All Whites vs Greece & Ireland: The BazeBall Era Has Arrived
Sometimes you’ve just gotta let things simmer for a wee while. Wait until the full picture is visible. There seemed to be a lot of negativity around the All Whites after a relatively dull 2-0 defeat against Greece in the first game of this international window but then a few days later the lads produced a (mostly) lovely performance in a 1-1 draw against Ireland and suddenly things ain’t so bad.
In hindsight it’s pretty easy to see how one led into the other, with Darren Bazeley picking a noticeably stronger team for the Ireland game. That was clearly the one that they targeted. Even still, that Greece game was a slippery one. Other than a debut for Finn Surman and a couple of avoidable goals there really wasn’t much to take away from it – hence why you’ve had to wait until now for the write-up treatment.
There is no result more challenging to write about than a 2-0 defeat because it often means a convincing enough loss that it’s hard to argue it wasn’t deserved, yet close enough that there weren’t too many fatal flaws within the performance. Such was the case as the All Whites lost 2-0 to Greece. Did they play terribly? No, they were okay. Are there things to improve? Most definitely. Did the scoreline flatter either team? Not really. Was the outcome fair based on the game itself? Pretty much.
There had been some potential that Greece would roll out a weaker team for this match. They picked a 31-man squad for two games, with more than half of those players having fewer than 10 caps. A friendly behind closed doors against New Zealand is not the big time compared to a European Championships qualifier against France a few days later. That might have been enough to tip the scales into a more competitive zone... but yeah nah. While Greece did allow room for a few rotated opportunities in this game it was no more than what the All Whites did themselves, thus nullifying the effect.
That was the frustrating bit because Max Crocombe is the in-form goalkeeping option but he’d played an FA Cup game for Burton Albion a few days earlier so they didn’t want to risk him (he’s a goalie, bruh, not like he ran a marathon out there)... so Michael Woud got the go instead. Woud had been alright in the loss to Australia and, other than completely misreading the first goal which cost his team the chance to build any scoreboard pressure against a team that expected to win, he was alright again here. Of course that one mistake was bad enough that it’s the main thing folks will remember however these things do happen from time to time.
The second goal also came from his parry but that was a decent save and fault lies more with the defence not reacting in time (Tyler Bindon actually kicked the ball into Giorgios Giakoumakis for the goal). Again, these things do happen. It’s just that they’re more likely to happen when you pick not only a backup goalie but also two backup central defenders. 18-year-old Tyler Bindon in his first start alongside 33-year-old Tommy Smith earning his 51st cap (and first since his red card against China).
Fun fact: Tommy Smith now has the same number of caps as Jeremy Brockie... with twice as many goals (51 caps each, 2 to 1 on the goal count).
Ultimately though, it was a case of the All Whites losing away to a team ranked way above them. While the rankings are often misleading, the truth remains that Greece had a deep squad of solid professionals with a cohesive style of play and far more experience against teams much better than the national football team of Aotearoa. In contrast the All Whites might be built around an exciting young generation the likes of which we’ve never known before... but those guys are still figuring things out. Elijah Just became the first of that lot to reach 20 caps when he was subbed on against Ireland. It’s still early days for most of them.
Also, just so you know, Greece went on to draw 2-2 with France, spoiling France’s perfect record through that qualifying group. It wasn’t a fixture that had any greater ramifications, with France and Netherlands already assured of automatic qualification and Greece having secured a playoff spot when they beat Ireland back in October, but it was still a very strong French line-up. The French had only conceded once in seven previous qualifiers. There were only four Greek starters in common between the NZ and France game but that still shows you where their high-watermark is it’s a long way beyond ours.
Our guys have never beaten a team like Greece before. They’ve never (yet) given us reason to think they should (outside of our own one-eyed optimism). There’s only one nation in the world where folks would have scrolled through the international window scores, seen that Greece won 2-0 against New Zealand, and been surprised in any way, shape, or form. That country was our country. The captain addressed this very idea in the press conference between games...
Chris Wood: “It’s a four year process. We’re building at the moment but we need to start turning performances into wins. We are playing top oppositions and it’s as much about learning as about winning at the same time because come the World Cup, if we’re fortunate enough to be there, then we’ll be playing these oppositions and we need to be ready for that.”
It’s a balance between learning and achieving. On the one hand they have to be doing all they can to score goals and win games yet on the other hand there has to also be acknowledgement that these things don’t happen overnight. The potential is there. It’s just that this particular hurdle is the toughest one to leap over (as we’ve seen from the Football Ferns who’ve been stuck in this spot for ages – too good for the confederation, not quite good enough beyond it... and the unique challenges that NZ national teams face means there isn’t really a blueprint).
Which is why the draw against Ireland was so massively encouraging.
Not at first, to be fair. Despite Darren Bazeley picking a much stronger line-up this time around, with Max Crocombe in goal and a CB duo of Michael Boxall and Nando Pijnaker, and despite a couple of golden hints in the opening stages with Marko Stamenic and Tim Payne both making overlapping runs down the right edge (Sarpreet Singh’s side, no coincidence)... most of the stuff leading up to Ireland’s goal was pretty sketchy from a kiwi perspective. First touches were wonky. Passes weren’t sticking. Max Crocombe even took a goalkeeper’s timeout after 25 minutes so that the lads could get their heads straight.
Alas, it didn’t work because very soon after that ol’ Nando Pijnaker coughed up possession and Adam Idah put that sucker away for 1-0. Boxall had played him onside while Crocombe wasn’t in an ideal position either... but that’s because they were supposed to have possession. Pijnaker got sloppy with it. Looked like he was trying to clear the ball but Mark Sykes read it stepped into his kicking arc. Can’t be doing that, bruv.
Curiously, Pijnaker was the only played in either starting line-up who currently plays in the Irish leagues. Although potentially not for much longer because Pijnaker is expected to leave Sligo Rovers soon with his contract wrapping up prior to the January transfer window. This was an individual error from him... but it does need to be said that it was an error that happened amidst a spell of sustained pressure. We’d been building towards this for 20+ minutes (hence Crocombe’s attempts to slow things down).
We might have been on the brink of carnage at that point... but that’s where it has to be noted that Ireland have not exactly been all that good themselves lately. Manager Stephen Kenny has only won 6 of 29 games in charge and with his contract now ending there’s basically zero expectation that he’ll be offered another one (the All Whites have won 11 of their last 29 games... though five of those were against OFC teams). They also made nine changes to the team that lost to the Netherlands a few days earlier. Ireland have had a tendency to blow leads. They’ve conceded a lot of goals from outside the area lately. Their coach promised a crowd of 41k in Dublin yet only 26k turned up. In short: they were vulnerable. Which helps explain what followed.
Because towards the latter stages of the first half it was the New Zealand team that began to step things up. It started with a slick passing move that involved several players moving from one side to the other and ending with Chris Wood guiding a Marko Stamenic shot wide of the target. It didn’t lead to a goal however that phase did show the All Whites that they were more than capable of footing it with their hosts. That self-confidence was quite possibly the main thing missing from that initial half hour because once they finally proved to themselves that they could play this way, that they could string passes together, that there were rewards on offer for being brave in possession, that they could shrug off that little voice of doubt echoing in their heads... all of a sudden we were watching a different game.
It’s one thing to tell yourself to play without fear, it’s another thing to actually do it. Like anyone, these fellas needed to experience it before they could understand it and as the first half wound down we saw them begin to dominate. Singh was getting heaps of touches. Michael Boxall was pushing all the way up in support, hanging out where a midfielder normally would (creating valuable overloads, rather than hanging back in fear of a counter attack). Libby Cacace started to angle his movements infield and that proved to be a clever adjustment too.
Then they turned it up some more in the second half as Matt Garbett, who’d had a quiet 45 minutes prior, began to really get involved – including as a dribbler from midfield which is always when he’s at his most potent. It was Garbett who scored the 59th minute equaliser, a really sharp first-time finish that came from Tim Payne angling in from wide thanks to a one-two combining with Singh. Beautifully done. Fine footballing activities. Great craic.
Chris Wood was subbed off soon afterwards as he reached his minutes restriction. 60 mins here after getting 45 in the Greece game (remember he’s only just coming back from injury). In his place came Max Mata who for much of the year had been leading the Golden Boot standings in the League of Ireland prior to his move to Shrewsbury Town (where he’s yet to score). Despite their record goal-scorer and focal point attacker being off the pitch, nothing changed for the All Whites. They were able to do it without Wood as they had been doing with him. Come to think of it, Wood didn’t have much of an impact on this match at all... granted, he’d have been more likely to do something with the 2-3 chances that fell Mata’s way.
Nah, Sarpreet Singh was the bossman out there for the All Whites. He was genuinely brilliant, even when the rest of the team was struggling at the start he was still instigating things. Makes sense for a brother who has played for Bayern Munich – he’s got that experience of training (and occasionally playing) alongside World Cup and Champions League winners so the Irish national team wasn’t going to be so daunting. This was the best performance we’ve seen from Sarpreet Singh in an All Whites jersey and there have been some good ones.
Any worries that they’d fade down the stretch were also cast into the ether. In fact, other than one instance when Joe Bell lost the ball against the press, Ireland barely even threatened in the last quarter of an hour. It was the New Zealanders who ended this thing feeling unlucky for not having snatched a winner. And you know what? If they play them again then maybe they will. Hopefully this doesn’t read like Nostradamus-On-Crack in a few months but this feels like a turning point. This feels like the game in which a young squad began to realise how to turn their potential into results. It definitely sets a new standard for them. This was the best display of the Bazeley Era so far and probably better than anything under Danny Hay or Anthony Hudson as well (excluding intercontinentals since those are different beasts).
It was only a 1-1 draw and there’s lots more room to improve. The dodgy first half hour still needs to be taken into account. But a draw against European opposition is pretty bloody rare. Last time that happened? You may remember this one: New Zealand 1-1 Italy at the 2010 World Cup. Since then there had been eight other games against European teams and NZ had lost them all scoring 2 goals and conceding 18. Northern Ireland, Belarus, Russia, Portugal, Ireland, Lithuania, Sweden, and then Greece. Let’s try and not go another 13 years until the next one, aye?
More thoughts from this international window...
They may have made a big deal about bringing in Tony Readings as a full-time assistant coach but it’s pretty clear that Simon Elliott is the true consiglieri in this team. Whenever the camera cuts to Darren Bazeley on the bench, it’s Elliott that he’s whispering to. Elliott did the press conference before the game too. Bazeley probably does have limitations as a tactical coach, as we’ve seen with his youth World Cup teams, but he’s got a great staff around him here and it really does feel like a collaborative effort. Including a large amount of say being withheld for the players themselves. The lack of ego involved is so refreshing.
Max Crocombe is our best goalie, there’s no doubt about it. Dunno how long that’ll stay true given how many keepers there are in contention but right here right now it’s Max Crocombe. He looks so assured. So composed. He’s a fundamentally sound GK with experience in tough games (FA Cup quarter-final, National League promotion final) who perhaps isn’t as good with his feet as guys like Nik Tzanev or Michael Woud but he fills you with a sense of security that those two don’t. Alex Paulsen and Kees Sims are the two most exciting younger prospects but at the international level you usually want an experienced head like Crocs. Only problem is that he plays in a league that doesn’t break for international windows which has prevented him from being available for three of the last four fixtures. That’s just something we’ll have to deal with until Paulsen signs with Midtjylland or Copenhagen or wherever.
Early on, Mikey Johnston (24yo winger for Celtic) was looking absolutely unstoppable jinking inwards from the left wing. The AWs didn’t seem to know how to handle him and it was hard not to regret the lack of a searing dribbler like that in the New Zealand ranks. But he actually didn’t create that much from those situations and was basically a passenger in the second half. Never mind then.
Tim Payne is in the same bag as Matt Garbett in having had fantastic second halves after less impactful beginnings. Payne always showed good intent but there for a while there, marking Mikey Johnston, he looked like he was on the brink of mistake just like Pijnaker eventually made. Then T.Payne gained belief along with the rest of them and ended up delivering great performance, carrying on his superb form for the Wellington Phoenix. There aren’t many A-League players in this squad so you’ve gotta be doing huge things to make the All Whites from that level. Not only has Payne been doing huge things... he’s now staked a strong claim for the starting right back role.
It’s been frustrating watching Libby Cacace hang back and fire underpar crosses into the mixer these past few games. Despite his magnificence at the Phoenix, he actually scored more goals (4) than he had assists (3) in the A-League. He’s at his best when he’s: a) dribbling, and b) overlapping and cutting back. We’re still not getting enough overlaps out of him (as much to do with the team as it is with the player) but mate when he started angling those runs infield? Molto bene. Mi piace. Voglio vedere di più di questo.
Mentioned earlier that Pijnaker was the only player based in Ireland in either starting line-up. Ireland had nine players in England and two in Scotland. New Zealand had ten different nations represented: England, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and England again. The two English players being from League One and the Premier League so not exactly comparable there either. All six Irish subs play for English clubs. The NZers used subs based in England, Denmark, Australia, and England again.
Is Sarpreet Singh now the most important All Whites player? Kinda think he might be. Chris Wood needs service and Singh is a serviceman. Stamenic and Bell help balance each other out so that if one is missing at least the other is there. Nobody else can do what Singh does for this team. Cacace is up there too but no team’s most important player is their left back... well, apart from Canada. But that’s why Alphonso Davies plays on the wing (or at least wing-back) for his national team.
BazeBall update after 7 games: 1 W | 3 D | 3 L | 5 GF | 11 GA (plus half a game against Qatar in which they were 1-0 up when it got abandoned)
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