Kate Taylor - Dijon FCO (French Première Ligue)

Kate Taylor has always had the ability to score goals. She scored in each of her three seasons with the Wellington Phoenix, something only Chloe Knott was able to match, and already has a couple of goals for the Football Ferns. The first of those was in a 6-0 win against Samoa but the second of them came against France, in France, at the Olympic Games (in a 2-1 defeat) – that game happened within two weeks of having signed with French top division club Dijon FCO. Now she’s got her first goal in the French Première Ligue for Dijon...

And she scored it against Paris Saint-Germain. With Mary Earps, the Englishwoman that many regard as the best goalkeeper in the world, being the keeper that she scored it past. Smart run onto an angled free kick and then a quick adjustment to a convenient deflection. Guiding that thing home. Get in.

Despite having started most games this season, and despite last week producing arguably her best performance yet for the club, Kate Taylor was only named on the bench for this match. They obviously had to change tactics for a trip to PSG compared to the 4-0 win against Guingamp and it was Taylor who had to make way. Because of that, she was spared the carnage as Jennifer Echegin scored twice, missed a penalty, and then set up another goal all within the first half. PSG are excellent but there was some very shoddy defending in there from Dijon. Marie-Antoinette Katoto (the one player who was onfield to witness both Taylor’s Olympic goal and her first Dijon goal) also scored in the first half so it was 4-0 at the break. It was then 5-0, thanks to Sakina Karchaou’s magnificent long-range effort, by the time Kate Taylor was subbed on with half an hour to go. Taylor soon scored... and it wasn’t until right near the end that Frøya Brennskag-Dorsin finally got a sixth for PSG. 6-1 was the final score: 5-0 to PSG without Taylor, 1-1 with Taylor.

This was Dijon’s second defeat of the season, the other being a 3-0 effort against Olympique Lyonnais. They had a four-game winning streak snapped with the PSG loss but they’re still in a fantastic position to have only been beaten by the two powerhouse clubs in the land. Dijon are fourth in the standings after nine matches... and Kate Taylor becomes the first New Zealander to score a top flight goal in France, men or women. Ben Old hasn’t done it yet (and won’t for at least a few more months as he recovers from knee surgery) nor did Bill Tuiloma or Erin Nayler (Tuiloma only played two games and Nayler is a goalkeeper). KT will get to bask in that moment for a wee while longer because there’s now an international break which, like the last one, the Football Ferns won’t be involved in.

Up Next: Fourth vs Fifth as Dijon host Montpellier on Sunday 8 December at 5am (NZT)

Liberato Cacace – Empoli FC (Italian Serie A)

Returning after a couple of games back in Aotearoa with the All Whites, it was never likely that Liberato Cacace would be the starting wing-back for Empoli when they took on Udinese. Sure enough, the bro Giuseppe Pezzella got that nod instead. Cacace had only made two prior Serie A starts in 2024-25 so this was all expected territory.

What we didn’t expect was that Cacace would still be starting, just in a different position. Pezzella was at LWB... and Cacace played as the left winger (or something close to that in their 3-4-2-1 formation). Not the first time he’s been tried as an attacking player but the first time he’s begun a game there. Very intriguing. Very enticing.

It got even more intriguing/enticing when he did this...

Yessir Libby, that’s now assists in consecutive Serie A games after he also served one up for Pietro Pellegri in the 1-1 draw against Lecce two weeks ago. Pretty crazy because these two assists were almost identical. Both were for Pellegri. Both were infield passes from his wide left position. Both were driven low into the bottom corner by PP. Both came midway through the first half to give Empoli the lead.

Cacace had earlier driven a shot on target, low at the keeper, from an overlapping situation. He might have been better off trying to centre that thing for the runners in the middle but never mind. He’d do that next time and Empoli would score because of it. However, replicating the goal proved difficult in a game where the Azzurri hardly had the ball, especially second half with Udinese rallying for an equaliser (after making two half-time changes). It got to where Empoli were likely to have to consolidate things... but rather than sub Cacace, they subbed Pezzella and moved Cacace back to LWB. Right on!

The consequence of that was a rare ninety minute outing for Cacace, who was involved in one more major moment in this match. That being a claim for handball against him as he tangled in close, falling over and blocking a shot inside the six-yard box. Udinese fans are still going off about it and when you look at the screenshot it’s pretty damning...

Screenshots tell a lot of lies though. The ball actually hit his knee before deflecting into his arm, which he was clearly using naturally to brace himself, so everyone had to chill out. VAR had a peek and told the ref not to bother with it. Unfortunately, Udinese did still manage to score a 76th minute equaliser via Keinan Davis with an excellent header from a corner. So it goes. That makes for another similarity between Cacace’s two assists: in both games, Empoli conceded late-ish goals to end up drawing 1-1.

They were kinda lucky to get the draw here because Udinese were all over them in the latter stages. They should have beaten Lecce but this was a draw that flattered the Azzurri, not their opponents. A seventh draw in 13 matches. Empoli remain pleasantly embedded in the middle of the table... and Liberato Cacace is on his way towards unlocking a new position (just quietly, with a bunch of decent kiwi left-backs challenging for the honour of being Cacace’s deputy, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to try this in an All Whites context for certain match-ups).

Up Next: AC Milan vs Empoli at 6am on Sunday (NZT)

Katie Bowen - Inter Milan (Italian Serie A)

The assists were flowing in Italy this week because here’s a dime from Katie Bowen. Officially it’s her third assist of the campaign – granted, one of those was misattributed to her while the other was a throw-in she took to a teammate who then turned and banged it top corner. Safe to say this was the best of the three. It was also the most important since it produced the only goal in a 1-0 win against Napoli. Lina Magull with the finish at the back post. Happily devouring the meal that Katie Bowen cooked up.

This was an odd game. Inter had 62% of possession and Napoli only had three total shots, none of them on target. Yet despite scoring after only eight minutes, Inter never got another one. Didn’t even really have that many moments. But they played with an unthreatened lead throughout so the clean sheet got them through to three more points... three very useful points because with Fiorentina and Roma each drawing this week this result lifts Internazionale up to second on the ladder (albeit five points behind leaders Juventus).

We’re only 11 games into the season but Inter have easily got the best defence – a mere 6 goals conceded in those 11 matches – and Katie Bowen’s been a crucial part of that. Originally a midfielder, she mostly got used as a fullback in America. Since then she’s been converted into a world class central defender and her job on the right edge of Inter’s back three means she gets to use all of those skill sets at once for Internazionale as she steadily puts together another excellent season. There is no kiwi woman playing at a higher and more consistent level right now (CJ Bott and Abby Erceg are the only other two even in the conversation).

Up Next: Big ol’ derby, AC Milan vs Inter Milan, on Monday 9 Dec at 2.30am (NZT)

Kiara Bercelli - Sampdoria (Italian Serie A)

One more Italian dispatch: Kiara Bercelli got another start. Must have impressed on Serie A debut against Inter Milan last week because here she was lining up in that same right-wing position as Sampdoria travelled to face Lazio... and this time she got all ninety minutes.

This was another strange game of footy. Sampdoria were getting battered for most of the first half, with Lazio constantly looking to feed Martina Piemonte with passes in behind or over the defensive line... yet Sampdoria kept hanging on, making the required blocks and saves, and then found a little bit more control prior to the break. They had a huge shout for a penalty after 57 mins when Bercelli jumped on a loose ball and sent it first-time to the feet of her striker who got a nudge in the back. Ref declared there was nothing in it. Seconds later, Elena Pisani was shown a second yellow card and Sampdoria, just as they were getting some momentum, were down to ten players. Ridiculous call too... Pisani’s foul was for a lunging tackle with her feet which she didn’t even realise she’d done. She was falling over after going shoulder-to-shoulder with a different opponent when this other lady stepped into her path. Crazy stuff.

But no stress because not, even ten minutes later, a high boot from Piemonte led to the same treatment. Both sides would have to finish this match with ten women. That was partly why Sampdoria only made two substitutions – the situation was too perilous to be altering the balance - and that seemed to work for them because Amanda Tampieri made a whopping 11 saves on the way to a very hard-earned clean sheet. Bercelli herself even had a mini chance to snatch the victory deep into stoppage time with a right-footed effort on the end of a free kick that she put off target. The final whistle sounded for a 0-0 draw and at least four Sampdoria players instantly collapsed to the ground in exhaustion (couldn’t see if Bercelli was one of them but for a 19-year-old in her second Serie A game going ninety minutes with that intensity she’d have every right to).

Sampdoria are still without a win after 11 rounds but this was their fourth draw. Very little chance they can avoid being in the relegation rounds when the league splits but that’s fine that’s what they deserve. A gritty performance like this does offer plenty of hope that they’ll be able to dodge the drop though. Definitely seen some improvements since the coaching change... and since Kiara Bercelli started playing.

Up Next: After the international break they face Fiorentina at home in a tough one, that’s on 8 December at 3am (NZT)

Maggie Jenkins - Gaziantep ALG Spor (Turkish Süper Ligi)

There you go, that’s what she does. Jenkins hasn’t been starting these last few games for ALG Spor but she’s still had a strong role to play off the bench and never was that more true than when she popped up to score this late equalised against Trabzonspor... setting the scene for Patricia Seteco to score an even later winner. They were 1-0 up early. They were 2-1 down late. They were 3-2 up when the final whistle blew. Jenkins with her second goal to go with two assists from nine appearances. ALG Spor are third in the standings only trailing leaders Fenerbahce by four points.

Up Next: 8 December at 11pm away to Karadeniz Ereglispor (NZT)

Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)

Many people are saying that the American soccer scene sucked this year. Lots of people are saying this. The debuts for Finn Surman and Milly Clegg were choice but they were balanced out by how very long they took to happen in both cases – each of them having to sit on the bench for months before finally getting a run in the last game of the regular season. Abby Erceg bossed it for Racing Louisville (while Clegg watched from the bench) but RL didn’t make the playoffs and now Erceg is a free agent. Macey Fraser showed promise at Utah Royals but then got injured and completely disappeared. Ali Riley never disappeared but she did get injured and therefore hardly played for Angel City. Speaking of hardly playing, there was Bill Tuiloma at Charlotte FC ending up as more of a reserve team player than a first-teamer. There were some good bits in the USL Championship, most notably Kyle Adams and his Louisville City side having the best record in the league during the league phase... except then they got bounced in the playoffs. And Grace Wisnewski has barely been seen for Lexington SC in the Super League, just two games for 32 minutes, on account of her ACL recovery.

The exception to all of this, laying down another superb season and even earning a new contract along the way, was Michael Boxall at Minnesota United. Powerful stuff from Boxy. Captaining the side. Leading by example. Prior to the international break, the Loons had slipped past Real Salt Lake with a couple of penalty shootout wins in the first round of the playoffs. The second round then offered up LA Galaxy in a single-legged tie. Boxall played for New Zealand against Vanuatu but he skipped the Samoa game (despite his Samoan heritage) with this date in mind. MLS playoffs. Conference semi-finals. And...

... it was an absolute shambles. Minnesota United conceded after 28 seconds when a simple ball to Gabriel Pec peeling towards the right somehow found Pec 1v1 with the last defender despite the Loons being in a 5-4-1 formation. He chopped back in and finished smoothly. Fair play because Minnesota rallied immediately, Kelvin Yeboah blasting a magnificent finish top near corner after six minutes, but then Dejan Joveljic headed in from a Marco Reus free kick after 18 minutes and soon enough Joseph Paintsil dashed back post on 37’ to finish off a third for the Galaxy. Yeboah had the chance to make it 3-2 in stoppage time of the first half when he stepped up to take a penalty only for his shot to be saved. However, the keeper left his line early so Yeboah got a retake which he scored and Minnesota were back in the contest, sweet as.

Don’t get too excited. They got smoked from there on the way to a 6-2 defeat. Boxy was beaten for pace by Pec on 50’ (not quite as rapid as he used to be, sadly). Dayne St. Clair saved a dodgy penalty with quarter of an hour to go with the Loons still keeping some element of hope alive but then Jefferson Diaz got sent off for a second bookable offence (82’) before Paintsil (86’) and Joveljic (89’) scored further goals for LA Galaxy. Then the final whistle blew and Minnesota United were comprehensively eliminated.

Michael Boxall: “We were well beaten. It’s frustrating because all the things we prepared for and spoke about, where the dangers were, that’s where we didn’t manage those moments well enough. To concede as early as we did, you start on the back foot. Things we emphasised throughout the season, we didn’t do well enough on. The things we were watching all week for, that we planned for, we didn't execute then as well as we should have.”

Meanwhile, here’s Michael Boxall getting tetchy with Marco Reus...

Up Next: Boxy signed a contract extension for the 2025 season (with an option for 2026) back in September, so don’t worry he’ll be back in Minnesota next year

Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)

Three months into the Premier League season, a fourth versus fifth clash took the form of Arsenal versus Nottingham Forest. Who’d have guessed it? Chris Wood might have guessed it since his goals have been the driving force in Forest’s spectacular form. They lost 3-1 to Newcastle United prior to the international break but the way they were tracking there was every reason for Nottm Forest to take confidence into this game despite the more glamorous opposition.

On second thought, not quite every reason because Chris Wood was only selected on the bench. Taiwo Awoniyi thus made his first start of the league term. It’s a long season and it made sense not to exhaust The Woodsman after his five-goal international break back in NZ.

Chris Wood got half an hour of action... but by the time he was subbed on Forest were trailing 2-0 and getting thoroughly outplayed. That didn’t really change with him out there though he did give the team the focal point that they’d been lacking (almost too much of a focal point when a thumping volley from Jota Silva smacked straight into him). Woodsy’s aerial presence was an obvious target, including when he nodded one back across goal when he might’ve been better suited trying to score. That was a decent little spell for NFFC but it didn’t last. Arsenal quickly went back to dominating and scored a third goal to end the contest. Chris Wood did serve a nice first-time ball to the far post for Silva to convert near the end except it didn’t count because Silva, despite his finger-wagging complaints, was miles offside.

It ended 3-0. Goals for Bukayo Saka (15’), Thomas Partey (52’), and Ethan Nwaneri (86’). First away loss for Nottm Forest and it was a hefty one. After this they host Ipswich Town before facing Manchester City and Manchester United both away within the space of four days. We’re entering the busiest stretch of the season so, in the long run, it’s probably a good thing that Wood wasn’t overexerted after the internationals.

Up Next: Nottm Forest vs Ipswich, 4am on Sunday (NZT)

Katie Kitching - Sunderland (English Championship)

It’s just inevitable at this point. Katie Kitching has now scored four goals in her past seven matches across all competitions. She was only on the bench this week because it was a Conti Cup group stage game and that often lends itself to some rotation. But trailing 1-0 against Blackburn Rovers, they decided to chuck her on to make a difference and her first involvement was to score an equalising goal, nutmegging the keeper for good measure. Now, they did go on to lose 3-1 so it wasn’t a perfect afternoon. But it was another dose of evidence towards Kitching’s unstoppable recent form.

And while she was scandalously overlooked for the Championship Player of the Month award shortlist, Katie Kitching has been included among the Goal of the Month candidates for the dipping long-range belter she scored against Bristol City recently. There’s a public vote on this so you’d best due your patriotic duty... although you don’t have to vote for Kitching if you don’t want because Michaela Foster is also on the list. Take your pick. As long as one of them wins.

Up Next: Sunderland vs Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup at 2am on 9 December (NZT)

Hannah Blake & Michaela Foster – Durham FC / Jacqui Hand & Olivia Page - Sheffield United (England Championship)

If you read last week’s Flying Kiwis (and why the heck would you not have!?) then you’ll recall the unusual amount of head-to-heads that we had between NZ footballers for opposing club sides. Katie Bowen vs Kiara Bercelli. Jacqui Hand vs Katie Kitching. Hannah Blake & Mickey Foster vs Grace Neville. Ally Green vs Ava Collins. It was pretty crazy but none of those games compared to this one, where he had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR New Zealanders starting in the same match. Two on each side.

Hannah Blake was on the left-wing for Durham and Michaela Foster was in central midfield. On the other side, Jacqui Hand started up front for Sheffield United while Olivia Page was given a go in defence. The other three are regular starters but Page is a lot younger and has only made two Championship appearances. The 19yo has been a lot more prominent in the EFL Cup though, with three matches last year and now a pair of starts in 2024-25.

The game itself wasn’t much to write home about beyond the four-Kiwi aspect. Sheffield United scored on the counter through Monique Robinson (55’), then Durham levelled up when Eleanor Ryan-Doyle bundled in after the Blades keeper spilled a free kick (61’). That goal was close to sacrilege because set piece specialist Foster was standing over the free kick only to dummy it for Beth Hepple to take. Hasn’t yet earned her dead ball priorities yet, it seems. But Durham scored from the move so can’t complain. The game ended 1-1 which meant it went to a penalties to determine who got the bonus point. Three of the NZers had already been subbed by then so only Foster was around to take one. She scored as Durham won 4-3 in the shootout.

Elsewhere in the Conti Cup, there was still no Anna Leat on the bench for Aston Villa as they lost 1-0 to Tottenham. She’s got the international break now to buy her some more time – they said all along they don’t want to rush her although she’s been back in training since the start of November. Grace Neville got a full match at right wing-back as London City Lionesses lost 4-1 against WSL opponents West Ham. CJ Bott also played a full game with Leicester City drawing 0-0 away against the Dario Vidosic-coached Brighton & Hove. Leicester won the shootout for the bonus point but CJB didn’t take one. Naturally, Bott did get a yellow card though. Rugby-tackled an opponent to stop her getting past on the break. Standard CJB things. Indi Riley only played the last ten minutes of Crystal Palace’s 2-0 win against Charlton.

Looking at the deeper EFL Cup context:

• Durham are in a good place to progress with 5 points from two games.

• Sunderland (3) and Sheffield United (1) are in the same group so at least one, or both, of them will miss out. It’s Sunderland vs Durham on the last matchday.

• London City Lionesses should go through if they beat Portsmouth as they ought to.

• Leicester City only need a draw against Birmingham (as long as Bristol City don’t upset Brighton – usually the difference between the Champo and WSL clubs is big enough that upsets don’t happen).

• And Aston Villa need to win against Charlton to be sure, while the same is true of Crystal Palace vs Tottenham.

Up Next: The bloody international break

Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)

Yet again we must ask Viking FK to please, one day, play a normal game of football. Every time they take the pitch it seems to involve late goals or comeback results or red cards or all of the above. This week they faced Haugesund in their second to last match of the season. Enormous consequences as Viking try to finish the term with the momentum they’d built up by winning three in a row prior to the international break. This was a game they absolutely should have expected to win against a team in relegation trouble while they themselves are challenging for Champions League qualifications... but six minutes in they were 1-0 down after their keeper leaked a sneaky one from close range, expecting a cross and getting a shot instead. A shot that fizzed in at his near post.

Joe Bell only started one of the two All Whites games so he was about as fresh as he could reasonably be after a couple of long haul flights. He was there in the starting line-up for VFK, no need to sweat it. He’ll sleep when the offseason arrives. This was also Viking’s last home game so the crowd was raucous and, despite the early goal, Viking were feeding off that atmosphere. Just had to be patient. Five mins before the half, Sondre Langås gave the Vikes what they were after with a great header from a corner kick. Then two minutes later, an incident occurred...

Outrageous is a good word for it... albeit it should be clarified that Egil Selvik and Christian Cappis (an American midfielder who also played with Bell at Brøndby and has since joined him at VFK) were each only yellow carded for the drama. It’s just that Selvik already had a yellow so that was his day done. Haugesund had to bring on a replacement keeper. They also had to play with ten men for the whole second half and Viking ran rampant scoring four more times with two of those goals for Aussie Nick D’Agostino who was subbed on at the midway point. His first goal was a genuine, real-deal, 100% legitimate bicycle kick. Joe Bell had a perfect view as it unfolded...

It all got so comfortable that Joe Bell was rested for the final twenty minutes. This was only the third time in 29 Eliteserien matches that he’s been subbed. He’s done ninety in all the rest except for the one game he missed while at the Olympics and the one game he missed while suspended for yellow card accumulation. Viking FK won 5-1.

This was a blessed weekend for them (and not only because of that red card). Brann had steadily climbed into title favourite status over the past few weeks while Bodø/Glimt absolutely crumbled. Unfortunately, B/G won 2-0 against Odd to break a four-game winless streak in the Eliteserien (largely due to their Europa League midweek commitments)... but Molde beat Brann 2-1 in one of the other fixtures. That sends Bodø/Glimt back into first place and, more importantly, it leaves Brann only one point ahead of Viking in second. Those two teams play each other next week. If Viking win... they’ll make it to the Champions League qualifiers (they’re already guaranteed at least a Conference League shot).

There’s even a small chance heading into the final round that Viking could win the league... but that would require B/G losing at home and Viking overturning a goal difference margin of 15 goals. If B/G had lost against Odd, or even just drawn, then that would have been a genuine possibility considering that B/G have to play away against Manchester United three days before their last Eliteserien game. But it’s cool we’ll settle for second if Joe Bell and the fellas can achieve it.

Up Next: Huge stakes for Brann vs Viking on Monday at 5am (NZT)

Tyler Bindon - Reading (English League One)

It has begun...

Roughly six weeks out from the January transfer window, we’ve got our first major Tyler Bindon rumour. Probably won’t be the last one either because Reading FC’s ongoing perilous financial state means they’re going to need to sell players to keep the lights on (as has been the case since before Bindon joined the team)... and the 19yo central defender who played more minutes in League One than any other teenager last year, and is on track to do the same for his age group this season as well, stacks up as one of the most obvious candidates. Especially considering that he only signed a two-year contract which is due to expire at the end of the term. There are often sneaky extensions or hidden clauses in such contracts so don’t entirely bank on that aspect. But the financials alone are enough reason to sell him.

The Blackburn Rovers rumour stems from British journalist Alan Nixon – aka ReluctantNicko on Patreon – and that’s interesting because he was the same bloke who was big on Oliver Colloty’s many English trials last year. Those trials didn’t lead to anything. Neither did the Nik Tzanev to Blackburn Rovers rumours from late last season (from a different source). Both this guy and this club have let us down before so there are two reasons to keep that grain of salt handy (although there would be a lovely parallel between Bindon and Blackburn Rovers legend Ryan Nelsen if the move does come to pass). Bindon was linked with Arsenal last year and it seems like that rumour hasn’t entirely gone away either. There will be more where this comes from. Any player his age playing this much at a decent professional level is going to have his name written on a lot of lists by a lot of scouts.

Many of the All Whites were rested or rotated after international duty. Marko Stamenic didn’t play at all. Chris Wood was only used off the bench. Others simply ripped straight back into it... but none with such a heroic dose of action as Tyler Bindon who played a full game in a 2-1 win away to Peterborough on Saturday local time then again in a 2-2 draw away against Barnsley on Tuesday local time. Both of those were fantastic results for Reading, who continue to defy their massive limitations. They’re not allowed to spend transfer fees while the club is in debt. Couldn’t afford to even if they were allowed to. It’s youth grads and free signings across the board and yet they’re challenging for playoffs. Against Barnsley, they had one outfielder in their matchday squad aged over 26 and most of them were 22 or under. Bindon wasn’t even the youngest starter. Right now they’re in seventh place with 27 points from 16 games.

That’s higher than Mansfield Town who’ve now lost three games in a row, slipping down after a great start. Ben Waine got small cameos off the bench in both of their recent games. Max Crocombe was in top form for Burton Albion... but they lost 3-0 to Stockport and 1-0 to Charlton. The Charlton loss was a real bummer as they seemed to be tracking for at least a draw until Charlie Webster was sent off midway through the second half and they ended up conceding in the 82nd minute. Even the goal was agonising. Crocs made one save rushing out towards his far post, then made an awesome stop from the second phase shot down the middle, only for the third shot to catch a deflection and leave him stranded. Burton Albion remain last on the ladder.

And, frankly, we don’t really care about Northampton Town at the moment because they’re not playing Nik Tzanev and they’re not even acknowledging the existence of loanee Matt Dibley-Dias. When he first signed with NTFC, their coach said that “at least half a dozen clubs” wanted to sign him. Dibs got covid soon after joining which limited him but he battled through it for 57 minutes in a League One game against Exeter (also getting 28 minutes in an EFL Cup game) and then he disappeared. Back in September, his coach said this...

Jon Brady, NTFC manager: “The intensity of training has been different and he’s had a few little niggles here and there. He’s continued to train but we’re trying to get his physicality to a place where he can be consistent. The week he did play in the team, a couple of weeks ago, he had just come off the back of a bout of COVID but he still went out there and played despite being under the weather. We were lacking midfielders at the time and he wanted to put himself out there and I thought he did quite well, especially in the first half. It’s now about building that strength and resilience back into his body. He has the qualities that we need and he will certainly come to the fore over the next few weeks and months with all the games that we have coming up.”

Well, that was two months ago and we’re still waiting for him to come to the fore. It’s unclear if MDD’s had any injury setbacks since then... but, to be honest, it’d be a shock if he didn’t get recalled in January. This situation isn’t helping anyone.

Up Next: FA Cup second rounder for Reading against Harborough Town at 3am on Monday (NZT)

Matthew Garbett - NAC Breda (Dutch Eredivisie)

Speaking of backing up after the internationals, you’d need a padded cell to keep Matt Garbett off a football pitch. Garbett tallied up an insane five assists across the two All Whites games as one of only five blokes to start both matches. He had been iced out of the NAC team for a spell but that ended prior to All Whites duty and Garbs has made sure to let folks know that it’s all water under the bridge. So it’s pleasing to report that he did indeed make the starting eleven for NAC Breda’s big derby game against Willem II... and that this time he was picked in a more familiar central playmaker/right-wing alternating role rather than the false nine he operated as against PSV.

Garbett’s biggest moment came 18 minutes into the match when he drifted infield and combined beautifully with Elías Már Ómarsson, who would have been through on goal if he hadn’t been fouled. Then again, that terminology is open to interpretation because according to the ref it wasn’t a foul. That was a harsh one. But goals for Leo Sauer (31’) and Leo Greiml (53’) soon had NAC Breda in a commanding position and it was Garbett’s countering run up the wing that led to the throw in which they scored the second goal from.

They then conceded from a deflected shot on 61’ and Garbett was replaced shortly afterwards. Willem II resorted to the long ball approach in the latter stages and that almost worked for them when Jeremy Bokila popped the ball in the net in the 89th minute... only problem was that he’d done a handball so the VAR overturned it. NAC Breda were mere minutes away from a cathartic victory, just trying to cling on, when the ref decided that Bokila had been fouled by Terence Kongolo going up for a header. He definitely leapt over him... but it’s not exactly fair when one bloke is leaping to attack the ball and the other bloke is simply standing there (sometimes you even see the standing player called up for putting the leaper in an unsafe position). Massive controversy five minutes into added-time in a derby game. Bokila scored the penalty and it ended 2-2.

There had been heat in this game from the very beginning so for it to end like that, of course there were going to be tempers. Take this incident for example...

If you can’t decipher it, that’s Bokila going after Matt Garbett (in the jacket) following the final whistle. This turned out to be quite a situation because Bokila accused Garbett of racial abuse, his words to media afterwards being that: “something ugly was said”. Garbett immediately denied it and his club have since put out a statement effectively saying that while what’s accused may have happened, this was a case of mistaken identity. They also revealed that Garbett has personally reached out to Bokila to “clear up this misunderstanding”.

NAC Breda Statement: “NAC took note of the accusation made by Willem II player Jeremy Bokila against NAC player Matthew Garbett on Sunday evening. First of all, we would like to make it clear that NAC distances itself from any form of racism. Garbett does not recognize himself at all in the allegation by the player. According to him, the allegation is based on a wrong perception. This is underlined by statements from various eyewitnesses. Garbett contacted Bokila to clear up this misunderstanding. NAC does not dispute that something happened and is actively in discussions with Willem II to further investigate the event on the basis of statements and images. NAC stands for hospitality and solidarity, where everyone is welcome. The club is committed, among other things with its social programs, with heart and soul to banish racism from football and society.”

One important clue is that, according to Pierre van Hooijdonk on one of the Dutch TV studio shows later that day, the insult was spoken in Dutch and Garbett, well, he doesn’t actually speak very much Dutch. Makes it pretty unlikely that it was him based on that evidence alone... and let us also not overlook that Garbett was part of the All Whites team that abandoned a game against Qatar last year when Michael Boxall was subject to racial abuse.

Up Next: NAC vs Almere on Sunday at 4.30am (NZT)

Malia Steinmetz – FC Nordsjælland (Danish Kvindeliga)

AGF’s sudden run of form continues. FC Nordsjælland’s recent dip continues. Incredibly, AGF have gone from right down near the bottom of the table to suddenly taking 13 points from their past five matches to easily qualify for the top six cut-off. The latest was a 2-1 victory against FCN that didn’t even flatter them. However, having had a prominent role during this explosion... Ally Green was only an unused sub in this game.

And we didn’t even get much Malia Steinmetz. She started but was booked after 27 minutes and then subbed after 29 minutes... neither of which made it to the highlights package and the replay’s behind a paywall. Nobody mentioned anything in the club’s match recap though, hopefully that means it was nothing serious. Their coach also says it’s nothing serious that FCN, the defending champs, have lost three of their last four games to enter the championship rounds six points behind Fortuna Hjørring. We’ll just have to take his word for that.

If Steinmetz is injured then this was the best time to get hurt because there is a long winter break coming up soon. Might still be a couple more games before that happens, there are two more weeks of men’s footy in Denmark, but they haven’t published the championship round fixtures yet so we don’t know (the top six play each other again home and away so there are ten more games).

Up Next: Yeah dunno

Dalton Wilkins - Sønderjyske (Danish Superliga)

Ten minutes off the bench for Dalton Wilkins this week. Subbed on at left-back against Brøndby, meaning he was out there as Mads Agger scored an 84th minute equaliser for a 2-2 draw. Wilkins was in acres of space on the left but Agger didn’t need him. Good finish, good goal, good result. This was his second game back since injury, both of them being late sub appearances.

Sonders drew both of those games following a spell of four defeats in five so this does keep alive the undercover narrative of them being better when DW is involved. Sønderjyske have a +2 goal difference in the 259 minutes that Wilkins has been on the pitch for and a -18 goal difference in the other 1181 minutes. That’s a large disparity in minutes and could be accused of being misleading. In that case, the average works out to +0.69 per ninety minutes with Wilkins and -1.37/90 without him. Long may it continue.

Callum McCowatt also got 22 minutes of action for Silkeborg in a 1-0 defeat against FC Midtjylland. They were already losing at that point so his was an attacking change aimed at finding a leveller. But despite Silkeborg did having the bulk of possession, they managed very few clean shots against a solid defence. McCowatt’s well over his own injury issue at this point and started the two previous games, so his lesser role here will have been more about jetlag than anything.

Silkeborg are sixth with some work to do if they want to stay there when the cut-off happens... work that they’ll have plenty of time to do during the winter break. There’s one more round before the Superliga takes a two-and-a-half month hiatus (there is a cup round before then too, since defending champs Silkeborg are still in the hunt). As for Sonders, they’re simply trying not to get relegated straight after promotion. Right now they’re third-to-last. That’d be fine if the season were to end now. Having said that, they’re only halfway though so there’s ages to go yet.

Up Next: Lyngby vs Sonders at 2am on Monday; Silkeborg vs AGF at 6am on Monday (NZT)

Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 1)

Up Next: The Rehabilitation Train

Get amongst the whanau on Patreon, Substack, or Buy Me A Coffee if you appreciate the yarns on The Niche Cache and have the means to contribute towards the cause

Also helps to whack an ad, do the likes/comments/shares, and tell your mates about us

Keep cool but care