All Whites 0-1 Northern Ireland: The Journey Begins
They all said they were treating this game like the first game of the Confederations Cup but it’s a good thing it wasn’t because we flippin’ lost. Didn’t get thrashed like the U20s did the other day, which was nice, but also didn’t find a way to put the ball in the net either. Come the actual tournament, both Mexico and Portugal should be considerably better than Northern Ireland – Russia who knows? – which makes this a slightly tough one to put into context.
The All Whites did get considerably better as the game went on. It was a poor opening spell that cost them the result, with a slight shuffle in personnel and shape showing benefits in the second half. By the end of it New Zealand even had a comfortable 57% of possession but only one shot on target doesn’t really flatter.
The XI that was named was more or less as expected, the only surprises being Clayton Lewis getting in ahead of Bill Tuiloma and maybe the wingback picks of Kip Colvey and Tom Doyle. Huddo’s been known to mix up his wingbacks so don’t be shocked if Roux and Wynne start against Belarus. Lewis joined Wee Mac and Ryan Thomas in the middle, Marco Rojas played off Chris Wood, there was a back three of Boxall/Durante/Smith and Stefan Marinovic, who only arrived in camp a day or two ago, started in goal.
Meanwhile the Northern Irish chose to rest a couple Premier Legauers in Gareth McAuley and Craig Cathcart, but still managed to name a fairly strong side. Note West Brom lads Jonny Evans and Chris Brunt in there, plus centurion-capped Aaron Hughes (briefly of Melbourne City), Euro 2016 hero Michael McGovern between the sticks and also Ollie Norwood in the middle who has just been promoted to the PL with Brighton & Hove Albion. Fun little sidenote is Stuart Dallas is a Leeds teammate of Chris Wood too. No Will Grigg because he’s injured, which didn’t stop the crowd chants. No George Best either, for that matter, but they sang about him too.
Also manager Michael O’Neill chose to bring Southampton’s Steven Davis and Norwich’s Kyle Lafferty off the bench, as well as flexing a new formation – so while Anthony Hudson may have been in full Confeds Cup mode, the Norn Irish were unmistakably in Friendly Mode. Connor Washington missed this one too which meant the NIR attack was rather severely weakened but that didn’t stop Liam Boyce slicing through the kiwi defence to score in the sixth minute.
Dude’s been in raging hot form for Ross County in Scotland but Tommy Smith is our best (available) defender and if Liam Boyce is doing that to you then good luck against Cristiano Ronaldo, bro. Doyle’s desperate block attempt didn’t do much good either and Marinovic was slow to pick it up in goal. Relatively poor all around, sadly.
Speaking of Tommy Smith, getting his face all splattered with blood isn’t the best look with wedding photos to be had in a month or so. Good thing a little splash and towel action took care of all the visible damage.
There was a bit of that sloppiness throughout the first half. Marinovic recovered to play an otherwise flawless match, called upon to make a couple of saves while having to deal with plenty of crosses into the box. But the midfield was pretty messy and Mike McGlinchey was struggling to find the time on the ball he needed to unleash his passing prowess. Without that he was just a wee fella getting pushed around and Ryan Thomas and Clayton Lewis got stuck in but they weren’t exactly fixing that. On occasion we saw Marco Rojas running at the defence, Thommo too once or twice, but mostly the All Whites settled for the long ball towards an outnumbered Chris Wood. Gotta say Doyle was responsible for a few too many of those, not that he was alone. As soon as the first few passing lanes closed down it was a no-risk, no-reward strategy of hoofing it downfield.
The hosts weren’t as dumb. They threw in a fair few crosses but they also showed a much sharper touch on the deck, thrilling with a few slick routines through our midfield. It’s that little bit better technique that makes the difference, aye? Being able to touch and pass without worrying about where your first touch is gonna bobble up to. Do that at pace and it’s damn hard to defend.
Add all that together and you had a frustrating first half, frankly. Luckily thou doth not rejoice in bad news so it’s pleasing to be able to say the second 45 was sooo much better. Northern Ireland made three HT subs (including replacing the goal scorer, job done for Mr Boyce) while Uncle Tony made just the one: on came Bill Tuiloma for Clayton Lewis.
(His interview style isn't the only thing that sparks Wayne Rooney comparisons either, hehe)
Just having Tui there bringing some physicality to the midfield made a huge difference. He was able to push dudes around, secure the ball by dropping a shoulder rather than trying to turn on it or pass it away in a panic. He settled things down. There was probably a question over whether he should start in a full strength XI before this game but he answered that in 45 minutes at Windsor Park – now the question is: can he play 90 minutes?
With that, and with Northern Ireland’s more drastic changes, the kiwi side finally got a bit of control for the first time. Even culminated in a few chances. Chris Wood cut one back to the edge of the box for Ryan Thomas but his shot was blocked. The ball stayed in play and found its way to Tommy Doyle who unleashed a ferocious effort that flashed wide of the target.
Huddo then made a more curious substitution as Kosta Barbarouses replaced Kip Colvey. Initial fears of Kosta the Wing Back were dashed when it appeared the side switched up to a flat back four, Mike Boxall going out to the right. Hard to say what the frontline was doing, Monty Patterson also came on for Marco Rojas but it looked like a Wood/Barba strike pairing so no 4-2-3-1 there. Maybe some kind of 4-2-2-2 set up, doesn’t really matter. What’s cool is it seems they’ve been practicing their tactical fluidity for when they’re chasing a game (shout out to Darren Bazeley and the U20s for leading the way the other night… with considerably worse results).
So the game dragged on in a battle of long throw challenges. Tuiloma hurled them in, Jonny Evans and company returned them to sender. It’s a decent weapon there, much better than our corners or free kicks because Tui actually seems to be able to direct his throws with some measure of accuracy. But it also resulted in zero concrete opportunities. A well-organised defence should be able to deal with them all day (especially one made up of West Brom defenders like NIR’s). Plus it’s worrying having both centre backs going forward and leaving the team open to counter attacks (they have to go forward though because otherwise Chris Wood’s getting marked out of action – you need a few tall timbers up there). At least it’s a proactive approach though. Better than long balls from damn near halfway.
Also, can someone bring a lino flag to training? Because we gotta fix these offsides. Hopefully it’s just a matter of rhythm early on in camp.
To be honest though, the best stuff the All Whites did was when they showed a bit of patience in their attacks and really got the ball fizzing around from foot to foot. Chris Wood is a big bugger but that doesn’t mean you wanna hit him on the head with every ball, especially not with Marco Rojas running off him. There was a moment in the first half where he got a ball at his feet, held off a marker, and flicked a square pass for Rojas to take. It was perfect, even if it amounted to nothing. That’s more of how he needs to be used as a target man. Hold it up, lay it off.
Then there was the movement and vision that led to Kosta Barbarouses’ chance. He got a bit lucky with debutant Flanagan missing the interception but the run was great, wheeling around into space from Kosta. Once through, the best option woulda been to square it and he was looking for that but Woody was well marked. So he slipped one past the keeper and it popped back off the post. Unlucky, it was as close as New Zealand would come.
Hudson said some similar things about the football too, which is encouraging:
“The biggest thing was we just tried to force it too much in the first half, we needed to play a bit more football. I thought we did that. The response was very good. We changed the shape a bit and that definitely helped. Plus the subs coming on gave us a lift.”
Yeah, mate. That about sums it up to be honest.
For the first game of the tour, with the full squad only in camp together for few days so far, it wasn’t too bad. An ugly goal to concede but despite some sketchy moments (the biggest one being Smithy getting beaten down the left leading to a Mari save at the near post – looked like he was surely fouled though?) the Northeners didn’t exactly threaten to score again. Not really. Kyle Lafferty poked one wide and there was a header onto the top of the net.
As far as the defence goes, it should get better as this trio keep playing together – this was their second game in a row, still lots to work on. Mostly the expected stuff: Durante’s speed and Smith’s match fitness. Tell ya what, Mike Boxall was really good though. Borderline best in show for the All Whites. Strength, speed and composure. Bloody lovely.
McGlinchey got much better in the second half, a little stink on Clayton that he was the one subbed but seniority tends to rule with those tough calls. Thomas and Rojas showed glimpses of what they can do, especially that turn Rojas made down near the byline in the first half, but it wasn’t a classic performance from either, while Chris Wood was feeding on too many scraps. Thommo and Marco are definitely in full strength teams but there is a chance that Uncle Tony needs to make a hard call and only pick one of them at the Confeds depending on the tactical approach. Might need a little more size if we’re having like 30% possession against Portugal and defending the rest of the time. One to ponder anyway.
It wasn’t at all fluent… but the chatter of a promising performance is fair enough. They needed this game. Most of these players have been out of season for a few weeks if not a few weeks more – tellingly the A-League blokes looked the rustiest (despite having been in camp the longest – there’s nothing like proper football, you can’t simulate it). Let’s not forget the All Whites’ last four games were against New Caledonia and Fiji. Woulda been better if they’d snatched a draw, obviously, but so it goes.
Hudson and the team now have a platform to build on, what we saw here was the starting point, not a reflection of what we’ll see at the Confederations Cup. Next up it’s a practice game against some Irish club side and then next week they play Belarus (who are worse than Northern Ireland, gotta try win that). All in all, we’re moving in the right direction.
TNC is just gonna keep on bringing the goods with this kiwi footy coverage, feel free to lend a nod of approval by giving a whack on an ad someplace nearby.