Flying Kiwis – December 6
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
The League Cup dream is no more for Winston but that was only half of it. Returning from suspension, Winnie got 180 quick minutes under the belt as West Ham played Man United and Arsenal in the space of a few days and it really couldn’t have gone much worse.
Last week – without Reid – the Hammers had needed only 90 seconds to take the lead against Man United in the Premier League. In the cup game they were behind after 87 when Zlatan Ibrahimović was slipped through and he slid the ball beyond Adrian (who gave him a few sprigs to the knee for good measure, accidental or no). Ashley Fletcher took advantage of David De Gea uncharacteristically dropping a Dimitri Payet shot to equalise against the team he came through the youth ranks at but United were comfortably the better team and rolled them in the second half to take a 4-1 win, Zlatan adding another with Anthony Martial scoring twice. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had his best game in a United jersey.
Yet despite all that you couldn’t actually say that Reid played poorly at all. In truth he was even pretty good. Both he and his defensive buds Kouyate and Ogbonna were involved in plenty of diving blocks and attentive tackles, it’s just that the Hammers didn’t even have the illusion of a midfield and with United flowing forward for attack after attack there was only so much they could do.
Jose Mourinho was suspended for this game, which was funny. Also this happened:
Here’s a thing from the Telegraph’s min by min, making fun of some dumbness from Phil Neville in the commentary box:
“’Winston Reid committed himself into No Man's Land.’ -- I'm not sure quite why I find this so funny but there's something about the imagery of Reid checking into nowhere. ‘Well this is nice.’”
Against Arsenal the Hammers were back to full strength (in as much as they can be) but it didn’t go any better. Although for a long time it was a game they were able to keep hope, down 1-0 to Mesut Ozil’s first half goal, picking on a mistake from Angelo Ogbonna and finishing from Alexis Sanchez’s cut-back. Just a heads up: Sanchez was absolutely magnificent.
The Telegraph: “Angelo Ogbonna had to cut out a cross from Nacho Monreal before another low centre from the Spaniard was diverted off the foot of Sanchez by Winston Reid to prevent what would have been a certain goal. Shkodran Mustafi went close with a glancing header from Ozil’s inswinging corner before Ozil finally opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 24th minute thanks to a comedy of errors from the hosts.”
So for ages it was 1-0 and even if they didn’t look like equalising they were at least in range to do so. However into the second half they had maybe a ten minute spell where they started to crank things up and the travelling Arsenal fans got a little nervous. Then Sanchez scored a couple beauties and Arsene’s your uncle.
West Ham did pull one back when Andy Carroll headed in a sitter as the ball came back off the crossbar courtesy of a rocking Payet free kick. Petr Cech never moved. But within minutes Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had restored the three goal deficit and Alexis Sanchez completed his hat-trick before the end for a 5-1 win. The move Sanchez pulled for that third goal, the shimmy and dummy, ah so good.
Michael Cox/ESPN: “For long periods of the first half, West Ham were a shapeless mess and fortunate not to be out of the game by half-time. James Collins' early departure certainly didn't help -- he was replaced with Alvaro Arbeloa, and having started with a 3-4-2-1, they looked more like 4-2-3-1 after the switch.”
The Independent Player Ratings: “Winston Reid - 6 out of 10 | Made any early mistake to give away a goal, but did make some crucial interceptions and tackles.”
ESPN Player Ratings: “Winston Reid, 5 -- Was partly responsible for the first goal and had another booking -- no player in the Premier League has more -- but had he not been at the centre of defence then the Hammers may have conceded 10.”
Slaven Bilic: “I am not looking for excuses. Yes, we had injuries and mistakes, but we were not good enough. It was a big humiliation. I feel sorry for the fans and the club. We played some good games in this season, and had some good moments today even at 0-0 and 1-0 down. But I have to be honest and say we don't have the intensity and from the dedication comes the quality. We don't have it the same as last season, even in training.”
Winston Reid (in the matchday programme): “I think it feels like home now. It is different to where I was used to playing at for the last six years, where everything was tight at Upton Park. Even when things weren't going for you in games, if you made a tackle you could feel the crowd get behind you. We weren't the team we were last year and the fans didn't have as much to get excited about. At the end of the day it's really only us on the pitch who can do something about it, and get the fans behind you and supporting you.”
In other news…
Up Next: Liverpool vs West Ham, 5.30am Monday (NZT)
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
Just like for Reid, the League Cup dream is over… but then making the quarters was always more than Leeds expected. With Newcastle also going out (on penalties to Hull – they had a nightmare from the spot), that means that Leeds matched the deepest run of any Championship team this season.
Away at Anfield, the writing was always on the wall and that was why Woody found himself starting on the bench. In his absence though, the Whites put up a great defensive stand against what was a young and inexperienced Reds team for the most part.
Hell, that’s underselling it. A bit more luck and they would have taken the lead, they had a bunch of decent shots – the best one being Kemar Roofe’s effort after the break when he rattled the upright. Liverpool were equally as wasteful and they also had a few troubles getting through what’s an increasingly impressive Leeds defence though eventually their superior talent did show through. Georginio Wijnaldum hit the post but then Divock Origi did some fine things on the way to the opener and five minutes later Ben Woodburn scored off the bench to become Liverpool’s new youngest ever goal-scorer.
The final tally of 2-0 was slightly unfair on the Whites following a really cohesive performance. Chris Wood got himself a run off the bench for the last spell and he had the ball in the back of the net for a consolation though he was roughly two metres offside and it didn’t count. Plus a header that he couldn’t direct away from the keeper off a deep cross.
ESPN: “Taylor and Roofe certainly impressed against Jurgen Klopp's team, with the experience of Kyle Bartley at centre-half also shining through. Beginning the game with top scorer Chris Wood on the bench, Leeds displayed organisation, tenacity and the sense of a team going places against one of the best sides in the Premier League.”
The reason for resting Woody was that on the weekend they had themselves a damn tough matchup against Aston Villa, two teams in hot form and who could potentially be scrapping it out in the playoffs in five months or so. It was the first time that Leeds and Villa had met outside of the top division in the league since 1988 and they were gonna need every available cohort for the game at Elland Road… which just so happened to be a live televised match. Yeehaw.
The early stages were all injury breaks and long balls from the Leeds defence which were promptly sent back so that more long balls could be hurled forward. Wood was all over it with his hold up play but he wasn’t getting on the deep stuff, so not a lot of involvement. In fact his best moment of the first half (aside from some top control off the chest and a few clever switches of play/layoff passes) was probably his commanding slide tackle on Alan Hutton down the left flank. Either that or the backheeled pass he made to put Kemar Roofe through down that sideline for Leeds’ best chance of the half, which Roofe hit the side-netting with.
By the way, Mike Jedinak could learn some tackling from Wood apparently, he picked up an early yellow for a slide of his own. Bloody Aussies.
It took maybe 20 minutes for any decent chances, when Jonathan Kodjia had a dig on the end of Kyle Bartley’s poor defensive header. Otherwise Leeds were solid at the back and neither team really looked like they could score from open play. Leeds’ best ones were all coming from set pieces swung into the box. Woody made a fine defensive header about half an hour in. Gotta perform them duties at the back after all.
Thankfully things opened up in the second stanza. Albert Adomah managed to skip past Pontus Janssen’s diving challenge, one of the few mistakes the Swede made all game (/season), but Rob Green was able to get a foot to the one-on-one finish and steer it wide. Lee Westwood had a pop on the volley a minute later. Villa were suddenly forcing the issue and it probably saved the game that they were able to slow it down and take the sting out. A few minutes later Kemar Roofe thought he had a penalty for a trodden foot by Jedinak. In the 68th minute he did have one, his first for the club he joined in the summer.
Roofe scored 26 goals for Oxford in League Two last season, so he’s a genuine scorer. He’ll be delighted to get off the mark finally – not like he’s been shy to take a shot or anything. Woody wasn’t directly involved but his presence at the far post definitely created a bit of space for Roofe to get free at the far post and the cross from Doukara was superb to draw in the keeper Pierluigi Gollini slightly out of his depth.
Wood wouldn’t even have a shot until injury time. A Charlie Taylor cross found him deep and he chested it done well with his shot slammed on the volley, except from the angle he was at it was an easy save for Gollini who held his ground and covered his post. A minute later Wood got the ball on the break and fired as he cut inside only for it to be blocked.
Then deep into stoppage time with Leeds now looking a real danger on the break, Jedinak (haha) played a poor pass which was picked off and Hadi Sacko was away. Had he squared the ball to Wood they’d have had a simple goal. Instead he shot and his effort snuck under the arm of Gollini and was dribbling towards goal only James Chester had reacted quickly and would have hacked it away in time were it not for Chris Wood reacting even quicker.
Six inches out or sixty meters, they all count the same. 2-0 to Leeds who claim their best win of the season. A 13th goal of the campaign for Wood, already matching what he managed last time. This was Aston Villa’s first defeat since Steve Bruce took over as manager and LUFC rise back up to fourth place.
The Guardian: “That goal prompted Bruce to call for the cavalry from the bench, with Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jordan Ayew and Jack Grealish all coming on, but it was Leeds who struck again late on, Chris Wood tapping in from close range to secure victory and enhance Leeds’s position in the Championship play-off places, as well as Monk’s burgeoning reputation in West Yorkshire.”
Yorkshire Post: “Wood came close to adding a second six minutes later when found by the impressive Charlie Taylor, but the Kiwi would not be denied again in stoppage time. Hadi Sacko, after latching on to a sloppy pass from Jedinak, burst into the area before hitting a low shot that Gollini got a hand to only for Wood to pounce and beat Tommy Elphick to the ball to score from a yard out.”
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - A thankless shift for so long but he carried a necessary threat at 1-0 and his tap-in put a big victory to bed. 7/10”
Up Next: Another TV game, away to Brighton at 8.45am Saturday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Aaand Zwolle are back in the relegation playoff spots. Their 13 goals in 15 games is bad but not the worst. Their 31 goals conceded in that time, on the other hand… no team in the top Dutch division can say their defence is worse than that.
The PECers leaked another three this week as they went down 3-1 away to Vitesse. Those guys are an interesting team, not only are they currently offering Ricky Van Wolfswinkel (remember him?) a professional contract but they have a feeder team deal with Chelsea in England, so they’ve got a few of their better kids on loan at Vitesse. Specifically Lewis Baker, Nathan and Matt Miazga – the latter a dude who Ryan Nelsen helped sign with Chelsea. Miazga played for USA at the U20 World Cup in NZ against Bill Tuiloma. Anyway, Baker and Nathan both scored so that kinda sucks. 19 year old Zhang Yuning also scored, the Chinese international last year became the first Chinese player to score in the Eredivisie, so Ryan Thomas and New Zealand beat him to that, hooray.
But he beat Ryan Thomas on this occasion. 2-0 down at the break, Bart Schenkeveld pulled one back with 23 minutes left before Nathan sealed it in injury time. The only real good news here is that Ryan Thomas played the entire 90 minutes, something he hadn’t done for a month. One shot off target, a couple tackles, fouled four times and lost possession seven times. Maybe next week, aye?
Up Next: Zwolle vs Willem II, 8.45am Sunday (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Well, only Boxall this week. Brockie’s ankle is still giving him grief and he’s a big doubt for the Cup final next week, which’d be a tragedy. But while he’s out, Boxall and the lads are holding down the fort pretty nicely with four more points this week keeping them second place on the ladder. First off they came up against Bidvest Wits.
It just so happens that Wits hadn’t lost all season, sitting a spot ahead of SSU going into the game. Both teams had their chances, SSU hit the crossbar in the first half, but it was a five minutes spell midway through the second that defined this one. Clayton Daniels poked the ball in amidst a goalmouth scramble in the 64th min and in the 69th Thabo Mnyamane whipped in a direct free kick on his way to the Man of the Match award. That was it and 2-0 the final score, SSU rising above Wits into second on the table. Top placed Cape Town City drew on the same day, which was generous of them.
They gave back that distance to the top when Cape Town went and beat Bidvest on the weekend with SSU only drawing away at Bloemfontein Celtic. But a draw was a decent result there in a tight defensive game which was nearly decided on the brink of full time when Celtic won a penalty for a foul by keeper Reyaad Pieterse but guess what? Khethokwakhe Masuku rocked it off the bar and SuperSport extend their league unbeaten streak to 11 games. Alrighty then.
SSU coach Stuart Baxter: “We weren’t fired up enough. It’s as simple as that. They wanted it more, they had the momentum and they could have won. It was not good enough for us.”
Mike Boxall played both games, all 180 minutes. The next time they play is Sunday morning in the Telkom Knockout final, we’re they come up against Cape Town City in a game that the bookies are struggling to split.
Up Next: SSU vs Cape Town City, Telkom Knockout Final, Sunday 5.00am (NZT)
Kip Colvey – San Jose Earthquakes (American Major League Soccer)
Here’s some good news:
“The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that the club has exercised 2017 contract options on six players: goalkeeper David Bingham, defenders Victor Bernardez, Kip Colvey and Andres Imperiale, and midfielders Fatai Alashe and Matheus Silva.”
Good on ya Kip, keep up the good work and let’s see some more kiwis in the MLS soon. 22 year old Colvey was drafted this season for the Earthquakes and played four games, also spending a large chunk of time on loan with their feeder team. He and Jake Gleeson are the only NZers in the league at the moment. By the way, the MLS Cup final is on ins a week, with Seattle Sounders taking on FC Toronto, which was the team that Ryan Nelsen formerly managed and which Jeremy Brockie played for on loan a couple years back.