Taking Some *Learnings* From the Football Ferns Tour of USA
On the morning of the Footy Ferns’ second international against the USA, coach Tony Readings was quoted on the radio talking about ‘putting learnings into action’ between the first game and the second. So let’s talk learnings then. The Ferns went to America with a pretty exciting, if slightly transitional, squad and came away with a 3-1 defeat in Denver and a 5-0 defeat in Cincinnati. Hannah Wilkinson’s goal in the first game was the big highlight but there were plenty that went in at the other end for that one at NZ’s.
Not ideal but here’s a thought experiment: the best defence in the NWSL is that of the North Carolina Courage. Only 18 goals conceded in 21 games this season with eleven clean sheets. Their central defence pairing is probably the key to that: Abby Erceg and Ali Dahlkemper. Well, Dahlkemper played 180 minutes for USA in these two -friendlies while Erceg has retired from kiwi international duty.
Hence the first thing that was always gonna stand out was the starting XI. No Erceg and also no Katie Duncan or Amber Hearn. But other than Meikalyla Moore stepping into the central defence for Erceg, there wasn’t much of a new look to this team at all. Betsy Hassett and Annalie Longo played their 100th caps in the first game and Erin Nayler her 50th in the second.
It was the usual candidates in all the usual positions, although the formation seemed to merge into a 4-3-3 shape as Hassett pushed forward into the frontline and that worked pretty well. Obviously against America you’re not gonna see the rewards of that so much but Rosie White, Hannah Wilkinson and Betsy Hassett give you three very hard working forwards to press and try win that ball in good positions. That left Katie Bowen, Kirsty Yallop and Longo in the midfield with Ali Riley and Ria Percival flanking Moore and Rebekah Stott at the back, with Nayler in goal. Readings named the same starting team in both games.
Which leads us to the biggest frustration of this tour: the substitutions. The Americans made a big deal about how they were coming out of a period of transition. The kiwis said similar things about bringing new players in, adding depth to the squad. And definitely that squad did look to give plenty of credence to that idea, just look at CJ Bott, Katie Rood, Aimee Phillips, Daisy Cleverley and Marty Puketapu all in there, for example. Problem is that Tony Readings was stuck in a bit of a tricky situation with these fringe players.
That situation being that while giving them experience in front of 30,000 fans against the best team in the world seems like a great idea, he’s also handcuffed by the results of the games and the state of this team. Now, the results can take a running jump. The results weren’t too bloody flash as it was so that reasoning gets no seasoning. However there is a valid argument to be made that the first XI needs time playing together – hell, this is the first time they’ve got together since the Cyprus Cup at the start of March. That’s more than six months without playing together and while the American team is largely made up of players from their own country, New Zealand’s is a collage of players from all corners of the globe (jokes, the world is round). It’s not as easy as riding a bike, they’ve gotta keep playing together for continuity’s sake.
Although that’s not an issue if they have more games, is it? Between these two games and the Cyprus Cup that makes six fixtures in 2017, with none organised for the rest of the year… at least none that have been announced yet. They got through 12 games last year but that was an Olympic year. USA played 24 internationals in 2016 and have already played 12 this year with double headers against Korea and Canada still to come – taking that total to a cool 16. It’s a lot easier for them when they can get 30,000 fans to a home game but add this to the list of things that could be better with the organisation around the Footy Ferns.
Having said that though, what does Katie Rood, who scored a double for Juventus on debut before flying to America, get from sitting on the bench for the entire first game and coming on in the third minute of injury time in the second? Other than her first full cap for her country, probably not a lot.
The Ferns were 2-0 down after 25 minutes in Denver. They showed a lot of grit to keep it at two for as long as they did, even pulling it back to 2-1 thanks to Wilko’s goal. But five minutes later Alex Morgan scored a screamer (decent player, she is) and it was 3-1 with ten minutes left. It’d be another five mins before Olivia Chance was brought on as NZ’s first sub, by which time America had already made all six of theirs. In fact Readings would only use two subs in total that game, Aimee Phillips also getting a late opportunity to stretch the legs. Playing their first international in six months in the altitude of Colorado against a fitter, faster, stronger team and there were no subs until only six minutes remained on the clock with the game long gone?
Bench depth has always been an issue for this team and you’ve seen it at major tournaments when they simply don’t have enough options to call upon in close games, or the coach doesn’t trust the players on the bench to come in and do any better than those already out there. But this is the chance to build that depth, surely. We lost regardless so what’s the big deal with salvaging something else from the matches? Especially now that the expanding profile of women’s football right now is making for more and more players out there playing professionally – you don’t need to be a guaranteed starter for Aotearoa to earn a living from the game any longer.
Football Ferns subs across the two USA games:
- 84th min // Olivia Chance on for Kirsty Yallop // 1-3
- 87th min // Aimee Phillips on for Rosie White // 1-3
- 58th min // Olivia Chance on for Kirsty Yallop // 0-4
- 76th min // Aimee Phillips on for Rosie White // 0-5
- 80th min // Daisy Cleverley on for Annalie Longo // 0-5
- 86th min // CJ Bott on for Ria Percival // 0-5
- 89th min // Marty Puketapu on for Hannah Wilkinson // 0-5
- 90+3 min // Katie Rood on for Betsy Hassett // 0-5
We got through six subs in the second game, at least, although five of them happened in the last fifteen minutes with the score already at 5-0. Again, America completed their six subs within 72 minutes and had made five before NZ had even made one. Making too many subs can potentially make things a bit disjointed and for a second there it already looked like it might get truly ugly on the scoreboard… but one might argue that’s a good reason why Readings needed to go to his bench sooner. At 3-0 down straight after half-time, what more can Ria Percival, our most capped player on display, do that a hungry CJ Bott trying to compete for a starting fullback place in the future can’t do? Percival didn’t have her best game and that was summed up in getting beaten for one or two of those goals. It woulda been nice to see what Bott coulda done with more time.
Plus letting some of these players loose to flex their own abilities helps create competition for places, which in turn challenges the established players to do better, giving them a level of accountability for their performances. It’d be rude to say they weren’t all out there trying a hundy but when two full games go by where the best genuine chances they can stir up are mostly all coming from Ali Riley’s overlapping runs (jeez she’s rapid) then the prospect of a bit more creativity from Rood or Puketapu hardly seems like a risk. Especially when Wilko looked absolutely gassed and then some towards the end of the second match. She played 90 in the firstie and then only came off in the last minute of the second coz she took a knock to the knee. If she’d been spared five to ten minutes earlier when the tank ran dry then that injury doesn’t happen… plus it was already 5-0 for chrissake.
Enough of that now. There’s a lot of a younger Chris Wood about the way that Wilkinson is used up front as a target. Doesn’t take much to see that Wilko needs to be a bit more careful with the ball but letting her do anything other than chase hard for lost causes and jump for headers which she probably never had a chance of winning would be nice. Similar to the Woodsman, she’s also the only player in this team who tends to have any kind of physical advantage over her opposition marker. The Americans to a player were otherwise just way too athletic in every way… which comes from all being full pros, all playing every week and all that. Their speed down the flanks was ruthless and the way our fullbacks (particularly Percival) kept getting sucked in to help the centre of defence which, in a formation without defensive wingers, was a problem.
Having said that though, you have to applaud Meikayla Moore from stepping up from FFDP stuff in NZ to playing 180 minutes at CB against USA. She’s young with heaps of room to improve but she hardly looked out of her depth either and her partnership with Stotty looks promising after this. You know, despite conceding eight goals. By the way, Stott’s been playing right back for Seattle so there’s an adjustment to be made there too.
Makes ya wonder if they might go well copying the All Whites formation, which’d allow Rosie White and Hannah Wilkinson to play closer together, would give more cover to the centre of defence and would allow the fullbacks to get forward and bring that width. Only problem is finding another CB, really. White was kinda wasted playing out of the left, she’s been playing as a central attacking midfielder for Boston so there’s one more player in a new role. One more reason why they need to be playing together more. 3-4-3 is a formation that they tried out at the Cyprus Cup so it’s honestly a bit surprising we didn’t see it in America.
Hey, here’s who can be that extra defender: Anna Green. The same Anna Green who plays for Reading about to kick off the new season in the top division in England and who didn’t play a single second on this tour. Olivia Chance is the other English Super League player from NZ and she was first off the bench both games.
And one last learning, although we already sorta knew it… how good is Katie Bowen? Don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say she’s emerged now as our top midfielder with the retirement of Katie Duncan. Yallop, Longo and Hassett around her are all pretty talented too but Bowen’s only 23 years old, has appeared in all but two games for Kansas City this season and plays like she’s got rockets in her boots. Naturally Ali Riley was class as well and while Erin Nayler might blame herself for a couple of the goals, she’s also one of the main reasons the Ferns didn’t lose by more in both matches.
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