Flying Kiwis – October 20
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
What strange hell is this where West Ham play well without Winston Reid!?
The Hammers went and beat 10-man Crystal Palace 3-1. Carl Jenkinson opened the scoring when he finished off a clever run and a fine sliding ball from Victor Moses. But the fullback undid that a few minutes later when he took out Dwight Gayle inside the box. Gayle encroached on Yohan Cabaye’s spot kick but the Frenchman was just as composed the second time around to tie the game.
Speaking of composure, Dwight Gayle had none of it, getting himself a second yellow before half time. Palace changed things up at the break, going more conservative with the lesser numbers, but they couldn’t quite hold on. In the 88th minute Andy Carroll nodded back a looping cross and Miguel Lanzini whacked it in. Palace went after an equaliser in the short time left but all that led to was Dimitri Payet polishing the scoreline with a luxurious chipped goal. West Ham still unbeaten away from home with 4 wins and a draw, sitting pretty in fourth place on the table.
But, yeah, Winston didn’t play. He went off with what looked a precautionary hip injury in their last game and it seems even the international break wasn’t enough rest because despite rumours he’d be fine, Reid failed a late fitness test. James Collins started at CB alongside James Tompkins instead. By manager Slaven Bilic’s admission, Reid’s injury is “not a big one” and he’ll probably be fine for next week’s game – a good old fashioned London derby with Chelsea.
That Palace game was a big one for plenty of Hammers fans as, of course, they were up against a former manager in Alan Pardew. Not one Winnie ever played for, but he did play for Sam Allardyce. Big Sam’s well employed again at Sunderland but before that he was on press duty publicising his new autobiography. As part of that, he did a little feature for premierleague.com where he picked his All Time Best XI of the many Premier League players he’s managed in his time at Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham.
Of course, the classics are there in Jay Jay Okocka, Gary Speed and Youri Djorkaeff, while shockingly Kevin Nolan didn’t make it in (If Nolan joins Allardyce at Sunderland, he’ll have played for him at four different clubs!). But it’s the central defence pairing that most catches the Aotearoan eye.
Mr Allardyce writes:
CB 1: "I've had a few good ones. Gudni Bergsson at Bolton, Chris Samba at Blackburn, but I am going for Ryan Nelsen at Blackburn, who was a really good captain. Mr Dependable."
CB 2: "I chose Ryan's partner at New Zealand, Winston Reid. He was what everybody seems to forget - the same with Ryan Nelsen - that central defenders are there to defend. They're not there to be ball players. They're there to be out and out defenders and these two are outstanding defenders. They could certainly handle the ball, but the main priority was that they were able to cope with the quality of the Premier League, read dangerous situations, nullify top players from around the world, and they're a good combination."
God, imagine those two playing together. Imagine all the World Cup games they could draw!
(On a similar vibe/different sport note:)
Up Next: West Ham vs Chelsea, 3am Sunday (NZT)
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
If you didn’t follow Leeds before Woody turned up, then you should know that they’re not always the most smoothly run organisation. Owner Massimo Cellino has something of a reputation for being quick on the trigger.
So it has been said, so it has proven to be. After a 2-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, manager Uwe Rosler has been sacked. Just 2 wins from 11 games was enough for Cellino to dump the man he hired only five months after he was appointed at Elland Road. Rosler’s replacement will be Leeds’ sixth manager in less than two years.
But what does this mean for Chris Wood!? Well, we don’t really know. For now he’s established as first choice but whoever takes over may want to switch things up. Woody’s a player that’s comfortably at home at this level though. He’s a bruiser and a finisher, good in the air, strong and with an eye for a fantastic goal here and there. He’s the stereotypical Championship striker, he should be fine.
Former Rotherham gaffer Steve Evans will replace Rosler. Rumour is he’s already talked to the club and the appointment could be imminent. Evans also just so happens to a complete madman, here he is wearing a sombrero at Elland Road on the final day of last season, as he promised to do if he avoided relegation with Rotherham. Evans won back-to-back promotions with Rotherham before being dismissed at the end of last month due to differences with the board.
So, about that final loss for Rosler.
At home to Brighton, arguably the best side in the Champo this season, it was always gonna be a tough test but after more than seven months without a home victory, Leeds didn’t have the luxury of adjusted expectations. That streak is now at 11 home games and is the longest drought in the club’s 96 year history.
The funny thing is, it was actually a really good performance by the Whites. They fell behind after 14 minutes, as Beram Kayal skipped by a challenge and fed in Solly March who burst in behind the defence and slipped the ball across the keeper and into the far post. But Leeds struck back 8 minutes afterwards. Chris Wood was fouled over on the right flank and from the resulting free kick, Liam Cooper flicked his header inside the sticks to level it up.
Then came a defining moment. Another free kick, Wood makes a sharp run to get to the whipped ball first for a free header and somehow he puts it wide from the middle of the goal with only the keeper to beat. A wonderful chance and completely wasted, unfortunately. Alex Mowatt nearly added a second after the half when he charged a keeper’s clearance onto the post and Wood missed another one over the crossbar after it had defected into his path.
Leeds should have scored while they were on top and they didn’t, Brighton then taking the sting out of the game. But not entirely. With two minutes left, 35 year old Bobby Zamora found some space in the box and flipped a vintage finish into the welcome net. Leeds had finished with 10 men after Cooper was forced off injured with no subs remaining. 2-1 the final score, much drama among the Leeds fraternity and it’s only gotten wilder since.
“There were three key moments in the game. The first was their first goal – one chance, one goal. The second was Chris Wood (Wood’s missed header). We didn’t take that unbelievable opportunity. Then the third key moment was Liam Cooper’s injury.” – Uwe Rosler.
Apparently Wood had taken a Championship-high 35 shots leading up to the Brighton game, with only 5 on target. Hopefully Boss Evans has a few tips, coz after a hot start, Wood’s form is following the lead of the rest of his team.
Up Next: Double gameweek, away to Fulham at 7.45am Thursday and then away to Bolton at 3am Sunday (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
For the third time in a row, Ipswich Town were held to a frustrating home draw. That makes it 4 games without a win, dropping them to tenth on the table. Huddersfield Town were the recipient of a hard earned point.
Defensively (and that’s out main focus) it was much better from a team that’s struggled in that area this season. There was no blown lead in this one. In fact there was no lead at all. Chances were hard to come by and 0-0 was the final, merciful score.
Smithy had his teammate to thank after he got skinned in the first half only for Christophe Berra to come across and block the shot from Ishmael Miller. He also misjudged a long ball early on. But other than that (and other than obviously not being able to take Miller in the air), he was really good, as were the other three of his back four. Smith made 4 tackles, only his left back Jonas Knudsen had more, and he also managed 3 interceptions.
Perhaps the closest Ipswich came was right at the end when the ball fell clumsily to David Murphy but his shot was into the back of a defender and away. James Vaughan was sent off in injury time for slowing down a throw in. He’d wrestled for the ball with Knudsen and ended up throwing it in his face. Silly boy. The general consensus seems to be that this was a game best slept through.
Up Next: Games away to Hull (Weds 7.45am) and Nottingham Forest (Sun 3am) (NZT)
BILL TUILOMA – RC STRASBOURG (FRENCH CHAMPIONNAT NATIONAL)
A first start in the French National league for Billy, finally making his run-on debut after a couple showings as a sub. It was a home game against U.S. Boulogne, an emotional one too as it was RCS’s first home game since the passing of club legend goalie Dominique Dropsy, who played 380 league games for them as well as 17 internationals with France (he played at the 1978 World Cup).
It was a fairly boring first half with few chances, though Strasbourg did tease their aerial threat a few times. That threat would come through in the 40th minute when Ladislas Douniama scored his first goal for the club. He added a second near the end of the first stanza with a cheeky flick over the keeper. In the second half Strasbourg were much more fluent, but despite a number of chances they weren’t able to add to their tally.
Tuiloma was withdrawn for Massiré Kante after 68 minutes with the result looking well set. It would finish 2-0, the win enough to boost Strasbourg up a spot to second on the table. RCS’s fourth win in a row and their fourth clean sheet in 10 games. Hey, things have been looking up ever since Tui joined, aye?
Up Next: 8.30am on Saturday, Strasbourg take their talents to mid-table Chateauroux (NZT)
Marco Rojas – FC Thun (Swiss Super League)
Having sunk almost to the bottom of the Swiss Super League with only goal difference keeping them afloat, Thun had the international break to sit in the corner and figure out what they’d done wrong. It worked.
They came out against bottom-placed FC Zuerich and, despite conceding first at home, they went and pumped them. 5-1 the final score, Roman Buess scored a hat-trick in the first half, his third coming after Zuerich’s Amine Chermiti was shown a straight red. To be fair, he vultured the second one on the line. Bloody strikers.
The sad thing is, Marco Rojas was an unused sub for this return to form. He did manage half a game in a friendly against Aarau though during the break. The game ended 0-0.
Up Next: Home to Lugano at 1.45am Monday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Zwolle were also involved in a 5-1 result and this time the Flying Kiwi of note took part and played the entire 90 minutes. The only worry was that they were on the losing side. The PECers were smashed by Vitesse, a side loaded with Chelsea loanees. Lewis Baker scored directly from a free kick in the 7th minute, hitting one of those harsh, swerving shots and giving the keeper kittens.
Zwolle levelled in the 15th as Thomas Lam bundled in a loose ball from a free kick. But only a further five minutes after that he was the villain, leaving his arms up as he dived to block a shot and conceding a penalty. Dominic Solanke sunk it. They were 3-1 down at half time and if they harboured hopes of salvaging something, those went away with Ouasim Bouy’s red card. He’d bundled down a fella in the box, stopping an open goal. Penalty, red card. It ended 5-1.
Thomas was actually one of Zwolle’s best players. He picked up a yellow in the first half but covered a lot of ground and got himself involved. Next time, maybe.
Up Next: PEC Zwolle vs Utrecht, 7am Saturday (NZT)