Is the Ricki Herbert Era Over? What Now for the All Whites

The dream for the All Whites is over.

Maybe I should rephrase that.

The dream for the All Whites is probably over.

I say probably as the All Whites do still have a chance of making true their dreams of qualifying for a 2nd consecutive World Cup Finals with the 2nd leg in Wellington to come next week.

However, they would need to score 4 goals without conceding to Mexico - they have done that before but that was some 33 years ago in Auckland in a different time when international football was much tougher and travelling sides found New Zealand a tough place to go to.

But that was a friendly. One suspects that Mexico even as diabolical as they have been in this World Cup qualifying campaign until today, won't ship 4 goals for free to New Zealand, particularly in a do-or-die World Cup playoff series like this.

So yes, the All Whites' World Cup dream is over for another 4 years at least.

Even if from the onset, this was always going to be the toughest challenge yet for the All Whites to qualify for a World Cup - not dissimilar to our Aussie neighbours' having to beat Maradona's Argentina in a two-legged playoff to qualify for the 1994 World Cup - it was still disappointing to see a particular strength of the All Whites made an absolute lie by the talented and skillful Mexicans.

The success of Ricki Herbert's All Whites in the last World Cup campaign was being dull, tight and dour. 3-6-1 is never going to be a recipe for attacking football and in theory it should have worked against this Mexican side.

Alas, players do age and the likes of Ivan Vicelich, Jeremy Christie, Tony Lochhead and Leo Bertos who made Herbert's tactics work 4 years ago are definitely not the players they were then, and they were caught on the back foot many times by Mexico's rampant wingers.

Herbert stands alone after the All Whites' capitulation in Mexico City

Which begs the question - should Ricki Herbert step down when the All Whites' doomed World Cup campaign is likely to be over next week?

There is no doubt that Herbert's time will be fondly remembered by New Zealand football fans - not for the football which is probably worse than Jack Charlton's Ireland or Otto Rehhagel's Greece, but rather for bringing success to a side that hadn't seen much of it since 1982. However, like Charlton and Rehhagel, all good things must come to an end, and football is a cyclic business which requires continuous renewal of tactics and personnel.

The fact is that this year's All Whites are still stuck in the glories of 2009 and 2010 and a massive shift in thinking is needed if New Zealand Football is to avoid the decline of the game that followed after the 1982 World Cup.

Perhaps, we could have a look at our Aussie neighbours who went Dutch for the last few years as they aimed to move forward in the world of football. While Holger Osieck's reign ended ignominously recently, there is no doubt that Australian football is better and stronger than ever.

New Zealand has the players to thrive in the future - but they need a change in thinking about their football

It will be a costly investment for New Zealand football but a worthwhile one if the right manager is found and able to nurture the talent of the new generation, i.e. Barbourouses, Rojas, Wood, Roux, Fenton, Boyd, etc. and hopefully play a more positive brand of football that will be better for the game here.

For now though, Wellington beckons and it could very well be farewell to coach and several All Whites as a brief glorious era comes to an end, and All Whites fans ponder following other nations at next year's World Cup.