Author Topic: England XI seasons 9 & 10 (Read 5764 times)

Andy · « **on:** August 18, 2013, 11:48:36 PM »

Hi everyone I want to use this forum for us to discuss all things to do with the England first team and for me to let you know what is going on with the squad. I will be very open in my first season of frieindlies but will me more gaurded next season as I am sure it won't take our opponents long to find tihs topic/

I made three election pledges that I will attempt to live up to:

1) I have got some proven success in GKO so I know something about winning games. I won 4 sucessive minor league titles followed by two top 3 finishes in the Premier league, qualification from the group stages of the WCL and I won the Cup this season.

2). I promise to be dedicated to Englands success and not Leeds. I wont be picking many Leeds players, I will put in a fair amount time to managing the team and I will work hand in hand with the U-21 manager (not sure exactly what this means as yet but for example I will give Hecc first pick on all legible players in this U-21 Championship season)

3. I undertake to try and involve the whole England community in the running of the team so that we all can all feel part of the set-up and be proud of the success. I promise to communicate regularly with everyone to explain the selection strategy (similarly to what Hecc has done for U-21s) and I will also allocate jobs to volunteers to help with scouting of our players and opposition teams.

and now I offert three more

4. I set myself the objective of taking England to the semi-finals of next years world cup. It will take a lot of planning, hard work and good luck in avoidng the top teams but I we will do our best.

5. England our currently raked 20th in the world I will try to take us into the top 15.

6. I only plan to do this job for two seasons. I know there lots of other good English managers who desrve a chance.

Andy · « **Reply #1 on:** August 18, 2013, 11:59:36 PM »

General Criteria for selection

I want to pick players that will be ready for be ready for the WC finals at the end of season 10, By then I woul like our players to:

1 - have a minimum rating of 65
2- have a minmum of 5, preferably 6 experience stars.
3 - play with a minimum condition of 95%
4. - play with a minimum morale of Ok, preferably better.

Tactics

Marking - based on what Ive seen of the defence so far, I think we can make a sucess of man marking. However, we are short of midfielders to play in this position so I may change my mind later.

Pressing - If we go with manmarking I would normally advocate Standing Off but our attacking midfielders just arent suitable so we will go with Press More to start with.

Roaming - I cant yet figure if these tactics are advantegous to us or not. So we start with default

Width - My personal style is to play down the flanks ut I a wil not be prescriptive and will happily change this tactic as and when neccesary.

Passing Will try to use shrt passing to in keep pocession as high as possibke

Tackling - Easy. I don't hurt the palyers of other teams and I dont want to pick re cards for our tea,:))

Andy · « **Reply #2 on:** August 20, 2013, 08:32:32 PM »

The Squad part 1

Goalkeepers.

I am sure that Stirling Abrahamson will be my keeper at next years world cup but he is only 20 so he may spend some time with the U21 squad if Hecc wants him?

Boyce Wooton and Lucius Tanner are respective 2nd and 3rd chocie keepers. I will give both some games and more if I lose Abrahamsom to the U21s

Fullbacks

In my opinion there is little difference between DL/DR and DMR/DML so I will not worry about the distinction. Either way I like my full backs to attack so I will value attacking attributes. None of our full backs are outstanding at man-marking or particulary notable for their attacking abilities and so the search continues - do you know of any good ones?

On the right the right Marion Parsons gets the nod ahead of Lynn Atkins because I think he might be a bit better at man-marking and crossing.

On the left, Grier Stiddolph is a bit better than Lindsey Wood at man-marking but with an influence of 17 he becomes my first captain and this role may well book him his place in the team at the finals next year.

Central Defenders

I have think we have some great cnetral defenders for man-marking and the best two are the young ones Adam Whittle and Walter Carlyle. I tihnk they both really good players and I want to give them plenty of experience in prepeartion for the WC but they could do a good job for the U21s, Hecc?

Unfortunately Carlyle's mind is not on his game at the moment as he is negotiating with his club for a new contract. I wont pick him until he resolves his issues. This leaves the door open for Payton Abrahams who gets the nod over Shane Nathans for his better decision making.

Andy · « **Reply #3 on:** August 20, 2013, 08:58:34 PM »

The Squad - part 2

Central Midfielders

We are blessed with some excellent attack minded midfielders but I have struggled to find ones to fit into man-marking and it is important that we defend as a team. Players like Adair Tennyson are so good that later on I may experiment with building the tactics around them. I think thats kind of what Ermejo tried to do but it didn't work out in the WC finals so for now:

I am going with two DMCs Rudolph Rodderick and Nick Kellogg. I hope thes guys can hold the cetre of the pitch while we build our attacks donw the wings. The search continues for a more player creatvie player capable of playing in ths position.

In different tactcis there will be opportunites for Adair Tennyson and Aylmer Triggs. I don't envisage ever picking MR and MLs so I'm afraid there wont be any opportunties for these kind of players.

Attacking Midfielders

My tactics need really good players in these positions so I will be experimenting but at the moment I tihnk the best are:

Left - Giles Daugherty, there are some more creative players in England but Giles gets the nod for his deadball corners. If this works out it could give us a real edge in the WC.

Centre - Kiefer Frank, he has consistently been the stand out performer in the English top league for the laset 3 seasons, he is experienced (7 stars) and he is brilliant with freekicks. I will give others some opportunities expecially while he plays in the WCL but I think he is cert for the World Cup next season.

Right - Mattie Irving, I would like to giuve this talented player plenty of experience in advane of WC unless Hecc wants him for U21s?

Other players I plan to try out are: Luther Autberry (Left), Lavern Reynolds and Aylmer Triggs (centre) and Virgil Roberts (right)

Strikers

I have a number happy headaches in trying to pick "just one" striker, here my initial thoughts;

Timmy Thomson - the best striker in the air.
Luther Autberry - the most creative striker
Jonnie Groves - the striker with perhaps the best potential
Curtis Wallis - a really good allround stiker but I wont pick him for a while yet to avoid criticism of being biaised.
Randolf Seabrooke - picked in the squad because of his outstanding success with his club.

Andy · « **Reply #4 on:** August 21, 2013, 07:13:05 PM »

Season 9 - 1st match v Czech Republic - managed by intermim manager (computer)

Match 2 v Singapore - a BOT team. I aim to put out a strong side to hopefully get my England career off to a good start.

Result 0-0 England England Possession 61% but just 6 shots (2 on target), our only arrow was 1 for man-marking and we had 5.5 hearts to Singapore's 3.0

A disappointing result and the biggest problem was I forgot to change the strategy from defence to more attacking. I apologise to all our fans for this grass mistake. Never the less we changed into a more attacking strategy on 60 minutes and this did not lead to any more chances.

Overall, I think we look strong defensively but lack a cutting edge at the moment. I had this problem before at my club and I solved it by playing two strikers, I am tempted to try the same for England but that will give me other problems so I may not try it straight away .

Andy · « **Reply #5 on:** August 23, 2013, 10:23:30 PM »

Game 3 v Zambia

Another BTO team but they dont look as strong on paper as Singapore were last week

Squad
I have released the following players to make them available to the England U-21 manager if required. They will all be straight back in the squad once Hecc is finished with them

GK Stirling Abrahamson http://www.gokickoff.com/team_player_detail.php?player_id=5087543
AMC Lavern Rennold http://www.gokickoff.com/team_player_detail.php?player_id=4453558
DC Walter Carlyle http://www.gokickoff.com/team_player_detail.php?player_id=6202518
DC Adam Whittle http://www.gokickoff.com/team_player_detail.php?player_id=5651495
MC Adair Tennyson http://www.gokickoff.com/team_player_detail.php?player_id=6236083
FC Timmy Thomson http://www.gokickoff.com/team_player_detail.php?player_id=2699603
FC Johnnie Groveshttp://www.gokickoff.com/team_player_detail.php?player_id=5718655

Tactics

This week I revert to Zone Marking and PRess More. The recent annnouncements about the true formula for man marking have made me realise that although we have great manmarking centre-backs therest of the team can not play that way.

I will try to win but also seek to start developing the next wave of England superstars!

Result: England 2 - Zambia 0

Superb performance by the defence with 3 arrows for press more and 4 arrows for Zone Marking resulting in 71% possesion, 14 corners nd 11 shots at goal. The goals were an individual effort from Frank and then Simpkin converted a Daugherty corner. I like the look of Simpkin but the problem is he is not playing for his club - what should I do? Any opinions out there?

Andy · « **Reply #6 on:** September 05, 2013, 09:43:57 PM »

Game 4 v Rwanda
Another BOT team- maybe a bit better than Zambia. England will be expected to win but I do have weakend squad particularly at AMR.

Squad

At Hecc's request I have released another two players to the England U21s:

DL Grier Stidolph
ANR Mattie Irving

Again, both will return to the main squad as soon as Hecc has finished with them

Tactics

We carry one with Push More and Zone marking although I fear the team may nnot be as effective as last week. I am trying out another forward this week as I search for the best one.

Team

1. GK Lucius Tanner, Age 21, 1 cap

2. DR Marion Parsons Age 24 1 cap
3. DR Derrick Willis Age 20 1 cap

5. DC Shane Nathan Age 26 39 caps
6. DC Payton Abrahams Age 21 5 caps

4. DMC Nick Kellog Age 22 21 caps
8. MC Braxton Revie Age 22 16 caps, 2 goals - captain

7. AMR Hubert Jack Age 23 24 caps 1 goal
10. AMC Frank Kiefer Age 25 45 caps 9 goals - free kicks & pens
11. AML Giles Daugherty Age 23 2 caps - corners

9 FC Luther Auteberry Age 22 9 caps 7 goals

Subs: If we are ahead at 60 mins expext apperances from: Langdon Woodham, Elijah Bulle and Meriweather King

Result England 4 Rwanda 0

A very convincing win for the three Lions. Even without skipper Grier Stidolph (on U21 duty) the defence were great again: 1 arrow for pressing more and 4 arrows for zone marking giving us 70% pocession. I think Braxton Revie helped us make more chances this time and Luther Auteberry was superb in leading the line. The goals came from a Auteberry heading in a Daugherty corner, then Daugherty headset-up Ethan Nathan for a goal and Frank Kiefer added the icing on the cake with two goals, one from the spot and one from a solo effort.

Andy · « **Reply #7 on:** September 12, 2013, 09:53:13 PM »

Game 5 v Anguilla

Another Bot team but with a bit of quality. They have Barnaby Comstock up front and Chris Harmon in goal, both players ply thier trade with top club Ruta Best. Of course England will start favourites. The team and tactics are starting to look pretty settled now. Just 4 changes:

Willis is out @ LB because of low condition,
Woodham starts at right wing as a development opportunity
RB is the one position I am unhappy with at the moment, Lynn Atkins gets the nod this week.
At DC Colin Stainthorpe gets a chance at the expense of Shane Nathan but I dont see this as a permanent swap.

The Team

1 GK Lucius Tanner 21 2 caps

2 DR Lynn Atkins 24 44 caps 7 goals
3 DL Lindsay Wood 27 1 cap
5 DC Colin Stainthorpe 25 10 caps
6 DC Payton Abrahams 21 6 caps

4 DMC Nick Kellogg 22 22 caps
8 MC Braxton Revie (capt) 22 17 caps 2 goals

7 AMR Langdon Woodham 18 1 cap
10 AMC Frank Kiefer 25 46 caps 11 goals - freekicks & penalty taker
11 AML Giles Daugherty 23 3 caps - corner taker

9 FC Luther Auteberry 22 10 caps 8 goals

If we do well then expect to see the following subs coming on for development: Meriweather King, Newt Levit & Elijah Bulle

Result Anguilla 0 England 0

Near on a disaster. Luther Auteberry limped off with an injury in just the 9th minute and then Lynn Atkins was sent off in the 31st minute for second bookable offence, I stupidly forgot to tell the team to use Frank Kiefer to take the free kicks

To cap it all the Anguillan keeper lived up to his pre-match billing and pulled off 9 fabulous saves. Never the less we came up with 2 arrows for both press more and zone marking resulting in 65% pocession and no less than 14 shots.

Andy · « **Reply #8 on:** September 19, 2013, 10:54:50 PM »

Game 6 v Philippines

My first match against a managed national team. I expect this game to be a much tougher test and so I will field my best available team, although don't forget that some of our best players are currently representing our U21 team. No doubt the same is true for the Philippines so we shoudnt read too much into the result but all the same it will give us the first real feedback on the effectiveness of my tactics. Can't wait!

I've made three changs from last week. At DC Shane Nathan comes back into the team to make a very strong and experienced pairing with Colin Stainthorpe. Hubert Jack takes back over from rookie Langdon Woodham on the rigjt wing. At LB I haved called up Vinal Spears for the first time and I like what I see, I hope he become the fisat choice cover for my absent captain Grier Stiddolph.

The Team

1 GK Lucius Tanner 21 3 caps

2 DR Lynn Atkins 24 45 caps 7 goals
3 DL Vinal Spears 23 7 caps
5 DC Colin Stainthorpe 25 11 caps
6 DC Shane Nathan 26 40 caps 1 goal

4 DMC Nick Kellogg 22 23 caps
8 MC Braxton Revie (capt) 22 18 caps 2 goals

7 AMR Hubert Jack 18 26 caps 1 goal
10 AMC Frank Kiefer 25 47 caps 11 goals - freekicks & penalty taker
11 AML Giles Daugherty 23 4 caps - corner taker

9 FC Luther Auteberry 22 11 caps 8 goals

Result: Philippines 1 England 4

Wow, what a game! The first half was frustrating for England 71% pocession but only half dozen shots and no goals. Then disaster stuck just after the break when the Philippines hist a long ball straight up the middle and duely scored from pretty much their first shot of the game. Luckily for England Luther Auteberry was bale to demonstrate his class (9 goals in 12 internationals) with an equaliser from a Hubert Jack drill cross on the hour. Unluckily for Auteberry he then immediately got substituted as the Englan plan B kicked in.

The plan B was to change strikers, play more directly with float crosses aimed at Timmy Thomson's head. I hesistate to claim to much for credit the change as no float crosses were ocnverted but all the same England suddenly opened loads of scoring opoortunities. England super ster Frank Kiefer gae England the lead with a trademark Freekick. Then Braxton Revie flicked on a Daugherty corner for Lynn Atkins to finish and then a Frank Kiefer long range effort completed a spell of 4 goals in 17 madcap minutes for England.

Great stuff. England again dominated the eedings with 68% pocession and 17 shots. Playing against a stronger team our tactics worked again but this time just the 2 arrows each for Press More and Zone Marking. Pleasingly we also managed to nullify the Philippines Press More tactics giving them a red arrow. England are great with pocression and look a real threat from set pieces but maybe we need to find a way of being morre creative in open play?

Andy · « **Reply #9 on:** September 26, 2013, 11:27:01 PM »

Game 7 v Bermuda

Back to playing BOTs this week. Bermuda have only won one match this season but have a rather good looking left winger in Deforrest Rogerson who plys hsi trade in the Thai D leagues.

I am pciking a n experimental team this week. Firstly in order to improve our scoring ability I am going to try out two strikers for the first time. In order to try and make this work I am asking Kiefer Frank to deeper at MC. For the strikers I will pair up the fast and skilful Auteberry with the aerial threat of Thomson. Elsewhere in spirit of experimentation I will give starts to Woodham (in for Jack) and at DC Abrahams (in for Stainethorpe). Elsewhere the fall guy for the extra striker is DMC Nick Kellogg.

1 GK Lucius Tanner 21 4 caps

2 DR Lynn Atkins 24 46 caps 8 goals
3 DL Vinal Spears 23 8 caps
5 DC Payton Abrahams 25 7 caps
6 DC Shane Nathan 26 41 caps 1 goal

4 MC Frank Kiefer 25 48 caps 13 goals - freekicks & penalty taker
8 MC Braxton Revie (capt) 22 19 caps 2 goals

7 AMR Langdon Woodham 18 2 caps
11 AML Giles Daugherty 23 4 caps - corner taker

9 FC Luther Auteberry 22 12 caps 9 goals
10 FC Timmy Thomson 22 28 caps 14 goals

If everything goes well expect to se AML Meriiweather, DC Levitt DMC Bulle

Result England 2 Bermuda 0

An efficient rather than spectacular win. Rogerson ws kept quiet and that man Frank Kiefer starred again bookending another great performance with two lovely goals. Skipper Braxton Revie provided the assist for the first, in just the 9th minute and the seocnd in the 72nd minute was a lovely solo effort.

England again dominated procedings with 68% pocession and 13 shots (8 on target). There were 3 more arrows for pressing more and 4 arrows for zone marking.

Andy · « **Reply #10 on:** October 10, 2013, 09:29:47 PM »

Game 8 v Italy

My first match against real quality opposition. Determined to well I have put out what I believe to be my best available team - dont forget some great players are currently away on duty with the U21s. However, also remember that Italy will not have their very best team out either.

The Team

1 GK Lucius Tanner 21 5 caps

2 DR Lynn Atkins 24 47 caps 8 goals
3 DL Vinal Spears 23 9 caps
5 DC Colin Stainthorpe 25 12 caps
6 DC Shane Nathan 26 42 caps 1 goal

4 DMC Nick Kellogg 22 24 caps
8 MC Braxton Revie (capt) 22 20 caps 2 goals

7 AMR Hubert Jack 23 27 caps 1 goal
11 AML Giles Daugherty 23 5 caps - corner taker
10 AMC Kiefer Frank 25 49 caps 15 goals - freekicks & penalty taker

9 FC Luther Auteberry 22 13 caps 9 goals

Result: Italy 0 England 5

Incredible! I can't believe for a minute that this was a full strength Italy team but we can only beat what is put in front of us and boy, did we do that?

A hattrick for Luther Auteberry and a goal each for Kiefer Frank and Lyn Atkins. Two assists for Nick Kellogg and one each for Giles Daugherty (corner), Lynn Atkins and substitute Meriweather King

The tactics worked a dream with England winning 68% pocession and 1 blue arrow for Pressing More and 3 arrows for Zone Marking. We destroyed the Italians roaming (3 red arrows) and pressing tactics (2 red arrows).

Well done, England!

Andy · « **Reply #11 on:** October 10, 2013, 09:46:46 PM »

Games 9-12

Mostly, I think I know my team now. So I am going to play developmental teams for the rest of season, as I start to look forward beyond next year's world cup. So dont be alarmed if we fail to win any more matches. I hate losing games though, so expect some fairly dull matches with hopefully a fair few draws.

Match 9 England 0 - Azerbaijan 0
Match 10 England 0 - Antigua & Barbdos 0
Match 11 England v Sweden
Match 12 England v Jamaica

News:

Author Topic: England XI seasons 9 & 10 (Read 5764 times)