5 teams for the U16's as india are the hosts for the WC and are in automatically. 

India wouldn't have been expected to qualify if they weren't hosting, would they?

Thanks.

That's right. But that's only because they are hosts 

Wouldn't think so but they did. 

I watch about 20mins of the Iran v Saudi Arabia game before I couldn't watch anymore. OMG most npl U16's would beat these guys. I was expecting better. 

Would it be too much to ask for the FFA to create a facebook page or similar that provided us with direct links to streams rather than having your everyday punter scouring the internet for streams.

We want to get behind our young teams and follow their progress through the ranks. This forum is testament to that. 

I have read (by you) that Pim Verbeek stated that australian players didnt have the training or knowledge to understand the complex lines and methodology of the modern European game.  He was a good coach.  But if he couldnt simplify and demystify the methodoloogy enough for the 11 best players in the country to understand, then it would be fair to say that something is getting overcomplicated somewhere.  

Don't get me started. Sometimes it worries me how technologically handicapped our federation is. If they caught on I reckon they could get more from this TV deal. 

They'd be lucky to qualify.  

Good And Bad about curriculum.
Fair point.  i probably dont know enough about it. I have read one link someone provided once (which was of pretty much zero use in learning or teaching soccer).  I base my conclusions only on what i have seen the results of players coming through the system. 

Without going into to much detail, for mine, (trying to use modern terminology):
1. Bad - we are not taught to defend reactively enough when we are in BPO. (our fulbacks ball watch)
2. Bad - Our systems rely on fulbacks overexposing themselves in BP and poor service leaves us vulnerable to the counter (our midfield has no width)
3 Bad - Our highline is exposed with a lack of pace in BPO on the counter (We have no depth when we lose the ball)
4 Good - We proactively use triangles to give us proper body shape with players getting in between the lines (always give a player 2 options).
5 Good - We play a proactive possession based game (We keep the ball on the deck and hit feet)

Like everything, there is no perfect system.  Players (or coaches) need to learn everything and pick what works in certain situations.  Sometimes that includes knowing when to play to instructions and when not to.  

Ange's Coaching
Ange was coaching before the curriculum, so i think it fair to say that he is open to learning from all aspects. Listening to him talk, i think it is obvious that he is open to learning from everything he looks at.  He also has incredible confidence and a good ability to spot talent and read a game.  Obviously i would like to see him do some things differently, but being honest, he probably knows better than me.  Ange's philosophy is about keeping the ball on the deck and hitting feet or as we used to say, playing good football.  This has always been the best policy even though it has not always been the philosphy coached. 

32 years of failed Qualification
You cant honestly compare one off play offs against South American teams (or even the 3rd best asian team), with the current route. Also, you really do need to acknowledge the increased exposure to full time training our players now have with what was previously available, particularly in the 70s and 80s

Football is evolving.

Absolutely, you never stop learning.

But what has really evolved i would say:

1. Balls - New balls make it easier to score and help teams put more effort on attac than defence.
2 Shoes - Underated effect, new boots are lighter and make it easier to control and play possession based football
3 Grounds - The moaning and winging when we play on cow paddocks today.  It would be interesting to see these cow paddocks compared to the grounds from yesteryear.
4. Video Scrutiny and citing - I wonder how much niggle todays players would hand out if Charlie Yankos could get some retribution in back play.
5. Inactive offside - This one massively changed defending, imo. 
6. Backpasses

http://cruyff.com/asp/eng/news.asp
"I especially hope that my message has come across that football is about thinking logically and keeping it simple. Unfortunately in Holland we have let this slip away. By making it more and more complicated we have lost track of the basics."
http://worldsoccertalk.com/2015/03/30/johan-cruyff-slams-current-state-of-dutch-national-team/
In his column published in De Telegraaf, Johan Cruyff gave a strong assessment of Holland’s performance against Turkey, as well as a damning evaluation of standard of Dutch football as a whole.

“Netherlands were terrible against Turkey. Nobody did what they had to do,” Cruyff wrote.

“The defenders were only passing the ball to the midfielders and they then passed it back to the defenders. The people with little creativity were dictating play. This is not what you want. The problems only got bigger.

“After the level of the Eredivisie and the performances of the Dutch teams in the Champions League and Europa League, it is now clear where the national team stands as well. We are suffering all over the place and I really wonder when we will finally wake up.

“The main problem in Netherlands is education, the coaches and the education of the coaches. One thing is certain and that is that things need to change. Netherlands were a disgrace against Turkey.”

From these links I would suggest to you that Cruyff's view on the KNVB and the Dutch style has long past its use by date as they have made football too complicated and it would appear that Pim Veerbeek fits into that catergory.
If you accept Cruyff's view then maybe we have introduced a program that has passed its use by date.

The number one problem with the National Curriculum is that there is nothing about players aged 8 years and below.
The NC starts at 9 years of age in the best countries in the world they start when they can walk.

The 10,000 hour practice hypothesis over a 10 year period from 9 to 19 yo would take a player 2.45 hours per day of practice/play
Even if we say half of that will do its still 1.2 hours a day every day.
In countries with high football culture as soon as a kid can walk he has a ball (correct size for age one as well) at his feet.
By the time his 9 he already has high skill levels, our kids don't and the vast majority actually start the game at 9yo with a low base!
If we don't improve and INVEST in the general pool of players starting from ages as young as 2 we will never compete.

BIG BIG DAY:

AFF U19 Championship

1930 Melbourne Time: Australia v Indonesia

AFC U16 Championship

2030 Melbourne Time: Australia v Kyrgyzstan 

Can someone link streams thank you.

And maybe you should stop telling others how they should post.

Here is the AFC link for the U16 match

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flif4ACZnIY

U19 match is on Optus Sport but no links on Youtube yet - will have to look closer to kickoff.

I have Optus Prepaid soon to be postpaid. How does one obtain access to Optus Sport?

Thanks for the AFC link btw

How much is your plan? If it's under $80 I think then you'll have to add the $15/month charge to your package to access it. They had a promotion in about July/August where you could register for free for this season (so until June 30th 2017) but that offer has passed I'm afraid. If your package is more than $80/month then it's included and you just have to make an Optus Sport account then.

You can use this link to check your plans eligibility - Account Check

I must admit, I find the interface and useability of the service very good, and the quality of the coverage has generally been excellent.

Personally I am hoping the get the rights.

Ideal world for me:

-Foxtel every game of A-League/FFA Cup/Socceroos/Matildas live
-FTA (probably channel 10) to have every Friday night and Saturday night match live, plus all finals (including grand final) live. Also perhaps match of the round from every round of the FFA Cup, plus at the very least the FFA Cup final live, if not the semi finals too. Also at the very minimum every home Socceroos game live (ideal world would want every game live, but can understand FTA reluctance to show 3am games from the Middle East) plus perhaps high profile away games in Japan, Korea and China. Same for the Matildas.
-Optus Sport to have digital rights to everything

Just my 2c

That's a winner for the consumer. Would be happy for that scenario to play out especially now Optus has the U20s now too.

Good point.

Why don't FFA advertise and  them and encourage people to watch these games?

The difference  between the old and new is almost incomparable. Craig Foster also said this.

In my first two hours of a KNVB course, I learnt more than five days of my previous coaching courses under the old system.

All FFA courses now are KNVB/Clairefontaine/Barca Academy style methodology.

dTo try an coach a national team in a just a few days with no knowledge of;

 the four main moments of the game;

concepts of squeezing and pressing;

 players who lack both footededness;

  inadequate communication  training;

 concepts of diamonds and triangles  for effective build up play to play forwards;

 whole team defensive systems;  

etc, etc, would've been very frustrating.

If Pim coached HAL players now, they've been inculcated in all this stuff by their FFA trained club coaches, or the Spanish and Dutch imported coaches.

All the recently FFA trained coaches reading this would've done this stuff, certainly in the Advanced Coaching courses.

It is given different weighting by different coaches.

Some teams do it better than others.

It depends on the team and how attacking the coach wants the team to play.

The Aussie underage teams we are watching are more attacking than defensive in set up. Since Ange has assumed his job,  Aussie national teams are being set up with the attacking  midfield triangle rather than the defensive  midfield  triangle.

Both have advantages and disadvantages.

True, but in the senior Socceroo team, Brad Smith's extreme pace has become useful asset to our high defensive line play. 

By playing  a high defensive line, a team plays more football in the opponent's half and tends to dominate possession and territory.

If there is too much distance between the lines, as was the case in the early HAL years, there was too much time and space to play through the lines.

The underage Oz teams also push up to condense the space in terms of depth, leaving width as wide as possible  when the teams in possession of the ball. When they lose the ball the width is condensed to force the opposition  to play in less time and space.

One or two of underage the full backs, and to a lesser extent CBs, lack speed over the turf. This can often be compensated for by good reading of the the game and speed of thought. The same players are often very good on the ball.

Our system is based on what they do in Spain, France, Germany , Belgium and Holland. Holland has recently dropped behind the other four.

The Dutch are frantically trying to catch up to the others.  KNVB staff coaches are now in France and Germany learning new methodology to refine their curriculum.

A few years ago I was under the weekly tutelage of a state FFA TD.  

He conducted a joint clinic with Ange for local coaches. The TD said there was total convergence between what he was trying to impart and what Ange was trying to impart when they worked together to plan the session.

One difference at national level is that Ange has tried to steer away from being as 1-4-3-3 focused at senior level. This is a change in national coaching  courses, although 1-4-3-3 is recognised as a good development system.

The boffins from FFA, including  some former Socceroos, have concluded that 32 years of failure to qualify meant there was a problem in what we were doing.