Football Ferns vs Mexico/USA: The Reaction
Three games played, three defeats, zero goals scored, nine conceded. The numbers don’t look pretty but to be fair they were mostly spoiled by the needless game against the USA. That match ended in a 6-0 defeat as the Ferns predictably struggled playing their third match in seven days against an opponent that’s always miles (kilometres) better than them. It’s not important. The two narrow defeats against Mexico are more important but even then the results aren’t really the focus right now. Not yet.
Michael Mayne had a very long interim reign but it’s only been since the Costa Rica games in February that he began implementing a few fresh ideas, switching up the formation to a 3-5-2 and putting more emphasis on passing patterns and chance creation. Not sure we’re getting a lot of the passing patterns, though the chance creation was there against Mexico (less so against USA, naturally, though there was that one Kate Taylor header). Maybe not enough and certainly not with the required level of crossing or finishing... but we’ve seen this team stutter through similarly matched games in the past without doing half of what we saw in those ones.
It seems like a dumb thing to say when the Olympics were 15 months ago but these are the early days of this World Cup cycle. They’re still early days because NZF allowed the team to go seven months without a game after Paris 2024 and then blundered with the Chinese Taipei games that got cancelled, meaning that they’d only had four fixtures in that time: a draw and a win against Costa Rica, a loss and a win against Venezuela. They were inconsistent against those sides and Mexico/USA was always going to offer a much steeper task. That’s good though. It’s a test that the Ferns needed at this time, not only for the team and the system but also for Mayne himself as a head coach. We don’t know if what he’s building is going to be successful (first thing we need to do there is to come up with a realistic definition of what “success” even means for this team). What we do know is that it’s going to require more time either way. This definitely not the moment for result-induced freakouts.
Building Out The Depth
With that in mind, let’s look at the bigger picture. Michael Mayne picked a 24-player squad for this series. CJ Bott and Grace Wisnewski (a key player and a likely starter) both withdrew injured so they called up Lara Wall and Rebecca Lake, while also adding Maddie Iro as an extra goalkeeper. Wall debuted off the bench against USA. Lake, Iro, and also the other backup keeper Alina Santos (all uncapped) were the only three players who didn’t get on the pitch across the three matches. Kate Taylor, Indiah-Paige Riley, and Vic Esson started all three while everyone else got rotated around. Wall’s debut means that Mayne has now used 27 players in his seven games in charge...
Football Ferns Appearances in 2025 (Starts in Brackets)
7 games: Vic Esson (7), Kate Taylor (7), Katie Kitching (6), Kelli Brown (4)
6 games: Michaela Foster (6), Annalie Longo (6), Milly Clegg (5), Jacqui Hand (3), Maya Hahn (3), Meikayla Moore (2), Emma Pijnenburg (0)
5 games: Liz Anton (5), Indi Riley (5), Claudia Bunge (4), Manaia Elliott (2)
4 games: Grace Neville (3), Deven Jackson (1)
3 games: Katie Bowen (2), Gabi Rennie (1)
2 games: Mack Barry (1), Rebekah Stott (1), Macey Fraser (1), Hannah Blake (1), Betsy Hassett (0)
1 game: Grace Jale (1), Lara Wall (0), Ally Green (0)
Players who’ve been called up but not played: CJ Bott, Grace Wisnewski, Alina Santos, Maddie Iro, Rebecca Lake, Claudia Jenkins, Geo Candy, Ruby Nathan, Jana Radosavljevic, Brianna Edwards.
That’s a pretty big pool to pick from and it doesn’t even include overseas pros like Suya Haering, Lara Colpi, Jana Niedermayr, or even Liv Chance. Nor current A-League players such as Anna Leat, Zoe McMeeken, Olivia Page, Charlotte Lancaster, Marisa van der Meer, Emma Main, Alyssa Whinham, et cetera. Any of whom could put themselves in the mix with a sustained burst of good form like what Gabi Rennie or Grace Wisnewski, for example, have used to get back on the scene.
When Michael Mayne talks about expanding the depth and competition for places, that’s what it looks like. The next step is to see who can climb the ladder a little higher with their club situations because right now we’ve got a lot of women in second-tier divisions or in smaller nations. It’s only really Kate Taylor (Dijon FC in France) and Katie Bowen (Inter Milan in Italy) who are currently getting top tier footy in leagues objectively better than the Australian one. Maybe Jacqui Hand and Liz Anton (plus Liv Chance) should also be on that list playing for Kolbotn in Norway... except that their team is dead last and headed for relegation.
After eight straight years with multiple kiwis in the English WSL, there are none right now. Maybe Milly Clegg can change this when she returns from her Canadian loan but the NWSL cupboard is almost as bare since Abby Erceg and Macey Fraser left and with Ali Riley retiring. Suya Haering’s coming off the bench for a German Bundesliga team but hasn’t played senior footy for Aotearoa yet. These things happen in ebbs and flows. Currently we’ve got a vast selection of pros to pick from... yet only a few of them are in world class club situations. Log that as further context for the Mayne Project.
Schematic Observations
Nothing about the USA game is worth discussing other than to say congrats to Lara Wall on her debut. Wall’s done it the slow and steady way, moving from her hometown of Dunedin to play for Canterbury United over several years before joining the Wellington Phoenix as a scholarship player and then earning a full contract. She joins the long list of left wing-backs competing for Ali Riley’s old spot (Indi Riley seems to be option tahi having started there in the last four games she’s been available for).
Apart from that, like, what’s there to say about a game where we had 18% of possession, were out-shot 34 to 3, beaten on the xG counts by 5.40 to 0.08, and spent 46% of the game in our defensive third? The only thing there is that it might have been nice to see the kiwis embrace the Bad Guy theme, giving away a few more fouls and roughing the yanks up a bit. Nothing dirty, just don’t let them run through their stuff like it’s a training drill. Perhaps an added dose of desperation in defence too, although Kate Taylor and Mickey Foster did bring some of that.
Actually that idea leads into another one that’s relevant to the Mexico games because the Football Ferns conceded the opening goals of these three fixtures in the 10th minute, 10th minute, and 8th minute. In other words, they were 1-0 down after 10 minutes on all three occasions (and 2-0 down after 16 mins of the second MEX match). There were some soft concessions amongst them too... Mexico’s three goals were from a corner kick which Vic Esson came out for and got nowhere near, a low free kick cross which beat the first defender and then nobody tracked the runner who touched home, and then a fumble by Esson leading to a shot that Kate Taylor cleared off the line... into the back of the striker and it bobbled over before KT could untangle herself from the net in time.
Silly, preventable goals brewing out of slow starts that ultimately cost them in both fixtures. They didn’t concede after that in those Mexico games. Mexico were good value for their two victories, they’re a team on the rise with a strong professional league and our past results against them don’t reflect the competitive force that they’re becoming. Which is all the more reason why New Zealand cannot be leaking soft goals and having to play from a deficit. The fact that Esson was partly culpable for at least two of them is worth keeping in mind as Anna Leat returns to the professional scene this weekend. Remember that Leat started ahead of Esson at the Olympics.
There’s also the question of whether the Ferns are taking enough risks. “Courage” is the word that coaches usually prefer to use. Not so much in the attacking third but in trying to get to that point because there were times against Mexico where it felt like the Ferns kept taking the easier option of passing backwards to a centre-back when a midfielder was free. That midfielder might’ve lost the ball, especially since New Zealand aren’t the most technically sound team going around, whereas the backwards pass is a guaranteed success... but there’s a big difference between when the next pass afterwards goes. Are you keeping the ball to keep the ball? Or are you keeping the ball to score goals? Sometimes it’s the right thing to do just to knock it around and slow the game down but it can also be a self-defeating trap.
Similarly, the wing-backs have to do a good amount of defending and that’s a tough balance to strike (and a tough job to do)... but they’ve gotta get higher up the pitch, that’s the priority. There are always midfielders who can cover for them. We need our only wide players to be right up there making things happen. Indi Riley’s dribbling means she can still make things happen from a deeper starting point so just think what can be achieved if she’s collecting that ball around the penalty area. Easier said than done, of course.
The Legends In Attendance
The fates didn’t allow for an Ali Riley farewell game – she’s only played ten minutes of footy all year and you can’t be taking somebody else’s hard earned spot in the squad on that form. Sure, an exception could have been made for a legend of the jersey... but Riley’s also spoken a lot about what it’s taken even just to get back into training with Angel City of late. She’s got a chronic nerve injury in her leg. It hasn’t healed, she’s just found better ways to cope with it – including pain-killing injections before games and training sessions. This quote was used in Flying Kiwis a fortnight ago after her NWSL send-off...
Ali Riley on her injury: “I went into a 50-50, landed awkwardly, and I just felt burning down my whole left leg. I had never felt anything like that before, and for months I couldn’t walk. You get like these lightning strikes burning your leg. I called them ‘zingers’. I had medical professionals saying to me: ‘It’s in your head, so if you meditate, you won’t feel it.’ That’s not correct, that did not help me. We were trying medication, injections, but the pain, it takes your breath away, like someone stabbing you. I went in the gym every day for seven months and saw no progress. And then we found a doctor in Salt Lake city who – I thank him – tried a different injection and eventually I got to where I am right now. I can use my leg to play soccer. For two hours I can be on the field and feel great. The rest of the day is still pretty tough. I can perform, I can train and I get to be with my team. But physically and emotionally, I can’t do this for longer than probably another couple of games, so I can’t keep living like this. I am retiring because I have to take care of myself.”
Yeah so, like, no need to put the poor woman through torture to add another cap or two. The third game was in America so simply bring her along in a non-playing capacity and let it happen that way. That’s what the Football Ferns did and it was lovely...
Likewise, it was cool to see Abby Erceg showing up in support when the Ferns played in Mexico earlier in the tour. Notice how this photo includes Katie Bowen and Annalie Longo – the two centurions in the current squad and therefore the two who played the most with Erceg – along with Milly Clegg who was her teammate at Racing Louisville last year and also Claudia Bunge and Meikayla Moore who are the two centre-backs who probably benefited from her example the most. Big respect all around.
More Stray Thoughts
Katie Bowen only played in the midfield upon her return to the side. She’s a centre-back and occasional right wing-back for Inter Milan but she returned to her original position of centre-mid in all three of these games (once off the bench, twice from the start). That might be the long term vision or it might have been a means to an end with an under-strength midfield contingent for this tour. Emma Pijnenburg was also used exclusively in the midfield, having previously seen time at wing-back (she’s a midfielder but most of her Feyenoord appearances have come at fullback, getting in where she could). Mickey Foster started in the middle against USA after two CB starts vs Mexico. Gonna be honest, there’s not a lot of size or speed in our midfield at the moment and if we can’t retain the ball better than that’s going to be a problem. Perhaps that will mean that Bowen stays there? Maya Hahn did a very good job at CM against Mexico in both games but we’re crying out for a fit Malia Steinmetz (or even Grace Wisnewski) to add a little bite.
Considering she hasn’t even played much for her club team lately, Indi Riley’s fitness and workrate is absolutely crazy. Starting all three games at wing-back? What an engine. She’s pretty decent defensively too for someone who is a converted winger. Deserves more action for Crystal Palace... she had a good game just prior to the international break so that might help. Would be nice if she didn’t cut inside onto her right foot every time she gets on the attack though (most times is acceptable, her dribbling is a weapon, just not every time).
It’d be an impossible task to do the ol’ power ranking task with the Football Ferns these days when they seem to be in this transitional phase. At the Olympics, it would have been relatively simple to say the five most important players were: Katie Bowen, CJ Bott, Rebekah Stott, Anna Leat, and probably Malia Steinmetz rounding it out (all defensive-minded players, naturally)... but three of them haven’t played since due to injury and rotation while Bowen’s only just gotten back amongst and Stott skipped this tour after returning last time. Hard to know where everyone stands. Macey Fraser should be pushing that quintet but she’s also been out of action.
Don’t go thinking this was a full-capacity Ferns squad because it really was not. But however you wanna slice the cake, it’s becoming pretty clear that Kate Taylor has emerged as one of Aotearoa’s most important figures. Very good passer, great temperament, has that defensive desperation, plays at a very high level... time to recognise her as a top tier Fern. And the only reason Indi Riley isn’t on the same level is because she’s been stuck on the bench for Crystal Palace. If that situation changes then she’s moving into the same category.
A Hypothetical Full Capacity Football Ferns Starting Eleven:
Anna Leat (GK)
Katie Bowen (RCB), Kate Taylor (CB), Mickey Foster (LCB)
CJ Bott (RWB), Malia Steinmetz (CM), Maya Hahn (CM), Indi Riley (LWB)
Macey Fraser (CAM)
Milly Clegg (CF), Jacqui Hand (CF)
Could go either way with Rebekah Stott instead of Mickey Foster, but Foz gets the nod here because of her extra availability and also the set piece deliveries. Alternatively, Katie Kitching hits a mean dead ball too and she’s in contention, along with Kelli Brown, to start ahead of Jacqui Hand. JH got used a bit as a wing-back on this tour, not for the first time either, and it just doesn’t really work. She needs to be closer to the goal to lean on her best attributes. Secondary striker is the one... although Kitching’s superior touch and Brown’s physicality make that a very tight call. Frankly, Clegg’s not really a guaranteed starter either so take your pick of any two, potentially on a horses for courses basis. Also Annalie Longo vs Maya Hahn is a No Wrong Answers debate, it’s just that every time Longo plays you don’t know if it’ll be her last match and we are trying to build towards a World Cup in two years (which is also a factor in Leat > Esson... though the main factor is that it was already the case until Leat took a professional sabbatical – she’d simply be picking up where she left off). That’s a good team, right? Yeah well about 40% of it was missing against Mexico and USA.
Goalkeepers who have played for the Ferns in the past 18 months:
Vic Esson & Anna Leat
Goalkeepers who have been in Ferns squads over the past 18 months:
Vic Esson, Anna Leat, Claudia Jenkins, Bri Edwards, Murphy Sheaff, Alina Santos, Geo Candy, Maddie Iro
For a bit of context on the Americans, they’re undergoing a rebuild under Emma Hayes after having seen a bunch of retirements and a few long term injuries since the last World Cup. As such there were three teenagers in the eleven to face New Zealand and the back four had a combined 11 caps. The entire team only averaged 7.7 caps each if you exclude the legend Rose Lavelle (Lindsey Heap, nee Horan, also featured off the bench). Central defender Kennedy Wesley was on debut – the 25th debutant in 27 games for Hayes. Their average age was 23.2 (dropping to 22.5 excluding Lavelle).
The biggest risers from this tour would have to be Mickey Foster and Maya Hahn. Foster’s work at left-CB was really good, one of our best players against Mexico, and given that she brings a range of passing, fantastic set pieces (including a long throw), good leadership, and a genuine left boot... that feels like the spot for her moving forward. She’s mostly been used in central defence for Durham this season so it all fits. She’s too slow for midfield against better international teams but she showed here that she’s pushing first eleven at LCB. As for Hahn, she’s simply a classy midfielder with a gentle touch and sharp awareness and those are attributes we need as much as we can get of. We’ve seen her play as an attacking midfielder before. Here she was used in a deeper role and was equally effective. Hahn didn’t play against America but she’s featured in every other match since her debut.
Deven Jackson is another riser, making her first start in game two against Mexico. Gabi Rennie is another after her stellar club form earned her a recall. Her Eskilstuna United team are surging towards promotion so she could soon add another her name to the top tier ballers list over in Sweden. Crucially, we saw her used as a right wing-back against USA which is where she needs to be. All her mahi in Sweden comes from her powerful running and quality crossing from the right wing. She’s got the workrate and smarts to do the defensive stuff so that’s no drama. Rennie at RWB is where she has a chance to be more than just a depth player like she’s been in her career to date. Emma Pijnenburg has sneakily logged six caps in a row. All as a substitute but she must be doing something right to keep getting summoned. Didn’t see a lot of Claudia Bunge or Meikayla Moore on this tour though. Or Jacqui Hand for that matter.
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