Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)

After that ill-timed injury thing, Woody was back in the starting team for Burley as they took on Bournemouth in some good old fashioned midweek English footy. Fit and firing and ready to do some damage. Didn’t take long until he was in the action either, going close with a couple headers – one of which was tipped over the bar by Asmir Begovic while the other looped onto the crossbar. He almost set up Jeff Hendrick as well with an unselfish square ball.

You get the picture, the Clarets were pretty good here right from the openings. Just as it was starting to feel like they might not get the goal they deserved before the break, up popped Chris Wood. Simple little finish but on the end of some great team counter attacking – largely involving Robbie Brady. The cross took a lucky deflection to get to Woody but his positioning was fantastic. Dragged a defender away to allow Brady to cut back and got himself in the right place at the right time for the sharp stabbed finish. Mate, didn’t he love it?

Despite playing on the road, this was all Burnley. That was all but confirmed when Brady curled a ripper into the top corner in the second half and there you go. Some scary moments occurred when Jermain Defoe’s hacked shot found its way to Josh King to make it 2-1 and Burnley had to hold on amidst Bournemouth’s best spell all game… but they did so. Three more valuable points on the board.

Woody was subbed off with a minute of normal time left, Welsh international Sam Vokes taking his place. Really good game from Wood here. He did plenty of tough work trying to hold that ball up and link with teammates. The passing wasn’t always on point but he hassled the hell out of the Cherries’ defence. Three shots, with two on target. A couple other chances created. A game-best seven aerial challenges won. A fourth Premier League goal of the season. It’s so much fun seeing this guy hold his own and then some at this level.

Lancashire Telegraph Player Ratings: “Chris Wood 8 - Back in the side and justified it with a goal. His runs to offer Burnley an out ball are always clever and he can hold the ball up as well.”

If you don’t believe the Flying Kiwis Commendation then maybe the compliments of a former England international and Arsenal legend will do for you instead. Because Ian Wright was full of praise for the lad on Match of the Day:

“Brady was lovely, he had some great touches but I watched Chris Wood in the Confederations Cup for New Zealand and he looked a little bit ponderous. Maybe it was the opposition he was up against us, he was up against top quality. But he showed flashes of this, being the focal point, holding the ball up, bringing the team up with him, running the channels. So many times you see players doing this and they lose the ball, they don't take care of it, bring your team up and get the team playing. He's a real willing runner and watching him now he looks so much sharper, more aware. Brady is a classy player, and you see Wood's movement to get into the middle of the goal. It's an instinctive finish, it's brilliant. He's in the right place, direct it on the goal. He was brilliant.”

The Woodsman: “It’s been a tough couple of weeks and it’s nice to be back in. It’s always nice to get on the scoresheet but it’s even better we got three points. We are a team that’s building and it’s nice to see us playing such good football and the results coming, which is great.”

He then added some boring stuff about how he has “very good memories” about playing at Leicester City and “can’t speak highly enough of the club”. Things that you can probably guess were prompted by the fixture list pitting Burnley against the Foxes just a few days after his goal-scoring return to the Burnley starting XI.

The praise wasn’t unearned. It only took six minutes of this one before Leicester took the lead, Riyad Mahrez’s curling cross/shot palmed away by Nick Pope and then finished off by Demarai Gray… who clattered into the post in the process but at least he scored for his pains. Wood flicked a beautiful touch to Robbie Brady down the other end, yet as Brady tried to weave room for a shot he collided with Harry Maguire and would be stretchered off with the oxygen mask getting some work in. Terrible sight for Burnley fans, the Irish winger’s been one of their very best players so far. That combo with The Woodsman was really getting going too.

As good as their away form has been, Burnley came up against a pretty good Foxes side on this occasion. Mahrez went close again with a strike from range before Wes Morgan almost scored in the second half and Gray hit the post again… but this time with a shot. Wood only got one shot off in this game and it was nothing to brag about. He was subbed off in the 74th minute with Sam Vokes taking his place. The game ended 1-0 to Leicester.

Lancashire Telegraph Player Ratings: “Chris Wood 5 - Had a couple of half chances, just failing to control the ball for the best of them, but well marshalled by the Foxes defence.”

A Chance (LT): “Former Foxes man Chris Wood was presented with a chance to level the scores shortly after, with Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s cross deflecting into his path six-yards out, but he couldn’t bring the ball under control and Kasper Schmeichel was out quickly to smother the ball.”

Up Next: Burnley vs Watford at 4.00am on Sunday (NZT)

Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)

David Moyes comes with some baggage as a manager and everyone realises that. Yet back in the day he was a very successful boss at Everton, famous for his cheap yet impressive signings and plenty of Premier League results. He even beat the top teams a couple times. So when he took charge of West Ham against Everton back at Goodison Park, it was bound to be a memorable one.

Perhaps this wasn’t what he had in mind, though. Less than twenty mins on the clock and the ball kinda squirted through for Dominic Calvert-Lewis to run between the defence. Joe Hart whipped him off his feet and then managed to save the penalty he gave away… but Wayne Rooney sunk the follow-up. Ten minutes later Rooney made it two as Tom Davies’ cross somehow pierced the defensive line and it was an easy finish at the far post.

West Ham came close to getting back into it. Manuel Lanzini was at the heart of most things they did and Aaron Cresswell managed to strike one off the crossbar. Then when Diafra Sakho won a penalty, mate, that was the invitation. Except that Jordan Pickford saved Lanzini’s attempt and the Hammers were never the same in this one. In the 66th min Joe Hart came rushing out to clear a ball in behind and inexplicably put it straight down the middle of the field. Rooney ran up to it and swung right through it first time and ghosted that ball over Winston Reid, over Angelo Ogbonna who jumped and tried to handball it down, and into the goal from his own half. Stunning goal and a brilliant hatty.

You can’t see the look on Winnie’s face from that angle but somewhere in the proceeding 0.3 seconds his heart broke in half. Then soon after his hamstring followed…

Ashley Williams added a fourth and this was a terrible result for WHU. Not particularly good at all from Winnie either, even if others more to blame, and probably the kind of performance that you’d wanna turn your twitter notifications off after. Plus that injury doesn’t look great. Hopefully not something that’ll cost him more than a couple weeks, he wasn’t that far away from backing up against City except he failed his fitness test. ‘Struggling’ was the word David Moyes used.

Dangerous Dave: “Unfortunately our options are really limited in terms of central defenders plus we’re also short of full-back cover. We have more flexibility in attacking areas, but with Jose Fonte recovering from his operation and James Collins and Winston Reid, who came off at Everton, both struggling, we’re very limited at the heart of our defence. We have young Declan Rice, who came on for Winston at Goodison Park. Our next three games will be demanding enough for experienced players, let alone young ones who are just finding their feet in senior football, but sometimes young players have less to lose because there is less expectation.”

The injury meant that he was unavailable for the game on the weekend against Manchester City, in which the Hammers were completely dismantled, thrashed beyond belief… nah, actually they played pretty darn well against the league leaders. They still haven’t won since September in the PL but they went close to scoring first when Michail Antonio got a foot on Kouyate’s flicked header from a corner. Manny Lanzini drew a good save from Ederson as well. Then Angelo Ogbonna, with half-time looming, really truly did give them the lead with a beautiful header from Aaron Cresswell’s cross. How about them bubbles?

Of course, City are notoriously good in second halves and they tied thing back up when Nic Otamendi, still hanging forward after an attacking free kick, was at hand to turn in Gabby Jesus’ square ball. Perhaps Winnie would’ve marked him tighter at the near post? Eh, who knows. In general West Ham defended really well but they couldn’t hardy get anything going in possession in the second half and thus it was wave after wave of attack the other way. Eventually David Silva managed to acrobatically poke a sumptuous (as per usual) Kevin De Bruyne cross into the net.

There were still seven minutes left to salvage something but Diafra Sakho missed a great late chance and City won their record-equalling 13th consecutive game. The same mark Chelsea got to last season. West Ham pushed them a long way though. And Adrian played very well in goal with Joe Hart ineligible to play. Eight games without a win now, however, and still in the relegation zone. Moral victories only go so far.

Up Next: At home to… Chelsea. At 1.30am on Sunday (NZT)

Anna Green – Reading (English Super League)

No Liv Chance this week because it was EFL Cup footy time and Everton have already played their four group stage games, winning three of them to ensure they carry on into the knockouts. Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Birmingham ensured that, although it also means that City will, in all probability, finish top of the group.

Reading, on the other hand, still had some work to do. Beating Arsenal a while back had them in prime position but they needed to finish it off with at least a point away to Millwall if they were to stay ahead of the Gunners. Already guaranteed to advance but it’s always preferable to go through in first. Well, they needn’t have worried. Brooke Chaplen and Rachel Furness each got doubles with Lauren Bruton adding another and Reading won this one 5-0. Some stunning goals in there too. Anna Green didn’t start but she was subbed on for the last 15 minutes, with the score already at 4-0.

Up Next: Yeovil vs Reading, 1.30am, and Everton vs Sunderland, 3.00am, both on Monday (NZT)

Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)

Before you worry, it was another complete game for Thommo which keeps up his remarkable record of not having missed a minute this season for the PECers. Doesn’t matter that he had international call-ups, doesn’t matter about cup games. Ever present.

However this wasn’t a prime Zwolle performance. Opponents Utrecht are nipping at their heels on the table and they took the lead in the first half thanks to Sander van de Streek who topped off a sweet move from those jokers at the far post. That result would have seen PECZ drop below Utrecht on the table.

So a good thing that Zwolle were able to make some things happen in this game. Mustafa Saymak had his chip cleared off the line after the keeper had rushed out and collided with a striker (Ramon Leeuwin, who would be subbed off with a head knock from the incident) before Younes Mokhtar took too long before pulling the trigger when he got through and chance gone. Thommo had a couple shots, he also managed to clear one off the line at the other end. But Saymak eventually found the net in the 83rd minute as he smashed in the rebound from Bram Van Polen’s deep effort from a tight angle.

In other news/speculation, Thommo re-signed with Zwolle before the season but only on a short deal and it’s been pretty clear that if he could manage enough of a breakout season then he’d be ready to leave at the end of it. Well, the breakout is happening week after week and there’s a January transfer window coming up soon. Prepare for the rumours to start.

Up Next: Away to Excelsior on Sunday at 7.45am (NZT)

C.J. Bott - USV Jena / Amber Hearn – FC Koln (German Frauen-Bundesliga)

Fresh from being two of Aotearoa’s best performers for the Football Ferns on their tour to Thailand during the international window, both Bott and Hearn were back to their regularly scheduled events in Germany. For CJB that didn’t actually mean anything as her cup game at Saarbrücken was postponed due to some inhospitable weather, with the game to be rescheduled at a later date. Hearn’s lot got to play though. They hosted SC Sand for a place in the quarterfinals but after going into the break at 0-0 they conceded in the 72nd minute with Verena Aschauer’s goal. Anne Van Bonn made it 2-0 from the penalty spot with only six minutes left, however Karoline Korr pulled one back almost immediately to get Koln back into it. Not enough time left to find the equaliser though and that ends the DFB Pokal run for Amber and the lasses.

Up Next: Jena are away to Freiburg and Koln away to Werder Bremen

Marco Rojas – sc Heerenveen (Dutch Eredivisie)

That was the extent of Marco’s involvement this weekend. He was a late sub in a frustrating loss against Roda JC, as Livio Milts’ 87th minute goal was the difference in a 2-1 game. SCH had taken the lead an hour in as Henk Veerman and Michel Vlap exchanged a few passes before Veerman placed it in from the edge of the box. But Dani Schahin levelled with a header from a free kick and then Milts finished off a scrappy one that Heery somehow failed to clear earlier.

That Milts lad is only 20 years old and it was the Belgian forward’s first Eredivisie goal in just his second substitute appearance. Gotta use this chance to take a look at a young Heerenveen player instead, however. Michel Vlap is an attacking midfielder who came up through the grades at the club and has played age grade internationals for Holland. He’d only played once for the first team prior to this season but is recently making himself a bit of a regular, starting the last five games and scoring three times amongst them. It was Vlap that Rojas replaced when he came on after Milts’ goal and it’s Vlap who has taken Rojas’ place in the starting XI. Just a wait it out now.

Roda remain bottom of the table after FC Twente unexpectedly earned a point at home to Ajax while Heerenveen are slipping downwards after their hot start. They’re eight now and with only one win in their last ten in all comps going back to the end of September.

Up Next: Home to VVV-Venlo at 6.30am on Sunday (NZT)

Jeremy Brockie – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)

A riveting read right there to divest your attention to (after you finish with FKs, naturally). Brockie letting you in on the life of a footy player overseas. There’s a perception about the glamour lifestyles of pro footballers but, as in most professions, that’s only really the top 1%. Everybody else still has to stay thrifty.

As for the football itself, SSU havent had much time to get over the CAF Confederation Cup final defeat as they’ve now got a massively backed up list of fixtures to catch up on. Starting with a 1-0 win over Ajax Cape Town, in which Brockie played 80 minutes. There were six changes made after the exhausting cup final journey and the product of that was a much improved performances. Aubrey Modiba’s first half header was the difference between the teams. It took some effort to hold on in the second half and it wasn’t a classic Brockie showing either but three big points on the table as they begin cashing in all those games in hand.

Jeremy Brockie: “The disappointments have been coming in thick and fast. I guess that if we start looking at positives, no one wants to really run away and take the league. Everyone keeps drawing with each other. It gives us hope as there is something positive to look forward to and strive to get.”

Aaaand, more award stuff for Brox:

Up Next: Away to Orlando Pirates at 6.30am on Weds and then home to Cape Town City at 2.30am on Sun (NZT)

Erin Nayler– Girondins Bordeaux (French Division 1 Féminine)

The bad news is that Bordeaux lost 3-0 to PSG, which makes it three defeats in a row now in the league, although they still sit fifth on the table and those three losses all came to teams above them on the table. It was still 0-0 at HT in Paris but eventually the home side broke through and ran away with it. The good news is that when Bordeaux lose like that, at least there are plenty of highlights of Erin Nayler to catch up on – even if they’re mostly highlights of goals being conceded.

Although it woulda been more if not for this stop!

Plus here’s a save of the week candidate from last week to balance things:

And an interview from a couple weeks ago for kicks:

Up Next: A chance to get back to winning ways at home to Soyeaux at 2.30am on Monday

Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)

Looks… uncomfortable. Still nursing that calf injury from All Whites duty and “not ready to return” according to the club correspondence. Get well soon chief.

Up Next: 4.00am on Sunday in Middlesbrough… don’t expect any Smithy tho (NZT)

The MLS Lads

It’s contract option time, as the clubs begin the process of sorting their squads out for next season. The free agency window (they do things differently in America) ain’t open yet so nobody’s on the move for another week at least, though the first step is already underway. Contract options needed to be either triggered or declined and so here we go with all the blokes within range…

• Myer Bevan (Vancouver Whitecaps) - Previously on a USL contract but has reportedly been offered an MLS deal with a possibility of playing himself into a role there or going out on loan.
• Kip Colvey (San Jose Earthquakes) – One of seven player for the Quakes who had their contract options declined. Meaning he’s now without a club and eligible to sign elsewhere.
• Francis de Vries (Vancouver Whitecaps) – Off contract with the Whitecaps and currently back playing for Canterbury United in the meantime.
• Jake Gleeson (Portland Timbers) – One of the 18 players already contracted for 2018 for the Timbers. Five others, including Gleeson’s rival GK Jeff Atinella, have had their options exercised.
• Stefan Marinovic (Vancouver Whitecaps) – Already under contract for 2018 and expected to be the regular starting goalie for VW. His main rival for that role, David Ousted, was among those whose options were not picked up and he has left the club.
• James Musa (Sporting Kansas City) – Remains under contract with the MLS club through next season after being promoted from the USL affiliate midway through 2017. Club has 2019 and 2020 options on him too.
• Bill Tuiloma (Portland Timbers) – Did not have his 2018 option taken up by the Timbers but the club “has extended a bona fide offer” to him for next season. He’s expected to return.
• Deklan Wynne (Vancouver Whitecaps) - Same deal as Bevan, has been offered an MLS deal after serving time with the USL team (which no longer exists).

And of course there’s no reason to panic for anyone who ends up getting released because it’s not officially official that Anthony Hudson will be the new boss of the Colorado Rapids so obviously he’s just gonna haul up all the kiwi players he can find… right? Kip Colvey’s gotta be a chance at least.

Elsewhere, here’s a much more in-depth look at the Vancouver All-Whitecaps contingent:

And here’s Jake Gleeson talking on a podcast:

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