Flying Kiwis – February 23
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
It had been 14 years since a New Zealander last lined up in a Europa League knockout game. Ryan Nelsen it was on that occasion, as Blackburn Rovers drew 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen at home to go out 3-2 on aggregate. Here are the line-ups from that day, a few blasts from the past…
Now all these spins of the planet later it was Ryan Thomas’ turn as he started for PSV against Olympiacos in Greece. Thommo lining up as that right-sided attacking midfielder again. Mario Götze the LAM this time around.
It’s been even longer since a New Zealander made it past the round of 32 (shout out to Ivan Vicelich) and that wait could continue, annoyingly. Because although PSV showed glimpses of lovely attacking football in here, those glimpses were surrounded by staleness with the ball and absolute carnage without it. Defensively this was just an awful night for them.
The troubles began in the ninth minute. A free kick conceded in a silly area and Mathieu Valbuena whipped in a quality delivery onto the head of Andreas Bouchalakis, who in turn whipped his headed into the top left corner. A rubbish start... yet the Dutch side were level just five minutes later when Eran Zahavi took a crack from distance and his shot was conveniently deflected past a keeper who had already committed to his right and couldn’t readjust in time.
This bonkers game continued on like that as Zahavi had a couple more shots but PSV always looked vulnerable and in the 37th minute the home side retook the lead when Yann M'Vila hit a low volley into the ground which skimmed above the attempted blocks of a couple defenders and into the bottom corner. A real fizzer. Except that once again Zahavi was there to tie it up again a few minutes later. This time from a corner kick, bailing his team out twice in one half... but twice wasn’t gonna be enough. Before the half was out Olympiacos again took advantage of some really soft defending and this was the worst of them with Youssef El-Arabi making a defender look silly before dropping a shoulder to beat the keeper and then burying his shot with time to pick his target.
PSV certainly improved after the break. That was also when Ryan Thomas was at his sharpest. He had one sighter off target, he was getting into areas where he could swing a ball into the box, not to mention his tasty corner kicks. Meanwhile Zahavi hit the post from a free kick. But that third goal still proved elusive. In the meantime, here’s Thommo getting absolutely clobbered for a foul which led to most of the players on the park (including PSV’s goalie) rushing in to say their bit...
With about twenty minutes left, Ibrahim Sangaré was subbed off on a yellow and Thommo dropped deeper into a central midfield role. Still no third goal though and in the 83rd minute they were hit with a hammer blow as Giorgos Masouras thumped in a fine finish after a shanked clearance had kept the move alive. Sharp, speedy attack from the Greek side but, broken record alert, terrible defending from PSV. Thomas was subbed off two minutes later. 4-2 is how it sits at the conclusion of the first leg.
Not an enviable position to be in, even if PSV definitely have the fire-power to win 2-0 or 3-1 at home – results that would take them through thanks to these two away goals. They’ll have to be a lot sharper than they were in Greece though. That was messy.
But wait there’s more! PSV also had a league game to get to against Vitesse on the short turnaround. Albeit one in which Thomas was back on the bench as Roger Schmidt understandably made five changes to the Europa League side. Thommo joined Donyell Malen, Mario Götze, Philipp Max & Jordan Teze all dropping to the bench from that crew.
The gaffer would probably have rather saved a few of them jokers for the second leg against Olympiacos but instead all five of them ended up featuring because for a lot of this game it was rather terrible from PSV. They fell behind to an Armando Broja goal in the fourth minute as their new-look back three (Pablo Rosario dropping into the middle of the defence) was sliced apart by Vitesse flooding forward. Way too narrow for a back trio, never easy making tactical changes on a few days’ notice, aye?
PSV then struggled to make the most of some really good opportunities, like when Yorbe Vertessen should’ve scored after he tackling the keeper, who’d made a horror first touch, only to miss-hit his finish off balance. It was a tight angle but no keeper in his way. Damn, dude. To be fair to him, Loïs Openda missed a much worse one for Vitesse soon after. Edge of the area with an open goal and he hit the post. There was also a VAR check for a penalty against PSV which ended up being a free kick just outside, Yann Mvogo making a very good low save from that bad boy. The game going poorly enough that Max and Malen were both brought on at the break with the back three experiment abandoned.
That still didn’t quite fix things so in the 64th minute they made two more changes: Ryan Thomas and Mario Götze both coming on. Two minutes later Donyell Malen did the business to get things back even with a strong finish under the keeper... and the rest of the match it was one-way traffic. Shots after shots and just as the hourglass was running out of sand old mate Gotze popped up with a rapid double, scoring from close range in the 86th min and then again in the 88th. The second one was the relevant one. Zahavi had put Ryan Thomas through with an audacious back-heel and Thomas had only the keeper to beat... but chose to square to Götze for the sitter instead. Very unselfish of him. But the lads look happy.
Up Next: Huuuge week, as the second leg against Olympiacos is on at 9am on Friday before they host Ajax in the Eredivisie on Monday at 2.30am (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Brighton & Hove Albion (English Super League)
That explains Stotty’s increasingly unexplained absence from Brighton’s matchday squads. Can only hope that those medical reasons aren’t too serious and that there’s a full and joyous recovery on the way for one of Aotearoa’s highest achieving footballers of the last decade. Stott leaves Brighton having played seven times (five starts) for 419 minutes in the WSL – including games against Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal & Chelsea. Stott hadn’t been involved since before Christmas though... turns out there was a very good reason for that and as things stand that reason is none of our business. Best wishes to Stotty.
Here’s what manager Hope Powell had to add: “We wish Rebekah all the best and fully support her decision to return home. In her relatively short time with us Stotty has become an extremely popular member of the squad who is liked and respected by everyone and we wish her all the best.”
Up Next: More important things
Winston Reid - Brentford FC (English Championship)
The end of a 21-game unbeaten streak was followed by a midweek trip to QPR and that was all the encouragement that Thomas Frank needed to give Reidy his first start in the Championship since the 2012 Playoff Final where he played ninety mins for West Ham in a 2-1 win over Blackpool. A West Ham side managed by Sam Allardyce with illustrious names such as Rob Green, Carlton Cole, Kevin Nolan, Jack Collison... and, yes, Mark Noble in its ranks. Those were the days.
Here he started alongside Mads Bech Sørensen, with star CB Ethan Pinnock rested for the contest. There’s been a lot of rotation from gaffer Frank lately with the cramped fixture list being as it is so chances were going to eventuate this way... and for most of the game it all went swell. Winston played like he was in mid-season form, never out of position and showing off some fine long-passing range as well. That control fed its way up the park and Brentford deservedly took a 30th minute lead through, who else, Ivan Toney as he got a touch on a Mathias Jensen free kick. Jensen also had a decent crack from range after some outrageous skill while Toney had a free kick deflected over. Not a vintage day for Brentford but they were looking comfortable and Winston was playing well.
Then things changed very quickly. A couple poor defensive headers in the box invited more pressure rather than clearing that pressure and all of a sudden substitute Sam Field ran onto one of those loosies and pumped it low into the goal. That was in the 72nd minute. About six minutes later Charlie Austin popped up with a shot that deflected in after the right side of defence didn’t deal with an initial ball over the top. Two defensive lapses, two goals, two on-loan West Brom players doing the damage. The Bees went hundies for an equaliser but ran out of time. 21 games without defeat then two losses in a row, damn.
Manager Thomas Frank: “Winston showed why we got him in on loan. He showed his experience and I was pleased with his performance. We need all our players, to keep freshness in the team. Ethan has been one of our most solid players this season, and has done very well, but has also played the most minutes so far. We are playing every third or fourth day, so we were speaking about it for a few days now that he needed a rest.”
Then the buggers went and made it three defeats in a row as they were dropped 2-0 by Coventry. Winston Reid was back on the bench with Sørensen and Pinnock starting, though he was subbed on for the last 25 minutes of the match. By that time the damage was done though. Left-back Rico Henry gave away a 19th min penalty when he raised a boot in the corner of the box against a dude heading away from goal, bit soft but also very unnecessary. Tyler Walker converted from the spot and the same bloke then scored a slick second in the 54th as he turned and slammed a shot into the bottom corner.
Brentford were without the rested Ivan Toney and despite some flashes of their usual selves this was a dull performance and a deserved defeat. Reid replaced an injured Henry when he came on with the Bees moving to a back three. Dunno if that’s something that might continue but they really do need a shot in the arm somehow as this February slump has they’ve now fallen seven points behind first placed Norwich, ahead of Watford only on goal difference while Swansea have two games in hand and are only one point back.
Up Next: Brentford vs Sheffield Wednesday, Thursday at 8am (NZT)
Olivia Chance - Brisbane Roar (Australian W-League)
W-League.com: “Brisbane Roar midfield Olivia Chance struck a lethal, swerving shot from distance to put her side ahead against Perth Glory on Sunday afternoon, and clinch Goal of the Week for Round 9. Chance rifled the Roar into the lead in the 22nd minute - the first of four goals Brisbane scored in the 4-0 rout. Benefiting from being left in acres of space on the edge of the box, Chance took Isobel Dalton's cut-back first time with a left-footed strike. The shot flew off the boot, swerving outwards as it flew past Glory 'keeper Lily Alfeld and into the back of the net to get the home fans at Lions Stadium off their feet and spark a rampant Roar performance.”
Doesn’t get much better than a strike like that and it’s no less than Olivia Chance deserved after a run of top notch performances since working her way into the starting XI at Brisbane. But this was the best showing yet. Up against Perth and their trio of kiwi ballers, that meant it was compatriot Lily Alfeld who she beat with that 22nd minute strike. Gotta be pretty onto it to beat Alfeld at the moment.
This game was about as one-sided as it sounds. Perth are winless, Brisbane haven’t lost. Emily Gielnik managed to turn past Liz Anton in the 10th min and get a shot away that Alfeld pushed away to safety. Alfeld again had to get a hand on a Gielnik cross that might’ve been sneaking in soon after. Then Chance scored that brilliant goal and five mins after that Gielnik scored a stunner of her own from just over halfway, chipping Lily Alfeld by the tiniest margins. Alfeld got a hand to it but didn’t quite have her feet under her as she backtracked and couldn’t stop it. Should probably have done so but even the best make mistakes sometimes.
Brisbane hit the crossbar later on, as well as Alfeld tipping a deflection wide on the scramble, then in the 50th minute they put it beyond worry as Liv Chance picked up the ball in midfield and fed it wide to Gielnik who then lashed in her second of the evening. Log that as an assist for Liv Chance to go with the goal. Chance was subbed off along with Leticia McKenna in the 72nd minute with the job well done... one of the subs who came in was Larisa Crummer and she put a fourth away tight near the end. A tap in to cap her return from a long run of injuries.
4-0 to Brisbane Roar. Five wins in a row for Brisbane... which coincides exactly with Chance breaking into the starters. Outstanding.
So of course there was a bit of this as well...
W-League Team of the Week: “”The New Zealand international has been one of Roar's most consistent players in 2020/21 and chose the perfect time to score her first Westfield W-League goal. And it was worth the wait too, with her venomous strike giving the keeper no chance, while she added an assist as well in a player of the match performance at Lions Stadium on Sunday night.”
Up Next: A week off... then Canberra vs Brisbane on Sunday 7 March at 6.05pm (NZT)
Lily Alfeld, Elizabeth Anton & Malia Steinmetz – Perth Glory (Australian W-League)
All three of this lot got ninety minutes against Brisbane but yeah that was not a particularly enjoyable game from this side of proceedings. Luckily Perth also played a few days earlier when they came up against Western Sydney Wanderers... although unluckily they lost that one too. Only 1-0 though. Not as bad. Julie-Ann Russell with the winner for the home side just before half-time swung around.
These are the fine margins for this young and inexperienced Perth team as they played possibly their best game of the season but just weren’t able to capitalise. The Kiwi trio were all excellent. Anton won an intercept early on that set up a long-ranger shot from Taneesha Baker that went narrowly wide while Hana Lowry really shoulda done better in the box soon after but a heavy touch allowed the keeper to gather. Meanwhile they were shutting things down nicely at the back, WSW not really having any chances... until the 45th minute when Caitlin Cooper skipped through the midfield and slid in Russell to score. Bugger.
Western Sydney took confidence from that and began the second half with a head of steam and that’s where Lily Alfeld had to step up to the plate with a series of good stops. Including this one, which was awarded Save of the Week. The third time she’s won that award this season. And in the same week as she also conceded the Goal of the Week, ha!
W-League: “Lily Alfeld's desperate lunging save to tip Lily Copus-Brown's strike from distance off the bar and away from goal has been awarded Save of Round 9. The Perth Glory 'keeper made six saves from seven shots faced in her side's 1-0 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers on Thursday night. A narrow defeat could have been much worse if not for Alfeld's adept goalkeeping performance highlighted by the stunning save to keep Copus-Brown off the scoresheet. Intercepting the ball in the final third, Copus-Brown dispatched a long-range strike, getting underneath the ball in an attempt to loft it over Alfeld and into the back of the net. But Alfeld was up to the task of keeping the audacious shot away. Tracking back with the flight of the ball, Alfeld leapt to get an outstretched glove on the ball and tip it onto the crossbar, getting to her feet to collect the rebound.”
Right on. But Perth never looked like mustering an equaliser. Alfeld kept them in range but no dice there. Steinmetz would be replaced on 72 minutes with cramping in the legs after some serious sledding across the base of midfield. Anton and Alfeld both with full games. Another loss for Perth, who have just one point after five games.
Up Next: Perth vs Sydney, Thursday at 11.35pm (NZT)
Annalie Longo & Claudia Bunge – Melbourne Victory (Australian W-League)
She’s back. Annalie Longo had missed three games over the last month since getting injured in the Melbourne Derby loss. She had been close to playing the previous game but there was no need to rush things with a bye week to follow. Instead she made her return in a safe 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets, in which Kayla Ann Morrison and Catherine Zimmerman had both scored within the first half hour of the game and the Victory had controlled it from there.
The Jets did have a good spell before the break but failed to find a way past Gabriella Garton in goal (not to mention Claudia Bunge in defence) and the Melbourne side were pretty dominant in that second spell. Hit the crossbar once (they also hit the crossbar in between their goals too) and were always more likely to add a third than to concede a first. Rhianna Pollicina was sent off for the Jets in stoppage time after picking up a second yellow. That made it three wins in a row for the Victory, giving their finals hopes a lovely boost. Full game and a clean sheet for Bunge, 23 minutes and plenty of touches for Longo.
Up Next: Melbourne Victory vs Canberra Utd, Sunday at 6.05pm (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Sint-Truiden (Belgian Pro League)
Libby speaks! This after a goalless draw away to Royal Antwerp, which by all accounts was an absolutely shocking game of football in which a whole lot of sideways passes added up to very few exciting moments. But having no drama was no drama for STVV. Keeps the points tally ticking over as they seek to stay above the drop zone – they’re now five points clear with six more games to play. Meanwhile Antwerp really needed to win this to keep any hope of catching Club Brugge at the top and they didn’t. One team satisfied, one team not.
In fairness to Antwerp, they’d played a Europa League tie against Rangers three days earlier and they have the second leg (they’re 4-3 down atm) in a few more days so you can understand them being a little tired/unfocussed. Antwerp still had more of the better chances, although the best chance of all fell to Yuya Suzuki who volleyed over from a great position running onto a free kick curled in behind the line in the 66th min. There was also a goal disallowed for Sint-Truiden that was a tad debatable... more than a tad, actually. Big old dive by a defender off a crossed free kick, off the ball and everything. STVV then survived some pressure towards the end to secure the draw. For those of you too lazy to listen to Cacace’s perspective, he reckoned they defended well for their clean sheet, should have scored when they had the chance, but they’re happy with a point.
Up Next: STVV vs Eupen, Monday at 8.45am (NZT)
Matt Garbett – Falkenbergs FF (Swedish Superettan)
Slick little finish that. This goal came in a pre-season friendly, a 4-2 defeat against Swedish champions Malmö which to be honest is a pretty commendable result for a squad that just got relegated. They conceded nine minutes in but had scattered chances throughout the first half... then they conceded again right at the start of the second half and were 3-0 down on 64 mins. Adam Bergmark Wilberg rolled in a consolation goal in the 72nd min before Matty Garbett got on the scoresheet himself in the 79th and suddenly it was 3-2... but Malmö made sure of it with a couple mins to go.
Garbs played off the bench which is in keeping with his role last season, keep putting them away like that and he should get plenty of chances as FFF seek immediate promotion back to the top flight. Among the clubs FFF will be up against there are IFK Värnamo, who launched themselves up from the third tier thanks in part to the efforts of Francis de Vries and Joel Stevens (both of whom are still with the club).
Falkenbergs then got the proper footy (sort of) underway with a 3-1 win over Utsiktens in the League Cup group stages. A hat-trick for Adam Bergmark Wiberg. Garbett was subbed on for the last twenty minutes. ABW’s third came in the 83rd minute only moments after they’d nearly conceded an equaliser... dramatic way to start things. It was in the League Cup that Garbett made his professional debut last year.
Up Next: Monday at 3am against Degefors in the League Cup, while the Superettan season starts in April (NZT)
Michael Woud – Almere City (Dutch Eerste Divisie)
The quest for promotion took another knock with a midweek loss to Helmond Sport. Bit of a dagger after losing 4-0 to NAC the game previous. Two straight defeats drops Almere out of the second automatic promotion spot – though there are still 14 more games to play. Long way to go.
Woud was given no chance in the sixth min as Arno Van Keilegom got a shot away but luckily it came back off the post so all goods. Almere City should have then taken the lead with a couple good sights of goal but they bottled things and then a super counter attacking move led to Jelle Goselink poking in from a tricky angle at the far post on 28 mins. Woud got a hand to the low cross but couldn’t stop it getting through. Could have been better defended at the back stick too. Almere would clip the crossbar from a free kick later on, then John Yeboah did more than just clip the bar soon after the break. Didn’t make ‘em count, so Lance Duijvestijn bashed a second in for Helmond on 81 mins that Woud couldn’t have gotten to if he had eight octopus arms. Thomas Verheydt did drag one back five mins from time for AC but there was no second. 2-1 defeat against a lower-mid-table team... can’t be having too many more of those if Almere City are to be promoted.
They bounced back a few days later away against TOP Oss. Thomas Verheydt picked up where he left off with a seventh minute goal, rightfully given despite a little debate whether his header had crossed the line. Woud nearly made a mess of a long shot that he fumbled towards a striker but he got away with that and Daniël Breedijk soon made it 2-0 to AC instead, lovely stuff.
However the second half had some trouble. Philippe Rommens pulled a goal back for a desperate Oss team on 51 mins and then a late touch from Kyvon Leidsman, diverting a shot from Rube Roosken into the roof of the net, with twenty to play had things all tied up and Almere City in panic mode. Until, that was, John Yeboah put them back in front with ten minutes remaining and Elias Sörensen sealed it late on. Definitely second best in the second half but they withstood the force to score on the break and then clinch it late on, sweet as. Highlights for that one aren’t up yet but here’s the first goal...
Up Next: Massive game against first-placed Cambuur, Monday at 12.15am (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga)
Really fascinating peek behind the curtains this week at Sarpreet Singh’s situation thanks to a Bayern Munich club website interview with Jochen Sauer who is the boss of the Bayern Munich academy. He touched upon the situations of a number of academy players during that chat, here’s what he specifically had to say about Sarpreet...
“Sarpeet recently had a great year with us. He trained with the professionals and performed really well in the third division. In the summer the opportunity arose for him to take the next steps in his career at a traditional club like Nuremberg. But you never know beforehand whether that will work or not. He didn't get the playing time there that he imagined. Nuremberg is currently in a difficult phase in terms of results, so it is even more difficult for every player. We brought Sarpreet back and are now trying to give him the games he needs to get back to his level before the Nuremberg move. We are very confident that he will now help us again and get a personal boost.”
Good yarns. Singh didn’t play this week for the reserves though, he was listed as being “sick”. This just a day or two after his birthday, hmm. Perhaps a couple too many slices of birthday cake?
Up Next: Dynamo vs BM2, Thursday at 7am (NZT)
Marko Stamenic – FC Kobenhavn (Danish Superliga)
More good yarns. Just a matter of time before Marko gets his next Superliga opportunity.
Up Next: FCK vs AGF, Monday at 4am (NZT)
Callum McCowatt - FC Helsingør (Danish Division 1)
It’s only CMC at the moment, Eli Just and Dalton Wilkins still out injured, but things are going good for FCH. A 50th minute goal from Carl Lange getting them a 1-0 win over Hobro. A scrappy game at times but they ground it out for a second straight win coming out of the winter break. McCowatt played 70 minutes before he was replaced. Nicely done.
Meanwhile if you were wondering what’s happened to Sean Bright since he missed out on a contract after his trial with FCH, and since FCH promised to help him land on his feet elsewhere in Denmark...
There ya go. Hillerød play in Division 2 in Denmark, the same level that Helsingør were recently promoted from. Also the same level that Wellington Phoenix academy grad Ronan Wynne played six times late last year with FC Roskilde before heading to the States where he’s attending the University of Denver.
Up Next: Saturday at 7am against FC Fredericia (NZT)
Callan Elliot - Xanthi (Greek Super League 2)
Ooookay, didn’t see this coming. Tony Popovic is already out at Xanthi, despite coming off a win and despite only being in charge for nine games and despite having been hand-picked by the club’s Aussie owner to take charge of their quest for promotion. And the club statement that announced the sacking (“The Board of Directors of AO XANTHI PAE, announces the immediate end of its cooperation with the Team Coach, Tony Popovic.”) only had two paragraphs and no explanation. Didn’t even make it to their twitter account.
It sounds like Popovic’s style of play hasn’t gone down too well, some chat about the local players not buying what Poppa’s selling. Callan Elliot hasn’t made his debut for the club but has been on the bench a couple times. Not sure what this means for him or indeed for any of the Aussie guys that Popovic brought over, SBS are reporting that they’re all shocked and they got some anonymous quotes from one of the ex-A-Legaue dudes that basically said: what, did they expect us to win every game 5-0 or something? Safe to say Pop’s two sons won’t be chuffed, we’ll see how Callan Elliot who wasn’t even playing anyway shakes out in due course. Who’d have though Popovic would last an even shorter time at Xanthi than Kevin Muscat did at STVV?
Up Next: Away to Panachaiki, Monday at 1.45am (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Colchester United (English League Two)
No own goals to report this week. Tommy Smith actually found himself having to play out at left-back, where he did a typically commendable job. There was one sliding block in the second half in particular, that was some top shelf defending. Both Colchester and Crawley are in a bit of a slump of form and chances weren’t too regular, nah this was a game that felt like it was slouching towards a scoreless draw for most of the way... until the 93rd minute of the game when James Tilley scored for Crawley. Urgh. Pain. That’s now twelve games in a row without a win for The U’s – sliding them from a position where they were battling for the playoffs before Christmas and now they’re fifth from bottom. It’s not been good.
Up Next: Weds at 8am against Exeter City (NZT)
Myer Bevan - TS Galaxy FC (South African Premier Soccer League)
Those there were the first minutes Bevan has played since mid-January as he’s really had to stay patient in his first season in South Africa. It started with some work permit delays that kept him out for the start of the season then after a couple promising substitute cameos it seemed he was nicely poised... except then it took him another month to get back on the pitch. Having to work his way up from the ground floor, apparently.
TS Galaxy drew this game 1-1 away at Chippa United. The hosts finishing the game with ten men but TSG unable to take advantage with a winner after Lindokuhle John Mbatha had earlier got them level from the penalty spot (66th min), that after Andile Mbenyane had scored his own penalty in the 61st min for Chippa.
Up Next: Home vs Bloem Celtic on Thursday at 2am (NZT)
Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)
Where is Chris Wood? He’s still injured.
And it’s an injury that seems to be lingering since he went off hurt against Chelsea at the start of the month. Leading into Burnley’s match on the weekend against West Brom, Sean Dyche said that he was “close”. But when the team sheet was released he wasn’t on it... as Burnley went on to scrape through to a 0-0 draw against a team that had a 30th minute red card, lucky not to lose it. An awful performance.
That makes it six games that Wood has been absent for. A breathless run of fixtures that’s seen them lose 2-0 to Manchester City, draw 1-1 with Brighton, lose 2-0 to Bournemouth in the FA Cup, win 3-0 away to Crystal Palace, then draw 1-1 with Fulham and 0-0 with West Brom. The Palace result was a beauty but other than that it’s been tough slogging – not helped by Wood’s injury coinciding with quite a few others.
Jack Cork missed most of the season. Ashley Barnes has been in and out with injury the whole way. Ben Mee missed the first seven games. Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Robbie Brady, Matej Vydra, Dale Stephens, Charlie Taylor, Phil Bardsley... they’ve all missed at least five games. Now Chris Wood is in that five-game group too thanks entirely to the month of February. The good news is that they don’t play again this month. There’s a much-needed midweek off before they travel to London to face Spurs so if Wood was already close before this, he should hopefully be good to go by then.
Up Next: Tottenham vs Burnley, 3am on Monday (NZT)
Ali Riley - Orlando Pride (American National Women’s Soccer League)
A few more highlights from Ali Riley’s ongoing (virtual) preseason media tour...
Up Next: New season kicks off on 16 May (NZT)
Have a peek at our Patreon if you wanna chip in for the TNC, helping us to keep on producing all the podcasts and articles and whatnot
Also sign up to our most excellent email thing and whack an ad as well, might as well