The Premmy Files: Round 12
These are funky times in the Premiership. These are the times when squad depth is essential, when you need those new fellas to step up and contribute.
These are funky times in the Premiership. These are the times when squad depth is essential, when you need those new fellas to step up and contribute.
Adam Mitchell's a young kiwi footy player out there doing his thing with Bolton Wanderers and, being a good chap and all, he went and answered a few questions for The Niche Cache...
In a season with a few more blessings, the Wellington Phoenix might have taken 12 points from their last four games. As it happens, they’ve still grabbed five of the most valuable.
With Chris Wood and Winston Reid both out injured and Ryan Thomas still on winter break, Flying Kiwis has mostly evolved into a transfer gossip thing this week. Good thing Jeremy Brockie's got some very big news then.
Don’t go spreading this all around or anything but you know those quiet doubts about Auckland City from last week? Well they’re looking pretty legit right about now.
See, there you go. All it took for the Welly Nix to finally win another game was a controversial early red card to an opposition defender, a couple early subs...
Reid scored an own goal, by the way. Turned the ball into his own net a quarter of an hour into the contest after some Harry Kane-ery but Harry Hotspur had wandered offside so it didn’t count. Wipe that sweat off the brow.
If the first round back after the holiday break was supposed to begin separating the Premiership contenders from the pretenders then it did a pretty solid job of that. If it was supposed to clear much else up beyond that then not so much.
The way the Nix have lined up in the last two games hasn’t made for the sexiest football, obviously. Five dudes at the back and a deep midfield has combined for some very lenient views on the concept of possession.
2017 was a massive year for football in New Zealand. Headlined of course by the All Whites and their World Cup qualifiers against Peru, plus the Confederations Cup trip, but there was plenty going on all across the park.
There’s a little bit of confusion around the NZ Premiership tagline: ‘Where All Whites Are Made’. This is an amateur league after all, one which the best players from Aotearoa are seeking to escape.
Ordinarily a 0-0 draw away to Central Coast isn’t such a bad result for the Wellington Phoenix. Problem is that when you’ve only won one game from 12 and are slipping further and further out to sea at the bottom of the table, draws don’t really do the trick.
Chris Wood had one major moment of note here, working hard to win the ball back from Serge Aurier in the attacking third. He fed the ball wide to Steven Defour and then gassed it to the near post where the cross was swiftly played...
It doesn’t get any easier, does it? Sitting bottom of the table with only one win from ten and all this is going on to boot. Then you add in the injuries they’re suffering and it’s like what else could go wrong next. Westpac Stadium gonna burn down?
The NZ Prem's taking a little break for a few weeks for turkey stuffing and that makes this a perfect time to catch up on the competition so far, from Auckland City's recent dominance to Hamilton Wanderer's remarkably loyalty to losing games.
Busy week, this one. Zwolle had two games with the Eredivisie going hard on a midweek set of games and since Ryan Thomas never misses a second that meant 180 minutes in the space of four days. Nothing he can’t handle of course.
Reid picked up a yellow in the 67th min, wrestling down Alvaro Morata in the Chelsea half as the Blues threatened a counter. Doing what’s gotta be done. One of a few Hammers to be booked for, erm, tactical fouls as this game dragged on towards a hard-earned final whistle.
It’s way too early to be calling the Premier League title race now, it’s not even Christmas yet. Victory in the Manc Derby puts Manchester City eleven points clear of Man United with their record fourteenth league win in a row but plenty of water has to pass under the bridge before the trophy gets engraved.
The World Club Cup journey didn’t last very long for Auckland City this year. Up against the host reps and champions of the United Arab Emirates, Al Jazira, they went down 1-0 to a first half goal from Brazilian Romarinho.
Hey, remember a month ago when the Wellington Phoenix beat Perth 5-2 and we were hoping that’d be the start of a long and prosperous run of form? Yeah, about that…