Titre: Israel U20

Oh my god... They used only 3/5 importance level... What a lucky day for them. But to be honest - 9 shoots wide and only one at their goal... We started with Tishbi in the net, not Shevet. I worried about their full-strenght team so we played 4-4-2 with long passes behind their defenders. I had prepared 3-4-3 switch in case of loosing, but goal at the wrong time and only 3 new players were sent on the field instead of Livnat (CF) in. In 2hrs we will discover our 3rd-place battle opponent.

And here it is. We demolished in the battle of 3rd place Morocco 4:0, well actualy I had been sure we won that match easily. They vere appreciably weaker, with very weak midfield, but acceptable defense, playing 4-4-2 with long passes (logicaly). So I wanted rather to stay in defense with 4 men. And because playing with less than 2 forwards would be lame against them, there wasn't any choice except 4-4-2 with short passes. I don't like 3-5-2, so there were a 3-4-3 switch in case of loosing or draw. But Livnat paid his debt from the beginning of the qualifying matches when he missed 2 penalty kicks. Tonight he shooted 4 times, and it was a hat-trick. Maybe I could have placed him yesterday against Estonia...

And a small insignificant anniversary - this day was my 1000th day with PPM football, so how better celebrate it than with victory

Hello again after more than one month! We are in the new year 2016 as well as in the new 19th season of PPM and we can proudly open this phase as the world #19! Yes, you are reading well, we are currently placed as THE NINETEENTH BEST NATION in the World U20 Ranking Table!!!

This is nice, but the main goal for this season is qualifying at the World Cup (no hurry, we can be the best nation in the world whenever we want , so I started experimenting and finding balance between winning all matches and save energy for the qualifying fights. So we started with 3/5 importance (switching to 5/5 in case of bad result at the half time), so we already have more than 2000 pts this season and energy somewhere 98.5-99 (I think I can write this information in the public...).

To the qualifiers - I still think that the best hand holds Slovenia. But it is OUR team who holds the 4th place and the advantage of home match with Slovenia (currently 4 points behind). Spain played all the last season with 19yrs old players, they will take an advantage from it now.

To the new players - it is not bad, but we have only young weaker central defenders.

First qualifying match is on 6th February and I'll be there with a new post before it

well done
Thank you and good luck hope you bring the team to the World Cup

Now my half term exams are done, so I can focus on PPM.

ISRAEL 4:1 Egypt
It's Yona's time! He has been waiting for more than two seasons on his opportunity and here it is. He grew into the one of the key players. Yona scored once against Egypt. We played this match on the normal importance (3/5), because they are 34 points weaker and we were playing home.

Slovenia 2:1 Spain
Slovenia overtook the match although losing 0:1 at the half time because they started playing at the low importance level (2/5)!

Team strength:
ISRAEL - 151
Slovenia - 167
Spain - 178
Serbia - 169
Saudi Arabia - 146

Group table:
1. Ukraine - 18 (away 12.3. round 6/7)
2. Serbia - 14 (away 19.3. round 7/7)
3. ISRAEL - 13
4. Spain - 12 (HOME 27.2. round 4/7)
-
5. Slovenia - 9 (HOME 5.3. round 5/7)
6. Saudi Arabia - 8 (away 13.2. round 2/7)
...

Saudi Arabia 1:0 ISRAEL
We lost (again) the match with Arabia. Although playing away it was our team who pulled the longer side of the rope. 52% ball possesion, 14 shoots (Arabia only 6). But have a look at the individual statistics:
Rozenshtein - 0 shoots, 1 yellow card
Yona - 2 shoots (all of them went wide), 1 yellow card
Zeevi (29 min in play) - 1 attempts wide, 1 yellow card
All our forwards played like a lame. Didn't they get enough balls? We were better in the midfield and we were about 25% of our time-on-ball in the attack. So they really DID have ball...

Slovenia LOST their match against Serbia (played in Serbia).
Spain WON their match against Ukraine (played in Ukraine). Spain played only 4/5 importance, Ukraine was controlling the match but in 83' scored Guadiana.

1 Ukraine 18
2 Serbia 17
3 Spain 15
4 ISRAEL 13
5 Saudi Arabia 11
6 Slovenia 9
7 Japan 8
8 Egypt 6

This week we are facing Japan away. Keep your fingers crosed!

Japan 2:2 ISRAEL
We met the team led by two experienced Hungarian managers, who often switch their squad. But they change their play style rarely, so if you look at some of their previous matches, they always used long passes. That's why I placed 4 defenders. If it was a home match, my choise would have been 4-3-3, but because we played in Japan, I choosed 4-4-2. I hadn't been sure how many midfielders was standing against us. They used 3-5-2 (why the hell?! 5 midfieldes and long passes = very inefficient!). The team strength of our and Japan national teams are equal, Japan had a slight advantage in ball possession, but the game was (when it comes to scoring chances) balanced.

1 Ukraine 19 (away 12.3. round 6/7)
2 Serbia 18 (away 19.3. round 7/7)
3 Spain 16 (HOME -THIS WEEKEND!-)
4 ISRAEL 14
---
5 Saudi Arabia 12
6 Slovenia 10 (HOME 5.3. round 5/7)
7 Japan 9
8 Egypt 7

All matches in round #3 ended with draw, but both Spain and Slovenia played with better teams (Ukraine, Serbia).

Next two weeks will be crucial! We are facing Spain and Slovenia. All these matches are played home in Ariel Arena and I hope, there will be 80000 amazing fans!

ISRAEL 1:0 Spain
Olé! I have been thinking about tactics since the first match in the previous season. Let me explain my maneuvers We played with Spain at the end of December in a friendly match, so I set there totally different squad and tactics. Because I really didn't want to show my cards for yesterday's match That match resulted in 2-2 draw, but have a look at their tactics prnt.sc/a94nk1 . It is 4-4-2 focused at the centre, played with long balls. Their right side is weaker. So here comes my tactic! prnt.sc/a94qud . Opponent is at the centre, I play at home => use his weak side. Opponent uses long balls, so better place 4 deffenders. Result? prntscr.com/a94t56 ! Golda scored very early, so I could have been calmer during the match. Our defense worked very well, Tishbi has only 1 save! No matter Yona didn't score from a penalty kick

1 Ukraine 22 (away 12.3. round 6/7)
2 Serbia 21 (away 19.3. round 7/7)
3 Israel 17
4 Spain 16
--
5 Slovenia 13 (HOME -NEXT WEEKEND!-)
6 Saudi Arabia 12
7 Japan 9
8 Egypt 7

Well done

Thanks, we are facing very difficult opponent this week - Slovenia. Victory pulls us very close towards the World Cup. They are stronger (their team strength is 163), but we are playing home. I am expecting balanced match. Saudi Arabia is facing UKR, SER and SLO so they shouldn't add many points, but Slovenia is facing us and then weaker opponents - S. ARA, JPN. Spain is facing S. ARA, JPN and EGY.

Although the season is not over and we are still not qualified for the World Cup, I would like to apply for a U20 coach in the upcoming elections. My presentation in hebrew can be found here: goo.gl/OcgsF8 and follows in the next post as well. Thanks for your time and big thanks to danielftp for translating my speech

שלום, אני רוצה להוביל את הנבחרת הצעירה לתקופה נוספת. בתור המנג'ר הנוכחי הוצאתי את ישראל מתחתית הדירוג של הנבחרות לדירוג גבוהה יותר, כשהשיא היה ב17 לינואר שישראל עד גיל 20 הייתה במקום ה19 בעולם! העפלתי לגביע האתגר של פאוורפליי מנג'ר (קטגורייה ג' לראשונה בהיסטוריית הנבחרת וזכיתי שם במדליות ארד. כעת אנחנו נלחמים על ההעפלה (ואנחנו מאוד קרובים) למונדיאל. אני מאוד אוהב את התפקיד ואני מכין טקטיקות מיוחדות לכל משחק ומשחק בהתאם לניתוח היריבה, דבר שמעלה משמעותית את הסיכויים לניצחון. אני תמיד משתדל להסביר את הצעדים שלי בפורום (לינק :http://goo.gl/Wc9SZq).
בנוסף לכל, הכנתי גם מאגר נתונים באקסל של כל השחקנים הצעירים בישראל בכדי להבטיח שהשחקנים שסגל הנבחרת יהיה איכותי ככל האפשר. אם תתנו בי את אמונכם ואת קולכם, המטרה הראשית שלי היא ההעפלה למונדיאל הקרוב, לאחר מכן אני ארצה להשיג תוצאה טובה בגביע האתגר של פאוורפליי מנג'ר, והכוונה היא מדליה (במידה וזה יהיה בקטגוריה ג' או פלייאוף (במידה וזה יהיה בקטגוריה ב'. תודה על שקראתם את הנאום שלי. Cracken

[Thanks to danielftp for translation services ]

ISRAEL 3:3 Slovenia
Crazy match - we were up (1:0) very soon, then down (1:2), Rozenshtein missed a penalty kick, but then dramatized the match and few minutes later finished the turnover from another penalty kick! But 7 minutes before the end a substitute tied the match.
*I will write the strategy review later this week...

Result? I have almost got a heart attack!!

But in serious tone... We have 18 points. That is absolutely NOT enough. Well, there is a special constellation, which would quaify us with 18 pts, but it is unlikely. Saudi Arabia won in Serbia, so there are 4 teams fighting for 2 places. And two difficult away matches before us.

It is open, best chances has Spain (well I calculate with their victory against Egypt tonight) - they have enough points and easier opponents.

Our chances are still the second best - we have difficult opponents, but good position.

Slovenia is playing with weaker teams, but must win both games and pray for other results.

Saudi Arabia is facing Slovenia and Spain and their situation is not so good.

AND HERE IT IS!
Ukraine 1:3 ISRAEL
Spain 3:0 S. Arabia
Together it makes -

1 Ukraine 25
2 Serbia 24
3 Spain 22
4 ISRAEL 21
5 Slovenia 17
6 Saudi Arabia 15
...

We have 4pts lead before the last round, that means we have qualified for the WORLD CUP!