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So here we are... A new season and a new coach.
This year's team will have a hard time getting to the next round of the tournament.
The group that we got drawed in, wasn't the easiest one and it will be a tough task to get in the top 2 if you look at the stiff competition surrounding us!

First off, we got Poland the #2 U21 team in the world. Since their roster hasn't been selected yet, I don't know what we're up against. But I cannot assure a good result versus this team.

The second game won't be easy either because we're looking at another top 20 team. They have allready selected a roster, and it seems to be a very good one. Just like Poland, I can't assure any outcomes, I just hope to keep the damage as little as possible!

Afterwards, we will have a slightly easier schedule with Slovenska as our next opponent. This team has got a better ranking than us and will probably have a good team to work with. Since we don't have HCA against them, this will also be a tough game.

Then we got Austria, this is a team which appears to be evenly skilled as us, since their ranking is praticly the same as ours.

Next up are some must-win games against Ireland, Norway and Andorra.

In general I hope to get at least 3 wins and maybe even 4. And as you all know, this will not be enough to get to the next round... But this years team isn't the strongest that we've seen. So my plans are to do some damagecontrol this season and fully commit myself to getting good results next tournament! Let's hope for some miracles!

I don't know what it's worth, but if things work the same way they do in hattrick, it would be something to consider to give youngsters game time in a match that is lost anyway, no ? Way to improve the next generation of players, should it be better than this one.

I'm probably saying something completely wrong, so do not hesitate to feed my curiosity :)

It is indeed a really tough group :s

No surprises in our first game.
As expected, Poland has got a really good team to work with.
TIE was a logical choice, but there is good news nonetheless!
Croatia wasn't that strong in their game vs Andorra, which means a win against them is possible since we have HCA!

depends. If you let things go, you'll lose ranking spots, tho ranking in U21 doesn't mean swat! ranking in U21 gives you an idea how strong ( or weak) last seasons generation was... nothing more nothing less. a rankings 70 U21 could end up ging undefeated, if the happened to have a very good generation for a season. Likewise, a top 3 U21 team could end up losing 6 of their first matches, because their generaiton is very poor for that year of the U21... (it's unlikely tho, since the top nations often have large ammount of players, which gives you a larger pool to select from...)

as for younger players: if they are as strong as the 21y olds, then sure, you ought to take younger guy's... However, if that isn't the case, then why bother taking younger players? They don't make your squad stronger, and if they aren't as strong as the 21y olds, then it's unlikely that they'll (the 20y olds that is) be substantially stronger when they are 21y olds themselves.

So no real surprise here...
They had the better team and it really showed, still hoped for an upset. But our team just couldn't do anything...
So much was already clear after a 33-19 quarter...
Let's hope for a better result next game!
This will also be a 50-50 game, but once again their team is better than ours...
Let's try 'n see if we can do some damage control in the next game and grab all the others!

Tonight the U21 should be able to collect their first win against a weaker Austria team!
The game shape of the team is decent and the tension to finally come out and win a game is big.
I hope that we can also win with a big margin, so we can get things on track and finish with the 4-3 as I expected when I first saw our group!

Second of all, there is an 18 year old PG, who's looking for a new manager to train him... If you have any intrests, please contact me!

So just like I hoped,
We got the victory versus Austria! I'm glad to say that we earned it too...
The game was still really close because we ran into a Crunch Time game on their side, but our players managed to stay with it and pull out the victory in the last quarter.
This mostly happened due to a HUGE game of the bench by Mathias Van Lancker, who scored 24 points but also finished them off at the freethrow line at the end of the game.
Despite 2 players scoring 67 in the game, a team effort on the Belgian side really payed off! Because the team was in trouble after 2 late 3-pointers by G.Altmann. But all of that was for nothing when he fouled out with still a minute to play in the game!

This win is very important because this means, we can go on and still go for a 4-3 record!

Next up: Ireland!

Last edited by Laur3ns at 6/18/2012 11:33:06 AM

Well done, boss :)

don't underestimate other teams.

Good tactical choices, allong with good enthusiasm decisions and well calculated risks are what define averages joes ( sorry Joe, but that is an english expression) from the good coaches.

just keep up the work and you should get their. understanding U21/NT isn't that hard. it just takes alot of time in the beginning ( and granted, having someone teach you the ropes or having been working behind the scene looking at your precessor, sure helps aswell)

Revo