Just to share, the atmosphere of the game was electric! We're singing the national anthem with patriotism and cheering the team on the whole game. It was quite of a surprise since we're expecting that majority of those 7.5k attendees are bandwagons, but hell no! The knowledge of the game in the Philippines has been vastly improved over the past few years. Even if the score is 4-nil, people are still cheering the team on, that's something to commend because our boys never walked alone!
Anyway, we never had this crappy defense for a long time. No offside traps, nervous tackles, bad positioning and timing.........sub-par goalkeeping from Etheridge (OT: hahaha worry about HAZARD scoring 5 goals with that level of goalkeeping vs Chelsea).
Another thing, if Manny Ott plays a bad game, its more likely that the whole Azkals team plays bad too. Notice that?
I'm quite annoyed that sometimes its taking us too much time to advance the ball up-field, worse sometimes we lose the possession of the ball in the dangerous area and Uzbeks make us pay for it time after time!
Woodland played well against Yemen, yet he was exposed today against a higher-tier team on Uzbekistan. He's still young and raw. LUCENA, WOODLAND, SATO as CBs doesnt really work. I would like to exchange Sato with Palla for the LWB position. While replacing Woodland with Aguinaldo. I think Woodland would be effective playing with guys like Gier and Guirado.
Any updates about Sabio, De Murga and Alvaro?
Sato was also given chants of his name at the end of the game "SATO, SATO, SATO, SATO!!!" because at the end of the game, he lies down in the field in tears and was needed to be accompanied by his teammates to stand up,...it was quite emotional.
Overall, to be optimistic with the result, I think it's good that we lose now. It's a good eye opener for us that we still needs to work on some details and we're not vulnerable. (specially in defense).
My Player Ratings:
Etherige - 4.5 (absolutely out of focus, I still believe in you NEIL...wish you all the best, you could have done better...as a fellow GK, I know the feeling of conceding at time that 40-second goal, and the feeling of conceding 5 goals in such a big game like this.)
Lucena - 6.0 (still the old reliable Lucena, covered his man with all his might but could not sustain the speed of the Uzbeks, caught flat footed at times. (age?) I'm expecting him to be more on command at the back, since he's the only veteran at the back without the services of Rota, Gier or Guirado. Maybe the Uzbeks are just too good? hmm..
Woodland - 5.0 (made some good tackles but bad decision making like missing headers, caught ball watching at time, nervous tackles, little command on the backline.... hope that he finds his new club now, this guy is young and has tons of potential (seen on the Yemen game), seems out of focus too.)
Sato - 6.0 The intangibles that he brings to the field was comparable to Schrock's. Not as influential as the latter, but his tenacity is relentless and unbelievable. With his pace, I would like to see him come forward more often. I just think that the LWB position is better for him than LCB. Again, only my opinion.
Steuble - 5.5 Not his best game, bad crosses, wasted free kicks, dispossessed a lot of times. Perhaps, he would like to come forward too. We had seen him at his best while playing at the Right Wing position, not in the Right Wing Back.
Palla - 5.5 Caught out of position at times, I expected him to be more influential in the midfield and defense, he worked well with Ramsay in the first half, knows how to do those sneaky pass, dribbles past his defenders. Maybe he just need more seasoning on playing the Left Wing Back.... more chemistry will also help, he's a good player to have.
Younghusband - 6.5 Tried to control the midfield, he did well on shielding the ball and start a build up on our offense. He's the usual Phil at times specially during the time when he's lively and aggressive on advancing the ball. He still has those moves,...I still believe that his best position was in-front of the goal! Anyway, kudos to him.. He fought 110% for 75 minutes before being exhausted and dismantled by the 5th goal of the Uzbeks.
Ott - 5.5 The motor of the team,.....not himself. IF HE PLAYS GOOD, The AZKALS WILL PLAY GOOD!
Bahadoran - 6.0 His pace/trickery continues to create chances for us. Hopefully he finds the back of the net on our next qualifier games.
Ramsay - 5.5 Missed that crucial tap-goal chance late in the first half! Though, I like this tenacity as well, fighting for lose balls. He did well defending and attacking the wings if he has the chance. By doing so, we saw that he was breathing hard before the end of the first half. We need guys like this whose ABUEVA / ROMEO type of an energy guy... For the Azkals, I think we have Sato and Ramsay ,...and Schrock taking the role.
Patino - 5.0 - doesn't felt his presence, had his chances too. Even the best players in the world are not 100% in-form all the time. I think he'll bounce back next game.
Aguinaldo - 5.5 - has a stronger defensive presence than Woodland tonight. (I'm not jumping into conclusion that he's better than the latter. Not yet.) Though, still not enough against the UZBEKS. He made some nervous and dangerous backpasses to Neil as well.
Schrock - 7.0 - same old Schrock! should have started, he looks 75-100% fit! Great Free Kick! HE just really has that magic....
Ingreso - 5.0 - absolutely non-influential, hope to see him more in the future.
OVERALL 5.5, bad goalkeeping, bad defense, mediocre midfield, bad finishing.. 5-1! we could have done better, that first goal wasn't the best way to start a game against this level of opponent. We need more time to train! More Focus! Chemistry! We do have good names, good players, good coach, good fans?, good stadium............all the errors that we have in this game are fixable.... I still believe that we can do well against North Korea, Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Yemen. !!!!
I am still a believer! I love football, I love the Azkals! I love the Philippines!
#WeBelieve