Flying Kiwis – January 31
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
Steve Evans, Leeds Manager, April 2016: “[Wood] has got himself in incredible shape, as good as it can get really. In that shape, he will get 20 goals”
Chris Wood, November 2016: “I'll always back myself. If I stay fit, work hard and the team's doing well, I don't see why not. I'd like to think that people think of me in that sense, [a 20 goal/season striker], but you only get that reputation by doing it.”
Well son, that turned out not to be such a tall ask. Before January has even finished he’s already achieved it, putting away his 20th of the season as he aided Leeds to a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Championship, three more big points towards their tally.
This one was played on a Wednesday night in Yorkshire, what with the Whites also having an FA Cup game to play on the weekend and time being a scarce resource at this time of the season in football. Forest aren’t the most daunting team, they’re only a couple places above the drop zone and have been without a permanent manager since Philippe Montanier was sacked a couple weeks ago (word on the street is that they’re approaching Nigel Clough!). However a scrappy first half didn’t provide too many chances either way – about what Forest were planning on. If anything the away side were the unluckier team not to be ahead, Britt Assombalonga had an opportunity that you can bet Woody was desperate for.
Don’t worry, he got one. Ten minutes into the second half and you can count this one towards the score (he had one disallowed for a pretty obvious offside in the first half, so yeah).
BBC Sport: “Chris Wood bashes in his 20th goal of the season to give Leeds the lead, getting away from Michael Mancienne to tuck in. Forest didn't deal with the header that found Wood, punished ruthlessly by the big Kiwi. Landmark goal. Crucial one.”
Twenty minutes after that Souleymane Doukara scored a bloody iconic volley, a real screamer, and that was enough for the victory. Ten wins and a draw in their last 12 home matches at Elland Road, with six straight home clean sheets in all comps.
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - Wood’s sort of match. Leeds needed a goal and you knew it would come from him. It always does. Could easily have had a hat-trick. 8/10”
Garry Monk: “Strikers love goals and to score 20 at this point is a fantastic achievement personally but you know I’m not interested in who scores the goals. Woody knows that himself. His job is to remain focused and to want more. He’s that type and he knows what I expect from him. I can’t play it down. Strikers thrive on goals, it gives them confidence, but Chris is a team player. You can see it. He doesn’t just do goals. He commits with and without the ball. He’s committed to how we play and he’s a leader in the group. We’re all very happy for him.”
YEP: “Wood's 20 goals have come from 31 appearances so far this season - some of which have even been from the bench - so the striker is basically averaging at least two goals every three games. Once upon a time Wood was getting hammer from the stands, but is now 6-1 second favourite to be the Championship's top scorer behind Newcastle United hotshot Dwight Gayle who is 1-2 and has 20 goals in the league Perhaps Gayle should watch his back.”
Plus a win there keeps their playoff hopes nice and tasty… which is a good thing because they’re now out of the FA Cup. Not only that, but they lost to Sutton United who are placed 83 spots below them in the Football League rungs. 1-0 was the score although Garry Monk made 10 changes to his team and Wood was one of them, just as in the third round he was left behind to rest.
Leeds sucked and there’s not much more to say. Chris Wood didn’t play. But Sutton Utd are an outstanding story, a fifth tier team knocking out a second tier team and qualifying for the fifth round. Check up on their story, it’s grassroots footy dreams all the way through.
Garry Monk: “It was a very frustrating performance, but it's my responsibility and I take it on the chin. I'm the one who picks the team. I made a lot of changes and it didn't work. It backfired. We're doing very well in the league. We have to get the balance right. Maybe it was one step too far. One change too many, but credit to Sutton, it's a fantastic result for them. We wish them good luck in the next round.”
Hmm, could be a little club/player tension after this though…
Oh, phew…
Up Next: Blackburn vs Leeds, Thursday 8.45am (NZT)
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Busy as times may still be at this stage of the season, this is a rare week in which West Ham and Winston didn’t even play a game. Being an FA Cup weekend, they were absolved of having to take part on account of getting thoroughly demolished by Manchester City in the third round. 5-0, if memory serves (and it does, because that was the score). By the way, their next league game is at home to Manchester City, the exact same fixture, and that’s on Thursday morning, with a trip to Southampton three days later – also in the Premier League because that’s the only competition that the Hammers are still competing in.
But just because they haven’t been playing doesn’t mean they haven’t been busy. For example, this happened:
Yup, Snoddy’s a Hammer now. The Scotsman had requested a move away from relegation-bound (keeping it 100 here) Hull City and they figured they may as wall cash in. So they did. Snodgrass rejecting offers from Burnley and Middlesbrough to sign with West Ham and his left footed free kick speciality comes in very handy at a time where their current set piece maestro is probably destined to leave. Robert Snodgrass’ arrival more or less clears the path for Dimitri Payet to return home to Marseille and if they get enough money back then it sounds like they’ll be able to sign striker Scott Hogan as well. Decent enough business, what with Jose Fonte already there and working on that combo with Reidy over the extended gap between games.
Aaand it’s done:
Winston Reid: “We’ve had a bit of injuries so to get a good new signing in with Fonte will add to the group,” Reid observed. “I’m sure the Club will still want to do more business, but in these last two games we’ve played better than we’d played previously. Bar when we played Manchester City at home, the last month and a half our performances have gone up a lot, which is what I expect from these players and so does the manager as well.”
That and also Winnie spared a bit of time like the champ that he is to lend a hand with the WHU Foundation for one of their and the Premier League’s disability programmes.
As for the turnaround in form that’s seem WHU win five of their last seven PL games?
Winston Reid: “It was important for us to beat teams around us like Palace and now Boro and it’s a boost to be in the top ten. We started the season poorly and weren’t playing the best, so we had to work harder for each other and the results have come – it’s not rocket science.”
And now for the hell of it, here are some whoscored.com stats for the Premier League season so far:
Most Clearances:
- Steve Cook (Bournemouth) – 215
- Ben Mee (Burnley) – 190
- Jan Vertonghen (Spurs) – 178
- Winston Reid (West Ham) – 174
(WR climbs to third in clearances/90 mins with 9.3)
Most Interceptions:
- Curtis Davies (Hull) – 83
- Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) – 63
- Ander Herrera (Man Utd) – 61
- Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) – 59
- Nicolas Otamendi (Man City) – 57
- Winston Reid (West Ham) - 57
Up Next: Home to Man City, 8.45am Thurs & Away to Southampton, 4.00am Sun (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)
Ipswich Star: “David McGoldrick, Teddy Bishop and Tommy Smith have all returned to training this week, but Myles Kenlock remains sidelined ahead of Ipswich Town’s Championship match at Preston on Saturday.
…
Centre-back Tommy Smith, who has been out since early September following back surgery, has also returned to training.
‘He’s nowhere near playing yet,’ said McCarthy. ‘I think he’ll play in an Under-23s game on the fourth of February.’”
Well now that sounds like good news.
Up Next: A stint with the kiddies, apparently
Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)
Big business is a-happening in Marseille, transfers all over the shop. They already signed Morgan Sanson and now that Dimitri Payet has agreed terms (with a paycut, in case you were wondering about his motives) and a fee of around £25m has been settled, dotted lines signed… bingo they’ve got their man. West Ham, it sounds like, were waiting to get the Robert Snodgrass signing done so they’ve got a replacement in tow… now that’s all sorted.
Oh and OM have also gone and signed a fella by the name of Patrice Evra, all-time Premier League personality and legendary French international that he is. Pretty old these days, but still a handy player. Not sure whassup with Jordan Amavi of Aston Villa, who they’re also pursuing.
As for Bill Tuiloma’s almost certain loan exit… check back next week. Still nothing.
Up Next: …
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Ooh now, there’s some juicy gossip. Chris Wood isn’t the only Flying Kiwi getting interest from around the place this January.
On the field… not so good. Zwolle couldn’t build on last week’s win as they went down 2-1 at home to FC Twente. That with Twente finishing with only ten men after Bersant Celina was given a straight red in the 49th minute. That was with the score at 1-1 and Zwolle upset not to have been given a penalty in the first half, but they went on to concede the winner thanks in no small part to their keeper rushing out and getting easily beaten. D’oh. Then they missed a late chance to win it and that’s what happens when you do that: you lose.
Interesting day for Thommo though. He played the whole game in the advanced-centre of a midfield three and with that got plenty of touches of the ball, 75 in fact which was fourth among his teammates and the three others were all defenders. Plus he took four shots, except none were on target. As a team they took 25 shots with only five headed for the net, so fitting right in there. No chances created but he did win three tackles.
It’s been a funny month for Zwolle. They’ve signed an undercover interesting dude in Hervin Ongenda from Paris Saint Germain, a young French striker who fits the youth and promise of the rest of the Zwolle team (they’re not a side with much cash so they tend to invest in players whose value will increase under them, that or free transfers). Although it’s also been confirmed that their manager Ron Jans will not be renewing his contract at the conclusion of the season, the man who’s been behind so much of their recent success and stability ready to move on.
Up Next: Sparta Rotterdam vs PEC Zwolle, 2.30am Monday (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Yeeouch. That doesn’t sound right. Bursitis is the official diagnosis and it’s gonna cost the Brox at least the first game back when the season resumes next week, which is against Golden Arrows with a Confederations Cup game (not that Confederations Cup) versus Elgeco Plus following that and probably outside of the recovery time frame as well. Not the first injury he’s copped this season (playing the Telkom Cup final while injured, remember) but definitely the strangest…
Jeremy Brockie: “It’s a bit of a freak injury really, and I’m still not really too sure what caused it, but I think I landed on in during training or a game and bacteria got into my elbow, which caused bursitis. Normally antibiotics will settle it down but I didn't get given strong enough ones so it developed into an infection, which resulted in me having to get it operated on to get my bursa cut out! I’m really gutted with it being so close to the season starting up again, but hopefully I'll be back on the pitch again soon. My arm is in a splint for 10-14 days and then I'll be back on the training pitch to help the boys try and achieve our goals for the season.”
Best just rely on that kiwi right back getting up and down the flanks instead, aye? Right now SSU are top of the table but Mamelodi Sundowns, the defending champs, are only six points behind them with five games in hand due to their Club World Cup commitments.
Up Next: SSU vs Lamontville Golden Arrows, 6.30am Thursday Jan 9 (NZT)
Kip Colvey – San Jose Earthquakes (American Major League Soccer)
Yeah you run that sucker, Jerry!
In other MLS news, preseason is pretty much up and running and Francis de Vries got 30 mins in for Vancouver as they lost 1-0 to Cardiff U23s in a friendly, while Jake Gleeson has been allowed to take full part in Portland’s preparations while he waits to head back from an MLS investigation into his and Liam Ridgewell’s drink-driving charge from the end of last season. The city of Lake Oswego dropped the charges against Ridgey earlier this month while Gleeson pled no contest back in November was entered in an ‘alcohol diversion programme’.
Portland Timber statement: “MLS is still conducting its investigation. Until that investigation is complete, both players may continue to participate in team activities, including all preseason preparations. The League has advised that the investigation will likely be completed in mid-February. Pursuant to the CBA, discipline for off-field misconduct may not be duplicative. As such, the Timbers organization is awaiting determination from the League.”
Fingers crossed that this won’t affect his visa status. He should be fine… he’s not Muslim.
Up Next: Fitness & Friendlies for everyone!