New Zealand football coach Anthony Hudson's rejecting criticism that he's fielding youngsters who aren't up to it, after their "disappointing" 1-1 draw in Myanmar.
All Whites coach Anthony Hudson Photo: Photosport
Hudson is blaming the conditions rather than a lack of experience for the largely lacklustre draw, which meant the national senior men's team have now gone 11 games without a win stretching back to 2013.
And Hudson has yet to taste success since he took over last year.
But, upon arrival back in the country on Wednesday morning, he's rejected criticism from the likes of former national captain Steve Sumner, who claim the coach is cheapening the All Whites jersey by handing out caps to young players who aren't ready for international football.
"I can share the frustration and I can understand why people would say that, and I can certainly see and empathise why people would have a lot of loyalty or feelings towards certain players, senior players because they've become household names, and I understand that," Hudson said.
"And the players coming through now that we're giving games to, they're not known to many people but the fact is we have to give them experience, we have to create depth."
Hudson said they're disappointed with the result, but overall the camp in the Asian country was positive with plenty of training time together, though there were plenty of challenges such as training pitches and the extremely hot and humid weather.
He said they had to change training pitches three times as the surfaces they were given weren't adequate.
Hudson again reiterated that he's trying to build depth. Three players - Alex Rufer, Harshae Raniga and Liam Higgins - all made their international senior debuts on Monday night.
Alex Rufer - son of former All White Shane and nephew of NZ great Wynton - made his national debut in Myanmar Photo: Photosport
"We don't have a huge amount of depth. If we are heavily reliant on a handful of players we're going to struggle, and if we're working back from the World Cup to now, we have to give players experience, and that's what we've done."
"We've given players, young players, experience, that I believe are good enough - I know they're good enough. A lot of these players that we're giving chances to, if they've... had a different passport - in the sense that they had more opportunities to go and play elsewhere, they'd be playing in professional teams. These are good young players, all they need is opportunity, they need games.
"Listen, we've only had a handful of games together. The... game against South Korea proved that some of our younger players are good enough, all they need is time... they're good enough, and they will be, all they need is games."
Midfielder Clayton Lewis is another youngster given a chance under Hudson Photo: PHOTOSPORT
While Myanmar are ranked below New Zealand, Hudson points out that they made a conscious decision to generally play higher-ranked teams early on in his tenure, such as China, South Korea and Uzbekistan, in order to challenge the players more.
He admitted playing those kinds of teams with younger, more inexperienced players was a huge risk - but results like the 1-1 draw in China last December and March's close 1-0 loss in South Korea were meritorious.
In September, the New Zealanders also lost 3-1 in Uzbekistan, while in November they lose 2-0 in Thailand.
Hudson rejected the idea the All Whites should have dominated Myanmar after the Asians lost 9-0 in Kuwait last week.
"Football's not like that, the game before they lost 1-0 to UAE (United Arab Emirates) which are one of the top teams in Asia - at their place. We're playing away from home, it was the first game they've had in their home country for maybe three years, big crowd, conditions were absolutely horrendous for the players to deal with, so it wasn't an easy game."
And he also rejected any notion they've taken a backward step with the draw in Yangon.
But Hudson said they have now seen all the players they need to see, and he has vowed to field his strongest side in their next appearance or appearances in the November FIFA window, when they hope to play two matches.
Hudson said the biggest challenge in his first year in charge has been getting the players together, and the New Zealand job provides unique problems with the geographic distance this country is from other footballing nations - but it has been a positive year and they're building a team that's going to be sustainable long-term.
And he reiterated his enthusiasm for the position, rejecting any idea he wouldn't have taken the job if he'd known how tough it would be.
"What I've learnt now, and I'm even said this to the players, it really is a very - unique is probably the best way to put it. Like, we haven't had a home game.
"It doesn't irritate me, but I would like to be at home, I would like to have the advantage of playing at home, I would like to be in front of our home crowd."
"We haven't seen this team (here) since last March and then the team we get together isn't always your first-choice group... then because of the big gaps inbetween the windows, that is the unique part of it.
But he insisted they are moving in the right direction, and all the players know it - though the result in Myanmar wasn't good enough, and the team all knew it.
And Hudson reiterated that they will qualify for the next World Cup in Russia in 2018.
