What exactly is a W Cup, you ask? It’s not really anything. The ‘W’ stands for ‘Winsunited’ which sort of sounds like someone asked ChatGPT to design a football competition but this these are still just glorified friendlies, latching onto the growing FIFA trend of giving them a loose tournament format in order to pretend that stakes are involved. Four teams are invited, each team plays twice. New Zealand vs Egypt and Tunisia vs Croatia are the first round fixtures, then the winners of those play each other in the final and the two losers also meet. Good quality games, don’t think too deeply about it.

The United Arab Emirates were tabbed to host but then, after the squads were all named, the four participating nations decided that the UAE weren’t fulfilling their end of the bargain so the games will all now take place in Cairo, Egypt instead. It seems that Winsunited is an “international sports management agency” and that the UAE was simply going to be the host venue, without any other major ties to the mini-tournament other than a bit of self-promotion. So they must have bottled it. Makes no difference to us (except for having to play against Egypt in their own conditions with a genuine crowd).

This will be the first time for four months that Darren Bazeley’s team have been in camp, having last played in the 1-1 draw against Ireland in November. No international windows since then. Baze’s tenure has only included one win so far (and that was while he was still interim) but they have been mustering up a few more draws as a young squad has continued to grow and build combinations. That all takes time, so it’s important to get as many tours as possible. These two games will keep everyone busy, with the Oceania Nations Cup to follow in June as well as a freshly announced game vs Mexico in September.

And in between are the Olympics. Those Oly squads are for U23s and Darren Bazeley is coaching both teams. With a full third of this squad (8/24 players) also eligible for Paris 2024, not to mention the three overage players allowable, you can see that Baze has one eye on that future event... although the youngsters here have all been summoned on merit. This isn’t a matter of rotating dudes for the sake of those U23s: Ben Old is here on merit, Alex Paulsen is here on merit, Marko Stamenic is a first eleven player, Matt Garbett might be too, et cetera. The only one you could mount a case against is Lukas Kelly-Heald, who has been picked ahead of other backup left-backs such as James McGarry and Dalton Wilkins. But McGarry’s just come back from injury and Wilkins recently moved club and might want to lock down his role at Sønderjyske first... let alone that he hasn’t played much lately due to Denmark’s long winter break.

The eight U23s in this squad are: Alex Paulsen, Tyler Bindon, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Finn Surman, Marko Stamenic, Matt Garbett, Ben Old, and Ben Waine. That’s a decent starting point. Got the spine of the team covered. Chuck in the overage lads and we’ve already got a tidy starting eleven. Paulsen in goal. Tim Payne RB with LKH on the left. Obviously Surman and Bindon at CB because that’s going to be an All Whites combination in the years to come. Stamenic, Garbett, and Old in the midfield. Then chuck Waine alongside Chris Wood with Sarpreet Singh in support and how’s that sound? The Olympic qualifiers also involved players like Jesse Randall, Oskar van Hattum, Will Ebbinge, Liam Gillion, Campbell Strong, Luis Toomey, Riley Bidois, Dan McKay, and Isaac Hughes, while fellas like Fin Conchie and Jay Herdman should also be there for the main event. Fingers crossed for Matt Dibley-Dias too. Lots of options for a squad that’s only going to be 18-players deep, plus four travelling reserves.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First we’ve got the illustrious Winsunited Cup to deal with. Another major talking point with this squad is the proliferation of A-League players, especially the Wellington Phoenix. 10/24 players are based in the ALM... this after they picked a squad almost entirely devoid of A-Leaguers just two tours ago (for the Congo/Australia games which clashed with the start of the ALM season). That involves a number of those U23s, guys young in their careers who are using the ALM as a stepping stone like Singh/Cacace/Waine before them. It also includes guys like Kosta Barbarouses and Oli Sail earning recalls based on their excellent recent form. Dane Ingham too (though no Storm Roux... do we have to start to assume that he’s in unofficial retirement or does Baze simply not rate him?). Tommy Smith going on loan to Macarthur helps boost that number, although it was too soon for Marco Rojas who is still building his fitness back up after taking a wee break.

The All Whites have shown that they don’t need A-League/Wellington Phoenix players... but if guys are going well then they’ll get picked. That’s how it should be. The Phoenix have all these players involved because those players have all been serving up top notch footballing activities. There are some very talented players who’ve been left out at their expense – Barbarouses has taken Alex Greive’s spot, Surman has held off Bill Tuiloma, Kelly-Heald for McGarry, Sail for Tzanev, etc. And while we can quibble with a few specifics there, the guys who have missed out did so because they haven’t been playing often/well enough. Bazeley’s shown an inclination towards picking on form over reputation in past squads. There’s enough depth now that he can drop guys who aren’t playing (like Tuiloma) because he’s actually got fellas worthy of replacing them (like Surman and Bindon). There will occasionally be controversies with that, yet on the whole it’s something to celebrate.

You may also notice that Chris Wood is on that list. He was supposed to be out injured for 7-8 weeks which would have probably meant no W Cup glory for The Woodsman... so he defied the experts and returned inside of six weeks. Matt Garbett also made a return from injury just in time to be selected. Marko Stamenic missed some time lately, not sure if that was injury related or not, but he’s back in the swing of things again. James McGarry didn’t get picked but he did the same, as has Matt Dibley-Dias. The Dibs is remaining with Fulham during the international window, just as he did last season in order to boost his first team chances while a number of their top players are away. His All Whites debut will have to wait... but hopefully he’s there for the Olympics where he’d be a key player.

In fact it seems as though the only significant injury absence is Ryan Thomas. You know what that means: expect three separate hamstring issues this upcoming weekend. There’s no such thing as an NZ Football squad that’s not injury affected. Which, by the way, the more research that’s done on the relationship between travel miles and injuries, the more that stops feeling like a coincidence.

To prove that point about depth, here’s a bit from our latest Substack newsletter, a completely alternative squad of 24 players. Only a few of this lot would actually be threatening the first choice squad on current form, but form is temporary and injuries do happen thus the vision remains clear. Needless to say, a bunch of these jerries are also eligible for the Olympics.

GK – Nik Tzanev, Michael Woud, Kees Sims

DEF – Bill Tuiloma, Kyle Adams, George Stanger, Isaac Hughes, Callan Elliot, James McGarry, Niko Kirwan, Dalton Wilkins, Storm Roux

MID – Alex Rufer, Matt Dibley-Dias, Jay Herdman, Marley Leuluai, Fin Conchie, Sam Sutton

FWD – Alex Greive, Marco Rojas, Myer Bevan, Andre De Jong, Joey Champness, Logan Rogerson

Now let’s do the positional breakdowns.

GOALKEEPERS

• Max Crocombe – Burton Albion, ENG (3 caps/0 goals)

• Alex Paulsen – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (0/0)

• Oli Sail – Perth Glory, AUS (9/0)

Max Crocombe is about two-thirds through a superb season with Burton Albion, in which his shot-stopping has been a major feature of their League One campaign – and one of the few consistent positives in an up and down season. He started out as the number two after moving there in the summer, then quickly set about fixing that situation beyond all retaliation. He’s only played three times for the national team but that’s partly because he’s been unavailable for a few games which have clashed with Burton matches, since he’s operating below the level in England where they stop automatically for international breaks. That’s arguably all that’s stopped him from being the no-doubter number one for NZ same as he is for BA.

As such, you can probably pencil him in to start against Egypt... but don’t be surprised if Alex Paulsen debuts in the second match. AP has been a revelation for the Wellington Phoenix and it shan’t be long before he’s playing at a higher level than England’s League One. Paulsen’s not as experienced as Crocombe, but he’s just as good of a shot-stopper and he’s lightyears beyond him as far as distribution goes. Crocombe’s kicking is his main weakness (his best strength is his world class time-wasting ability, which is genuinely of a Champions League calibre... nobody milks an injury or delays a goal-kick with the prowess of Max Crocombe).

So far Bazeley has given starts to Oli Sail (3), Michael Woud (2), Max Crocombe (2, including the Qatar match that was called off at half-time), and Nik Tzanev. Two of those jokers aren’t in this squad and one has just been recalled to presumably serve as third-choice (Sail’s profile as a goalie is closer to Crocombe than Paulsen). We already know that the goalkeeping depth goes stacks deep, with a plethora of youngsters storming through. Look at what Henry Gray is doing in England at the moment. Or Scott Morris and Kees Sims with big-time January transfers. So how Bazeley balances even just these three that he’s selected is going to be pretty educational.

Random note: NZF’s cap numbers in their announcement seem to include the abandoned Qatar game, which isn’t very logical. But then FIFA often aren’t very logical. So maybe that’s a mistake, or maybe those appearances count despite the game only being half completed. It would be cool for Marko Stamenic to get to keep that banger of a goal he scored that day. The numbers in this article exclude that match though.

DEFENDERS

• Tyler Bindon – Reading, ENG (4/0)

• Michael Boxall – Minnesota United, USA (46/0)

• Liberato Cacace – Empoli, ITA (19/1)

• Dane Ingham – Newcastle Jets, AUS (12/0)

• Lukas Kelly-Heald – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (0/0)

• Tim Payne – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (35/2)

• Nando Pijnaker – Sligo Rovers, IRL (17/0)

• Tommy Smith – Macarthur FC, AUS (51/2)

• Finn Surman – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (1/0)

Nine defenders, with an established back four and an inexperienced back four, plus Tommy Smith. The experienced back four would be Payne/Boxall/Pijnaker/Cacace. That’s the established crew, particularly since Bill Tuiloma isn’t involved... then there’s the underdog quartet of Ingham/Surman/Bindon/LKH. And Tommy Smith’s always there for his experience, even though he’s only played twice under Bazeley (and was sent off in one of those matches). Smithy was often used as a closer by Danny Hay, someone he’d bring on to protect a scoreline in the last fifteen minutes, usually leading to a change in formation. Now he isn’t really getting those nods either as Baze trends towards the freshbloods, but Smithy’s off-field presence is massive. He’s exactly the person that guys like Bindon and Surman should be leaning on for advice. That’s why he’s here.

Bill Tuiloma’s absence was a talking point last time and again he’s not been selected. That’s because the reasons for his previous absence still remain. He was dropped then because he hadn’t been playing for his club team, stuck on the bench for Charlotte FC after recovering from injury, then the season ended, then he got injured in preseason, now he’s stuck on the bench again. This poor bugger has not played a game for his club since July 2023... it’s brave of Baze to drop a senior player like that but it’s also correct of him to do so. There are now minimum entry requirements for the All Whites that go beyond simply having a professional contract somewhere.

It’s interesting looking around the CB stocks, because with Smithy at a different stage of his career (he’s not played much lately either, though his loan move to Macarthur has helped his cause – anyone else wondering if that might be a precursor to an Auckland FC gig?) and with Tuiloma dropped... there’s not the depth there used to be. Winston Reid has retired and many of the blokes who’ve started games over the past five years have come and gone. Nikko Boxall’s currently without a club. Sam Brotherton retired. Tim Payne has returned to being a right back. Kyle Adams is still awaiting a deserved crack at the MLS, and without it doesn’t really have the room to kick on. But that’s fine because Tyler Bindon and Finn Surman have the capacity to surpass all of those fallen contenders, in fact Nando Pijnaker’s got to be looking over his shoulder nervously seeing how well those two are going.

Pijnaker’s been doing good things himself – his Sligo Rovers team have three clean sheets from their first five matches, plus he even got an assist (for Max Mata). But Surman’s been a huge factor in the Welly Nix’s superb campaign and Bindon’s out there as one of the key players for a cash-strapped Reading FC team that nevertheless seems like it’ll defy the odds and avoid League One relegation. TB only just turned 19 and no teenager has played more minutes for any club in that division this season. He has played a fair bit of left centre-back for them too, so that’s no issue.

Dane Ingham is back. He featured off the bench in Baze’s first game in charge, and did add a handful of caps to his tally during Hay’s tenure, so he just sorta pops up in these squads on an irregular rotation. Ingham was the Newcastle Jets Player of the Year last season. Bit of a controversial one, to be fair, but it was still his best A-League season and he’s carried on in similar fashion this time, often playing further forward than fullback but always with an eye for pace up the line and dangerous crossing.

Right back has long been a problem area for the All Whites. Tim Payne’s now a specialist RB again so that solves the first eleven dilemma, though the backup is anyone’s guess. Niko Kirwan’s going okay in the Italian third tier. Dalton Wilkins can play either side. Callan Elliot’s still awaiting a debut for Motherwell (and is apparently returning to NZ for Auckland FC afterwards) thus he’s out of match fitness. Bill Tuiloma can do a job there, as can Tyler Bindon, but it’s not either of their best positions. So this time it’s Dangerous Dane’s turn to audition.

MIDFIELDERS

• Joe Bell – Viking FK, NOR (17/1)

• Matthew Garbett – NAC Breda, NED (19/3)

• Clayton Lewis – Macarthur FC, AUS (26/1)

• Callum McCowatt – Silkeborg, DEN (16/2)

• Ben Old – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (2/0)

• Sarpreet Singh – Hansa Rostock, GER (12/1)

• Marko Stamenic – Crvena zvezda, SER (18/0)

After a frustrating performance with a back five against China in Auckland for Bazeley’s first game as interim boss, he has consistently lined up with 4-3-3s ever since. There’s a lot of variation within that base shape but usually he likes Joe Bell as a holding midfielder, with Marko Stamenic and someone else as dual eights. Probably Matt Garbett though Clayton Lewis, Callum McCowatt, and Ben Old can all do that job nicely. Sarpreet Singh not so much unless it’s two eights and a ten... though that would arguably be his most effective position and he is one of the rare players good enough that you might want to adjust your team to put him in his best spot.

Otherwise you just chuck Sarpreet on the right wing and see what happens. He played there against Ireland and that was his best performance for the national team to date. Nothing much has changed for him at club level since then. He is at least getting to play again sometimes for Hansa Rostock but not nearly often enough as they canon towards relegation. His entire German career needs an exorcism, there are demonic forces at work there. Dude can’t catch a break. But amongst that he’s been spectacular for the All Whites. His combination with Chris Wood is the key to this team’s creativity.

Guys like Singh, McCowatt, and Old can just as easily play in the front three. It will be interesting to see how Ben Old settles in – his previous two caps came against Oceania teams so this is like his secondary debut tour, and having ascended into key player status for the Wellington Phoenix we’ll hopefully see him trying to take control of matters for the national team as well. That’s what we want from him. No reason to think he’ll shrink from the task. Joey Champness (currently injured and without a club) has been selected in the past to give this side someone who can actually dribble past defenders. Now Ben Old’s on the scene to offer that same dynamic (in a very different way).

The other major midfield matter is this: Where is Alex Rufer? He’s been in career-best form for the Wellington Phoenix, doing brilliant things at the base of their midfield. His passing has never been sharper, he’s crushing tackles, he’s press resistant, he’s a towering leader, the embodiment of Phoenix Mana. But he’s not one of the best midfielders available for the All Whites because Joe Bell plays in his position and if Bell’s absent then Marko Stamenic does it. Yeah, sorry ‘bout it, Roof. There just isn’t room. And unlike most of these other AWs midfielders, Rufer doesn’t have the versatility to cover any other positions – which is kind of essential if you’re a back-up hoping to get minutes. Instead Rufer can simply enjoy a week off to rest up ahead of ALM finals, doubt his coach will be complaining about that.

FORWARDS

• Kosta Barbarouses – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (54/4)

• Elijah Just – AC Horsens, DEN (20/1)

• Max Mata – Sligo Rovers, IRL (8/0)

• Ben Waine – Plymouth Argyle, ENG (11/1)

• Chris Wood – Nottingham Forest, ENG (74/34)

It’s a deliberately convenient thing that so many of those midfielders can also play on the wing because not very many of these forwards can. Three of them are number nines. Mata and Waine do spent some time out wide at club level but it’s clearly not their preferred spot where they’re most effective (and the same is true of Alex Greive who hasn’t been selected). Almost all of Kosta Barbarouses’ goals this Nix season have come without Oskar Zawada on the pitch because that’s when he plays through the middle and not out wide. Eli Just is an exception though. He and Singh are probably the first choice wide forwards, if that’s indeed what the formation calls for (a diamond midfield with two up front might be worth a geeze if they’re brave enough to let the fullbacks overlap).

Love seeing Kosta Barbarouses back, he’s been magnificent for the Phoenix and that form simply has to be rewarded. Nobody in this squad has scored more goals this season, not even Chris Wood (though admittedly he’s been injured). Kosta has always had trouble translating his A-League goals into the international stage – his last goal came against the Solomon Islands in 2017 and he’s only scored four overall. His last meaningful All Whites contribution was getting sent off against Costa Rica. It’s time for the Kosta Resurgence to flow on into the national team.

Other than that, Chris Wood is back fit and will be the focal point as usual. Fun fact: Since the start of the Danny Hay Era, Chris Wood and Sarpreet Singh have been in the same starting team on 7/23 occasions. Excluding the five Oceania World Cup Qualifying games from this equation, here’s what that looks like...

Wood + Singh: 7 GM | 2 W | 2 D | 3 L | 8 GF | 11 GA | 1.14 goals per game

Not Wood + Singh: 11 GM | 2 W | 2 D | 7 L | 4 GF | 13 GA | 0.36 goals per game

Five of those latter games were with neither of them, and they were held scoreless on three of those occasions... although the 2-1 win against China did come without either of the dynamic duo. And actually Matt Garbett is the top scorer of the Bazeball Era so far (with two goals). Record goal-scorer Chris Wood has 34 international strikes. The entire rest of the squad combined have 19... but that gap is very slowly closing. Bring back Rojas, Tuiloma, and Greive in place of three of the non-scorers and it’d be 34-30. Perhaps the Nations Cup will amend matters even further.

It’s great to have a striker like The Woodsman, but no team is going to be much good if they’re that reliant on one person for all of their goals. Fortunately, that gap is closing for a reason and that’s because there’s way more help than there used to be. That’s evident in club performances. Mata had a game for Sligo Rovers recently with two goals and two assists. Eli Just’s been good enough for Horsen’s that he’s caught in a transfer tug-of-war right now. Ben Waine continues to hang about with Plymouth Argyle and has five goals across all competitions. We know what Kosta Barbarouses has been up to. Callum McCowatt and Matt Garbett tend to pop up with regular goals for club and country. This squad doesn’t include Marco Rojas or Alex Greive but they’ve each hit the back of the net lately.

Other than that, there’s not much else. Liverpool have arranged with Egypt for Mohamed Salah to be rested for these games so we won’t get the Wood vs Salah one-outs that the people deserve but that’s alright. It does mean a better chance of being able to win that game, so no complaints here. It’s a coin toss whether we face Tunisia or Croatia in the other match but know that Croatia have picked all the main men. Modric and Gvardiol and Kovacic and Perisic and many more greatest hits. Tunisia don’t have a superstar name in amongst but they’ve got solid pros scattered throughout Europe and Arabia. Frankly, Aotearoa are miniscule outsiders if you’re basing this on rankings and reputations. But then what else is new?

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