Flying Kiwis – July 3
Ali Riley – Chelsea (English Super League)
Just sneaking in under the deadline last week (an extended deadline thanks to these obscene World Cup kickoff times) was the breaking news that Ali Riley had agreed a transfer to Chelsea Football Club. It’s breaking news alright, this is absolutely massive. Riley had already won everything there was to win in Sweden with Rosengård across her seven years there, Chelsea will give the 30 year old the opportunity to thrive under new skies… while still chomping away at the Champions League on a yearly basis. In fact Chelsea were the team that eliminated Rosengård in the previous edition.
The Chelsea Women are as strong a team as there is in the English competition. They’re the defending champs having held off Manchester City for the title and also triumphed in the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 3-1 in the final with goals to Ramona Bachman (2) and Fran Kirby. Plus after beating Rosengård 4-0 on aggregate in the Champions League round of 16 they then beat Montpellier 5-1 over two legs in the quarters before going down 5-1 to Wolfsburg, losing 3-1 at home in the first leg and never recovering.
Chelsea have lost a fair few players ahead of the new season though, hence why they were in the market for solid, experienced and reliable talent. Like the captain of the Football Ferns, for example. Hey and one player who Ali will be reuniting with at Chelsea is her old Rosengård teammate and former podcasting buddy Anita Asante (although Asante did an ACL on England duty in March). Always helpful to have a friendly face there to welcome. Hedvig Lindahl and Ramona Bachman are also ex-Rosie players.
Ali’s done a couple of chats locally and you’ve probably already read those. So here’s one from Sweden, getting the local point of view on it all. Riley mentions several reasons for leaving, from an improved salary and a better standard of league to playing on natural grass and linking up with old teammates.
Ali Riley: “Given my age and that the World Cup is next year and the Olympic Games the following year I want to bet all on football here and now. There are exciting times in England, they invest hard on women's football and that's something I want to experience. Life is short and you never know what'll happen.”
Should be good. Should be very good.
In the meantime there were still two more games to play for Rosengård before the mid-season break and the Chelsea transfer coming into action. But having lost last week the Rosies went and repeated the dose with a disappointing 2-1 defeat away at Hammarby. Riley played all ninety minutes but will be hoping for a happier farewell next week against Växjö.
Up Next: One last swing, 4.00am on Friday vs Växjö (NZT)
Tommy Smith, Kip Colvey & Deklan Wynne – Colorado Rapids (American Major League Soccer)
Following Tommy Smith’s impersonation of The Second Coming last week with his injury time winner to snap the winless streak, the Rapids set about starting a new streak. A winning streak. Although to do so they’d need to overcome the Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada and the Rapids had taken just one point from their opening six away games in the MLS under Anthony Hudson. Tommy Smith and Deklan Wynne both started as usual. Still no Stefan Marinovic for the Whitecaps though, he remains out with his left knee sprain but should be back any week now.
You know what? They did it too. A Marcel de Jong own goal right before halftime was the only goal of the game. Tommy Smith had a blinder on the way to the clean sheet and the Whitecaps couldn’t figure it out. September 9, 2017 was the last time that Colorado won away from home but there you go. Of course, this is Anthony Hudson’s team so it didn’t come easy. The Whitecaps dominated in most aspects of the game and typically Huddo made some defensive subs to try and cling on to a tender 1-0 lead. They basically finished with five centre-backs and ten men behind the ball but it got them the win so all’s well that ends well.
Kortne Ford came on off the bench to end his long injury layoff so interesting to see if he threatens Deklan Wynne’s starting role. Wynne’s unexpectedly started every game so far. Only two players have played every minute for the Rapids this season: Tommy Smith and Deklan Wynne.
Up Next: Colorado vs Seattle, Thursday at 1pm (NZT)
Abby Erceg – North Carolina Courage (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Wow so the Courage responded to their first defeat of the season with a 4-1 win last time out and then doubled down on that with a 3-0 win away at Orlando Pride. Goals to Debora, Merritt Mathias and Jessica McDonald and, of course, a clean sheet for Abby Erceg and company. All three goals came in a three minute span late in the first half, an absolute blitzkrieg of football. Like, there actually isn’t much more to say. They’re the best team in the league and they’re captained by a kiwi. Too good.
Up Next: NCC vs Chicago, Thursday at 11am (NZT)
Max Mata - Grasshopper Club Zürich (Swiss Super League)
Trial season is upon us. Last week brought news of Logan Rogerson’s chance to impress in Germany while this week we’ve got details about Max Mata heading to Switzerland. The 18 year old was one of the best out there for the NZ U17s at the World Cup a year ago and spent the Premiership season with Eastern Suburbs where he scored 3 goals in 15 games.
It’s quite the leap to go from that to the top division in Switzerland, which shows he’s one to watch out for. Marco Rojas got pretty regular games for FC Thun in that division but this was after he’d already established himself as one of the stars of the A-League. Mata’s got a month to prove he’s worth sticking around and will get to train with the first team as they begin their preseason.
Word is that Grasshopper’s manager Thorsten Fink (the former Bayern midfielder) had a good look at Max at that U17 World Cup and liked what he saw, personally requesting the trial, according to the Wellington Phoenix Soccer School.
Grasshopper have prior kiwi links too, of course – the legendary Wynton Rufer played a season for them in the late 80s before leaving to join Werder Bremen. Not the worst footsteps to be following in when it comes to making a footy career in Europe.
Up Next: The hard stuff starts…
Leon van den Hoven – RKC Waalwijk (Dutch Eerste Divisie)
Not to be outdone by his Eastern Suburbs teammate from last season, teenaged midfielder LVDH is getting in on the action too and he’s taken it a step further. Following a trial with RKC Waalwijk in the Netherlands back in April, the 18 year old has been offered a contract and will return to Holland for preseason with the team.
Waalwijk are coming off a struggle of a season in which they finished third to bottom in the Dutch first division, which is the second tier in that country. Ordinarily they’re a team that bounces between the top two divisions but have spent the last four, soon to be five, in the Eerste Divisie. So they could use a bit of help. And guess what? Another European club with kiwi connections. Ivan Vicelich spent two seasons with RKC Waalwijk in the mid-00s. Get in there!
Up Next: How’s your Dutch?
Katie Bowen – Utah Royals (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Two games this week for newly minted right back Katie Bowen, first off was a home one against Seattle Reign. Utah started sharp, with chance after chance coming through Diana Matheson and Christen Press. Long range shots and looping crosses, Matheson even struck the crossbar but there was no goal to show for it and the game evened out. Seattle started creating a few things. Didn’t see a huge amount of Bowen down the right flank. It ended up as a 0-0 draw.
Skip a couple days and Utah were at it again against Rebekah Stott’s Sky Blue. But Stotty was injured, removing all kiwi conflicts from that game. She also missed the midweek 1-1 draw with Portland and hasn’t started a game since the beginning of June which was also the last time the Royals and Sky Blue met. Fingers crossed it isn’t long before she’s back in action because her team could seriously use her. They’re still without a win all season.
And that winless streak made it to 13 games with defeat against Bowen’s Utah. Christen Press opened the scoring in the seventh minute before Katie Stengel scored a brace in five minutes before the half hour to have it 3-0 to Utah and chilling. A brilliant finish from Carli Lloyd pulled one back in the second half but that was all there was, 3-1 to Utah who stay well in the playoff hunt. That’s seven points from four games with Katie Bowen starting at right back, by the way.
Up Next: Portland Thorns vs Utah Royals, Saturday at 3pm (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
The PECers are back into training ahead of the new season now, with Ryan Thomas amongst the fellows despite his expected transfer. When he re-signed a year ago it was basically accepted that he’d give them one more season and they they’d be able to sell him for a healthy profit. That’s still the case. Thommo wants to leave and the club is willing to allow him to do so, with a decent fee likely to come back in return. Not something to rival Chris Wood’s fee a year ago but still a decent price tag. It’s expected he’ll be gone before the end of next month but he’s training with them in the meantime.
Ryan Thomas: “The club and I are fully aligned in that respect. I think PEC is a great club and I am happy here, but it is a crucial moment in my career. The club also wants to sell me, so they will have some money left over from the transfer. I fully understand that. There is nothing concrete but certainly clubs are very interested. It is up to me to decide what is the right step now.”
He’s told Voetball International that France, Italy and Spain are all options for him at this point in his career. In the past he’s mentioned England as the ultimate dream but doesn’t think he’s ready for that level yet. Alternatively he’s open to staying in Holland but only at a top club. Wherever he goes it has to be somewhere he’ll be able to play regularly.
More Thommo: “That is difficult, because I do not want to appear arrogant. But PEC has already participated nicely in the below the top few teams last year. I want to play at a club that basically has to win every week. You only find that in the Netherlands at Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV.”
Up Next: Up to you, Mr/Ms 15%
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Bouncing back from the humiliating result that was losing to the Colorado Rapids is not an easy task. They had reason to be inspired with Minny Utd squad member Collin Martin coming out publically as the only current openly gay athlete in major pro sports in America. It wasn’t a secret within the Loons organisation but crazy courage from him all the same… he was then an unused sub against FC Dallas.
A game in which the Loons lost. Went down 1-0 to a second half Roland Lamah goal. Minnesota switched things up to a 3-5-2 formation, meaning Boxall was back in a defensive trio just like the good old days with the All Whites, but while it worked great in terms of performance they never took the requisite chances and thus they copped another L.
Michael Boxall: “We really need to check the size of the goals at the training ground. Make sure they’re not bigger than regulation size.”
That takes Minny to the halfway point of the season and they’re in no danger of making the playoffs at this rate. However with Francisco Calvo coming back from World Cup duty with Costa Rica they’re poised to be a tad more consistent in the near future. Five wins from 16 games. At least Mike Boxall has very much established himself not only as a regular but a key player in this team.
Up Next: Thursday arvo action at home against Toronto FC, 11am (NZT)
Elliot Collier – Chicago Fire (American Major League Soccer)
Mate, check out who was back in the starting XI this week. Bit of a run out on the left wing for 66 minutes against New York City FC and a 3-2 victory to go with it. First start since the middle of May, eight games ago. Lad didn’t do half bad either.
Chicago Fire: “Making his first start since May 12 -- stepping in for Luis Solignac, unavailable with a quad injury -- Elliot Collier recorded his first career MLS assist in setting up Aleksandar Katai's game-winning strike.”
Yeah, Nemanja Nikolic scored the first goal in the sixth minute, slipped through from deep by Dax McCarty and the Fire had the early lead. Ismael Tajouri tied it back up in the 36th minute with a long range grass cutter that the keeper was slow to get down for and then within five minutes a powerful header from a set piece routine courtesy of Jo Inge Berget had NYCFC up 2-1 at the break.
Time for Elliot to make something happen. Not straight away though, first McCarty slipped a ball down the right for Aleksandar Katai and he cut inside to make it 2-2 within two minutes of the game’s resumption after half-time. A few more minutes later and Collier had his moment in the sun. Picking up the ball on his side of halfway he took a couple touches forward, drawing in a defender, and he looked to his right. There was Katai again. He bravely whipped it out to his teammate… who waxed one defender then chopped inside another and shot past the keeper for a brilliant individual goal. But Collier passed it to him so he got the assist. All about those fantasy points, aye?
New York had a couple chances to get something from this one, particularly with Berget hitting the crossbar with another header. That was after Collier was subbed off with 25 minutes or so remaining. The Fire held on and took the three points, sweet as.
Up Next: Vancouver vs Chicago, Sunday at 2.30pm (NZT)
Rosie White – Chicago Red Stars (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Good win from the Red Stars this week with goals in each half for Casey Short and Yuki Nagasato capping a 2-0 win over Washington Spirit that has them up to fourth on the ladder and just a point off second. But Rosie White was an unused sub again as she works her way back to full fitness from a long injury layoff so that’s as deep as we have to go here. But keep an eye out, she’s come back to a pretty red hot Red Stars team.
Up Next: Away to North Carolina Courage, Thursday at 11am (NZT)
James Musa – Phoenix Rising (American United Soccer League)
Time for a roundup of the USL fellas, starting with James Musa. The Moose began the season injured but has slipped straight into the starting lineup ever since he returned, starting 12 of 13 games after missing the first five. And he’s doing a fine job there too. Phoenix Rising are in outstanding form having not only gone undefeated through the month of June but they did it without conceding a single goal. Eight scored and none conceded in their past five, three wins and two draws, with Musa on the park for almost every minute (he was subbed off with 25 mins to go in a 3-0 win over Tulsa, with Phoenix already up 2-0 and Tulsa down to ten men at the time he was replaced. He was on a yellow too).
It’s gotten Phoenix up within two points of the top of the Western Conference, granted Real Monarchs have two games in hand. But that’s where the Rising want to be – competing for the championship. Good for Moose, who was a runner up in the USL grand final last season with Swope Park Rangers.
He’s pretty much just doing his usual thing of holding the midfield, passing it round with accuracy and getting a few crunching tackles in there. Awesome to see him cracking right back into it at USL level after his MLS opportunities proved slim last year. Also you know that Didier Drogba plays for his team too, aye? You should, if you’ve been a regular reader here. He doesn’t play much but Drog’s scored four goals in five games.
Up Next: Fresno vs Phoenix, 2pm on Sunday 15 July (NZT)
Cory Brown – Fresno FC (American United Soccer League)
So how about the rookie from Nelson then? Cory Brown’s had to earn his minutes with Fresno in his first campaign as a pro but just lately he’s starting to get a run of games. He was missing most recently when Fresno beat Sacramento Republic 2-0 – yeah, Simon Elliott coached Sac Republic, there’s another one for ya – presumably Cory was injured as he wasn’t even in the squad. But prior to that he started six out of seven games in the month of June.
Fresno are currently ninth so a good month or two and they’ll be in the playoffs. As for Simon Elliott’s team, mate, lock him in for the next All Whites coach because Sac Republic are third in the West. Bit of a downturn lately with only one win from their last five but they’ll come good.
Up Next: Portland II vs Fresno, 9am on Monday (NZT)
Jake Gleeson & Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
The train keeps rolling for the Timbers. A couple goals from Larrys Mabiala helped the team overcome the injury-enforced absences of forwards Fanendo Adi and Sebastian Blanco to beat rivals Seattle Sounders 3-2. That makes it 10 MLS games in a row without defeat and an even dozen unbeaten all up. Diego Valeri was brilliant with three assists. It was the first regular season away win over the Sounders in Timbers history and, yeah, good stuff all around. Mabaila’s winning second goal came in the 74th minute.
Unfortunately the recent dominance from Portland does mean that Jake and Tui are stuck on the bench. Tuiloma got a run for the final six minutes and change, replacing midfielder Dairon Asprilla for some extra defensive shielding. Becoming a bit common that, Billy T as the late defensive sub. But at least the form that Portland’s in right now shows that this is a serious team with a serious squad and having the two kiwis there stuck on the bench is nothing to be ashamed of.
Up Next: Portland vs San Jose, Sunday at 3pm (NZT)
Kyle Adams – Rio Grande Valley (American United Soccer League)
And lest we forget Kyle Adams. His RGV team have been a bit rubbish on the whole, winning only one game from sixteen, and it’s been ten games since they tasted said victory. But having said that they have been ticking the points over with plenty of draws. The defence isn’t the issue, having kept five clean sheets in those last ten. Kyle Adams has played every minute of every game except for one which he missed altogether. He’ been a dead set regular for the Toros.
Up Next: RGV vs Tulsa, 12.30pm on Sunday (NZT)
Henry Cameron – Unattached
This isn’t really a surprise since he’d been told a while back that he could look for a new club but Henry Cameron’s been released from Limerick FC in Ireland as the club clears out several of its fringe players with a relegation battle going down right now. Henry was in his second year with the team but cost-cutting measures came first. He hadn’t been playing a huge amount either. Now’s a good time to be moving on when most European clubs are preparing their squads for the next season with the transfer window now open. Cameron had played seven times in a season and a half for Limerick, including just twice this season.
Manager Tommy Barrett: “We thank the boys for their professionalism, commitment and effort in their time at the club. They are all good professionals, honest and well committed, and we wish them all well in the future.”
Up Next: Not much, aye
Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: “Chris Wood is a boy I know really well. I worked with him when I was at Bristol City. I had actually tried to bring him to St Johnstone when he was a young boy at West Brom but it didn’t happen. I then got him on loan from there at Bristol and he was a really good signing for us, he probably scored the goals that kept us up. He has done really well for Burnley. He’s scored goals since going there and is a dangerous player.”
The Chris Wood to St Johnstone transfer that never happened, aye?
Right so Burnley’s reward for qualifying for Europe is a trip to Scotland. Not exactly distant horizons. The first leg of that tie takes place on July 26 local time with Burnley’s home leg taking place a week later. The Clarets have four friendlies arranged before then so not a lot of rest for The Woodsman. He may not necessarily take place in a lot of those games, being so deep into preseason, but we’ll keep ya up to date either way.
Up Next: Aberdeen vs Burnley, 27 July, TBD (NZT)
Joel Stevens & Myer Bevan – Husqvarna FF (Swedish Division 1 Södra)
Husqvarna finally got back to winning ways with a 2-1 triumph over Grebbestad, Ryan Binns with the 82nd minute winner from the spot. Snaps a run of four games without a win that also included an exit in the Svenska Cupen away to Motala. Joel Stevens got 75 minutes before he was replaced. No Myer Bevan though and that’s because his loan deal ran out at the end of the month.
Bevan was signed with an option to extend the loan through to the end of the year but that hasn’t been allowed, with the Whitecaps apparently keen to get Bevan a go in the upcoming Canadian Championship tournament. The MLS teams often give the young blokes a go there so Myer’s gotta be a possibility. He scored two times in eight league games for Husqvarna, playing 498 minutes. Meanwhile Joel Stevens also has two goals but has gotten plenty more games with 1041 minutes under his belt, starting all 12 of his matches. Didn’t leave for All Whites duty, you see.
This from a Whitecaps Front Office chat: “They know they need to look at ways to get their young players playing time. They talked about loan deals such as Myer Bevan going to Sweden. Said they are looking at solutions and it is a priority.”
Up Next: Husqvarna vs Torns on Monday at 2am (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie – Mamelodi Sundowns (South African Premier Soccer League)
Substantially is almost an understatement, the Sundowns will have ten foreign players on their books if none of them leave before the start of the new season (and resumption of the Champions League) so it makes sense not only for the club that Brockie tries for permanent residency in the country he’s lived in since 2014 but also it makes sense for Brockie himself in order to maximise his game time. You’re only allowed five per squad, see.
And he’s definitely keen for some of that after a mixed start to his stint with the Brazilians. While they won the league title, Brockie was a peripheral figure and still hasn’t scored for the club he joined in January. Safe to say he’ll have a pint to prove once the team gets back into things. Pre-season has just begun this week for Sundowns.
Jeremy Brockie: “It was a very special moment to win the league. As a football player, the main trophy you want to win is the league title. I’m glad that I won it and hopefully we can go on again and win it back-to-back. I hope to have a bigger role on the field rather than from the squad play point of view. “I’ve just been away on a holiday for a few weeks. We are going to camp next week and I will sit down in a nice corner with a pen and paper like I always do and write down my goals for the season. I haven’t thought too much about it but winning the golden boot will be on that list.”
Kickoff.com: “There was a lot of hype surrounding Brockie’s move from rivals SuperSport to Sundowns. Upon arrival, Brockie stated that he would like to score at least eight goals for his new club before the end of the season, but he was nowhere near the target.
Competition, of course, will be even harder for players in attacking positions, with the news that South American striker Jose Ali Meza is set to join Sundowns, as well as Toni Silva, whose signing was confirmed a couple of months ago.
Brockie definitely has the quality to deliver at Sundowns, but his ability to deliver will be determined by a few things: One, his confidence levels need to be high. Secondly, he needs to be getting more opportunities in the starting line-up and lastly that first goal could just do the trick to get him going in front of goal.”
Up Next: 18 July at 1am away to Togo-Port in the Champions League (NZT)
Cheers for breezing through all that, shout out to kiwi footy
Slap an ad to give a shout out back to The Niche Cache
Jump on Patreon to give an even better shout out to TNC