Flying Kiwis – August 4
Abby Erceg – North Carolina Courage (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Hardest working... Saturday’s match... but she was only just the Olympics? Yeah well she was and then she was back in North Carolina and nobody on the planet can doubt the hardest-workingness of NCC’s Kiwi. Three difficult games in seven days in Tokyo and then not even five days later she was back in America captaining the Courage against Orlando Pride. Keep in mind that there’s a 13 hour time difference between the two cities and that it’s estimated as a 16 hour flight. The coach said she only arrived late in the night two days before the game (which was an afternoon kickoff). Incredible workload.
At least the Pride were generous enough to let Ali Riley have that game off (seems she’s taken a detour to Sweden to see her partner, fair enough)... though the Courage haven’t been going to flash in Erceg - and Debinha and their USA internationals’ - absence. They lost her last game before shipping out, which was after all their other Olympians had left, and then fell 2-1 to Houston and drew 0-0 with last-placed Kansas City while she was gone. So that might have a thing to do with why she was rushed back in – crazy to think that Erceg played a full Olympic campaign and only missed two club games. That and also because she’s an unreal footballing machine with fitness levels that make Grecian deities look like chumps.
But the winless streak is up to four games now after a 1-1 draw here. In a very competitive match, Orlando took the lead five minutes after half-time though Sydney Leroux, no surprises there, but NCC hit back within two minutes as Brittany Ratcliffe worked some space in the box and buried her shot. The Courage then had the stronger moments the rest of the way, with Carson Pickett forcing a diving save and Havana Solaun hitting the post from distance, but a draw was the way it ended. Both teams were up near the top of the standings before their Olympians began disappearing but both have tumbled down the ladder since. Orlando don’t even have a manager at the moment after Marc Skinner left to take the Manchester United gig in the WSL. Becky Burleigh has taken over in the interim.
Up Next: Gotham vs NCC at 11am on Sunday (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - SSV Jahn Regensburg (German 2. Liga)
A goal on debut, now an assist in game two. SSV Jahn weren’t expecting to be anything other than a midtable team at best but in the most stacked 2. Liga ever they’ve surged out of the blocks with back to back wins.
The latest was a 3-0 clincher against Sandhausen. Carlo Boukhalfa had given them the lead in the 34th minute picking up the ball on the edge of the area, after Sarpreet Singh had miscontrolled it, and slamming it into the bottom corner with glee. This was Boukhalfa’s starting debut himself so it must be something in the club water bottles. A good time to score too because SSV Jahn had been the better team from the opening kickoff but their opponents were just starting to grow in confidence when they finally broke them down.
It took a retreating clearance off the line to preserve the lead into the half, but then we got a longer glimpse of what Regensburg are capable of as first Andreas Albers and then David Otto and then Sarpreet Singh all drew saves out of the Sandhausen goalie before Canadian defender Scott Kennedy headed home from a corner kick for a deserved two-goal lead. With quarter of an hour left there was a second yellow for Sandhausen’s Oumar Diakhite... and then Sarpreet Singh put one on a platter for Joel Zwarts to tap in with not long to go and that was the 3-0 win in a nutshell.
According to the Bundesliga website, Singh was the most pressed player on the field. 35 times he was rushed on the ball and while he did cough the thing up a couple times he also had five key passes per WhoScored to go with three shots, with one on target. He was subbed off soon after the third goal with the job well and truly taken care of. Seems like he’s enjoying himself the second time around in this division.
Up Next: DFB Pokal first round action away to TuS RW Koblenz on Monday at 1.30am (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
After that 5-1 first leg UCL qualifying win over Galatasaray last week the away leg felt like a lovely time to give Thommo more of a run out there on his way back from the ankle injury that ended his previous season. Maybe even a start there with the result basically taken care of.
But nah he didn’t even travel. Instead he stayed behind with a “minor injury”. Thomas had played in a friendly game a couple days after the first leg against Galatasaray, a game against FC Eindhoven for those who didn’t get big minutes in that UCL match (Thomas came off the bench in both), but somewhere along the way he picked up a niggle.
PSV did what needed doing without him as they beat Galatasaray 2-1 in the away leg thanks to goals from Noni Madueka and Marco van Ginkel. Olivier Boscagli did get a second half red card though which meant he missed the first leg of the subsequent tie against FC Midtjylland of Denmark - who knocked Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic out in extra time to advance to that point. That Midtylland game was still too soon for Ryan Thomas to return, however the word is that he is expected to be back for the game against Ajax on the weekend in the Johan Cruyff Shield... which is the Community Shield of Dutch footy. A trophy on the line albeit not a priority one and getting into the Champions League group stage is by far the main target.
Roger Schmidt: “Ryan Thomas has some ankle problems, but nothing serious. We hope he can join us on Saturday”
And that target’s looking good after a comprehensive 3-0 win in the first leg. A thirteen minute blitz between minutes 19-32 saw Noni Madueke, Mario Gotze, and Cody Gakpo all score. Madueke’s was the pick of the bunch with a beautiful curling left-footed strike from the young English winger... who then nearly injured himself scaling the advertising hoardings in his celebration. The second half was more wasteful as PSV didn’t quite hammer home their dominance again as they had in the initial 45 but they’re still in a brilliant position heading to Denmark for the second leg. Get through that one (and note that FCM are missing several players after a coronavirus outbreak) and there’s one more round of qualifying before the UCL group stages are a reality. The victors of Spartak Moscow (Russia) vs Benfica (Portugal) will await in that final playoff round for whoever advances.
Meanwhile it’s transfer season at the Dutch club. Donyell Malen completed his move to Dortmund last week for decent coin (rumoured to be around €35m) so there’s your Jadon Sancho replacement right there. Midfielder Pablo Rosario has also left, he’s signed for Nice in France. Plus Mo Ihattaren’s days at PSV seem numbered as his dramas continue. Ihattaren didn’t play a minute in either leg against Galatasaray and after having been a bit of a wonder kid a couple years ago (he’s still only 19 years old), things have changed drastically as his attitude hasn’t impressed manager Roger Schmidt and opportunities to play have been scarce. Wesley Sneijder was talking about it as a pundit recently and he basically said that if Ryan Thomas is playing ahead of you then it’s time to go... bit harsh of him but maybe something got lost in translation. The final straw for the club appears to have come as Ihatarren had reported sick for the second leg against Galatasaray but then was photographed out with his agent Mino Raiola... yes, that guy. Hence Schmidt has told him he’s no longer to train with the first team, putting him on an individual regime instead.
Up Next: Ajax vs PSV, Johan Cruyff Shield at 6am on Sunday... plus it’s Midtjylland on Wednesday at 6am (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Back in the starting line-up for Billy T and... it didn’t go well. LA Galaxy were the hosts and Tuiloma walked out in a back four alongside Larrys Mabiala (with Dario Zuparic dropping to the bench). He nearly helped spark a perfect start as his volleyed pass out of defence picked out a teammate on halfway in the second minute of the match but Jeremy Ebobisse couldn’t score 1v1 with the keeper. Yet fast forward to 27 mins played and the Galaxy were celebrating a Rayan Raveloson bicycle kick to open the scoring.
Portland hit back straight away. Ebobisse picked out in the box and he showed great composure to cut back in and pick his spot not even two minutes after they’d gone behind. They had a decent chance to go ahead immediately after that with Ebobisse drawing a ripper save outta the LAG goalie, this game was going end to end at this stage and Tuiloma was having to stretch his legs to keep up with fellas. However it was the Galaxy who struck next. Victor Vasquez with a fine header in the 34th and Portland weren’t able to respond this time.
Into the second half and the Timbers copped another blow as their keeper came out swinging for a bouncing ball in his area and got there late, driving a punch into the back of a striker’s head. That was a penalty. Sacha Kljestain converted down the middle. 3-1 in the 53rd min and soon afterwards a Samuel Grandsir header dashing onto a cross chipped deep made it four. Pretty much over as far as the result was concerned at that point. A brilliant save from Tyler Miller/horrible miss by Kevin Cabral with quarter of an hour left at least kept it from getting worse. 4-1 the final score. Not good. Flush the dunny and move on.
Elsewhere Elliot Collier and Michael Boxall were both injured so nothing from them this week. Kind of a relief to see that Boxall didn’t return while the OlyWhites were still in action as had been hinted might happen by Minnesota United – there were shenanigans, there was subterfuge, there was straight up bullshit... but end of the day he wouldn’t have been able to play anyway so same result just a whole lot stranger than it needed to be. OlyWhites shoulda just replaced him when they had the chance, oh well.
Up Next: Portland vs San Jose on Thursday at 2.30pm (NZT)
Max Crocombe – Grimsby Town (English National League)
After a couple of up and down years in Australia with Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory – making 16 A-League appearances across those two seasons, unable to hold onto the starting gig at either for as long as he’d have liked – it’s back to England now for goalie Max Crocombe. Back to England and back to a division that he’s familiar with having signed a one-year deal with Grimsby Town.
Grimsby Town are a pretty well known club and not only because of that Sacha Baron Cohen movie. They were a First Division (aka Championship) club as recently as 2002–03 but back to back relegations left them in a mess and by 2011 they were playing in the National League. Six years later they were promoted back into League Two – finally getting through the playoffs at the fourth time of asking in a row – but they never managed a top half of the table finish in five seasons and they’ve just been relegated back to non-league footy again after coming last in 2020-21.
There’s been chaos on and off the pitch, probably hitting a nadir when Iain Holloway resigned as manager in late 2020, but there are new owners in place now and there’s some hope that they can bounce straight back up again. They’ve certainly got a goalie who knows how to go about that task having done so with Salford City a couple years back.
Max Crocombe: “At the end of the season last year in Australia, I made the decision that I wanted to come back home, so I flew back, Grimsby got in contact with me, I spoke to the gaffer and everything moved on from there. The training was wicked, I loved it. It was really high-intensity training and I just loved getting back out on the grass after the offseason and everything so I was happy to be back. Having a bit of experience with that [promotion] before it definitely helps. Everyone is geared towards promotion here, we have got some good players and from my first day, I can see we've got a real hunger here so I am delighted to be here and those experiences of promotion can help us.”
It doesn’t sound like he’s necessarily gonna be a starter here either though. 32 year old Irishman James McKeown has played more than 400 games for the club having been there for over a decade and the indication from the manager’s words in the Crocombe announcement is that he sees MC as a backup to begin with and it’s up to him to apply the pressure to McKeown and try to win that spot off him.
GTFC Manager Paul Hurst: “With regards Max, I had a good chat with him earlier in the week when the first discussions took place. He seems really keen, he wants to push and be involved, but he understands the situation. It is important for me to be honest with him, we just had a keeper get a testimonial but that doesn't guarantee that he's going to play and Macca knows that, but what I do want is to be comfortable that whoever I put between the sticks can perform well and hopefully push each other on.
When you've experienced success it can often make you hungry for more. After speaking to him, his experience over in Australia, certainly more recently it maybe wasn't quite as intense as what he would like to have been involved in, he's played against Grimsby before, he knows what the fans are like and the aims for the season, so he was keen to get involved on that front. Once we had our conversation on Monday, it moved quite quickly, it was a fairly easy deal to get done and it was important we chatted about the whole situation and I never promise anyone that they're going to play and I made that clear, but Max will back himself to try and get that number one spot.”
Up Next: New season begins away to Bromley on 22 August at 2am (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Colchester United (English League Two)
Up against the old club and Cap’n Tom got on the scoresheet. This was a preseason friendly and as discussed last week Smithy was only one of a heap of Ipswich old boys who are now plying their trade for the U’s. Alan Judge and Frank Nouble also got goals this day so all three of Colchester’s scorers were former Ipswich players... the game ended 3-3 as Ipswich’s Wes Burn buried a late direct free kick. Full game for Smithy. They’ve also had a 1-1 friendly draw against Wealdstone since then to polish off the preseason festivities. Next time they take the field it’ll be for realskees.
Now for a bit of fun at the season launch...
Up Next: Carlisle vs Colchester on Sunday at 2am, opening weekend of EFL League Two (NZT)
Nikko Boxall – SJK (Finnish Veikkausliiga)
That right there is Nikko Boxall and SJK’s finest clean sheet of the season. They kept runaway leaders HJK scoreless for a 0-0 draw. Unable to grab a winner themselves despite having quite a few useful moments in a great first half performance but down the stretch things took on more of an expected nature, particularly after ex-Auckland City midfielder David Browne came on, and SJK will be pretty stoked to have held on and claimed a point against a team that had win 11 out of 13 league games to that point. SJK will probably get a week off now after their scheduled next opponents had a coronavirus outbreak in their squad. Bit of a worry that this is the second time that situation has arisen in this same Flying Kiwis write-up.
Up Next: 2am on Sunday 15 Aug against Honka (NZT)
Ryan De Vries – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)
The UEFA Europa Conference League journey ended in a disappointing defeat and now the Bit ‘O Red have been bounced out of the FAI Cup in the first round by a team near the bottom of the second tier. Sligo Rovers lost 3-2 to Cork City despite a double from Romeo Parkes. But a Dale Holland winner in the 88th minute then sealed the upset. Ryan De Vries didn’t play the cup game – he was one of a couple of regulars who were, perhaps complacently, left on the bench throughout. The manager took some flack for those decisions, he said afterwards that he felt if they took it to extra time then their superior fitness would get them through without having to make too many changes but obviously that backfired. At least their league form is still great. Third place after 20 games with a game in hand that could put them second.
Up Next: Sligo Rovers vs Finn Harps on Sunday at 6.45am (NZT)
Kyle Adams & Max Mata - Real Monarchs (American USL Championship)
RSL.com: “Veteran defender Kyle Adams played well on the road for the Monarch, anchoring the team’s defense. With five clearances, two interceptions and a tackle, Adams was a strong defensive presence throughout the night. In addition, the defender won six duels, including two In the air. Adams rounded out the night with solid distribution, completing 87.5% of his passes.”
Not sure how he feels about being a veteran defender at age 24 but it’s all relative, s’pose, and the USL Championship does tend to trend towards younger players. That will have been a bittersweet MOM honour for Kyle though. On the one hand he had a really solid game against El Paso Locomotive. On the other hand they lost 3-1 after taking an early lead so it wasn’t exactly a winning performance. Could be bittersweet next time too for different reasons as his old club RGV Toros come to town.
There was also a feature article on Max Mata on the Monarchs’ website this week, or rather the Real Salt Lake website seeing as this is their feeder team. This after Mata’s first goal for the club last week. Wasn’t enough to get him into the starting eleven for the El Paso game although he did get 26 mins off the bench, it’s been a slow process for him getting those minutes up. Hence it was pretty interesting getting a team perspective on what he’s up to.
Assistant Coach Cody Worden: “[Mata’s] ball striking and his hold up game have been second to none. He really strikes the football which is absolutely fantastic. He’s also a natural leader. He demands a lot of himself, so it’s easier for him to demand a lot of others. He’s been a warrior for us and that’s great because we’ve been able to rally behind that.”
Sounds like he should be starting more then, surely.
Up Next: Thursday at 2pm at home to RGV Toros (NZT)
Deklan Wynne - OKC Energy (American USL Championship)
Last week Dekkers made his long long long awaited return to the professional football field after more than two years out injured or stuck on the bench or some random limbo phase in between. This week he was into the starting lineup. Out there at left wingback for the Energy as they went down 2-1 away to Louisville City. The home side hit the post early and they eventually took the lead in the 37th minute as Conor Donovan diverted a low cutback into his own net. The teams would trade penalties in the final fifteen mins but while OKC did finish on the front foot they ran out of time to find a second. Still, a full game for Deklan Wynne. Gotta go back to 20 May 2019 for the last time he did that.
Elsewhere in the USL Champo, Phoenix Rising continue to be the team setting the standard, they won 3-1 against RGV Toros most recently and James Musa is anchoring one of the best defences in the competition. Noah Billingsley missed that game though, still waiting for him to get some deeper minutes a lot like Max Mata’s situation (only with more injuries).
Up Next: Sunday at 12.30pm it’s OKC Energy vs Memphis 901 (NZT)
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