Flying Kiwis – November 8
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
If his Championship form is anything to go by then the All Whites are getting the best of Chris Wood when he jets back for the international window, where he’ll captain the kiwi side. Leeds had another go at the Norwich side they knocked out of the EFL Cup the other week and this time… well, it was every bit as close.
The Canaries started stronger with a couple early testers for Rob Green, Cameron Jerome keeping the Leeds defence honest and all that. Then Pablo Hernandez tried to slip one through to Kemar Roofe from distance and it was all on. Woody misplaced a header that might have set up the opener, before he later thumped one right off the centre of the noggin’ but Michael McGovern saved it.
Add all that up and Leeds were unlucky not to take the lead but then they were hardly without fault at the other end. Eventually that tolled and Robbie Brady’s looping flicked header at the corner of the six yard box guided a whipped corner over the keeper and into the net, agonisingly. Norwich proceeded to boss the rest of the half with Woody’s best effort a lame one that was comfortably saved.
The second half offered few differences until Roofe was replaced after suffering a concussion and Hadi Sacko coming on in his position. Almost immediately Sacko won a corner and from that corner, Pontus Jansson rose high and lobbed a header of his own over the goalie and just over the defender on the near post to make it 1-1.
Wood managed to hold off a defender to hack back a loose cross for Pablo Hernandez whose shot was saved, driven low. Soon enough he had a chance of his own and in the form he’s in, Chris Wood was not about to miss this one:
2-1 to Leeds, now feeling like they could run away with this. And yet they didn’t. Wood smacked one into the side-netting that had the away fans a bit tipsy. Then with less than three minutes remaining in the regular 90, a Wes Hoolahan cross was brought down by Jerome and Kyle Lafferty managed to sneak in behind the defence and slide the ball past the on-rushing Rob Green for the equaliser. This really was an exciting game.
An exciting game that wasn’t done yet, because 18 year old sub Ronaldo Vieira somehow had a moment to live up to both halves of his name when he thundered one from distance right into the bottom corner for a stunning late winner. Bloody hell.
“Chris Wood - Missed a few chances in the first half but buried his opportunity in the second and was a thorn in Norwich’s side from then on. 8/10”
Neil Redfearn, ex-Leeds manager: “Chris Wood is turning into the centre-forward that everybody knew he was. Eleven goals for the season which is a fantastic achievement. But his all-round general play; his hold-up play, his strength, his awareness. He is the real deal.”
“Another game, another goal for Wood. He is proving his critics wrong this season and what a season it is proving to be. Wood has scored eight goals this term, almost half of Leeds' total goals this campaign (19). He was in sublime form once again against Norwich as he played the role of the lone striker superbly throughout a frantic game against the Canaries.
Just like Jansson's stats, Wood's show how good he was on the day. He scored a vital goal to put his side into a 2-1 lead and his general play was outstanding. Playing as a lone striker is a notoriously difficult job which was made even more challenging considering they were playing against a Norwich side that are usually impressively compact in defence.”
Holy crap Leeds are in sixth place now. Garry Monk you flippin’ magician.
Up Next: All Whites, baby!
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
Not only did Winston Reid not play in the draw with Stoke but he might not play for quite a while now. Having picked up a couple yellows last week, one in each game he played, he hit the barrier for all that and was thus suspended for the Stoke game but there was a bit of a surprise that followed when he was left out of the All Whites squad with a hamstring injury.
Now, there’s been no shortage of times gone by in which Premier League players – aka Reid and Ryan Nelsen – were withdrawn from national team squads with mysteriously minor injuries, so there was a little scepticism over this one too. Especially when NZ Football appeared to break the news. But Slaven Bilic addressed the matter in the press a few times…
Slaven Bilic: “Winston has been excellent, he has been on top form but it’s not necessary to change the system we have. We have a couple of players who can play in Winston's place but of course it is going to be crucial that whoever I put there puts in a good performance. He (Reid) has a grade one injury and hopefully he is going to be OK for Spurs - that is our intention. There is a good chance.”
A few mixed messages there. Winston was always missing this game and then the international break obviously means another week without footy so going by the narrative that he picked up the knock in the Everton game last week then it was gonna be three weeks before he played again anyway without the NZ match. Spurs is the first game after the break and three weeks would be a fairly normal recovery time for a grade one. A grade two would be more like the 5-6 weeks we first heard of initially.
Hey, this is a dude with a history of muscle injuries which makes it very reasonable to play things safe with him and a long flight to NZ and back (with a pop over to New Caledonia involved) would hardly be best for that. And the All Whites should be able to do this part without him. No worries involved, just a little bit convenient for the Hammers. Fair enough, they pay the bills after all.
None of this stopped Winnie from supporting the lads, here he was sitting with Carlton Cole and Andy Carroll – Carroll decked in camouflage after a scary run in with a few armed muggers earlier in the week.
Without him, James Collins came in as a straight swap and the Hammers did a decent job in getting a 1-1 draw against a Stoke team that’s been on a hot run of form. In fact they probably should have on given what a howler Bojan’s equaliser was with Adrian rushing out blindly. Michail Antonio scored the opener, a header from a Dimitri Payet cross – shocking stuff except not at all. Not a result to shoot them up the table but one that at least means they don’t hit the break on a negative.
Also here’s young gun Tunji Akinola from the West Ham academy talking about how he looks up to Winston. Good lad.
Tunji: “I’m not necessarily competitive but I like Winston Reid because he’s a proper defender. Like he’ll stick his head anywhere, he’ll clear it when he has to and he can play a bit as well. I think the way he’s on the front foot always, trying to intercept balls and clear the ball, is how I like to play as well.”
Up Next: The lonely international break.
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
A solid draw against Roda JC means that Zwolle are now fairly firmly set in mid-table with the last five games unbeaten. Phew, after that horror start and all that. Of course, they might have taken a couple more points from a Roda team that has now been kept scoreless in 8 of their last 10 matches in the Eredivisie but sometimes that’s how it happens. Best for us was that Ryan Thomas got himself the start and would play until the final minute when he was replaced.
Thommo got the nod on the wing, which made sense given that was where he came on last game to replace the injured Youness Mokhtar – though he was on the right hand side this time, rather than his usual left. It wasn’t a good game.
Well, Ryan was fine. Four shots with two on target, a key pass in there and plenty of touches. He was involved and he tried to make things happen but this was a game in which shots were common but true chances were scarce. Mustafa Saymak managed to rattle the frame for Zwolle at least, but one report went as far as saying that highlights from this one were “as rare as modesty in the character of Cristiano Ronaldo”. Jeez guys, settle down.
Here are a few quotes from a Thommo interview after the game…
On the comeback from injury: “I want to be more than just part of the team. I want to be decisive again, as for my injury. The old Ryan. That can only by playing many matches and train hard. That is why I am glad that I could start today.”
On a crappy second half vs Roda: “The second half was very poor, while in the first half hour of the match played pretty well. After the break it not managed to get the application in order, we created chances only by playing long balls.”
On All Whites selection: “It was not an option not to go. I am very fit”
No word on what it was like playing against the former club of kiwi footy icon Ivan Vicelich, nor on the penalty he thought he shoulda had during the game.
Up Next: All Whites stuff & international travel
Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
So the struggles in front of goal would appear to be over for SSU. Not only that but they’ve shot themselves up to second on the league table after yet another win – meaning they haven’t lost since the opening game of the season – and this one, mate, she was a doozy.
Strange thing is they were losing at half-time. Down 1-0 to Tendai Ndoro goal just before the break after a spell of footy that’d seen big chances at both ends and SSU’s coach Stuart Baxter upset enough that he went to the bench for a tactical sub within 20 minutes of kickoff.
So there was little to portend what was to follow. First Reneilwe Letsholonyane equalised after a bit of give and go with Brox. That was seven minutes into the second half and within a couple of minutes it was the other Flying Kiwi, the one not usually scoring all the goals for these guys, who bagged himself a four-minute double:
Kickoff.com: “Two quick goals from Michael Boxall then set SuperSport on their way to victory. The first turning home a shot from Letsholonyane and the second a bundled effort after Mhlongo could not clear with a punch.”
Mhlongo, the Pirates keeper, then came up with another howler to allow Thuso Phala to score and Bradley Grobler made it 5-1 with a header in the 74th minute. Five goals in 22 minutes. Unbelievable. Oh but it wasn’t over either, there was another NZer about to get on the scoresheet. He had to wait until the dying stages of the match but Jeremy Brockie managed to both win and convert a penalty with three minutes to go – granted contact from the keeper was outside the box so he got a little lucky there. Orlando won a penalty of their own in injury time… but they missed it. 6-1 the final score.
It was bad enough that the Pirates manager, Muhsin Ertugral, offered his resignation live on telly immediately after the game. They hadn’t even lost a game all season until then. Poor fella, really took it hard.
Michael Boxall - 8/10:
He is a right-back and seems comfortable in that position after spending time in a centre-back role. The New Zealander scored two goals after finding himself in the right position.
Jeremy Brockie - 7/10:
The New Zealander continues where he left off last season, once again on the scoresheet for United. His partnership with Grobler looks promising.
What’s more is that they’ll play Orlando Pirates again soon in the semi-finals of the Telkom Knockout, a trophy that SSU won back in 2014 just before Brockie arrived. SuperSport did win the Nedbank Cup last season too, so they’ve got a bit of that about them. The Nedbank is like the FA Cup to the Telkom’s League Cup, pretty much. Cape Town City host Free State Stars in the other semi.
They got there beating the defending champs Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1 on penalties after a 0-0 draw through 120 minutes. Both kiwis were in action for this one, with Boxall playing the whole thing and Brockie coming off after 68 minutes – five minutes after the team was reduced to ten men with Onismor Bhasera given the flick by the ref. Both of the All Whites players missed great second half chances to put SSU in front, so good thing they won. Even more that they’re now two games away from another trophy.
Up Next: Baroka FC vs SSU, 2.30am Sunday 20th November (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)
Not a huge amount to say here, Tui got himself another 90 minutes with the reserves on the weekend, giving him a dose more match fitness before a flight out to New Zealand for the World Cup qualifiers. Unfortunately they went and lost 2-1 to Sporting Toulon in what’s something of a derby between the two. So not the best result, they were thoroughly second best as well, per reports. Drops them to fifth in the league.
Up Next: All Whites vs New Caledonia x2
Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Okay then, being the end of the season and all let’s go through a bit of reflection. It was a big year for Jake after all, definitely worth sinking a few beverages in honour of… oh no wait. Forget that bit. Anyway, he didn’t make the shortlist for MLS Goalie of the Year, but he was on the outer edge of contention which is more than anyone would have dreamed at the start of the campaign:
Ah yet if his overall play wasn’t quite top tier, then his highlight reel speaks for itself. The MLS ran a Save of the Year bracket on their website and this beauty of a stop from a week 34 match against Vancouver made the cut. Not only that but it edged through the first couple rounds before falling in the quarters to a save by Stefan Frei of rivals Seattle.
Gleeson still beat out all comers in terms of total saves though, even while starting the season on the bench.
- Jake Gleeson (POR) – 118 in 28 games
- Joe Bendik (ORL) – 114 in 34 games
- Brian Rowe (LA) – 113 in 31 games
- Steve Clark (CLB) – 112 in 32 games
- David Ousted (VAN) – 110 in 33 games
- David Bingham (SJ) – 106 in 34 games
- Evan Bush (MTL) – 101 in 33 games
- Luis Robles (NY) – 100 in 34 games
- Andre Blake (PHI) – 99 in 32 games
- Josh Saunders (NYC) – 98 in 33 games
Unsurprisingly for a bloke that made that many saves, Gleeson was down in tenth equal for clean sheets (or ‘shutouts’ as the MLS calls them) with six of the buggers. Robles led the way with 11. He also failed to save any of the six penalties he faced during the season, for what it’s worth.
Portland Mercury Player Grades:
“#90 — Jake Gleeson: A
It finished on an exceedingly sour note with his arrest for a DUI a week ago, but 2016 was a coming-out party some six years in the making for Jake Gleeson — who never let Adam Kwarasey back into the lineup after the Ghanaian broke his finger on a fluke play in an early-April home game against San Jose.
In Kwarasey's stead, and then, well after he'd played him right back to Norway, Gleeson showed himself to be a jaw-dropping shot-stopper. The saves he made — both in quality and in quantity — kept the Timbers in the playoff race. He should be one of the best goalkeepers in MLS for the next decade.
Of course, had Kwarasey never gotten hurt, Gleeson might still be sitting on the bench. But his maturation — at least on the field — over the last handful of years might be a message to a club that has struggled to develop his young players. It takes time.”
Fanendo Adi and Diego Valeri were the only other players given A grades, the club’s Golden Boot winner and Supporters' Player of the Year respectively. Diego Chara also won Player’s Player of the Year. No silverware for Jakey Boy.
Now here’s a thing from Oregon Live which debates whether Jake Gleeson is now the long-term goalkeeper for this franchise, with the consensus being ‘heck yes’. Great shot stopper, developing nicely through the club system albeit not so good with his feet or as a distributor. Also the DUI is looming large as a warning of some off-field immaturity which is possibly a little harsh. Hey, gotta live with your mistakes after all.
Up Next: Dunno, a trip to the lawyer’s office?