The club season has been going so hard lately that news of a fresh Football Ferns squad came as a bit of a surprise. But then of course there’s a new Ferns squad because we cannot forget the small matter of an Olympic tournament on the near horizon. Before that happens there must be tune-up games, and this two-game series against Japan at the beginning of June is exactly that. As it stands these seem to be their only matches prior to the Olympics in late-July, though there’s bound to be a closed-door friendly or two once they get to France.

When we last saw this team they were playing Vietnam in Christchurch. Game one showed the potential of the side as several of their younger players inspired a 4-0 victory. Jacqui Hand, Macey Fraser, Katie Kitching, and Indi Riley all showing why those familiar goal-droughts will someday be of a bygone age. But then the second game showed how far there still is to go as an improved Vietnamese defensive set-up frustrated the Ferns into a 0-0 draw despite dominating the play every bit as much as they had in the first match. Couldn’t unpick a deep backline. Thwarted by a simple approach from a theoretically weaker team. Just as happened to them against the Philippines at the World Cup.

There are two different types of Football Ferns games: ones against better teams, and ones against similar-level or weaker teams. The latter is the type we’ve been seeing lately with the Oceania Olympic Qualifiers and these Vietnam games. Those are the ones which we’ve all been hoping to see a lot more of so that, you know, this team might score some goals and win some games. But the other ones are what usually gets supplied at major tournaments... and also, weirdly, tend to be where the Football Ferns perform best. Not always consistently. Not always for positive results. But it wasn’t a coincidence that their World Cup performances were ranked in the inverse of the quality of opponents: Norway, then Switzerland, then Philippines. This is a strong defensive team that is capable of sitting and frustrating yet can also disrupt in the midfield and has shot-stopping goalkeepers to do the rest. However, their lack of creative magic leaves them vulnerable whenever they’re on the other side of that dynamic.

Point being that two games against Japan likely means two defeats. We lost 2-0 to them in October 2022. We lost 3-1 to them in June 2018. In ten meetings throughout history we’ve drawn two and lost eight. Japan was one of the most exciting teams to watch at the last World Cup with their fluid and technical style, winning all three group stage games without concession (including a stunning 4-0 win over eventual champions Spain)... beating Norway 3-1 in the round of sixteen before losing 2-1 to Sweden in the quarters. They’re really good. But the Ferns need this challenge in order to get back into the swing of being underdogs before the Olympics, where they’ll face Canada (defending champs), Colombia (breakthrough nation at the last World Cup), and France (hosts).

In the year since the World Cup, the Football Ferns have played twice against Chile (who didn’t qualify for that World Cup), twice against Colombia (without Linda Caicedo), six times against Oceania opponents, and twice against Vietnam. The Colombia games will come in handy but otherwise they’ve been hanging out in the lower leagues. Got to get back into the majors. Regardless of how it goes against Japan, these games are necessary.

Plus, like, we do have some pretty talented young attackers who are beginning to pull this team out of its creative malaise. Players who weren’t around for the previous Olympic campaign but who are already becoming important... not only for the national team but for their clubs too. Macey Fraser and Milly Clegg getting NWSL moves. Indi Riley and Jacqui Hand providing regular goals and assists in Europe. Gabi Rennie’s getting amongst that now, with three goals and four assists in her first six games as a professional – already matching her four-year combined USA college tally. This is at Åland United which is the club that Jacqui Hand got her pro start at so there’s an easy reference point there.

Not to mention the way that Malia Steinmetz has ascended into Ria Percival’s old defensive midfield role or how Katie Bowen has had an excellent season with Inter Milan since the World Cup or the way that Anna Leat continues to look at home in one of the best leagues on the planet in the English WSL. The bummer of the World Cup is that is arguably came one tournament too soon for the Ferns to fully capitalise on that opportunity... one year later we can already see the ways in which the talent is growing and the depth is expanding. Will that lead to results at the Olympic Games (or against Japan)? Probably not. But they’ll have a better chance now than they did three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics.

Jitka Klimkova: “The squad represents the blend we are looking to establish, with some exciting young talent who have potential to lift the Ferns for the next decade, alongside experienced players who know what it is like to perform at major tournaments such as the Olympic Games.”

JK has picked a 24-woman squad for this tour, which will take place in the neutral territory of Spain. That’s six players more than can fit into an Olympic squad. Only 18 plus four travelling reserves get to go to Paris in July. That means it’s also crunch-time for a few of the fringe players, as well as panic stations for some of those who’ve been left out.

Here we’ve got three changes from the original 24 players who were picked for the Vietnam visit. Out go Brianna Edwards, Paige Satchell, and Ruby Nathan. In come Murphy Sheaff, Grace Neville, and Milly Clegg. Still no room for Annalie Longo, while Ria Percival is now retired from internationals. Olivia Chance and Betsy Hassett remain out on maternity leave. And while it’d be nice to see the likes of Liz Anton, Hannah Blake, Deven Jackson, Rebecca Lake, and Emma Main (amongst others) rewarded for some decent A-League seasons... this isn’t really the time or the place for that in the lead-in to a major tournament. Anyway, the bar is being raised. There’s a lot more depth available suddenly so if you’re in the ALW you’ve got to be great, not just good, to make the cut. There are only six current A-Leaguers in this group and all of them are established selections. Lots of ex-ALW players though. Players who used the Aussie stuff to launch themselves into the leagues beyond. That’s the pathway to follow.

GOALKEEPERS

Victoria Esson – Rangers, SCO (23 caps/0 goals)

Anna Leat – Aston Villa, ENG (16/0)

Murphy Sheaff – Kansas State University, USA (0/0)

Righto, so who is Murphy Sheaff? Aside from being the only non-professional player in the squad, she’s here as the third-choice goalkeeper with Brianna Edwards unavailable. BE seems to be taking a break from the sport dating back to the last few weeks of the Wellington Phoenix season. Gotta do what you’ve gotta do. This sabbatical also led to her withdrawing from the previous national team squad hence why Aimee Danieli was called up as a replacement on that occasion. It made sense to simply summon up a Wellington Phoenix reserve for a home series like that, cut down on travel times/cost. But for an away tour ahead of a major tournament you’ve gotta stick to the hierarchy and that means Murphy Sheaff.

Like Edwards, Sheaff was born and raised in Australia but has played for Aotearoa through the age grades. In fact, she actually started ahead of Edwards at the last U20 World Cup. This isn’t her first Football Ferns call-up either, although she remains uncapped. Sheaff’s been doing the college thing these past couple of years, initially at Jacksonville University where she didn’t play all the time but she did log the best save percentage in all of NCAA Division 1 soccer in 2022 (keeping five clean sheets in eight starts), then she transferred to Kansas State where she could be the undisputed number one and had another strong campaign. With Bri Edwards out and Bundesliga champion Erin Nayler not having played a single game all season, Murphy Sheaff was the next keeper in line. Simple as that.

But it’s all academic when it comes to third-choice keepers because this team has two number ones. Vic Esson is currently in the middle of her finest run of games for Rangers, who narrowly missed out on the SWPL title due to goal difference (largely because they only drew 0-0 with eventual champs Celtic a few weeks ago, Esson keeping the clean sheet). But Rangers have already won the League Cup and there’s a Scottish Cup final in a few days. Meanwhile Anna Leat had a slight hiccup when she was red carded against Chelsea a few weeks back but otherwise she’s been excellent for Aston Villa, closing the season out while regular starter Daphne van Domselaar was injured. That culminated in a spectacular individual performance, earning Player of the Day honours from the BBC crew, in a 2-1 loss to Manchester City in the final round. Leat made eight saves to leave the City players in tears after they missed out on the WSL title due to goal difference.

Since the World Cup, the goalkeeping starts have gone:

Esson, Leat, Leat, Leat, Edwards, Leat, Esson, Leat, Esson, Leat, Esson

Vic Esson started the three World Cup games though Anna Leat seems to have nudged slightly ahead of her since, and is playing at the higher level. But both are in fantastic form so we’ll probably see them alternate again in these two matches.

By the way, both are also impending free agents. We’re at that stage of the year when that applies to many of these players (this article lists the most recent clubs of each player and will try to make mention of any free agency yarns in the main text), yet these two take that situation even further with the way that they seem to be driving each other to new heights – a picture perfect example of how competition for places should work. Esson could easily re-sign with Rangers but it might jeopardise her Ferns stocks if she’s not playing every week. Leat seems likely to leave Aston Villa which you’d assume means she’s in the market for a starting gig, which she has more than earned a shot at in her 18 WSL appearances over the past three years as a backup. Huge watch-this-space areas.

DEFENDERS

Mackenzie Barry – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (15/0)

Katie Bowen – Inter Milan, ITA (107/4)

CJ Bott – Leicester City, ENG (44/3)

Claudia Bunge – HB Køge, DEN (30/0)

Michaela Foster – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (16/1)

Ally Green – AGF, DEN (12/2)

Meikayla Moore – Glasgow City, SCO (64/4)

Grace Neville – London City Lionesses, ENG (7/0)

Ali Riley – Angel City FC, USA (161/2)

Rebekah Stott – Melbourne City, AUS (101/4)

There are ten defenders here. There will not be ten defenders in an 18-woman Olympic squad so this would appear to be the position where Klimková is as-of-yet the most undecided. We’ve got a pretty clear idea on the starting four which would be: CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, Rebekah Stott, and Ali Riley. Possible question marks over Riley given that she missed Angel City’s most recent game through injury and hadn’t been playing much for them before that anyway. She’s been a lot more injury prone these past two years and this will very likely be her last major tournament... but even if she’s not first choice it’d be nuts not to take her along. When you’ve lost Ria Percival and Betsy Hassett’s experience, probably won’t have Annalie Longo either by the looks... you don’t cut loose any more centurions on a whim. This is that youth/experience balance that JK was talking about.

Ali Riley might be trailing off but the rest of that back four are in career-best form. CJ Bott has massively improved her technique and passing in her second full season with Leicester City whilst remaining a world class menace at winning possession. Katie Bowen was a key player from day one with Inter Milan, who finished fifth in the Serie A Femminile. Rebekah Stott captained Melbourne City to a minor premiership and runners-up in the grand final. Nothing to worry about there.

Beyond them it gets more slippery. Claudia Bunge has lost her starting spot for HBK, although somewhat harshly given that the team has gotten worse without her. Meikayla Moore is deservedly back in contention after an excellent season for Glasgow City though they missed out on Champions League qualification this year, sliding to third-place in Scotland. Ally Green has been great for the Ferns over the last couple tours, including filling in as a left winger, though she’s been nowhere to be seen for AGF in recent weeks. To the point where it’s good to have a squad naming like this just to prove she’s still there. Grace Neville did return from injury before the English Championship season ended so that was cool. Same injury that she suffered during the Olympic qualifiers. Mackenzie Barry and Michaela Foster are out of season. Barry has another year under contract with the Welly Nix while Foster does not... though NZF have listed Foz as a Nix player whereas they haven’t done so for Kate Taylor (or Grace Jale at Perth) so perhaps that’s a clue.

Taylor’s ability to cover CB or CDM might mean they only need to pick one out of Bunge or Moore as backup CB. They definitely aren’t going to be bringing Barry, Green, Neville, and Foster all as reserve fullbacks. These are the players with the most to prove over this tour, the ones battling for Olympian status.

MIDFIELDERS

Daisy Cleverley – HB Koge, DEN (37/2)

Macey Fraser – Utah Royals, USA (5/2)

Katie Kitching – Sunderland, ENG (8/4)

Malia Steinmetz – FC Nordsjælland, DEN (29/0)

Kate Taylor – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (15/1)

The midfield looks different without Ria Percival or Betsy Hassett. Or even Olivia Chance who would finally be getting a shot in the midfield again were she available. These are different days though. Malia Steinmetz is now the leader of the pack, while Macey Fraser instantly became a first choice in front of her from the moment of her debut – a genuinely rare feat... probably why she’s now the A-League’s incoming record transfer fee. Fraser has now linked up with her Utah Royals whanau though a debut might have to wait until after the international break once she’s more settled.

For the Vietnam series, the other midfielder was either Indi Riley or Katie Kitching. Daisy Cleverley would do just as well (she scored a very important goal for HBK last week to get their Champions League qualification chances back on track). Could even chuck Kate Taylor in there alongside Steinmetz if a more defensive approach is what’s required – a genuine possibility against a team like Japan.

While Cleverley’s HBK are scrapping for a top-two finish in Denmark, Steinmetz’s FCN are on the hunt for a league and cup double. They’re a good shout to do exactly that and this is with Steinmetz playing every game in the midfield. She’s someone who had a solid A-League stint over multiple years and has gone to a new level since moving to Europe. Makes you wonder if it might be time for Kate Taylor to do something similar. Don’t worry about the Phoenix losing players, men or women, because that club is built to replenish itself through its academy so we want to see them launching young kiwis into the world’s top leagues. That hadn’t really happened for the WahiNix until Macey Fraser but perhaps that move will bust the door down.

As for Kitching, she was great for a Sunderland team that went close to promotion from the English second tier. Lots of one-year contracts in that division so maybe she leaves, maybe she stays. Like Neville at London City, it feels like she’s pretty settled at Sunderland. All of which is keeping Annalie Longo out of the squad, having only added two caps to her tally since the World Cup. At 32yo there’s plenty of time for her to get back in there but she just hasn’t been able to stay fit. With this squad already trending towards younger options, with 10/24 having been given their debuts by Klimková, while several others (Esson, Leat, Steinmetz, Rennie, Jale) have played most of their games during the JK era, that just wasn’t going to be enough for a Longo inclusion.

FORWARDS

Milly Clegg – Racing Louisville, USA (6/0)

Jacqui Hand – Lewes FC, ENG (25/8)

Grace Jale – Perth Glory, AUS (30/9)

Gabi Rennie – Åland United, FIN (35/2)

Indiah-Paige Riley – PSV Eindhoven, NED (23/6)

Hannah Wilkinson – Melbourne City, AUS (124/32)

Milly Clegg is back fit again after what ended up being several months on the sideline. She last played for the Ferns against Chile in September 2023 – her most recent appearance being her first start for the national team. That meant she missed out on the chance to get that first senior goal for the Fernies during the Oceania or Vietnam games... and she still technically has not played since that one-and-done match for Western Sydney. However, she’s been training with Racing Louisville for several weeks, making it onto the bench for their two most recent fixtures. Clegg’s in a race with Macey Fraser to see which of them makes an NWSL debut first.

We’ll trust that she’s proved her fitness in training because the team does very much need her. We saw that against Vietnam in game two when they were desperate for another option and just didn’t have one. Clegg’s in a great spot to continue developing her skills with Racing Lou. Her return means that Ruby Nathan skips out, having kinda been her placeholder in the meantime. Nathan was picked ahead of schedule so no dramas there.

Quite a few of these forwards are at curious times in their careers. Hannah Wilkinson’s finally got a challenger for the number nine role with Clegg having graduated to the NWSL – ideally this’ll give us an Esson/Leat situation where that competition brings the best out in both but we’ll see how that goes. Wilkie had a good season with Melbourne City but not a great season, scoring regular goals though arguably not as many as she ought to have. She probably cops too much slack for being the preferred striker in a team that doesn’t score enough – the reality is that she remains the best player in this position. At least for now. Milly Clegg’s definitely on her way... though the funkier option right now might be giving Jacqui Hand a go through the middle.

Hand was very good for Lewes FC in her half-season, albeit not good enough to keep them from getting relegated so she’s gonna be on the lookout for a new club. Gabi Rennie’s new club is Jacqui Hand’s old club and GR’s had a magnificent introduction to Finland’s Kansallinen Liiga... right at a time when her position in the Ferns could have otherwise been in jeopardy. Instead she’s been held onto selection ahead of Paige Satchell, who was decent for London City (as a teammate of Grace Neville’s)... but only decent. Good enough to start most weeks, contributing the odd goal/assist, but not good enough to get selected for the national team when everyone else is available. Effectively this was Rennie vs Satchell for one spot and Rennie has simply been playing better. Big note there being that Rennie’s mahi is all coming as a right winger. None of this workhorse striker or left-wing nonsense. She stays on the right where she’ll run hard all day and whip in mint crosses. That is her position.

That has also been one of Grace Jale’s positions... but Jale is in the most curious spot of all. After a great start to her Perth Glory career with with three goals in four games she then proceeded not to score again in any of her remaining 15 matches. She didn’t even attempt a shot in several of those fixtures. Perth were quite bad, which never helps, but also Jale had too many games where she drifted along without having enough of an impact. Even though she scored a bunch of goals in the Oceania games, she missed a number of good chances too.

Doing some media stuff during the previous tour, Ali Riley spoke about GJ as being on par with Fraser and Hand but that’s absolutely not what we’re seeing on the pitch. It might well be what Riley sees in training though. Jale’s a superb talent. Great athlete too. She’s just struggled to find her rhythm playing in multiple positions for three different ALW clubs in three years. This is by no means droppable behaviour... yet. She’s got to get that needle pointing back in the other direction soon though, and a little positional/club consistency will help that massively. She’s a better footballer now than she was then but Jale’s most effective stuff remains that season with the Wellington Phoenix when she scored six goals mostly from the left wing.

Nothing to say about Indi Riley other than that she’s been great for PSV (as a left-winger) scoring regular goals for the third-best team in the Netherlands. She’s played as an attacking midfielder for the Ferns recently but against stronger opponents that might change, in which case a return to her World Cup efforts on the wing would go down perfectly fine. She actually mostly plays on the left wing for PSV. Wherever she is, she’ll offer one of the very few examples in this squad of someone with the ability to beat a defender 1v1. Very valuable skill. Very valuable player.

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