Flying Kiwis – January 3
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Just the two fellas in action this week but damn were they busy, Winston and Woody getting all up in that old English tradition of festive football. And the forces that be were really in a giving mood for Winnie – they got the Xmas gift of playing soon to be manager-less Swansea City on Boxing Day. In fact this was the result that got Yankee Bob sacked, poor fella never did get that Swans defence going.
It wasn’t a contest. Coming off a couple of 1-0 wins that’ve steadied their season’s ship the Hammers finally made bank in the goal tallies, beginning with Andre Ayew tapping home Lukasz Fabianski’s butter-fingers for the lead less than quarter of an hour into the game. That was still the score at the break but once the “You don’t know what you’re doing!” chants started up from the home fans, there didn’t look to be a whole lotta fight in West Ham’s opponents. Five minutes after the break this happened:
Oh hell yes. Winston with his second goal of the season, Michail Antonio added a third with 12 minutes left before Fernando Llorente salvaged something for Swansea in the 89th, which was then cancelled out by a very late Andy Carroll coal. 4-1 was the score and the game was a coaster.
Away wins aren’t meant to come this easy. The fact that Llorente had to come off the bench after scoring four in two games was another indication of Bradley’s infuriating rotation but there’ll be no more of that now. Swansea ended up shading most of the stats but only because the Hammers were in cruise control and if it wasn’t Gylfi Sigurdsson then it was nobody for Swansea. Winston’s night was capped by the goal, but the real work was done in keeping Swansea almost lifeless for 89 minutes. He had 13 clearances with three interceptions. Didn’t concede a single foul, never once dispossessed. (A few sloppy passes in there though).
The Guardian: “For West Ham, who have collected 10 points from their past four matches, the world seems a much happier place. They brutally exposed Swansea’s defensive frailties and never looked back from the moment Reid headed in Dimitri Payet’s corner five minutes into the second half.”
ESPN Player Ratings: “Winston Reid, 8 -- Scored and was commanding at the back in an impressive display.”
Alan Shearer on Match of the Day/BBC: “Swansea just aren't working hard enough. There's no excuse for the second goal. Winston Reid gets above the two defenders - there's no way he should win the ball - but he gets above them because he wants it more, it means more to him.”
Yeah, not bad:
Garth Crooks/BBC Team of the Week
Garth Crooks/BBC Team of the Week: “Reid's goal was important but his overall contribution for the Hammers was immense. He never gave Swansea an inch. Whatever the player may lack in quality he makes up in droves with commitment and desire. Reid and Mark Noble have arguably been West Ham's most consistent performers this season.”
But being the time of the year that it is, he had to play another two games in quick succession, away to Leicester City and then home to Manchester United only 48 hours later. The Leicester game first, this one came on the weekend in the main slate of games though while Chelsea were trading blows with Stoke all second half and Manchester United were sparking a late comeback against Middlesbrough, the Hammers game saw its big moment come early.
After fantastic seasons last time out, Leicester’s a little better to be fair, both of these sides are fair struggling to back it up, lingering in the bottom half of the table. Granted the Foxes still have their Champions League campaign and they did beat Man City a couple weeks back, West Ham aren’t about to do that in a hurry. Funny thing is for two teams with pretty consistent and distinctive formations, they each switched things up to a standard 4-2-3-1, something that West Ham have played a bit of this season (playing it last time against Swansea with Pedro Obiang suspended and Cheik Kouyate pushed into midfield, apparently just keeping the thing that worked) but Leicester have always stubbornly stuck to 4-4-2 under Claudio Ranieri. Winston Reid was at centre back, predictably, with Angelo Ogbonna beside him, Kouyate again in the middle of the park.
Safe to say that Leicester were the more invigorated by the change. Barely a minute in and Darren Randolph had to be sharp to save from Riyad Mahrez and the early stages saw more of the same, with cross after cross having to be dealt with by Reid and company before Islam Slimani finally got loose and headed in a stunner of a swerving ball from Mark Albrighton out on the right. Fantastic cross and a lovely goal to put WHU behind. Deservedly, too.
After that blow, the Hammers woke up. They started in on the attack and for the rest of the game you’d have to say they had the better of the chances. Problem was they happened to get the defending champs in a bit of a resurgent day and with Leicester defenders throwing themselves all over the place blocking everything. And what they couldn't get to, Kasper Schmeichel and his crossbar did the rest. Michail Antonio rocked the frame in the 41st minute. Schmeichel had to save a couple times from Dimitri Payet (who was also looking like his old self). Andre Ayew had a shot blocked.
At the other end Randolph kept it close with a superb save from a Mahrez free kick while again on defence it was Schmeichel making a great save to deal with a tough deflected shot from Aaron Cresswell. Once Christian Fuchs came on though, things steadied down and Leicester were able to take the sting out of things. A few half chances for the Hammers but nothing took, they went down 1-0 in a toughie. The big talking point of the second half was probably how Havard Nordtveit somehow only saw yellow for nearly dissecting Ben Chilwell with a high boot. This was not a game that lacked for bookings either, there were eight of them. Mark Noble went off injured after a sketchy challenge from Daniel Amartey.
It was the first time in eight games that West Ham had been kept scoreless and their first loss since December 3, following on from three straight wins. That probably shouldn’t have happened given they had 24 shots and 60% of the ball. But they started too sluggish and to be honest they were lucky they were still in it once they got kicking.
From The Telegraph
Slaven Bilic: “They started better and deserved to score but after that we were really good. We were just missing that final touch. We gave everything so it is a shame and a frustration, but we played good.”
Winston you say? Pretty good. Although he was the closest one to Slimani for the goal, he didn’t really have a play at it and he also made seven defensive clearances with a couple tackles and a blocked shot.
Newham Recorder: “There were certainly some decent performances. Antonio continues to play on top of his game, while Winston Reid, Darren Randolph and Andy Carroll put in great shifts and Manuel Lanzini looked his old self when he came on as a substitute.”
ESPN Player Ratings: “Winston Reid, 7 -- Another strong performance on a day when he was put under a lot of pressure. It's hard to imagine West Ham's defence without the ever-reliant Kiwi.”
There was no rest for Winnie either, getting in another 90 minutes as the Hammers hosted an in-form Manchester United team. Same back four as last game, Obiang back into midfield to replace Noble. Also, Sofiane Feghouli finally got a start in the Premier League. Yeah, he was a central figure. That’s because 15 minutes in he went in high on a 50-50 challenge with Phil Jones and gave the Englishman a knee in the back, which led to a Mike Dean red card. Hey, no ref’s given out more of the red ones this season than Deano, safe to say the fans weren’t happy.
You can definitely argue for a foul, since he was second to the ball, but a red seems ruthless for what was really an honest challenge. West Ham had looked really good until then, neither team with any decent chances but the Hammers able to shade a lot of the ball and Dimitri Payet getting more than enough of it to pull some strings.
Even with ten men they still held firm, United only had one decent chance in the first half and it was Darren Randolph hooking an Antonio Valencia tap-in off the line before Jesse Lingard’s follow up took him off balance and he put it onto the post from about two yards out. But with ten men, there’s only so much you can do and while there were a few silky free kicks swung in they came to nothing and WHU didn’t look like scoring elsewise – Michail Antonio bottling a 1v1. Meanwhile Jose Mourinho had the advantage of being able to take a few risks and he threw on Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata… who combined for the first goal. Winston was closest to closing down Mata but couldn’t quite get close enough. Then Zlatan Ibrahimovic killed it off with a thumping finish first time which was surprisingly allowed to stand given he was never onside in the whole move.
Ah well, 2-0 they went down – at least they can blame the ref for some of this one. Plus with the crowd booing Phil Jones (wasn’t really his fault, it’s always weird how fans boo the player who got hurt) there was more atmosphere in London Stadium than there’s ever been before. They might make a home of it yet, aye?
Gary Neville/Sky Sports: “It's a poor decision, and I actually think that the Kouyate tackle in the second half was a red card, where he goes over the top of the ball on Mkhitaryan. It's far worse; it's a definite leg-breaker, with his studs showing. His head was a mess after that Mike Dean, he's had a really poor day, and to compound that the linesman has too, with Ibrahimovic offside for the second goal. It's not been a good day for the officials, Manchester United have benefited from that today.”
Slaven Bilic: “I was pleased with the performance, we fought hard and gave everything. I told my players that if we did this we will be all right in the table. Ten men against a team like this is very hard - but we had chances. I am disappointed with the result and frustrated by how we lost it, but I am proud of my players.”
Reidy had a alright one, neither of the goals were his fault. In fact he was the only dude in the second goal playing like a defender, with Obiang giving the ball away and Nordtveit having a watch. Reid’s five clearances were top among his team and he was able to muscle up with the big United guys well, though he lost the ball to Paul Pogba a couple times. Also he was lucky not to get booked for a handball on the edge of the box that prevented a through ball.
Daily Mail Player Ratings: “Winston Reid 7 - Rushed out in an attempt to block Mata's goal but he was let down by his team-mates. Defended resolutely throughout.”
ESPN Player Ratings: “DF Winston Reid, 7 -- Was up against it when down to 10 men but stuck to the task well.”
After all this, they have less than a week to recover before a tricky FA Cup third round tie against Manchester City at home (hey, maybe they can match Leicester after all?) and then finally a full week of training before Crystal Palace come to town on Sunday Jan 15 (4.00am NZT). We’ll see if Winston gets to mark his old buddy Sergio Aguero there.
Get amongst some Winston Reid Fantasy Action:
What a bunch of legends:
Happy New Years:
Up Next: WHU vs Man City, FA Cup third round, 8.55am Saturday (NZT)
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
If you’ll cast your mind back to last week’s Flying Kiwis… which was actually two weeks ago because of holidays and all that… you’ll remember that Chris Wood has been injured. But lock it in, baby, the big man is back!
Back fit enough for the bench anyway, where he was named for the Preston game. Don’t wanna be putting too much strain on that hammy with the games all piling up. Makes sense.
Plus, like, they didn’t really need him. Kemar Roofe scored in the 17th minute. Hadi Sacko made it two six minutes later. Marnick Vermijl pegged it back quickly but then Souleymane Doukara made it 3-1 which was the score going into the break. Preston made a few changes, trying what they could to get back into this thing at home but maybe they ate a little too much on Christmas Day because Leeds seemed to have this in control the whole time. Former Leeds forward – one of Woody’s predecessors – Jermaine Beckford came on in the 66th minute and wasted little getting sent off for taking a kick at Kyle Bartley. He was on the park for less than three minutes.
That was the situation that Wood entered when he was subbed on with nine minutes left. He didn’t grab a goal in that time… but he did set one up. Putting it on a platter for Pablo Hernandez who had also come off the bench on his return from injury. Gorgeous pass, not a side of his game that gets much credit too.
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood (for Doukara, 81) - The game was over by the time he came on but he put himself about anyway and a fourth goal duly arrived via fine work by him. 7/10”
Leeds took on Aston Villa away a day before New Year’s Eve, with Wood again named on the bench. He’d enter the fray in the 69th minute though didn’t have a huge impact. He might have if his teammates were a bit more onto it with a few passes rather than shooting but whatever. A shame because they almost snatched another valuable win against a team that hadn’t lost at home all season.
They had Pontus Jansson to thank with a stunning tackle to keep Jonathan Kodjia from going through on goal, Kalvin Phillips definitely in the giving mood with some of his passing around the Leeds defence, goddamn. Rob Green made a screamer of a save on twenty mins, Leeds were on the back foot and clinging on though they eventually started to find a few avenues on attack. Hadi Sacko was dangerous, Stuart Dallas came close too.
But it was level at the break. Not for much longer after it however – Sacko won a corner, Dallas took the corner, Jansson scored from the corner. Mark Bunn almost saved it but this is footy not almost. 1-0 to Leeds. Jansson came so flippin’ close to making it 2-0 almost straight away with a volley off a crossbar. Arghh.
YEP: “For Villa, a 20-yard effort from Ayew flew wide of Green’s post but a better chance was presented to Leeds with 12 minutes to go when Sacko raced through but opted to shoot and saw his effort smothered when he could have squared to Chris Wood, introduced for Roofe in the 69th minute.”
Obviously this one was never in the bag, Villa were always a threat and Leeds needed to score that second goal. They didn’t. Villa started pumping the ball into the box as the game dragged towards its conclusion and then drama. A handball from Liam Cooper in the box, a chat between the officials, some heavy Villan protesting and then the whistle and the pointing towards the spot. Kodjia scored the spottie for 1-1. It wasn’t over, Sacko still had time to hit the crossbar. Then it was over.
Garry Monk: “It shows how far we’ve come that we’re disappointed with a draw against a team who’ve got a fantastic record at home. We feel that they should have had their first defeat tonight. But we take a point. My team deserve massive credit.”
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood (for Roofe, 69) - Screamed in vain for passes from Sacko after taking up great positions in front of goal. It might be time for him to come back into the side. 6/10”
But against Rotherham, Woody was good to go from the starting line-up. He was one of three changes for the match, Pablo Hernandez also fit enough to start and same goes for Kyle Bartley who returned from his knee injury to give Leeds their top strength CB combo back with him and Pontus Jansson. A really attacking XI too, setting up in a 4-1-3-2 that managed to squeeze in pretty much all of their best attacking players against the team sitting dead last in the league.
That might have been a bit too optimistic. In the first half, Leeds were somewhere in the vicinity of ‘utter pants’ as they plodded along and found themselves getting overrun at home. Tom Adeyemi hit the post for Rotherham really early and while Leeds got a grip on things after about a quarter of an hour, they were still getting popped on the counter attack on the regular. Garry Monk admitted afterwards that they were fortunate to still be tied at the break.
Funky Monk then brought Ronaldo Vieira on for Hadi Sacko at HT and reverted to a two-man midfield that gave the Whites much better shape. It paid off nearly immediately as they went straight on the attack and within a few minutes Bartley was headering home from a Hernandez corner for the lead.
YEP: “The goal was harsh on Rotherham given their first half showing but the Millers were almost 2-0 down just nine minutes later. A superb reverse pass from Hernandez released Roofe - now playing on the right wing - and Roofe’s fine low cross narrowly failed to find Wood who attempted to slide the ball in from close range.”
Close from Woody but he’d get his soon enough. In came the cross from Liam Bridcutt and Wood took it down like a champ off his chest, just way too strong. And the volley? Phwoar. Too good, bro.
He was close to a second only five minutes later but his shot was blocked. That second goal did come though, in the 79th minute as he broke loose from his marking and stabbed in Kemar Roofe’s cross. Count it for 3-0 and Woody’s 16th goal of the season. He was subbed off a few minutes later to some hefty applause from the 33,000 and change fans packed into Elland Road. The first game of 2017 going nicely in the end and there’s a growing optimism amongst the fans that promotion isn’t out of the question here. As it stands, wins from Huddersfield and Reading keep them fifth but it’s bloody close.
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - On fire. His first finish was superb, relying on touch and strength, and Rotherham had no idea how to handle him when he was in full flow. 8/10”
Noel Whelan to BBC Radio Leeds: “It's kind of shown - even when Leeds are not at their best, they can still win three points. They weren't in sixth gear to begin with but they got there. Monk must have told them to stop taking loads of touches, because then the moment's gone. Wood is over six foot - get it in there. It's common sense - put it in the right area and people will get on the end of it. Wood's second goal - holding the man off is hard, but then to land on the deck, keep it close to your body and hit it like that. That's a special striker, in the form of his life.”
Here’s a thing from HITC Sport where they ranked the best strikers Leeds have signed since they were relegated from the top flight in 2004 and somehow they’ve got Chris Wood at three! Attaboy, aye? Here’s the justification:
“It is perhaps controversial to include Chris Wood ahead of Ross McCormack but he reached double figures in his first season, and is already closing in on his total from last term this time around. While he has come in for criticism at times, he has shown that he knows where the back of the net is and it would not be a surprise if he surpassed McCormack's number of goals for the club at some stage.”
For the record, Jermaine Beckford is second and Luciano Becchio numero uno.
Well now this is a lot of fun:
What a nice lad.
Just sayin’…
Up Next: Cambridge Utd vs Leeds Utd, FA Cup third round, 8.45am Tuesday (NZT)