Football Ferns vs Norway: Always Stay Learning
This Ferns tour is one of awkward timing. A couple games in Europe at a time when players based over there have been out of season for a couple of weeks, A-League based players have been out of season for a couple of months, and there aren’t a heap of others to make up the difference. Several of them don’t even have clubs right now as part of the annual offseason shuffle. Not exactly ideal for a clinical international performance.
But the Ferns need all the games they can possibly get as they try to cram in maximum preparation before co-hosting the World Cup next year. Fixtures in every window. That’s the trick. So here they were in Oslo to take on Norway as the Scandinavian team prepare for their European Championship campaign in less than a fortnight. With Wales to follow on Wednesday morning, who did not qualify for that major tournament. That one’ll take place in the neutral territory of Spain.
To make things even trickier for the Jitka Klimková, one of the few players getting regular club footy at the moment is captain Ali Riley but she was ruled out with a minor injury. Ashleigh Ward as well... which took out two fullbacks and at least one guaranteed starter (Ward might have been a chance to start with Riley likely to have played RB with CJ Bott out injured).
That led to some creative thinking across the backline which was mirrored in the midfield. But first, for context, gotta point out that the starting eleven featured two European free agents, five out of season A-League players, one domestically based player, and another offseason pro. The only two in-season players in the XI were Betsy Hassett (in great form for a rolling Stjarnan team in Iceland) and Katie Bowen (who has played less than 10 mins all season for North Carolina in the USA).
Bringing us to the creative selections. Klimková was forced to be a bit more flexible with her tactics against Australia back in April and she kept that up here as she picked a 4-4-2 shape (contrary to the broadcast graphic above). Not sure it made much difference compared to the usual 4-3-3. Bit more cover on the wings, which was a focus for the team trying to prevent crosses, though Norway’s strength was through the middle with Ada Hegerberg running things. Regardless, it was the personnel within that formation which was so curious. In effect there were four central defenders picked across the backline and four central midfielders in the middle. The only natural wide player was Paige Satchell... who played as a second striker.
Liv Chance regularly plays wide left for the Ferns and Katie Bowen’s fullback experience made right midfield an easier transition. Meikayla Moore has played RB at club level over the last season, usually off the bench trying to fit in for Liverpool when out of favour. Liz Anton has been used at fullback as a substitute by JK in recent times. So none of this completely out of the box but the pattern seems like it’s worth mentioning.
The game itself had good bits and bad bits. The first half was worse as the Ferns displayed a lot of anticipated rustiness with some messy touches and misplaced passes in the build up. The adapted back four had trouble keeping things flat against the movement of Norway’s intimidating forwards both between and behind the lines. Meikayla Moore in particular had a few instinctive moments when she acted like a CB should rather than like a RB should, requiring a few lucky escapes.
Honestly, not sure how Norway weren’t three goals up at half-time. There were two golden chances that were denied by trailing legs – first a magic save by Vic Esson and then a sliding block by Claudia Bunge later on. Eventually something had to give and after 34 mins Ada Hegerberg, 2018 Ballon d’Or winner, smashed in a lovely strike for the lead, reacting quickest after her attempted pass had been deflected back towards her. Give a player of that quality too many chances and you’re going to have to pay for it.
And yet the Ferns should probably have responded before the first half was through. Moore may not be a natural fullback but her passing range is always impressive (remember who set up that legendary Anna Green goal against Australia with a pinpoint long ball). She whipped in a couple superb crosses from that wing, the first of which was basically perfect and only needed that finishing touch from a teammate. Yet Katie Bowen couldn’t get a nudge on it in the middle and Hannah Wilkinson fumbled it off her knee at the back post. Damn. The Ferns work hard enough to create anything attacking these days so to be wasting ones like that is rough going.
At that point Norway were well on top and although Aotearoa were battling away compellingly enough, they weren’t bringing much to the table. Vic Esson had made a few killer stops (as she always seems to do) and there were some nice defensive moments elsewhere. A couple half decent attacks. Mostly it was the usual reactive stuff though, the Ferns unable to dictate the course of play.
Then the second half happened. Suddenly the game took welcome a shift back towards parity as the Ferns made whatever adjustments they needed to make. One of which being Kate Taylor, subbed on for captain Rebekah Stott. A debut for the Welly Nix defender who is likely to be leading the U20s at the World Cup later in the year (she scored the winner from the penalty spot in a 2-1 U20s win over Aussie recently). She doesn’t even turn 19 until October... a meteoric rise.
Senior international footy is a ruthless beast though. Within six minutes of that debut, Kate Taylor was getting her snozz plugged up on the sideline after copping an elbow from a Norway player whilst defending a corner. Manchester United defender Maria Thorisdóttir was the one who caught her.
Annalie Longo, playing for the first time since the Olympics, picked off a pass early second half and slid Paige Satchell in to her right. Satchell was playing as a second striker but regularly drifting out to her standard right edge. She slid it back across towards Longo who seemed sure to score with the easy tap in only for a last-ditch touch wide from a defender. Then from the resulting corner the ball was cut back to Liv Chance whose lovely cross was glanced in off the head of Satchell... only for the offside flag to pop up. Rightfully so based on the replay but argh so close. Twice so close within moments of each other.
Paige Satchell is fast emerging as a key creative player for the Football Ferns. Her raw pace gives her a point of difference and she’s getting better and better at utilising it. This game showed that there’s still a lot of work to do on her final product which has always been the case with Satch but she gets into great positions which is a rare thing in this Ferns team. She had a few sharp moments in the first half then was even more involved in the second.
Then the subs started to flow. Norway made a bunch of them. There was also a triple change from the kiwis on 63 mins as Gabi Rennie replaced Wilkinson, Malia Steinmetz replaced Longo, and Emma Rolston (who plays in the Norwegian league) replaced Liv Chance. Daisy Cleverley would later enter for Betsy Hassett with quarter of an hour left. Jacqui Hand, rounding out the kiwi changes, coming on for Satchell for the final six mins and change. Both teams used all of their allotted six substitutions.
Those subs staggered the flow. By the time we hit the last twenty mins, Norway’s team was considerably less experienced than it had been to begin with... and it was still only 1-0. Every now and then Vic Esson had been required to make another quality save yet at no point did Norway pile on the pressure the way they had leading up to their first goal. The Aotearoa side were right in this contest, just one big moment away from an equaliser if they could find it.
They couldn’t find it. Jacqui Hand had a couple nice flashes but the best had been and gone for the Ferns by then. Instead Guro Bergsvand lashed in a slick volley on the end of a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time to make it 2-0. Probably a better reflection of the overall ninety mins but that didn’t mean it felt any less harsh on the Ferns to have the scoreline extended so late. Inconsequential... however this team has conceded too way many injury time goals in recent years.
This tour isn’t particularly important in the long run other than in how it plays into 2023 WC preparations. This was another loss... but it was an expected loss. The New Zealanders were playing a World Cup knockout calibre team in their own backyard. The success of this tour, in as much those short term thinkings matter, was always gonna come down to the Wales game which is a much better prospect for a rare win.
On the whole, a 2-0 loss ain’t bad. There were some positive signs, such as the involvements of Paige Satchell and how she was able to spark a few things against a quality opposition like this. There were good inklings when the team committed to a high press as well. Second half that came more into focus as they had Norway playing deeper. The Ferns tend to trigger their press when they can isolate a fullback in possession, something that’s been highlighted from previous games. Malia Steinmetz certainly helped that cause. Steinmetz may not have the glittering club resume of other Ferns midfielders (yet) but like Satchell she carries a point of difference and especially with no Ria Percival in the meantime that hard-tackling presence feels more and more necessary with each impressive cameo that MS makes.
Would still prefer this team in a 4-3-3 so as to give them one more valuable body in the front three. The 4-4-2 was pretty wonky here. Fullbacks were habitually narrow. Wide midfielders drifted inwards while Satchell as striker spent half her time on the wing. Not sure it really worked as intended. This is the time to try things like that though, no dramas.
Kate Taylor was nice and assured on debut. Anton and Moore were solid at fullback even if there were a few positional worries. Anton was more reliable at the back but didn’t get forward very much, whereas Moore did drift a couple times but also offered more of a presence in the other half. This was a game played without CJ Bott or Ali Riley so it is what it is and both fill-ins were solid enough. This was also a game with no Abby Erceg, Ria Percival or Anna Leat either - arguably five first choice starters missing.
Anna Leat is the best goalie that the Ferns have. Said it many times and it remains true even if she’s currently taking a spell away from the international stuff. Her shot stopping is no better than the other two major candidates but her fundamentals are cleaner and her distribution is comfortably superior. But in her absence there’s no choice but to celebrate Vic Esson who has now started four games under Jitka Klimková and arguably been the Ferns’ player of the day in all four.
She was here, that’s for sure. The two goals were unstoppable. She made three or four genuinely astounding saves. Strong in the air. No funky distribution slips. Just a great performance from a goalkeeper whose reputation seems to rise every time she features for the national team. Not a bad time to be a free agent, to be fair. Her highlights from this game alone should turn a few scouting heads. Also note that she wore the captain’s armband in the second half after Stotty’s exit.
Also lovely to have Annalie Longo back. It’s not perfect that she’s being picked out of Christchurch United and not a higher level but Longo is someone who has proved she can handle that in the past and probably understands that she’s made a life choice there that limits her first eleven prospects somewhat. Longo was untouchably good in the South Central Series late last year. She certainly has more to offer this team and her experience is massively valuable on and off the pitch.
Not a lot else to say. JK seemed quite aware of the rust within her squad, limiting the minutes of senior players like Stott, Wilkinson, and Chance. Hopefully Riley’s fit for the Wales game in a few days. It’s been a tendency of Klimková to rotate her goalies during tours so Erin Nayler’s a solid bet to start that one though JK has tended to try pick the strongest outfield team she can for most fixtures. Here are some starting eleven appearances under the ten games of the Klimková reign:
10 – Katie Bowen
9 – Liv Chance
8 – Meikayla Moore, Ali Riley, Ria Percival, Betsy Hassett
7 – CJ Bott, Daisy Cleverley
6 – Hannah Wilkinson, Paige Satchell
5 – Claudia Bunge
She knows the basis of what her top strength team is. Simply a matter of finding out the balance and figuring out how to get them scoring goals. This Norwegian match was another decent hit-out, decent if not spectacular. The Wales game on Wednesday is the one where we start adding a few more expectations into the mix.
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