This Was A Wake-Up Call

If the All Whites are gonna achieve what they’re setting out to achieve this year and into the future then they need to be beating teams like Jordan. Fair play to Jordan, they’re the strongest team that the AW’s have played since being beaten by the Republic of Ireland in Danny Hay’s first game in charge... but it’ll be a stronger team than Jordan that the All Whites come up against if they make the intercontinental playoff later in the year.

Instead they were blunted and frustrated. A surprisingly timid All Whites performance allowed Jordan to remain all the way in their bag with a deep defensive line and some silky counter attacking footy. Their first goal kinda came out of nothing but it was beautifully worked. By the time they added the third (after the teams traded softly-conceded penalties in the first half) with ten to play they’d hammered home a controlled and composed victory. Jordan are a seriously well-drilled team after playing a mind-boggling 24 matches in 2021 (compared to three for Aotearoa, coming off a 600-day absence). They knew exactly how they were going to win this game and then proceeded to do so.

For the All Whites, they had a lot of good possession in deep areas but weren’t able to translate that into many decent attacking chances. Even the goal they scored was pretty fortunate in how it came about. There were little flashes but overall the levels simply weren’t where they needed to be. The execution wasn’t where it needed to be. With all the hype and excitement, it’s easy to forget how young and inexperienced this squad is. Plus they were without a couple of key players. The narrow margins of international footy, mate. Can’t be serving uncooked meals and expecting a positive review. The benchmark has to be higher.

Rustiness And Depth

This was clearly a poor performance from the All Whites... but there are a few decent reasons for that. In effect, this was the fourth game since the All Whites came out of hibernation. They’ve played a couple different starting formations (as well as regularly finishing with a back three). Combinations are constantly changing depending on who’s available. These are things which require time and repetitions to get right.

The squad that was picked didn’t include Liberato Cacace, Kosta Barbarouses, Matthew Garbett, Marco Rojas, or Niko Kirwan. Since the team was named, Stefan Marinovic has had to withdraw (at least from the first game – there’s talk of him linking up if he recovers from covid in time), as did Andre De Jong who was unable to travel from South Africa to the UAE. Also Joe Bell picked up a slight injury along the way which caused him to miss this match. Aotearoa football is as deep as it’s ever been but there are only so many absent players you can cover for until the ropes begin to fray under the weight. Four of those absent bros were starters against The Gambia (Marinovic, Kirwan, Cacace & Bell).

Then on top of that, how many blokes are match fit at the moment? Here’s the starting eleven and when they last played a competitive game. Winter breaks and offseasons are rife.

Michael Woud – 1 November | Helmond Sport vs Almere City
Bill Tuiloma – 4 November | Real Salt Lake vs Portland Timbers
Winston Reid – 16 November | New Zealand vs The Gambia
Tim Payne – 21 January | Wellington Phoenix vs Western United
Francis De Vries – 28 November | Värnamo vs Norrby
Marko Stamenic – 4 December | HB Køge vs Lyngby
Clayton Lewis - 21 January | Wellington Phoenix vs Western United
Elijah Just – 4 December | Hobro vs Helsingør
Sarpreet Singh – 17 January | Sandhausen vs Jahn Regensburg
Logan Rogerson – 1 November | FC Haka vs Mariehamn
Chris Wood – 23 January | Leeds vs Newcastle

Four of those guys are in their offseason/preseason right now. Obviously there have been friendlies in amongst all that but friendlies don’t prepare you for the intensity of international football.

Mistakes Will Not Be Tolerated

Looking specifically at the three goals that the All Whites conceded, the first came about in transition as the AWs overloaded the left edge with their midfield but Jordan were able to centre the ball with Noor Al-Rawabdeh in a hint of space. His first time ball found Yarzan Al Naimat on the turn with the defence retreating around him. Wide to Suleiman, first time in behind for Ali Olwan on the underlap. Olwan thumped it into the roof of the net at the near post.

This was a super goal brought about from quick movement off the ball and sharp passing. In isolation you’d just have to cop that... but the second also had similar tones as Francis De Vries was unable to track a runner down his flank, leading to an unlucky penalty as he attempted a sliding block for the cut-back and the ball struck his balancing arm. Both of those goals coming about through similar ways: runners getting free down the left edge.

Then the third goal was Mistake City as Tim Payne gave the ball away cheaply and then Michael Woud made a ‘mare of the shot from Ali Olwan to allow it to sneak in under him. To put it bluntly, you’re not gonna win too many games when you concede three goals. Especially not when a couple were kinda avoidable. Especially not when oppositions are breaking you down in repeated ways. Especially when you’re not exactly scoring in abundance yourself.

Gotta Figure Out Where The Goals Are Coming From

On that note, this is the main rubiks cube that Danny Hay’s gotta solve. He has the players, just gotta get the combinations going. The All Whites have only scored seven times in six games under Hay (Chris Wood has four of them). Even in their best performances, finding goals to show for their huge midfield improvement has felt like quite a slog. Even in their wins they’ve tended to finish cautiously after failing to put the game to bed, subbing on defenders and soaking up late pressure.

They have a prime goal scorer in Chris Wood so that’s a pretty bloody good start. A lot of nations don’t even have that. We know that Chris Wood is a striker who thrives upon the quality of the service that he gets – he’s not gonna go slaloming past defenders like a Mo Salah or whoever but if you give him three chances in a game he’ll usually put at least one away. So the issue becomes: how do we get The Woodsman the service he needs?

Sarpreet Singh is the obvious man, you only have to look at the goal he set up for Wood against The Gambia. Stunning through ball and Wood did the rest, as per. But Singh was pretty well marshalled by Jordan and couldn’t find the room he required to do what he does. As for the rest of the usual creative outlets: Eli Just was often too deep to affect things, the fullbacks didn’t offer much overlapping punch, Clayton Lewis was often too conservative, Logan Rogerson worked hard off the ball but hardly had a touch on it.

It may well be as simple as guys needing to play more together. There were two new starting fullbacks, a second striker (Rogerson) earning his first cap since June 2016, Lewis did play at the Olympics but it was his first senior cap under Danny Hay, and there were some rather important blokes missing too. Against a very good defensive side too, don’t forget. But yeah the creativity remains a work in progress.

Not Convinced About The 4-4d-2

Danny Hay has stressed the tactical flexibility of his team in being familiar with several different formations. Through his six games to date, he’s either started with a 4-3-3 or a 4-4d-2 (d = diamond midfield, rather than a flat line... think of it like a 4-1-2-1-2 if that’s easier to picture) and he’s usually ended games with a back three... generally a 3-5-2 (or 5-3-2 depending on the depth of the wide defenders). From memory there might have been a 4-5-1 sprinkled in there mid-game on occasion too.

The ability to flow between different tactics is massive for an international team. It gives you the ability to shift things within games, depending on the situation. Overall it’s a really positive feather in the cap. But having options does mean having to make more choices and the diamond midfield against Jordan was one that maybe didn’t work looking back in hindsight.

The thing is, your midfield is already short on numbers, right? No Ryan Thomas or Matt Garbett and an injured Joe Bell left them with only two guys who regularly play midfield for their club teams (Lewis + Stamenic). To be fair there aren’t a heap of other guys to choose from in that position – though Ollie Whyte’s just entered the pro realms – but yeah this was an existing issue with the squad that was picked. One or two centre-backs too many and not enough centre-mids. Plus of course the two starting fullbacks were missing.

Not entirely sure therefore what we were doing playing a four-man midfield which relies on the fullbacks getting forward in order to provide any width. Both Bill Tuiloma and Francis De Vries are out of season at the moment and probably didn’t have the legs to be gunning up and down the flanks anyway. Which meant that Chris Wood was being sucked further wide than he should have been. The best thing about a diamond midfield is the fluidity that it offers but it never felt like guys were creating enough passing options for the bloke on the ball. Much of that was down to the many reasons already discussed (match fitness, a well-drilled opponent, testing the depth, etc.) but some of it was formational too.

Joe Bell Is Lowkey The Team’s Most Important Player

Chris Wood is still the team’s best player while Winston Reid is the captain and kaumātua but the difference between the All Whites with Joe Bell in midfield and without Joe Bell in midfield was stark. Wood needs service. Reid is a defender and the defensive arts rely heavily on teamwork (doesn’t matter if your centre-backs are Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro if a lazy fullback plays a striker onside behind them – that defensive line’s gotta be clicking as a unit). Meanwhile a genuine centre-midfield ties everything together.

You can’t understate the impact of what Joe Bell does. In terms of standards, the Norwegian top flight is obviously behind the English Premier League where Chris Wood earns his wittles. The Belgian top flight where Libby Cacace plays is ahead of it. As is the Swedish top flight though Francis De Vries hasn’t actually played in that one yet. This season there’s a case for the German second tier where Sarpreet Singh plays too. But that’s about it as far as current All Whites lads go.

Point being that the Eliteserien is no joke and Bell doesn’t just participate in Norway, he’s straight up one of the two or three best midfielders in the entire division. Great defensive coverage, superb passing ability, excellent energy. All this in the most important position on the field when it comes to controlling a game of football. That’s what I mean by importance. Like, there’s a genuine case to make that he’s the guy that the All Whites can least afford to lose ahead of an intercontinental playoff (although realistically they can’t afford to lose pretty much anybody from their first choice eleven if they want to get a result in one of those).

Viking just had their best league finish for 14 years with Joe Bell as one of their two best players (it was him and top scorer Veton Berisha running the show). When he was at the University of Virginia, they went all the way to the national tournament final before losing on penalties to Georgetown (Bell scored in the final and was top scorer in the tournament). Not to mention the NZ U20s team that lost on penalties to Colombia in 2019 or the Olympic team of last year which went out on penalties to hosts Japan. Bit of a trend there... for what it’s worth Bell scored his spottie for Virginia, missed for the U20s, and didn’t take one for the OlyWhites. But forget the shootouts, wherever this dude goes his teams overachieve. That ain’t a coincidence.

Chris Wood Is Closing In

That right there was Christopher Wood’s 28th international goal for New Zealand. He is now only one behind Vaughan Coveny’s kiwi record and that most inevitable and deserved of titles will soon be his. He is, beyond doubt, the second greatest striker that Aotearoa has ever produced behind 1993-94 European Cup joint-Golden Boot winner Wynton Rufer... but Wynton was never able to lace ‘em up for the All Whites with anything near the consistency that Chris Wood has done. This was his 61st international cap. He always makes himself available. He regularly bangs away goals. When he finally becomes the nation’s leading scorer it’ll be a fitting reward.

Also, Chris Wood’s penalty taking has been something I’ve kept a close watch upon for a while now. As best as I can figure it (I’m leaving the door slightly ajar in case of mistakes but pretty sure I’m right here) The Woodsman, after he expertly dispatched that lil sucker past Malek Shalabiya into the bottom corner, has now scored 17 consecutive spot kicks for club and country stretching all the way back to when he lifted one into orbit for Leeds against Hull City in April 2016. It’s 23 successful spotties in a row if you include penalty shootout efforts. Look, at some stage he’s gonna miss one. It’s all in the game when it comes to penalties. But if you didn’t already know that Chris Wood is one of the best spot kick takers on the damn planet then, well, now you do.

Right Back Remains An Issue

Bill Tuiloma has played here before. He wasn’t a completely fresh alternative. He filled in a couple of times at right back for the Portland Timbers last season and, although it was a while ago, he has started at left fullback before in an All Whites jersey back in his early international days.

Didn’t see a lot from him here though. He played pretty cautiously on that right edge, mostly holding his position as Jordan attacked down the other side, and didn’t really get forward at all. Honestly can’t remember him doing anything of note (granted it was a 4am kickoff, so, you know). But this isn’t a Bill Tuiloma issue... he’s merely the latest in a long line of All Whites right backs who have failed to nail the position down. It’s an issue that goes all the way back to the pre-Anthony Hudson days. Here are all the players to have started a game for the Aotearoa national men’s team at right fullback or right wingback since Ricki Herbert left the job...

Storm Roux (9 games), Kosta Barbarouses (1), Louis Fenton (4), Kip Colvey (7), Michael Boxall (2), Liam Graham (4), Dane Ingham (5), Adam Mitchell (1), Justin Gulley (2), Tim Payne (1), Niko Kirwan (2), Kelvin Kalua (1), Bill Tuiloma (1)

It was a bit of a surprise looking at the team sheet that Tim Payne played CB while Tuiloma was at RB. Might’ve been better off flipping those around... yet to be fair Tuiloma played RB as though he was an extra CB so it might not have made a difference.

Marko Stamenic is First XI

The All Whites’ best player in this match. Patrolling the defensive midfield areas in the absence of Joe Bell, imposing himself on the contest as he always seems to do. Never one to shy away. Mostly impressive with his distribution though that woulda been better with any feasible width on offer. Then with about half an hour to go he swapped roles with Clayton Lewis and immediately began impacting the game in a different way, his strength on the ball opening up this kinda thing...

Nobody else in the team was doing that. Nobody else was busting lines. Long term there’s little doubt that he’s a defensive-minded midfielder at the highest level but for the All Whites right now he’s probably best a little further forward where he can operate in these sorts of areas. Which in a team with Joe Bell is exactly where he fits in regardless. The trick comes when Ryan Thomas is also available. In that (dream) scenario the 4-4d-2 shape allows you to squeeze all three of them in without having to displace Sarpreet Singh. In the case of a 4-3-3 you’d probably have to chuck Singh out wide with Thommo in the ten role but in fairness that’s where both of them largely play for their club teams so no dramas. Point is that Stamenic has gotta be there either way.

Stocks Up

Not a heap of fellas that this applies to after a 3-1 loss. Marko Stamenic is one of them. Joe Bell, Libby Cacace, and Stefan Marinovic all went up via the Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder clause. And Alex Greive had a promising wee debut off the bench, offering the same instant involvement that he’s shown for St Mirren in his brief substitute appearances so far. That bloke is fast climbing up the ladder.

Stefan Marinovic is probably the biggest Stocks Up winner though. Marinovic has had a nudge on Michael Woud for the goalkeeping stakes as each have alternated starts under Danny Hay. This match showed why. Woud is a top notch keeper with a higher upside than Big Stef. Don’t let a couple mistakes fool you there. Sure he had a howler against Honduras at the Olympics but he was pretty outstanding against Japan in the knockouts bouncing back.

However those Michael Woud howlers are just a little too common for now. The dude literally only turned 23 years old two weeks ago and has already played top flight in the Netherlands as well as being a regular for a season and a half in the second tier. He’s now off to be a starting goalkeeper in the Japanese J-League. He’s lightyears ahead of schedule. But he still has those moments which he needs to iron out of his game. Lapses that cost his team goals. We saw that at the Olympics, we saw it versus Jordan, and trust me that he’d have them for Almere City sometimes too. This isn’t an every game thing, they’re definitely rarities. It’s just that they’re not quite rare enough to trust him ahead of a reliable 27-cap veteran like Marinovic in a must-win World Cup qualifier. Not yet.

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