Flying Kiwis – October 23
Tyler Boyd – Vitória de Guimarães (Portuguese Primeira Liga)
Hey hey hey. It was only a cup tie against a lower league team but Tyler Boyd is off the mark for the season with a goal in Vitoria’s 7-0 win over Valenciano. Old mate got the start and he cashed in. He had another couple chances to score in there too and the win takes VSC into the fourth round… which is nice after an early exit in the League Cup at the start of the season.
Up Next: Home to Braga on Saturday at 9.15am (NZT)
Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)
Sometimes you never even had a chance. Manchester City didn’t invite the Clarets to town to play scrabble, only to scrabble their defence. 5-0 was the final score and it’s best not to get too deep into an absolute hiding (to be fair, it was only 1-0 at the break and the second was debatable from the lino). City had 10 shots on target, 24 in total. Burnley had 0 and 5. Only 30% of possession. Luckily for his spirits, Chris Wood only played twenty minutes as Sam Vokes was again preferred up top, this time as a lone striker considering the opposition. Spare a thought for ex-City keeper Joe Hart who didn’t get to enjoy his return to the Etihad at all.
Can’t do much with The Woodsman when he only came off the bench again, seems like he’s fallen behind both Vokes and Ashley Barnes in the pecking order – which is a shame as he was starting these games last season (when fit). It’s a long season and he’ll be back in favour soon enough but slow times for Woody who only had six touches in this game and has only started once in Burnley’s last six fixtures.
Lancashire Telegraph: “Sam Vokes was given the nod at City as Dyche reverted to a five-man midfield. The Welshman had scored for his country in the international break and had scored in each of Burnley's two previous campaigns. The frontman's strength is in the air but, aside from a first minute free kick and a second half corner, there were not enough deliveries from wide areas. If Vokes is going to be the focal point of the attack then Burnley need to make more of an effort to get the ball into the box.
The 28-year-old or Chris Wood have started all of Burnley's Premier League games while Ashley Barnes and Matej Vydra have just two starts apiece. The latter has had to work his way up to full fitness following his summer move from Derby County but his different skillset is one worth exploring when Chelsea come to town next weekend.”
Meanwhile during the international break…
Up Next: Burnley vs Chelsea on Monday at 2.30am (NZT)
Ali Riley – Chelsea FC (English Super League)
Weird start to the season for Chelsea. They’re on track in the Champions League and looking good in the EFL Cup and yet their league form has been awful despite being defending champs. Lots of rebuilding has taken place at the club, rebuilding that includes signing Ali Riley, and they haven’t yet clicked on attack with just two goals scored in six games. It’s been frustrating to say the least.
The latest was a nil-all draw away to Birmingham in which Fran Kirby and the lasses were all over them, chance after chance, but simply couldn’t get one to stick in the net. Kind of unbelievable and this was their fourth 0-0 draw of the season, leaving them lingering mid-table as Arsenal, Birmingham and Man City are beginning to run away with it. Ali Riley was an unused sub with defensive cover not really the priority along the way of this game.
But, again, their form outside the league has been great. They beat SFK 2000 11-0 over two legs in the R32 round of the Champions League, for example. And earlier in the week they took on Fiorentina for a place in the quarters. Ali Riley is no stranger to this stage of the competition and following on from last week’s 5-0 hiding at the hands of Arsenal she was given her first start in a Chelsea shirt. There were seven changes to the lineup that played Arsenal, both because of the four-day turnaround and also the drab performance, Riley getting a bit of benefit there.
Chelsea kept up their Jekyll & Hyde form with a 1-0 win. Erin Cuthbert’s cross struck an arm early on and Karen Carney put it away for the only goal. Again they struggled to put away shots though, it was a little crazy that they only scored one here. But a win is a win and the Blues will take a 1-0 lead into the away leg on November 1 (NZT). Full ninety for Riley. Her first complete game since she was at Rosengård. She also picked up a cheeky yellow card in the first half, to the arguments of the home crowd.
No doubt Ross Barkley had Ali’s words echoing in his ears as he came off the bench for the men’s team to score a 96th minute equaliser against Manchester United…
Up Next: Chelsea vs Liverpool, 1.30am on Monday (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Winston Reid: “Everything is going well. Obviously, when you have an operation you never know how things are going to look on the other side, but it’s going better than we thought so that’s positive. Obviously it is frustrating to be out for long periods of time, especially with the way it happened, but you have to get through it and you have to deal with it.”
“There’s not so much I could have done about what happened. It’s not like I’m someone who is repeatedly pulling my hamstrings. This was just one of those unfortunate injuries you hope not to get in your career, but football is a contact sport and it’s just one of those things you have to deal with. Fortunately enough, I am a little bit older and I am probably able to deal with it better with an injury like this than if I was in my early twenties and in the early part of my career.”
“I’m doing gym work at the moment, rehabbing the quad and the leg and getting the bulk back. To be fair, everything after the operation has gone really, really well, touch wood, and there has been no swelling. So, we’re training harder and pushing harder every day to get fitter and get my knee better, so I can get back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
“It’s tough coming into a place and knowing you can’t play for a period of months but it is what it is and you get on with it. There is a cap on how much you can do in a certain period, so the progression can feel slow, so it’s tough at times, but once I get outside on the pitch and run, I’ll begin to feel like a footballer again.”
“Once I get to that stage, back out on the pitch, it’ll progress a lot quicker and I’ll see the guys and talk to them, rather than being in the gym working with Dom! I go to every game and encourage the guys to do well and I want us to kick on and, likewise, they encourage me to put the work in to get myself back in action, so it’s good.”
So that’s all positive then. Heaps of quotes from the West Ham website, Winston getting closer and closer to a return. It’ll still be a little while yet but that thing about no setbacks is a big deal. We’ve already written a couple weeks back about how Winnie’s gonna have a tough time cracking the starting XI again with Balbuena and Diop making superb starts to their WHU careers, though you can always use a senior leader at the back, that’s for sure. Positive vibrations.
Up Next: Rehab
Stefan Marinovic – Vancouver Whitecaps (American Major League Soccer)
Two games this week and neither were wins, which eliminates the Whitecaps from playoff contention. That sucks. First they were caught undermanned against Kansas City and got smoked 4-1. That didn’t end it for them but a draw with LAFC sure did. The Caps showed great courage to come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 but it wasn’t enough and it’ll be a curious offseason for them now. Here are some highlights of Stefan Marinovic conceding goals if you’re into that sort of thing.
Eighty Six Forever Report Card: “Stefan Marinovic - C- Marinovic let in four goals and made four stops. He didn’t get a ton of help from his defense on the goals that went in so I can’t judge him too harshly. But I must say I miss having a commander like Ousted bossing the back line around. I would not be sad to see the Kiwi go after this season.”
(Jeez, that’s a bit harsh. Big Stef is nothing if not a boss).
Up Next: Vancouver vs Portland, Monday at 9.30am (NZT)
CJ Bott – Vittsjö GIK (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
When Limhamn Bunkeflo won 3-0 away at Kalmar on Sunday, it put the pressure right on Vittsjö as they dropped into the relegation zone. They had a winnable game at home against Eskilstuna the next day but pressure can do funny things – and it didn’t help that Wilkie’s out for a long time now. With only two games to go it was now or never, pretty much.
They couldn’t have responded better. Clara Markstedt scored a hatty and Vittsjö won it 4-0, Ebba Hed getting the other goal. CJ Bott with probably her most important clean sheet of the whole campaign, although she had an even bigger impact when she lifted a perfect long ball over the top of the defence from her own half to set up the third goal just before the half – which you can have a peek at over here. The win gets Vittsjö back on the brink of safety thanks to a far superior goal difference and a win away at Hammarby next week (or a Limhamn loss) would guarantee another year in the Swedish top flight. And therefore another year of Flying Kiwis coverage, sweet as.
Up Next: Hammarby vs Vittsjö, Sunday at 2.30am (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
The Loons have really lost direction in the last couple weeks as their season draws to a close. Lost 5-1 to Philly, lost 2-0 to Colorado and now they’ve lost 3-1 to LA Galaxy. The Philly game eliminated them from playoff contention and it’s seemed like they lost motivation after that. Against the Galaxy you could have gotten extremely short odds on Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring… which he did after thirty minute when Mike Boxall lost track of him for a header, although there might have been a question of offside. He later made amends though with an incredible goal-line clearance to give Ola Kamara what for.
But then Kamara scored a tap-in not even a minute later and Romain Alessandrini got another a minute after that. Both disappointing goals to concede. Angelo Rodriguez straight away pulled one back with a fine header but yeah a 3-1 defeat in their last home game of the season. Boxall also got a yellow card later on for bundling a fella over.
Up Next: Columbus Crew vs Minnesota United, Monday at 9.30am (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie – Mamelodi Sundowns (South African Premier Soccer League)
Jerry can’t get much of a break at the moment, sitting on the bench each week and lucky if he gets out there at all which, for a huge club with a lot of competition for places, is probably to be expected now and then. He hasn’t been scoring and there are always going to be ups and downs. Unfortunately for him that hasn’t stopped people talking about that goal drought – talking as if it’s getting worse when he hasn’t even had a chance to end it for more than a month. Jeremy himself even had a comment on it, in his usual confident, no worries, defiant manner.
Jeremy Brockie: “First and foremost, I'm going to work my way back into the starting 11, which is not easy when you look at the calibre of the players in the team and then when I get the chance [I'll use it to my advantage]. You are not going to get many chances when you are at a top football club like this, so hopefully everyone around me stays patient. But I'm not going to stay like this for the rest of my time here at Sundowns, and I'm sure once one goal goes in then hopefully my luck changes."
As for the public reaction/backlash to it all, and the necessity of having a tough mindset…
Jeremy Brockie: “Absolutely. I think most importantly you have got to surround yourself with the right type of people and stay off social media for a while because there you know how harsh they [the fans] can be. When things are not going well I still have a lot of support from people close to me, and that to me is the most important thing. Even off the football pitch I take the struggles and work hard.”
Good times are always just around the corner. Here’s the Sundowns’ assistant coach having a yarn about JB…
Manqoba Mngqithi: “It's very unfortunate because I still believe he is a very good striker. I have seen quite a few strikers in the league, when I am doing my analysis of the opposition and all that, and when I look at the amount of work he puts in getting into the right ... From time to time you look at your team and ask 'are we also doing enough to assist such players?' ... because he is a player with certain qualities. He might not have the qualities that a predominant Sundowns player would always have, but in and around the box he is very important. At Sundowns we don't have too many wingers that play in wide channels that will always play for somebody. If you look at Tottenham they play to arrive to Harry Kane. Everybody knows that Harry Kane is there, but at Sundowns we have too many good players, so we can't play for someone. And it becomes a problem for a player with the qualities that Brockie has because you'd expect that if he got three or four crosses in and around the box, he is likely to give us something. But how many crosses are going to come from wingers, because most of the time our fullbacks are the ones who play in crosses. He has to try keep pushing. It's unfortunate that he has not scored.”
Which is a super interesting take on it, how they probably aren’t playing to his advantages. First things first though, just gotta force his way back out there on the pitch and let it happen.
Up Next: Chippa Utd vs Mamelodi Sundowns, Sunday at 7.15am (NZT)
Erin Nayler – Girondins Bordeaux (French Division 1 Féminine)
Can’t win ‘em all, aye? Bordeaux suffered their first loss of the season this week, albeit against French giants Lyon (and Erin Nayler’s old club) it was at least an expected defeat. Amel Majri scored a double inside half an hour and then Ada Hegerberg added a third with ten minutes left.
Both Majri’s goals came from low crosses from the left side of defence and, honestly, there was nothing Nayler could’ve done about either. As for the third, it was a bit of a stunner whacked into the bottom corner from outside the box so no blame there either. And it might’ve been worse but for an excellent diving save from the kiwi number one near the end, a save which made it onto the top three saves of the week, a place where Erin Nayler is getting to be rather common.
The defeat drops FCGB back to fifth on the ladder but tied on points with third and fourth and with a game in hand too. With a game against third-placed Paris next week there’s the chance to instantly get back to where they were. Nayler had only conceded two goals in five games prior to this one.
Up Next: Paris vs Bordeaux, 1.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Ria Percival – West Ham United (English Super League)
Gutted for Ria and the Hammers, who conceded early against Liverpool, thanks to Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, and then slowly grew more and more into the game and were bloody unlucky not to score and take home at least a point. Maybe if it weren’t for injuries then they might have but the physio’s been so busy that they only had three subs on the bench. Ria Percival wasn’t one of them, she’s pushed her way into the starting team these days and was influential again in this one.
WHUFC.com: “On 59 minutes Ria Percival played in a great cross to Visalli, but her diving header went just over the Liverpool goal. Some great defending from Percival on 70 minutes prevented Liverpool from taking the game out of the Hammers’ reach as she brilliantly muscled off Kirsty Linnett to prevent her from scoring.”
Ah well, it’s another defeat for West Ham but they’re playing quite well so the points will surely come. Percy’s featured in all five league games so far, with four straight starts. She also got booked against Liverpool, by the way, for dragging back a winger on the break and almost getting punched for it by an irate Jessica Clarke. Persistent fouling seemed to be the reasoning from the ref. Safe to say Ria wasn’t in agreement.
Have a watch of the live stream here, if you’re keen…
Up Next: Everton vs West Ham, 3am on Monday (NZT)
Deklan Wynne – Colorado Rapids (American Major League Soccer)
The two worst teams in the MLS played this weekend and nothing happened. That’s a fairly accurate representation of San Jose vs Colorado, a game that ended in a 0-0 draw. Tommy Smith was obviously suspended after his mind-implosion last week but Deklan Wynne got the start at left back which was cool. He also got subbed off at half-time which was not as cool. There’s only one game left for the Rapids this season so don’t even bother.
Oh and by the way…
MLSsoccer.com: “The Independent Panel, consisting of one representative each from the U.S. Soccer Federation and Canadian Soccer Association, as well as a representative nominated by the Professional Referee Organization, has denied the Colorado Rapids appeal of the red card issued to defender Tommy Smith for abusive language and/or gestures in Colorado's match against Minnesota United on Oct. 13. As a result, Smith will serve his red-card suspension in Colorado's next match on Oct. 21 at the San Jose Earthquakes.”
Yeah, they tried to appeal it. D’oh.
Up Next: Colorado vs FC Dallas, Monday at 9.30am (NZT)
Emma Rolston & Meikayla Moore – MSV Duisburg (German Frauen-Bundesliga)
When Valentina Oppedisano put Borussia Monchengladbach up 1-0 inside ten minutes it wasn’t a great way to start a game of football as far as MSV Duisburg were concerned. But a rapid comeback on the brink of half-time flipped that script, Lisa Makas and Darthe Hoppius scoring the goals. Hoppius got another in the second half and bingo. Meikayla Moore had another strong effort at the back and Emma Rolston was subbed on in the 72nd minute in place of Hoppius.
Can’t complain about any of that. Duisburg have now peeled off three wins in a row and are defying those relegation possibilities by beating all the other teams expected to be in that struggle. After starting with consecutive 4-0 defeats they’ve now scored 8 goals and conceded one in their last three league games which is superb under any circumstances.
Up Next: Away to Bayer Leverkusen at 6.30am on Thursday (NZT)
Jesse Edge – Podbrezová (Slovakian Super Liga)
Up Next: Home to Slovan Bratislava on Sunday at 3am (NZT)
The USL Crew
We were all prepped for a massive week of USL footy as the playoffs began… but that’s not really how it worked out. Okay, it started with James Musa’s Phoenix Rising winning 3-0 to advance to the conference semis. Only issue there is that The Moose is still injured and didn’t play, hopefully he’s back next week. Except that wasn’t the only thing because they beat Portland Timbers 2 – knocking out manager Cam Knowles and also a team that Bill Tuiloma had played for a couple times this season.
Most of the jokers didn’t make the knockouts but Elliot Collier’s Indy Eleven did… and he was left on the bench to start. They chucked him out there with time to spare, a full thirty minutes remaining, yet they were already down 3-0 and would go on to lose 4-1. Bugger.
Which left only Simon Elliott as the coach of Sacramento Republic. His side took the lead against Swope Park Rangers, which was cool, until they were 2-1 down at half-time and unable to find an equaliser. That’s them done. It’s just The Moose left here now.
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