Flying Kiwis – October 18
Winston Reid – West Ham United (English Premier League)
As regular readers of the Oxford Dictionary of Cliches will already know, there’s no rest for the wicked. So after a wicked good performance (boom!) for the NZ national team the other day, Winston was back on a jet and ready to take his place for the Hammers at Selhurst Park on the weekend.
Not only was he ready but Aaron Cresswell was ready too, the left back making his first appearance of the season after a knee injury in preseason. What that meant was that Slaven Bilic had a little more freedom in picking his team and despite usually saving this one for the big teams (no offence, Crystal Palace fans), he had WHU lining up with a three-man defence, Winston joined by Chekhou Kouyate and Angelo Ogbonna with Cresswell and Michail Antonio on the flanks. Same defensive shape as he played with the All Whites actually, though this time Winnie took his place at right centre back.
And it didn’t take long until the shifty tactics paid off. Although Wilfried Zaha had an early pop that could have proven dangerous, Palace didn’t really offer all that much else and a static CPY defence couldn’t seem to handle a 4 vs 2 overload in the corner as Cresswell and Payet played a couple one-twos and suddenly Cresswell had all the room he needed to cross. And mate what a cross! Right on a dime and Manny Lanzini could hardly miss from there. 1-0 to the Hammers.
Notably, while most of the Hammers were off celebrating, Winston stealthily slid over to the sideline for some liquid refreshment and got a mouthful of instruction from the gaffer as he did. Who do you think Bilic considers the leader of this defence, aye?
Fair enough too because for the first time this season, the Hammers defence looked really in control and the entire team you could tell had lifted a level in their work rate. For most of the first half they shut down the Palace attack as well as they possibly could have, though right before the break there was a moment of controversy. Through ball goes in to Zaha, who’s fouled but outside the box. Ref plays advantage and Ogbonna seems to hack at Christian Benteke as he turns to clear. Didn’t even see him coming and there was a chance he got the ball first anyway. Slightly controversial but all complaints went out the window a few seconds later when Benteke, who’s been in top form for club and country this month, went and did this…
OOOOOPS. Dimi Payet might have added to the lead in the second half when Lanzini picked him out but his shot, which really needed to be chipped over the defenders, was blocked and cleared. Still the Hammers looked worth their lead, but then Cresswell went and got two yellows in about 30 seconds and while there’s been debate about whether it was warranted, they still had to play the last quarter of an hour or so with ten men.
Obviously Palace threw the lot at them after that. Which might have been a positive for West Ham, in some ways. With their backs to the wall and a lead to protect, they banded together for the result. Connor Wickham came excruciatingly close deep into injury time only for his header to be brilliantly saved by Adrian and wouldn’t you know it… West Ham won a game! And they even kept a clean sheet too! Enough to push them a couple places up the table and out of the drop zone.
Rob Smyth/The Guardian: “That feels like a huge moment in West Ham’s season. In fact, it feels like the start of their season. They showed their class in the first half, when Lanzini scored a lovely goal, and their resilience and spirit in the second when Palace bombed them and Aaron Cresswell was sent off. The three centre-halves all played well but Winston Reid was magnificent.”
Pretty impressive that Winston could put up a game like that about 24 hours after getting off a plane from America. This was a result to kick-start the Hammers and he was every bit crucial in it. Not quite as heroic as he was for NZ against USA but hey, the plaudits don’t stop there.
Terry Butcher/BBC: “West Ham were the better side and had to dig in when Aaron Cresswell was sent off. They deserved the victory. Winston Reid had the game of his life. West Ham's defence mopped up everything pretty well. It's all been very direct from Palace which has been too easy to deal with. Winston Reid was a colossus at the back for West Ham.”
HITC Player Ratings: “Winston Reid 8/10 - After a number of uncharacteristically shaky displays this season, the New Zealand international offered a stark reminder of his ability to lead by example at Selhurst Park. Always in the right place while his decision-making, questionable at times this season, was faultless, chesting back to Adrian from close range with immense composure.”
via OPTA Stats
Plus he made Garth Crooks’ BBC Team of the Week, as well as Alan Smith’s one in The Telegraph. But neither said anything interesting so don’t bother looking it up.
Up Next: Home to Sunderland, 3.00am Sunday (NZT)
Chris Wood – Leeds United (English Championship)
Umm, not quite as triumphant for Woody here. Similarly he got back in time to line up at the top for Leeds as they played away to Derby, though he was spared the final eight minutes which must have been a relief for the weary legs and all that. Problem was they were 1-0 down when he was subbed off and still 1-0 down when the final whistle went.
Derby just got themselves a new boss and that boss, strangely, is the same guy they sacked about 15 months ago: Steve McClaren. His first task was to orchestrate Derby’s first home win of the season and although he eventually did just that, it didn’t always look too likely. Not when Kyle Bartley, Leeds centre back, thumped a header off the crossbar from a first half corner. Nor when Marcus Antonsson, who replaced Woody, fired off the post in injury time. But somewhere in between that (the 56th minute, to be precise), Johnny Russell popped up to score from a corner for the only goal of the game.
And for Woody, things just didn’t go his way. This was one of those days where he was really isolated and he only managed one shot all game. Off target, of course. Just 24 touches in 82 minutes shows you how bored he must have been leading the line.
There had been some doubt as to whether he’d play at all after he had the day off training in the lead-in but Garry Monk clarified that it was down to his international break recovery.
Funky Monk: “Chris has come back in and he is in good shape and he is feeling good. We kept him out of training today, which was the plan all along and he will be back in training tomorrow, looking to get ready to be involved in the group for Saturday.”
Eh, might not have made all that much difference by the looks.
YEP Player Ratings: “Chris Wood - Left alone up front and with the exception of a single header in the first half, decent ball barely came his way. 5/10”
Meanwhile in more positive news, you oughta read the words that Leeds coach James Beattie has been saying about Woody. Plenty of promising stuff right here, and yes that is the same James Beattie that used to play for Southampton. The full lot of it is in here:
“There’s a lot more to come from Chris. He’s a really nice lad off the pitch but I think he can be more aggressive on it and you’ve seen a bit more of that recently. “He’s got all the physical attributes he needs and in our system he’s got a certain role. As a lone striker it’s important that he stays high up the pitch and forces the opposition back. It might mean that he doesn’t see the ball for 15 minutes but the key for him is not to get frustrated or be tempted to come deep. All that does is clutter up the space in midfield. Everybody’s seen a good improvement but Chris Wood at this level should be destroying teams. He’s so physically strong; a beast, really. I wasn’t as big as Chris but I know that defenders playing against me knew they’d get a whack. They knew they’d be in for a game. Of course there are areas where he can improve but he sees that himself. He’s a very coachable player.”
Up Next: MIDWEEK FOOTY! Home to Wigan at 7.45am Weds and then away to Wolves, 3.00am Sun (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Olympique de Marseille (French Ligue 1)
A quick check in on Marseille here, Bill Tuiloma’s still injured so he’s up to nothing and there’s no word (in English) on when he’ll be back. But on the positive, they’re unbeaten in their last three and Bafetimbi Gomis is tied for second on the top scorer’s charts. After a fair bit of hope early in the season it’s been pretty sad that injury is costing Tui his chance at fighting for that first team but it’s a long season. Plenty more chances yet.
Up Next: Rest and rehab, son.
Jeremy Brockie & Michael Boxall – SuperSport United (South African Premier Soccer League)
Now that’s more like it, Brox. In fact he didn’t only score once this week but ten minutes later he bagged another, his first couple goals of the season and it sure took a few games too long for everyone’s liking.
Coming up against Highlands Park after the international break, this was a game they always would have targeted and in the end they did it pretty easy, though it woulda been more fun had Michael Boxall’s early header from a corner not gone narrowly wide. Still, within 25 minutes they were 1-0 up, with Thabo Mnyamane supplying the final touch after a clever bit of work from Thuso Phala. Highlands equalised ten minutes later but by half-time SSU were back in front. Phala, who was superb, scored a great goal to make it 2-1 and then in the second half a Brockie brace did the trick for a comfortable 4-1 win.
A first home win at the third attempt following a couple scoreless draws, SSU shoot up to fourth after that though the table in the Premiership is a bit of a mess, with some teams (like SSU) having played six times and others only three or four. Poor Malomedi Sundowns are off playing in the African Champions League and have only played once in the league. Then again, they just beat Egyptian club Zamalek SC 3-0 in the first leg of the final so they’re probably all good with things.
Goal.com: “Having promised to break his goal drought against Highlands Park this weekend, Brockie proved that he is indeed a man of his word as SuperSport turned on the style. The New Zealand international curling the ball past Kapini from the edge of the area in the 73rd minute of the clash. Brockie completed his brace nine minutes later; latching onto a pin-point cross by Kingston Nkhatha to put the result beyond any reasonable doubt.”
Up Next: Away to Ajax Cape Town, 7.15am Sunday 30th (NZT)
Jake Gleeson – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
And finally we have NZ’s premier Flying Kiwis gloveman, no shade towards Tamati Williams who’s been going alright himself in the Dutch second division. Anyway, the Timbers needed a good result at home to stay the pace in the playoff race and they delivered against the Colorado Rapids.
It may not have been pretty and they may have needed their kiwi keeper to keep them in it but a first half penalty converted by Fanendo Adi was the difference on a tense day for the Timbers, who knew that a loss could be fatal to their playoff chances. But while he slotted his spottie in the 33rd minute, he should have scored another soon after when Vytas, the Timbers left back, was fouled in the box for the second time in a row. But this time Tim Howard made the save and Adi then missed the sitter to sit all sitters on the follow up...
Meaning that Portland had to do this the hard way, clinging on for the win that means that if they can beat Vancouver on the road next week they’ll be in with a shot at defending their title. Lose and they’re out, draw and they’re probably out.
Problem is that Ben Zemanski is out injured and Liam Ridgewell and Diego Chara are suspended for accumulated yellows. So that’s three starters down for a must win game for a team that hasn’t won an MLS game away from home all season. And they've got a Champions League game that they need to win in between now and then too. Good luck lads, you may need it. Or maybe not, because Jakey Boy has a solution:
JG: "It will be about everyone taking on a little bit more responsibility."
Damn right. There was a bit of an injury scare for Gleeson, who missed the All Whites game against the USA through injury, he went down in the 77th minute and needed treatment but appears to have come through all good. He hurt his back coming out to punch a corner away.
For the record, that’s unrelated to the national team injury he had. NZ Football ran an article on their site about his unavailability for the USA game but never specified what was wrong with him beyond saying it was a minor groin injury that he entered the camp with. Maybe trying to keep those pesky American media guys off their back. It was cleared up by the Portland side of things though, as a hip flexor thingamajig that affects him only when he kicks the ball.
Up Next: The big one, Vancouver Whitecaps vs Portland Timbers, 9.00am Monday (NZT)