Schmiddy’s Named His First All Whites Squad And There Are Talking Points
If you didn’t think the All Whites were coming into fresh new times before Fritz Schmid named his first squad then you sure knew afterwards. 24 players have been named for the training camp in Spain, followed by a friendly against Canada, with a further five on standby, and yet there’s a surprising lack of crossover between this and the squad of players that Anthony Hudson took to Peru for the World Cup qualifying second leg that ultimately defined his legacy in Aotearoa (which, one way or another, is up to your own personal interpretation). In fact only ten of those 23 players remain.
Winston Reid is injured and out for the long term – probably woulda missed the World Cup had we made it – but several other buggers have been left out too. Guys who are regulars for this team but who also have club dramas to deal with, trying to secure their futures with regular footy, and not every league breaks for the internationals (though they all have to release players if requested). There was a thing a week or so ago about Tyler Boyd turning down a call-up to continue with the strides he’s making at CD Tondela (he’s there on loan so he’s probably trying to win a permanent transfer or at least trying to win over his parent club), turns out that maybe wasn’t such a big deal because at least half a dozen of that last squad have been given their permission slips to do the same.
You take a third of that squad out for that reason and then also remove Shane Smeltz, Glen Moss, Andrew Durante and Rory Fallon with their international retirements (shout out to every last one of them), and you’re left with more open spaces than there are established players to fill them. Where do you find those jokers to fill ‘em up? You pick a few pros at the early stages of their careers, you take a dude or two out of the Kiwi Premiership, you chuck in the Wellington Phoenix lads that have broken into the A-League this season… bingo.
Fritz Schmid reckons he’s been all around the place trying to speak to as many All Whites and fringe All Whites as possible. Pretty sure Anthony Hudson did similar things but Schmid appears to have stuck to the usual areas which is why this youthful and inexperienced squad is much less frightening a prospect than Anthony Hudson’s early selection lottery when he put way too much focus on national youth teams and picked local club players that were way off the standard. This squad might be a weird one but every player there is a professional with the exceptions of three Premmy players (two more in the standbys), two of whom have previous pro & international experience and the other is right on the cusp.
The five standby players? Monty Patterson, Jesse Edge, Justin Gulley, Jai Ingham and Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi. The Python is the big omission, having been in the Peru squad last time, but his situation is an odd one given that it appears his chances at Ipswich have gone and he’s now at the Wellington Phoenix trying to earn a contract for next season. A young player needs a kick up the arse now and then and he’ll benefit from a couple open spaces at the Nix while the All Whites are away. Edge is playing third tier in Holland but he’s captained Achilles '29 recently and the 23 year old is on his way up. Hudson-Wihongi is a versatile guy now starting to reassert himself at Auckland City after a horror injury in 2016 and Justin Gulley is likewise one of the standout players at Premiership level, captaining Team Wellington these days. Jai Ingham has mostly only come off the bench for Melbourne Victory this season but that’s enough to hang around on the fringes of this thing.
We’ll do the usual thing and go position by position through the players but first gotta say that it sounds like the Canada game won’t be broadcast or live-streamed. For no reason at all, by the way, since they’re gonna film it and put up highlights later on youtube because that’s how much they care about us. Same as they did with the Football Ferns. That kind of secrecy with the national football team, with both national football teams, is more than a little offensive. Hopefully those lovely Canadians will come to the rescue…
Plus it confirms that we shouldn’t go expecting more transparency just because Uncle Tony’s been replaced. We’ve still got Andy Martin out there trying to hog the limelight at every opportunity. Like the video they put up to announce the new gaffer (hey credit to NZF for figuring out how to use youtube in 2018 though) in which Martin is talking and on camera for the first 47 seconds out of a two minute vid amidst only brief glimpses of that new gaffer. Stay in your lane, bro. And please make sure all the players are eligible. And that somebody from NZF is contactable when the offices are shut so that suspension protests can be filed and transfers can be completed on deadline day. Pretty simple, really.
Goalkeepers
Max Crocombe - Salford City, ENG (0 caps, 0 goals)
Nik Tzanev - AFC Wimbledon, ENG (0, 0)
Michael Woud - Sunderland, ENG (0, 0)
The obvious thing here is that we’ve got three cap-less wonders in goal and we ain’t talking about snapbacks either. All three have been in and out of squads before, it’s just that Uncle Tony only ever wanted to play Stefan Marinovic. Hence why Stef played the last 24 consecutive games. Before that there were two gigs for Jake Gleeson before he fell out of favour and Glen Moss started Huddo’s first ever game, so all three goalies he ever used are absent.
Which leaves Crocombe as the last dude left from the Peru squad. He’s been in top form for Salford City lately, a team down in the National League North in England which is the sixth tier of competition. Not the strongest level but Salford are a unique case. Owned in part by a bunch of ex-Manchester United players, they’re looking a good bet to continue their rise through the divisions with promotion this season and Crocombe helped that out by saving a late penalty in their game last weekend – which you already know if you’re a voracious Flying Kiwis reader like any self-respecting footy fan in Aotearoa ought to be. Shameless self-promotion. Speaking of which…
G’day Schmiddy! What’s up? Pick Callan Elliot next time.
Crocombe’s not necessarily gonna start this game though. Michael Woud has excelled at age-group level for NZ and is working his way up the grades at Sunderland too (which isn’t easy to do given the on-field turmoil that’s become regular place there). He’s five years younger than Crocombe, still only 19, and shapes right now to be the most likely to steal Marinovic’s gloves one day. Supposing anyone ever does. As for Nik Tzanev, he signed on with AFC Wimbledon in May after spending time there in 2016-17 but has been on the bench for exactly one league game this campaign, living down on the pecking order.
Where’s Ya Boy!? Okay so the All Whites play on March 24 over in Spain but the MLS in America has a round of fixtures that weekend. Both Portland and Vancouver are in action and that means that Jake Gleeson and Stefan Marinovic would each miss games. For Marinovic that’s no biggie, he’s first choice and would return as such (the Whitecaps knew they were getting an international number one when they signed him), but Gleeson’s only playing now because his main rival Jeff Atinella is injured. He can’t really afford to cede that headstart in a very competitive gig – he missed a bunch with injuries in 2017 and never got his starting spot back thanks to Atinella’s form. Schmiddy seems to be sympathetic to these guys (and their clubs) for what’s really just a game to get things underway. He doesn’t need the very best players yet so no reason to disrupt them when we all know what they can do already. Plus as far as Marinovic goes this’ll win some brownie points with the Whitecaps for more uncomfortable times when he’s needed for the national team (especially since we’re playing Canada).
Defenders
Michael Boxall - Minnesota United, USA (31, 0)
Nikko Boxall - Viborg FF, DEN (0, 0)
Sam Brotherton - Sunderland, ENG (9, 0)
Tom Doyle - Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (8, 0)
Dane Ingham - Brisbane Roar, AUS (5, 0)
Adam Mitchell - Bolton Wanderers, ENG 0, 0
Storm Roux - Central Coast Mariners, AUS (9, 0)
Themis Tzimopoulos - PAS Giannina, GRE (14, 1)
Wow now this is a different looking set of defenders. The team that starts against Canada will have just one player that started in the back five in either game against Peru and that’s Michael Boxall. Apparently Boxall doesn’t mind missing an MLS game even though his starting spot at Minnesota Utd isn’t completely guaranteed (although maybe it is, the coach seems to love him more than the fans so far). There’s a good chance that he even gets to captain the side given all the regular options that aren’t gonna be there (Reid, Wood, Marinovic, Smith). It should be between him, Mike McGlinchey and Ryan Thomas for the armband.
We don’t know if Schmid will wanna keep up with the back three + wingbacks formation or not but if he does then he’s at least got a trio of A-League chaps in Roux, Doyle and D.Ingham to try that with. All pretty blatant picks with Kip Covley and Deklan Wynne not travelling. Not sure if this team has the centre-backs to do that, but Themi Tzimopoulos has returned from injury just in time to rejoin the lads and he’s joined by Sam Brotherton, who is coming off scarce footy for Sunderland’s U23s as well as a couple uncapped blokes in Nikko Boxall and Adam Mitchell. Nikko is more of a brow-raiser, he’s the younger brother of Mike and has skipped around a couple Scandinavian clubs lately. Solid player with a lot of his brother’s attributes, he’d be a good one to get a scouting look at if we were actually allowed to watch this game.
As for Adam Mitchell he’s a veteran of the 2015 U20 World Cup in New Zealand and is currently thriving with Bolton’s U23 team. A strong CB with a good eye for a pass and one who’s been on a wild journey already as a professional footballer – plus a quality dude who had a chat with TNC a couple months back which you should definitely read to get to know him better.
Where’s Ya Boy!? Winston Reid is injured and Andrew Durante has retired. Meanwhile Bill Tuiloma is on the edge of the Portland Timbers first team and has been left to focus on that while all three of Anthony Hudson’s kiwi recruits at Colorado Rapids have been excluded. Deklan Wynne, Kip Colvey and Tommy Smith. Not sure on Colvey’s availability since he was injured late in preseason but Smith and (unexpectedly) Wynne have been in all three competitive first XIs so far. Literally zero blame on those players skipping this out but isn’t it pretty bloody ironic that Anthony Hudson used to drop players for a lack of commitment to the national team at their club career’s expense and now here he is benefitting from that on the other side of things?
Midfielders
Michael McGlinchey - Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (52, 5)
Matt Ridenton - Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (3, 0)
Ryan Thomas - PEC Zwolle, NED (18, 3)
Sarpreet Singh - Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (0, 0)
Tim Payne - Eastern Suburbs, NZ (14, 2)
Niko Kirwan - AC Mestre, ITA (0, 0)
Cam Howieson - Auckland City, NZ (9, 0)
Clayton Lewis - Scunthorpe United, ENG (13, 0)
Alex Rufer - Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (4, 0)
A lot of midfielders and yet such little experience. To be fair this has always been the one area where the All Whites are just stranded for players. Ryan Thomas’ excellence as a central mid has been the most crucial development in this side behind Chris Wood turning into a genuine Premier League striker after all. He’s every bit as committed to the cause as Wood, albeit also every bit as injury prone. Thommo’s coming into the final stretch of his best season yet and probably putting himself in the shop window for a transfer in June or July. A trip to Spain’s not so tough for him when his place at PEC Zwolle is guaranteed.
Four Wellington Phoenix midfielders. McGlinchey was expected – only Marinovic played as many games for the AWs under Hudson as Wee Mac – while Ridenton and Singh are pleasant additions given their recent A-League emergences. Alex Rufer is a slight smokey given he hasn’t hit the heights of those two teammates yet but he’s been picked for this team from a lower club standing before, rather famously.
Niko Kirwan, aye? His selection got leaked by those gossipy Italian media and it’s a weird one. He’s been in and out of the Mestre team, who play third tier in Italy, which Kirwan himself said is maybe one division up in standard from the Premiership (granted with promotion possibilities). He’s yet to score for his Italian side although he had a decent time with Team Wellington a year ago. A premature inclusion but there aren’t a lot of alternatives in the middle and he’s a guy on the way up. Similar to Clayton Lewis who finally got his big contract when he signed for Scunthorpe in the English third tier… except playing time has been tough to find. It’s hard when you don’t get a preseason with a team before being asked to step straight in so judgements are withheld for another nine months or so. Don’t forget that Clay has started most all of the biggest games for the All Whites over the last couple years.
Cam Howieson and Tim Payne have been picked out of the Premiership but each has done things on the professional scene before returning to NZ. Howieson has been fantastic for Auckland City this season, controlling that midfield with class and he’d be high on the list of folks at that level who might deserve a shot at the AWs, Tim Payne is a less obvious candidate but just like Howieson he’s been there and done it before, both for club and country – Howieson last played for the national team in Hudson’s first game in charge back in 2014 (a 3-1 loss to Uzbekistan…) and Payne last played off the bench against Myanmar (1-1 draw) in September 2015. Been a while for each. Payne, by the way, has been playing centre-defence for Eastern Suburbs which makes him a possibility there for this side as well, in the same way that Themi Tzimopoulos also covers midfield.
Where’s Ya Boy!? Billy T was mentioned with the defenders. He’s the only midfielder left out since the Peru games although Moses Dyer didn’t get selected either. Also James Musa injured (but his voice remains simply divine). That’s… that’s about it for midfielders. Again, we ain’t got many. No recall for Luka Prelevic.
Forwards
Myer Bevan - Vancouver Whitecaps, CAN/USA (2, 1)
Jeremy Brockie - Mamelodi Sundowns, SAF (50, 1)
Andre De Jong – Eastern Suburbs, NZ (0, 0)
Marco Rojas - sc Heerenveen, NED (40, 5)
Four strikers, only two of them genuine frontmen. The group has always looked slim behind Chris Wood and now there’s no Shane Smeltz to turn to as an alternative. Myer Bevan is quality and he’s signed himself an MLS deal with the Whitecaps however he’s not really in the first team picture so missing a game doesn’t mean much from his perspective and was last heard of taking a brutal L on FIFA against some local joker who’s repping the club in the ‘eMLS’… see the A-League aren’t alone in that strangeness. One of he or Jeremy Brockie, if not both, will be starting this game. Brox is having a good time at his new club and is well on the way to winning trophies already but he’s also yet to get his first goal for the Sundowns which has been frustrating.
Elsewhere we’ve got the reliable Marco Rojas who is working his way back into the picture at Heerenveen and periodically drops down to the youth team to score a bunch of goals and stay fit. Nothing to worry about in the way he’s playing and he’s a dead set in every squad. Less so for Andre De Jong. There are several uncapped players in this squad but ADJ, Sarpreet and the two Nik(k)o’s are the only ones who’ve never been officially selected in a squad before. All three goalies got callups for Hudson without taking the field. Adam Mitchell and Jesse Edge as well.
ADJ’s been on fire for Eastern Suburbs, a potential Player of the Season for the entire league. He’s recently left to join up with Hakoah FC over in Sydney – where he made the NPLNSW premier team of the year in 2016 – and he’s definitely on the list with Howieson as Premmy candidates who are knocking on the door of higher honours. More of an attacking midfielder than a striker though. He wins out over the likes of Callum McCowatt, Hamish Watson, Jack-Henry Sinclair, Max Mata and whoever else is hovering around the Premmy scoring goals.
(that’s a bit of a deep dive joke courtesy of Stevie H but some of you get it)
Where’s Ya Boy!? The Woodsman is recently back from injury and has a couple weeks off now before the Clarets next play. He’s already scored three goals in two games off the bench and should start against West Brom so there’s not really any reason why he shouldn’t play a week earlier for the national team. Burnley might have some training camp set up or something (David Moyes is taking West Ham to Florida!) but Woody’s done heaps for this team and it doesn’t hurt to build some depth behind him given how things worked out when he was injured for the games vs Peru (still a sore point – shoulda just risked him, Tony!). Kosta Barbarouses filled in those days and he’s not here either, did anyone notice? Kosta’s a dependable veteran now. Might as well take a look at a couple others. Tyler Boyd and Monty Patterson were already mentioned. Fallon and Smeltz are retired. Probably too early for Elliot Collier as well, he should be in the conversation sooner rather than later.
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