As we know The All Whites are currently competing in the Confederations Cup in South Africa. Being a football fan, and in some respect a All White fan, i am a little dismayed how easy they have capitulated in the 2 games they have played. Obviously there was very little chance of getting anything from Spain, but i would have thought they could have put up some sort of fight against the hosts this morning, and then tried to go through by beating Iraq on Sunday morning. However that game means nothing as they are coming home now. So why can't NZ compete at International level?

This is my take on it. NZ will always struggle on the world stage due to lack of quality opponents. Your close neighbours made the right move by switching to the Asian Confederation and look where they are now.....qualified for 2010,with games to spare, whilst NZ are waiting for that 5th placed team from the asian confederation to play for the right to go to South Africa next year. Australia have played games in the Northern Hemisphere against quality opposition in recent years, as it was obvious that top Euro teams weren't prepared to take a 24 hour flight for a game. Due to this arrangement Australia have flourished, and now it seems that they, like most teams now have that right to be in the major tournaments. Could NZ make the same move? Opinion from me is no, obvious to the fact that there are only 1 or 2 players that ply their trade up there so the option is a non starter. So what do NZ football do to make NZ a team that can compete, with the top 50-100 teams worldwide?

Another worry for me is the man at the top Ricki. Is he the person who can lead NZ forward? I look at other teams who are in similar standing to NZ and they have coaches of a reputable nature at the helm, so can NZ football bring in someone who has the ability to take NZ forward? No disrespect to Mr Herbert, but he hasn't really set the A League on fire with the Phoenix has he, so obviously with International football being more complexed and tactical, the need for someone with better qualifications is needed to take the game forward in this country.

So come on lets have a little debate about the state of the national team,and where do you, the pundits require changes to be made to make The All Whites a competitive team.

Kim