in either game, and faded in the second halves, but he started both very well. He dropped into the backline to pick up the ball, and moved it well. He wins headers and mops up. Forget all about left back, this guy is our midfield enforced of the future. He’s still a teenager and playing for Marseille, he’s only gonna get better quickly. This is a Champions League standard team, don’t forget, and he’s a regular in the youth team.
Hudson’s thoughts:
“The positives are we had good periods of possession, we have created chances. The disappointing part is we have not been able to finish chances and out of possession we have lacked the ability tonight to work hard and press and make life difficult for Thailand. We lacked consistency tonight. But these are the games we learn from. Tonight I saw a lot of things where I know we can build on. If we came here tonight and didn’t create chances and have those good periods I would have been disappointed. But this is the reality now, we have come into the changing room and we have to understand that there were certain areas of the game that were not good enough. What we do know is we have a really good group of players. A lot of the group lacks experience but we have to quickly learn and step up to the plate. We will deal with it and we will get it right.”
The finishing needs to improve. That’s a given. And it has to improve A LOT.
You wonder how many of this team are guaranteed starting places. Perhaps only Chris Wood? Tommy Smith, Marco Rojas and Bill Tuiloma should be there on most occasions, and Winston Reid is staring every single time when available. Ryan Thomas and Storm Roux seem set unless better options come along. Thomas did some great things, though Roux had a really tough couple games. Glen Moss is our best keeper still, Andrew Durante surely has to be in the mix (Ernie Merrick probably cut a deal with Hudson to spare a couple All Whites for the Nix) and Shane Smeltz is better than Jeremy Brockie.
On a similar note, what of the bench depth? There was no sure replacement for Marco Rojas when he went off. None of our subs made much of an impact and it’s probably fair to question the lack of difference makers.
Hudson made a good point about positives though. There must always be positives, and the way that he’s expanded the group by integrating youngsters has done plenty for our depth. It’s still not flash but it’s better than it was. Plus you can’t expect a coach to understand how to get the best out of his players after three games. It’s a process.
A win would have left a much sweeter taste in the mouth. At least we’re getting games, though, and at a decent level. It’s hard to get players together when they’re based all over the planet, Hudson deserves plenty of credit.
The next international window is in March, so maybe put this game out of your minds for a while. We don’t have a game scheduled then yet but expect Hudson to get on that ball sooner or later.
Come on you All Whites!