Flying Kiwis – April 4
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
Right now this week’s Chris Wood goal came… oh no wait… he didn’t score. Huh. That’s strange.
Woody left the NZ camp early and had already jumped on a plane before the All Whites bothered to point out that he wasn’t gonna play the second game against Fiji (having scored from the penalty spot in the first game). That’s okay though. His Leeds season has been outstanding and what he’s doing there could well be the making of a long career (and plenty of cash-money, matey). He’s already getting transfer interest from Everton, although that’s probably worth nothing on the truth-o-meter. An effectively meaningless game for NZ for which we had plenty of cover shouldn’t have to ruin his promotion efforts if there’s a genuine complaint. And there was, no dramas.
Heading home as early as he did, he was able to beat the Wellington fog and get there in time to play (for a game which was worth risking his back for). Played the whole game, even. Yet up against a difficult Reading side down in London, his efforts weren’t enough to get anything from the match and Yann Kermorgant’s 21st minute strike was the difference in a 1-0 Reading win. Drops Leeds behind them on the table too unfortunately, though there’s still a chunk of footy left in this season.
Woody tried his absolute guts out to get his team back into the game but it’s not every week that a handy ball falls to ya in the box. He didn’t have a single shot, though he competed hard and won a few fouls. Probably gotta admit that Reading were good for the win in a game of… let’s say not too many clear-cut chances. Bit stink that it was Kermorgant who scored too since he’d gotten the war or words going before the game by claiming Leeds were something of a one-man team.
Yann Kermorgant: “They play straight forward and kick it long. They have one striker with almost all of their goals which is good for him but dangerous for the team. If he gets injured then the team's in danger because they have no plan B.”
Although Kermy also announced his impending retirement this week so maybe best wishes to him instead. After all, he can’t say he was proven wrong on the weekend. Oddly Leeds have failed to score in all four matches following international breaks this season, losing the full quartet. Probably a little kiwi jetlag behind one or two of those.
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - Hardly touched the ball before the interval but worked himself into the ground in an attempt to force an equaliser. 6/10”
Lucky for Wood he already scored against Reading last time he played them so that record of scoring against every team except for QPR is still intact for at least another day (gotta get one past Brentford next). Incredibly he’s scored in 20 games in the Championship this season and failed to score in only 17. That’s the kinda form that leads to this stuff here:
Already named in the Championship team of the season, now Woody’s been shortlisted for the league’s top player by the EFL. Down to him, Dwight Gayle of Newcastle (who is his closest rival for golden boot only two goals behind him) and Anthony Knockaert of Brighton (a former Leicester teammate who’s ripping things up on the wing for Albion this season). Take your pick as things stand but a strong few games from any of them could tip the scales.
Garry Monk: “I think quite rightly so as well. He has been fantastic. Chris is an important part of what we are doing here but I am sure he will be the first to tell you that he has given big thanks to his team-mates for putting him in a position where he can be nominated like that. But we are very proud of that, we are very proud of him but he knows there’s a lot of work to be done. He is very focused on the football and those things come at the end of the season, they don’t come during it, so he is focused on the football and ready to keep on helping the team in these coming games.”
Up Next: Away to Brentford, 6.45am on Weds (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
The news is not good, sorry to say. Hobbled by injury in the last game before the international break, Winston therefore missed the All Whites and their two 2-0 wins over Fiji and the word is not positive in the short term. His season isn’t over but it will be a few more weeks before ‘Reidy’ is back on the park. Here’s Slaven Bilic speaking before the match away at Hull City:
“We got three players injured in that game. Pedro had an operation very successfully, but he’s going to be fit for the start of the pre-season for next year, so he’s out. Then Reidy is going to be out for another four weeks, so he has a chance to come back for the last games. With Pedro, we knew it was going to be hard because it required an operation, as I said, and with Reidy it’s a bigger one, but with Michail we were optimistic from the start because he didn’t come off. He played the whole game but he felt something, but it’s nothing major but he isn’t going to be ready for the game against Hull.”
Bit of a shame. They coulda used him badly as well because up against Hull they may have started nicely with an early Andy Carroll goal giving them the lead – his 50th for the Hammers- which they carried on into the second half and fair enough too. Manny Lanzini has come into some impressive form since Dimitri Payet left and he was pulling strings all over the show but despite the dominance they couldn’t find a second goal.
Then Hull switched to a four-man defensive line, having started with three CBs, and they never looked back. Andrew Robertson drifted into the penalty area in some space and slammed in an equaliser in the 53rd minute and after surviving a couple scares, WHU finally fell behind with five minutes left thanks to Andrea Ranocchia’s header. Doesn’t lift Hull out of the relegation spots thanks to the point that Swansea got the next day but it gets them within range meanwhile West Ham drop to 14th and only six points ahead of Hull with a game coming midweek against Arsenal. You know what they’re missing? A healthy dose of this:
Brace The Hammer: “If Reid were to miss four weeks, he could be back in the team for the Sunderland game, in the meantime the players will have to learn to defend without him. Hopefully José Fonte can step up, and show why West Ham paid £8 million for his services. Maybe we could even get our first clean sheet with him on the pitch!”
BBC Sport: “West Ham have lost 20 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, the most of any side in the competition.”
In much more positive news, Winston might not have been around for the All Whites game in Aotearoa last week but he did leave a very tangible mark as word was announced of some exciting new ventures his Winston Reid Foundation is embarking upon.
The foundation is opening two new academy facilities, an Auckland one and another located in Wellington, with hopes for a Christchurch base to come in the future. The aim is to bring in another avenue to the top for the best young kiwis out there, with an added aim of growing the sport amongst Maori kids – there’s gonna be a Maori Football Scholarship with this too that Reidy’s sponsoring.
Sounds like he’ll use his own experience in the Danish academy systems as guidance for this thing and he also wants to see a strong emphasis on character building as well, it’s all very cool stuff. Although Winston couldn’t be there for the mini-spectacle they offered for the press, Prime Minister Bill English did find his way down for a few photo ops, along with faces from Maori Football NZ and the Welly Nix. Shout outs to Winston, giving a lil back to the community.
Up Next: Nothing for Winston, gotta keep things rested up
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
Yeah so remember how the fog in Wellington led to flights being delayed? Well a few All Whites suffered at the hands of Mother Nature and Tommy Smith was one of them. He only got back in the UK around 24 hours before Ipswich were due to play Birmingham so he was never really in contention to start – even if he was only likely to sit on the bench anyway. As it happens he didn’t even get that close and was left out of the match day squad, very understandably after the travel.
Curiously Ipswich went with a 4-4-2 formation, a flat back four instead of the three CBs they’ve been using lately (though not exclusively). Smith probably needs that 3CB thing to get a spot in the first XI, to be honest. Not likely to sneak in ahead of Luke Chambers or Christophe Berra. Then again after a 1-1 draw at home – a eighth draw in ten games – and an increasingly difficult relationship between Mick McCarthy and the Town fans, you never know.
Their goal was a massive fluke too, haha. At least the point keeps them from slipping towards the relegation buggers. Still six points clear of that ignominy – albeit with one win in 13 league games now. They’re home to Wigan in the midweek, with the Latics all but relegated already meaning that one might get desperate for both sides, then there’s a tough one against Fulham on the weekend. Best hope Smithy’s ready to go for all that.
Yo and Happy Birthday there, lad, for the other day.
Up Next: Ipswich vs Wigan, 6.45am Wednesday (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)
In case you were wondering how much money Bill Tuiloma earns at Olympic Marseille, here’s the OM Forum with the answer to your deliberations…
That’s roughly NZ$23k. Which is a base salary that’s probably augmented with sponsorships and match rewards but yeah. Whatever. The OM CFA team didn’t have a game this week and Tui was away with the All Whites the game before that so there’s not actually any football to talk about here. Moving on.
Up Next: Colomiers US vs OM2, 2.00am Sunday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Thommo was the star of that All Whites game in Wellington with his two goals and a generally step-above kinda performance. But he was just like Smith in that he got held up on his way back to Europe. Lucky for him Zwolle had an extra day before their game so he was still able to make the bench, though that only got him 24 minutes as the PECers drew 1-1 at home with Excelsior – a team barely above the relegation zone.
Then a few days later they had a new manager. Ron Jans had been under some pressure from the start of the season with the way they were playing, lingering down in the relegation spots, but he’s eased that pressure lately with a few good wins. He was never likely to be sacked given the success he’s had with this club and all on a tiny budget but that also meant he was a man in some demand and so back in January he announced he wouldn’t be signing another contract and would be leaving at the end of the season. The way things have worked out he’s even an option for the Dutch national team at the moment, howzat one.
But yeah, Zwolle confirmed their new boss for next season and it’s none other than… John van't Schip. Why do you recognize that name? Because up until January he was the manager of the A-League’s own Melbourne City. He left them for family reasons and now his next job will involve picking Ryan Thomas in his XIs (fingers crossed). Then again Thommo’s also got ambitions beyond where he’s at now and a big Confederations Cup… who knows who’ll be calling next?
Up Next: Roda JC vs PEC Zwolle, Friday 4.30am (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
This really is an odd week of Flying Kiwis. After 19 games unbeaten in the PSL, SuperSport have finally tasted the bitter nectar of defeat once again. They went down 1-0 to Baroka… who are the team sitting itchy at the bottom of the table. Still are, even with this win. 19 games unbeaten and that’s the one you lose? Okay then. A 20th game without a loss woulda set a new record.
Here’s a preview which smells strangely like off-brand hindsight for some reason…
“SuperSport United will this weekend set a new record for the longest unbeaten league run in the 21-year history of the PSL if they avoid defeat at home against battling Baroka. That task appears easily attainable for Stuart Baxter and his men as their next opponents are bottom of the table, and will have to stage an upset to avoid becoming the latest victims to be beaten at SuperSport’s adopted home Mbombela Stadium on Saturday afternoon”
Whoops. Neither Brockie nor Boxall lasted the 90 minutes, Boxall was replaced as part of a double sub in the 67th and Brockie came off with 15 minutes left. Can’t really argue, SSU controlled this game from post to post but wasted far too many chances to score and Brockie was amongst those. Then Phineas Matlakala scored in the 57th minute as he latched onto a ball over the United defence and suddenly they were losing. So they tightened up the pressure some more and still didn’t score.
Soccer Laduma: “Stuart Baxter's charges nearly broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, but Jeremy Brockie's venomous volley was turned by away by Oscarine Masuluke.”
Weird thing is Stuart Baxter, the manager of SSU, was also the manager of Kaizer Chiefs when they also went 19 games undefeated three seasons ago on their way to the title, which was the previous record and still remains the tied best. He might be going the way of Ryan Thomas’ manager though because the club has given him permission to speak with the South African FA over their vacant national team role. He’ll see out the season either way but Brox is keen for the Scotsman to stick around longer than that.
Jeremy Brockie: “I have been reading a lot about it as well and it would actually be devastating if we were to lose him at SuperSport. Obviously the Bafana job is pretty exciting for him too, but personally, I hope we can keep him here at SuperSport and the club do all it can to keep him because he is a big influencer and man-manager off the field. He is always talking and looking to improve the team by bringing more confidence to the squad. Like I said, it would be devastating for us if the rumours are true, but we will have to wait on that one.”
Up Next: Some tough stuff in the CAF Confederations Cup, with two legs against Liberia’s Barrack Young Controllers
Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
If Jake Gleeson has a weakness (IF Jake Gleeson has a weakness), then it’s that for those spectacular saves he so often makes, like MLS Save of the Week standard saves, he’s also prone to the odd silly error now and then. Such was the case this week, unfortunately.
Jakey didn’t play for New Zealand, he wasn’t even picked. That might have had something to do with the MLS not fully respecting the ol’ international window (much like Australia) and giving the Timbers a game in the middle of it. Not being with the All Whites, Gleeson was able to therefore play both games for Portland across the last two weeks… and he wasn’t quite at his best in either.
It was away in Columbus that the Timbers won their MLS title back in 2015 but here against the Crew there shan’t have been as many craft brews sunken that night. Three straight wins to start the season but that streak ended with a 3-2 loss to the Crew and it was a late goal that did them in as well.
Portland were down a couple players with international duty and they still had a few lingering defensive injuries, so not completely at 100% there. But Dairon Asprilla gave them an early lead getting on the end of Sebastian Blanco’s through ball. And then the defensive patching began to show. Justin Meram rocketed in an equaliser from a corner kick situation and then by the 19th minute the Crew were ahead with Gleeson being a silly bugger in coming too far off his line and getting chipped.
Fanendo Adi tied it up before the break and it was an even second half, but then Niko Hansen was able to follow up a rebound in the 84th minute, Gleeson making a good save from Ola Kamara’s shot but unable to parry the ball away to safety.
Oregon Live: “Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson also had a major miscue in the game as he made a poor decision to come way off his line in the 19th minute, giving Ola Kamara the chance to score on an easy chip.”
Thus we now travel back to Portland where the Timbers took on the New England Revolution. Still without those defenders (Liam Ridgewell and Vytas) but with Darlington Nagbe and David Guzman back from their national teams (USA and Costa Rica respectively), they took the lead in the twelfth minute thanks to a stunning volley from Diego Valeri – his fifth goal of the season in only the fifth game. The technique was just lovely. Likewise here’s a top looking save from Jakey Boy.
Gleeson was hardly tested after that, he barely had another save to make while Portland, with their 55% of possession, had their chances to make it 2-0. More than a couple chances and eventually they were made to pay for it as Lee Nguyen equalised in the 84th minute. These late goals, aye? And again it was Gleeson parrying a shot out to danger. This one was a horrible mistake. He might not have had the time to catch it (might not) but he definitely should’ve had softer hands to keep this from falling to the feet of the attacker. He almost recovered but his slide was a split-second late.
Oregon Live: “Revolution forward Kei Kamara drove a cross past Timbers defender Roy Miller and into the box in the 84th minute. The ball fell to Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson, who batted the ball down instead of catching it. That gave Nguyen the opening he needed to get to the ball and send the equalizer into the top of the net.”
If you wanna know that Tony Hawk Pro Skater is Jake’s favourite video game (fine taste, sir) then click here and read this questionnaire… like he did.
Up Next: Philadelphia Union vs Portland Timbers, 11.00am Sunday (NZT)