Digging Into This Football Ferns Squad To Play Japan
Safe to say this squad announcement was overshadowed pretty much everywhere by the situation going on with Abby Erceg’s re-retirement… everywhere except in NZ Football’s announcement which barely even acknowledged Erceg.
That whole thing’s already had an extended write-up and all that’s left to reiterate about it, having had a little extra time to simmer, is that players and coaches falling out is not rare. It’s something that happens at every level of the sport. Because of her previous battles, Abby had a lower threshold than most for that and while it’s sad that she won’t be representing Aotearoa any longer, she has already played 133 times for the Football Ferns including many of those matches as captain. She doesn’t owe anyone anything. Erceg’s got a red hot club career going in the States and she’s doing New Zealand proud over there already. Fair play to her, regardless.
As to whether this highlights any more institutional dramas within the Ferns, we kinda have to trust that Andreas Heraf and his folks can adapt and solve that. If not then we have a big problem. But it’s been one international window and we don’t even know what the situation was.
Which, of course, is the main issue. It’s not so much that a player and a coach saw differently, it’s that all players are barred from criticising the national governing body under the new CBA because of the threat of very hefty fines. Which is basically NZF taking cues on dealing with dissidents from North Korea but of course that’s none of our business as fans or anything…
GOALKEEPERS
Anna Leat - East Coast Bays (3 caps/0 goals)
Erin Nayler - Girondins Bordeaux, France (53/0)
Nadia Olla - Western Springs (0/0)
Getting to the actual squad now, because there happens to be a heap of stuff to chat about here. Like for one thing that Nadia Olla’s been called into her first national team squad. 18 years old and the first choice keeper at the 2017 U17 World Cup, she’s also a member of this season’s Football Ferns Domestic Programme, alongside nine other members of this squad – including number two keeper Anna Leat. There’s plenty of youth in the backups although they’re most definitely backups as long as Erin Nayler is available. Not only is Nayler the numero uno with the gloves for New Zealand but she’s been doing the same all season for Girondins in France. One of the first names on the teamsheet. Victoria Esson is the keeper to miss out from the last squad.
DEFENDERS
Liz Anton - Western Springs (2/0)
CJ Bott - USV Jena, Germany (9/0)
Anna Green - Reading, England (67/7)
Meikayla Moore - FC Köln, Germany (26/0)
Sarah Morton - Western Springs (0/0)
Ali Riley - FC Rosengård, Sweden (115/1)
Rebekah Stott - Sky Blue FC, USA (63/4)
The loss of Abby Erceg is the obvious one from the previous group. But they did have a few games without her to figure things out already so as far as the effect on the team goes, it’s a blow to lose their best central defender however the plan moving forward is clear.
Meikayla Moore has graduated to the professional ranks since first deputising for Erceg as starting CB alongside Rebekah Stott. Stotty won a W-League championship earlier in the year with Melbourne City playing as a right back, which is where she used to play for Seattle Reign as well, though since being traded to Sky Blue in 2018 she’s gotten games in the middle also. Pretty clear that those two will be at the heart of the defence against Japan.
Captain Ali Riley won another Swedish Cup recently, the only way she’s not starting at left back is if she’s starting on the left wing. CJ Bott and Anna Green can cover both fullback positions and you’ll get a back four out of some combination of those names, with Sarah Morton (like Springs teammate Olla getting her first ever Ferns call-up here) and Liz Anton making up the depth. Both young defenders working their way up.
Curiously the NZ Football release had Steph Skilton listed as a defender and maybe she’s been working on a few things at FFDP trainings… but she’s always been a centre forward so… yeah. She probably spotted the mistake but wasn’t allowed to tell anyone in case she got fined.
MIDFIELDERS
Katie Bowen - Utah Royals, USA (51/2)
Betsy Hassett - KR Reykjavik, Iceland (102/8)
Annalie Longo - Cashmere Technical (105/10)
Emma Rolston - Wellington United (1/0)
Malia Steinmetz - Forrest Hill Milford United (1/0)
Missing some depth here too with Olivia Chance’s knee injury. She’ll be out for a fair while with that one which is devastating after the lengths she’s progressed in the last year, winning into the Everton starting XI and even playing in an FA Cup semi-final. Huge season from her and Chancey was just emerging as a regular Ferns starter too but that one’ll have to wait a few months now.
Having said that, we’ve still got Katie Bowen gonna start in Wellington and no Fernies player has emerged like she has in the last 18 months. Lost her starting spot in Utah just recently but she’s still the first midfielder picked for the national team. Unfortunately injury to Ria Percival has robbed her of her most recent partner in the midfield and Olivia Chance was likely to be the next one up. Injury to Daisy Cleverley might just mean that we’re looking for a fourth choice partner. There are other options, including a change of formation… although Japan are going to be strong through the middle and you probably want numbers to combat that.
Betsy Hassett and Annalie Longo are attacking midfielders. Chances are they’re competing for one position in the XI and you can’t really go wrong with either of them. Neither’s much in the way of size but both are enormous in the way of skill. With a few recent graduates of the FFDP, Longo’s arguably the best player still playing in Aotearoa while Hassett’s played in a bunch of the best leagues in Europe and is currently fresh into a new campaign in Iceland.
Then we’ve got youngsters Emma Rolston and Malia Steinmetz. Both were in the squad that took on Scotland last time, with Rolston making her debut off the bench on that tour. Rolston also had a stint with Sydney FC in the previous W-League season, one of only two kiwis in the Aussie league last time out (alongside Rebekah Stott). Dunno that either are ready to start against a team like Japan, which might leave Ria Percival’s spot open to someone like Sarah Gregorius or Rosie White to play a little deeper. Probably White, who transitioned into a rather decent midfielder (albeit an attacking one) for the Boston Breakers last NWSL season.
FORWARDS
Sarah Gregorius - Upper Hutt City (84/25)
Amber Hearn - FC Köln, Germany (124/54)
Paige Satchell - Three Kings United (3/0)
Stephanie Skilton - Papakura City (4/0)
Rosie White - Chicago Red Stars, USA (90/17)
Hannah Wilkinson - Vittsjö GIK, Sweden (86/25)
Yeah so Rosie White’s an option in midfield, though it’s worth mentioning that she’s only just come back from double stress fractures in her feet and has yet to play a competitive game at the time of this squad naming (fingers crossed for a run out for Chicago this weekend, check Flying Kiwis on Tuesday morning for that). Huge to have her back, she’s been the missing piece of the puzzle recently. Also back from injury is Paige Satchell who wasn’t available for the previous squad with a knee injury but she’s back in business now. She’s maybe the only pure wing threat which could elevate her up the depth chart.
Heaps of experience between White, Gregorius, Amber Hearn and Hannah Wilkinson. Wilko’s had a tough time making an impression on the field since Heraf took over although she’s been quality for her club in Sweden early on in that season, while Amber Hearn, who’s been winning the centre-forward duel between the pair on the last two tours, has also been in goal-scoring form for her club in Germany. A very nice problem to have, two in-form strikers.
Steph Skilton offers similar attributes to Wilkinson so there’s another option off the bench although there are a couple very weird omissions with this squad in the form of Katie Rood and Aimee Phillips. Neither are listed as injured in the press release and yet both are currently playing for massive clubs in Europe, both with the chance to win their leagues and potentially both gonna play Champions League next season. Rood with Juventus in Italy and Phillips with Spartak Subotica in Serbia.
Rood hasn’t been playing much but that’s not really a relevant excuse when you’re comparing professional players with amateurs. Like, Gareth Southgate can make that call when picking his England squad for the World Cup but for Rood to be training with the best team in Italy every day versus someone playing out of the FFDP… that’s daylight, mate. Crazy that she’d be overlooked.
As for Phillips, she’s starting most games for a team that can win the title in Serbia if they get two wins from their final two games. Not only that but she’s scoring goals too. But Aimee Phillips wasn’t in the squad for the Scotland games either so that one’s slipped under the radar. It’s not like we’ve got this multitude of professional players to call upon… maybe this is to save money on those business class travel costs. Maybe that’s what it is.
Ah well, it wouldn’t be a squad naming without a little controversy, would it? And this one’s had more than its fair share.
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