Assessing The Impending End of the Anthony Hudson Era…
Word on the street is that Anthony Hudson is close to agreeing his first gig of the rest of his career. It’s like the second album test, how do you follow up coaching the mighty All Whites? Well, as first reported by Goal.com, it sounds like the Colorado Rapids in America’s MLS are the lucky buggers.
The first thing to say on this is that Hudson’s job with the New Zealand team isn’t even finished yet. He’s contracted until the end of the World Cup which, for NZ, could mean two more weeks or it could mean until mid-2018. If the kiwis lose to Peru then attention has to turn to the next World Cup cycle (one which is gonna be a whole lot easier to qualify through) and if Uncle Tony isn’t gonna be a part of that then there’s no reason wasting another 7-8 months in the job when other opportunities await.
And Hudson’s a career manager, we knew that from the start. Hence why his wiki page is in such pristine condition. Hence why we’ve read links to Derby County and Norwich over the last year. Hence a lot of things, really – including why he took the All Whites job in the first place. Obviously there’s a high value on loyalty among footy fans so you can assume there’ll be a lot of people who don’t take this news so well but when did he ever suggest he was in this for the long haul? He’s not a New Zealander, he’s not doing this out of patriotism, it’s just his job.
The tricky thing for the Colorado Rapids is that if New Zealand qualifies for the World Cup then Hudson’s got better things to do. Managing at the World Cup would be a career highlight and his stocks will never be higher than they would be there – Ricki Herbert’s been talking recently about regretting not cashing in on his stocks when he had the chance there straight after the 2010 WC. The next MLS season kicks off in March and the World Cup’s in June-July. So… if Huddo’s the pick in Colorado then they’ll be cheering for Peru at Rapids HQ – wishing a little professional ill will on their potential new gaffer.
(Uncle Tony’s Burner Account?)
Again, nothing about Hudson’s approach ever suggested that he was in this for longer than four years. There was a time when he ripped into NZ Football and it looked like he might not even be in it for that long, although that would’ve been underestimating Andy Martin’s love for a young, ambitious, British manager. But you’re missing the point if you think that makes him some kind of mercenary. How many managers last four years in a job these days, you know?
And kiwi football is in a far better state than it was when they were swept aside by Mexico at the same stage of qualifying in 2013. There are more quality professional players than ever before – two of them in the Premier League, even. Hudson’s got a bit of the Used-Car Salesman Vibe about him (so do most managers, to be fair) but it’s hard to argue with these quotes from a feature on Huddo on The Express a couple months back.
Uncle Tony: “From where I took the team over to now, it’s a huge difference. The style of play has changed through all the age groups, we are all aligned, how we play and train, which has helped bring young players up to the first team and give us more depth… We now have a strong structure in place, with sports science, analysis and medical departments that were non-existent before.”
Too often we get distracted by the results on the field. Sure, that’s the bottom line of it all but there’s so much else that goes into a manager’s job than that. From where the All Whites were before Hudson to where they are now it’s a massive difference. They’re a professional set up now, they’re doing things like a national team should. Hudson’s helped implement a lot of that and it’s worth remembering.
Of course, there is also that on-field stuff. Now and then the Aotearoa side has flirted with some decent football but too often it’s been that conservative long ball, seven guys back on defence, sort of stuff. That was enough to grind out results against other Oceania sides but against better teams it almost always set NZ up for defeat. The tour of the USA last year was fantastic, the first half against Mexico at the Confederations Cup was brilliant too. However surrounding those were some dead awful showings – like the Northern Ireland and Belarus friendlies before the Confeds. Huddo’s All Whites tenure comes with some decent numbers…
25 GAMES | 9 W | 6 D | 10 L | 32 GF | 27 GA | +5 GD
… but those numbers tell a more comprehensive story when split into their two distinct sides…
vs OFC: 8 W | 3 D | 0 L | 24 GF | 4 GA | +20 GD
vs The Rest: 1 W | 3 D | 10 L | 8 GF | 23 GA | -15 GD
Until the recent Solomons games, the All Whites had only conceded once against OFC opposition. Even then the four goals were all penalties. Meanwhile they’ve never scored more than once in a game against a team from outside of Oceania. Portugal were the only team to proper thrash them but they’re also far and away the best team that they’ve played.
These are the things we’ve gotta consider when thinking back on the Hudson Era (supposing it ends in Lima, though it very well may not). Immense improvement off the field, significant expansion of player depth, a much more aligned youth international system… but not actually much to brag about as far as results go.
This is only a theory but you’ve gotta think that Hudson would rather manage in England than in America. Most football managers would. Which might make Colorado Rapids another stepping stone or it might mean that they’re the best gig he can get right now. Which, by the way, is no criticism. At 36 years old most managers are only just finishing up their playing careers and the MLS is a growing league with some very fine players. A couple of them from New Zealand. They were crap this season but the Rapids made it to the Conference Finals in 2016 so there’s something there to work with. But yeah, a 4-0 defeat to Portugal doesn’t mean Everton are gonna be calling and someone like Hudson would rather not work his way up through the backroom staff.
The other thing is that most managers would also prefer to be club bosses than national team ones. It usually means more money and it definitely means more football. More of that hands-on management instead of those pesky national team duties where you can go months without even having a training session and years without ever getting your best squad out there. More reasonable excuses to begin the next chapter of his career.
There are some very significant questions about what happens to the All Whites when Hudson leaves. Like who’ll replace him for one thing. There’s also a question that’ll need to be answered about who swung the power sword in the NZ Football offices. The All Whites played a good number of games under Hudson, 25 in a little over three years. It’ll be interesting to see how much of that was down to Hudson’s insistence and whether a more malleable manager might not push so hard for expensive/inessential friendly games – even then, Hudson still never managed to bring a friendly to Aotearoa.
What he did do was he very firmly tested his power within NZ Football with that media rant and he came out stronger for it. It’s highly unlikely Neil Emblem or Danny Hay would feel they could get away with the same thing. (It’d also be highly disappointing if one of that duo gets the job, tbh).
Save all that chat for when it matters though. What’s probably most jarring about the Colorado talk is the timing of it all, so close to the Peru playoffs. That’s obviously not Hudson’s intention, in the past he’s preferred to come out and thoroughly deny any links with club sides – which is standard procedure, that way he gets his name in the conversation even if there actually is no truth to the rumour. Smart stuff, really.
As for the Rapids thing, this has been pieced together from sources close to the club and with the specific mention that: “It remains unclear when Hudson would take over as Rapids coach, or if his appointment is contingent on New Zealand missing out on the World Cup”. In other words, Hudson’s probably as pissed as anyone that this came out. Assuming it’s true. Assuming those altitude-suffering Coloradans can even be trusted…
But if you’re surprised that he’s looking beyond the All Whites then you haven’t been reading the tea leaves properly. And if you think that it makes him a little slimy then you might wanna consider how the last few years would’ve gone with Darren Bazeley in charge instead. The Hudson Era’s probably gonna seem much better in hindsight than it did in the midst of the selection dramas and eligibility scandals. Credit where credit’s due and all that.
Eh, let’s just get through these Peru games first and see where we’re at afterwards, aye?
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