2023 All Whites International Fixtures

coochiee

MetalLegNZ

I don't think being compared to Reid or Nelson will phase him to be honest. To be doing what he is already doing at 18 suggests, 1 he has the talent and 2 the mental nous to handle comparisons.

At the end of the day, comparisons are made all the time and mean nothing. He's his own player.

Tony Readings mentioned, he can remember him around the Football Ferns when his mum Jenny was in the team. With his Mum & Dad both playing international high level sport, he'll have some great sounding boards about the ups & downs, dealing with expectations etc. He maybe still living at home, as Jenny has a coaching role with London Lionesses.

Anyway he sounds well invested in NZ, which is great news. Still has a Kiwi accent. Dibley-Dias a bit different. Jack Iredale the next target. Those concerns about the AWs thin future CB stocks eased alot.

Oh and would be good if a journo could get an update on Ryan Thomas. What's the latest injury? Chance for the November window?

Tyler Bindon, the son of former Football Ferns goalkeeper Jenny Bindon, has been named in the All Whites squad for next month’s friendlies against DR Congo and Australia.

The centre back’s stocks have risen rapidly since his debut for English League One club Reading in August and his commitment to New Zealand over the United States moving forward is a major coup for coach Darren Bazeley.

“He's made it really clear to me that he's a New Zealander,” Bazeley said on Tuesday. “His heart is with New Zealand. That's what he has told the US coaches, which they have accepted.”

PS. Looks like Woud has only got picked as Jamie Searle made himself unavailable.

League Two is not stopping for the international window, and given the recent results of FGR I think Searle fancies himself at getting a shot to be #1. From what i've seen there are certainly calls for it.

Forest Green with games on the 1st, 4th, 8th, 11th, 15th & 22nd next month, so a good stretch if he can get the nod ahead of the incumbent Luke Daniels.

I'm a bit concerned about this Dibley-Dias call-up. The new FIFA eligibility rules state that a player can only switch nations once, and if he plays any minutes in the October window for NZ, and then plays for another national team (even under-age) after, he can never switch back to NZ again.

Let's say he plays against DR Congo or Australia in October. He enjoys himself, gets some important senior experience and exposure, great I hear you say.

Then along come Portugal or England, for whom he is also eligible for internationally, and he is called up at under-21 level for either of those in say March 2024 after making his Fulham first team debut.

In that scenario, he could never then return to the NZ team ever again! Crazy FIFA rule!

This quote of his on the Fulham website is what concerns me.

"It’s a great opportunity for me to play against senior level players and it can help give me a platform to perform against First Team opponents. Hopefully it will help open more doors for me and I’m just looking forward to seeing what it’s like."

Should we save this lad for the future or until he's sure who he wants to play for at international level? He doesn't seem sure he wants to play for NZ beyond this window. 

Best scenario is to let him play for England or Portugal U21s first, then switch him to NZ in 4 or 5 years time. Or just wait another couple of years if England or Portugal (or Brazil) don't come calling. 

UK_ALLWHITE

I'm a bit concerned about this Dibley-Dias call-up. The new FIFA eligibility rules state that a player can only switch nations once, and if he plays any minutes in the October window for NZ, and then plays for another national team (even under-age) after, he can never switch back to NZ again.

Let's say he plays against DR Congo or Australia in October. He enjoys himself, gets some important senior experience and exposure, great I hear you say.

Then along come Portugal or England, for whom he is also eligible for internationally, and he is called up at under-21 level for either of those in say March 2024 after making his Fulham first team debut.

In that scenario, he could never then return to the NZ team ever again! Crazy FIFA rule!

This quote of his on the Fulham website is what concerns me.

"It’s a great opportunity for me to play against senior level players and it can help give me a platform to perform against First Team opponents. Hopefully it will help open more doors for me and I’m just looking forward to seeing what it’s like."

Should we save this lad for the future or until he's sure who he wants to play for at international level? He doesn't seem sure he wants to play for NZ beyond this window. 

Best scenario is to let him play for England or Portugal U21s first, then switch him to NZ in 4 or 5 years time. Or just wait another couple of years if England or Portugal (or Brazil) don't come calling. 

The likelihood of him making any of those teams at senior level is very small unless he can become a fully established PL player and even then it isn't guaranteed. Better to get him in now, get him invested in the setup and then fair play to the lad if he's good enough to play for a top tier nation, or England. Basically, if we lose him, we lose him to a better side and we can live with that but until such time as that happens not selecting him would be cutting off your nose to spite your face - you'd have to think almost guaranteed Olympic & World Cup qualification & selection is a bigger draw than age group international football but ultimately it'll come down to who he wants to represent.

I'm a big fan of getting him involved while he's available but I do see the benefits of holding off and looking to the longer term, which is still possible if we don't cap him this window (or in November).

He'd be silly to jump ship to someone else prior the big stage of Paris Olympics. He's a shoe in now for Olywhites.

Most national U21 players for England, Portugal or Brazil don't go on to be good enough for their full national team. Tommy Smith & Rory Fallon both played age group Engerland.

So even if England or Portugal U21s did make an approach next year, he'd be better to wait until after the Olympics I reckon. But yes if any of the full national teams of the other 3 came calling (a big IF), he may well jump ship as Boyd & Stensness did.

Keepers i take it out o Crombe and Tvanez? Woud is terrible hes far worse than Sail.

I really hope this Bindon kid is the business. I think we are getting a bit tired and stale with Tuiloma and Smith. They've been under performers for a while now and probably keep getting picked because there is no one else.

No issue Bell isnt there as hes been off the pace in recent fixtures - he was way too hyped up by media in his early years. Good to see Singh back hopefully can stay injury free and find International form.

Greive and Wood up top would be good to watch i think compliment each other well!  and Waine off the bench! 

Stem captain? i'd go with him

Hopefully no walking off this time! Looking forward to some football again!

Crombe, Tvanez & Stem. Good grief. Well done on the spelling of Bell, Smith & Wood.

And anyone other than Wood as Captain is madness. In his absence M Boxall. Crocombe locked in starting keeper.

coochiee

Crombe, Tvanez & Stem. Good grief. Well done on the spelling of Bell, Smith & Wood.

And anyone other than Wood as Captain is madness. In his absence M Boxall. Crocombe locked in starting keeper.

 sorry vice capt* instead of Bell - not sure Wood will play both fixtures? not 90's anyway

Overall the strong squad that will be good to watch. Hopefully they can all avoid injuries before (and during) the international break.

Would like to see Wood up top with Waine. Unconvinced by Grieve but happy to have him on the bench.

It didn't work out for Bell in Denmark, but he's still a huge cog in the future of the AWs, and trying to match the big teams possession wise. Getting the ball off his CBs, recycling possession and dictating the tempo. A peach of pass from Bell for Garbett's goal against China back in March.

Dibley-Dias is a real prospect, but to now he's barely played senior football. Big ask to come in especially against the Socceroos and fill Bell's shoes. As ruthless Sweden showed, even second string lineups from the top tier teams will punish you if your decision making is split second off.  But going to be exciting to watch how D-D & Bindon go.

Anyone else think the squad looks a bit unbalanced?  Four centre forwards (plus Just, Champness and Singh who are all best suited to the forward line), and only Stamenic and Dibley-Dias who can play a defensive midfield role.  

Makes sense to me to play Kirwan and Cacace as wingbacks, and to get Wood and Waine together up front, but difficult to call what the midfield might look like in between. 

In the press conference, Bazeley said they already have a bit of a plan how they will use the squad over the 2 games. That might mean changes in formation. 

Can see them going with a back 4 against Congo, and extra midfielder as they did for the Qatar match. They might change that for the 2nd Socceroos game. Not sure where McCowatt is playing for Silkeborg currently, but certainly he finished the 2nd half of the last season with Helsingor in a deeper midfield role.

This AWs squad seems to have been named at least one week earlier than normal.

I think it's a very attacking squad but will Bazeball kill that attacking instinct?

Have Boyd and Stensness (not sure how to spell) made that many appearances for USA and Australia respectively or was it a bit of a mistake jumping ship for them?

Marto

Have Boyd and Stensness (not sure how to spell) made that many appearances for USA and Australia respectively or was it a bit of a mistake jumping ship for them?

Massive mistake from Boyd. He managed 10 games and 2 goals but has since been lapped by a huge number of young American attackers, he’ll never play for the USMNT again, but could be starting at a WC for NZ if he didn’t switch.

Stensness it’s too early to tell. Only played 2 games so far but has been injured for a long time and is still only 24. He does have the likes of Souttar, Rowles, Circati etc to overtake but he does have a potential future there.

Friar Tuck

Marto

Have Boyd and Stensness (not sure how to spell) made that many appearances for USA and Australia respectively or was it a bit of a mistake jumping ship for them?

Massive mistake from Boyd. He managed 10 games and 2 goals but has since been lapped by a huge number of young American attackers, he’ll never play for the USMNT again, but could be starting at a WC for NZ if he didn’t switch.

Stensness it’s too early to tell. Only played 2 games so far but has been injured for a long time and is still only 24. He does have the likes of Souttar, Rowles, Circati etc to overtake but he does have a potential future there.

Would Boyd consider it a massive mistake? When he switched some people thought he’d never get capped at all. Honestly if it were me I’d be proud of what I’d achieved and have no regrets for giving it a nudge. I’m also not sure he’d be playing for the Galaxy right now if he hadn’t previously played for the USMNT. 

Also pretty sure he got called up to a wider USNMT squad earlier this year - may have been sans overseas non MLS players. But who knows. He's banged in a few goals for the Galaxy this season. Long shot for 2026 but still a chance.

And he made the call to quit AWs awhile ago now (pre Covid?), when the team was barely playing.

Okay yeah maybe not massive but a mistake nonetheless imo. He essentially had one good spell in the lead up to the Gold Cup and then played a few games in that tournament.

You’re right that he was called into a wider squad recently, but that was 50 players, and Anthony Hudson was the one making the call.

He’s got probably 20-30 wingers ahead of him in the pecking order now. Even if you just include u23s there’s at least 9 or 10 ahead of him.

Great to have these two new guys but lets remember they are 18 and 19. They aint going to suddenly make us world beaters.  I hope both do well and have huge futures with us - just tempering the expectations... 

A couple of people in this thread are apparently desperate to see a back 5 again. Why do friendlies against Congo and Australia necessitate a joyless, safety first approach? If it was a World Cup qualification playoff I might understand the thought, but there is nothing on the line.

Were any of you watching us play a back 5 against Australia at Eden or China at Mt Smart? Why do you want more of that? Did you not notice that as soon as we switched to a back 4 at Sky Stadium we broke a 8 hour goal drought? Did you not like the way we were playing in that half vs Qatar? 

We only have one decent centre back in Boxall who won't be around much longer. Smith is past his peak, Tuiloma and Pijnaker are full of mistakes and Surman and Bindon are unproven and raw. Our midfielders are superior to our CBs, we shouldn't be sacrificing one to play a formation that was last effective for us (against a non Oceanian nation) in 2010. 

imanixsupporter

A couple of people in this thread are apparently desperate to see a back 5 again. Why do friendlies against Congo and Australia necessitate a joyless, safety first approach? If it was a World Cup qualification playoff I might understand the thought, but there is nothing on the line.

Were any of you watching us play a back 5 against Australia at Eden or China at Mt Smart? Why do you want more of that? Did you not notice that as soon as we switched to a back 4 at Sky Stadium we broke a 8 hour goal drought? Did you not like the way we were playing in that half vs Qatar? 

We only have one decent centre back in Boxall who won't be around much longer. Smith is past his peak, Tuiloma and Pijnaker are full of mistakes and Surman and Bindon are unproven and raw. Our midfielders are superior to our CBs, we shouldn't be sacrificing one to play a formation that was last effective for us (against a non Oceanian nation) in 2010. 

On the money! Back four needs to stay. 

I hope we start with a back four against Congo. But we need to be realistic, and AWs flexible with how we expect to play against bigger teams. Australia (FIFA ranked 27th), Greece (51st) & Ireland (55th) all have better players on average than us. Congo I don't know. Bazeley says he is monitoring 55 pro players overseas. They all have a talent pool several times that in size.

For example Aus midfielder 23 yr old Tyrese Francois, is ahead of Dibley-Dias in the pecking order at Fulham. He's been in 3 EPL match day squads already this season. However I doubt he'll be named in the Socceroos for October.

AWs are going to be without Bell, Lewis & no surprise Thomas. Garbett if he's fit will have barely played in a month. Dibley-Dias is hugely promising but has only really played boys football, and is a totally new to the group. He will have 2-4 training sessions with a bunch of complete strangers. Exciting times, but as above we need to temper expectations.

coochiee

I hope we start with a back four against Congo. But we need to be realistic, and AWs flexible with how we expect to play against bigger teams. Australia (FIFA ranked 27th), Greece (51st) & Ireland (55th) all have better players on average than us. Congo I don't know. Bazeley says he is monitoring 55 pro players overseas. They all have a talent pool several times that in size.

For example Aus midfielder 23 yr old Tyrese Francois, is ahead of Dibley-Dias in the pecking order at Fulham. He's been in 3 EPL match day squads already this season. However I doubt he'll be named in the Socceroos for October.

AWs are going to be without Bell, Lewis & no surprise Thomas. Garbett if he's fit will have barely played in a month. Dibley-Dias is hugely promising but has only really played boys football, and is a totally new to the group. He will have 2-4 training sessions with a bunch of complete strangers. Exciting times, but as above we need to temper expectations.

The 'back-four' effect is possibly slightly overstated in my opinion, and the biggest difference in the Qatar game compared to Sweden was far and away the quality of the opposition. Qatar showed at the Gold Cup they aren't that good (Sweden haven't been great in qualifying either but still ran out an XI that was better in every position to us). Flipping the formations wouldn't flip the results.

Same with the China games (comparing them to each other and the Australia games). None of the Chinese team come close to that Socceroos side, and the performance in Wellington was done with a better side (as the European guys had more time so started over the A League guys; I mean, Bell vs Rufer) and there were ten men in Auckland too.

Defensive solidity is probably easier to instill in international football than attacking fluidity given the very limited contact time, so that's why there are typically fewer goals (excluding the routs). Probably a factor why loads of international managers are unpopular: Southgate, Deschamps, Flick (gone), Santos (gone from Poland), Andersson (Sweden), Hjulmand (Denmark), Berhalter, Herdman (gone), Koeman (Netherlands), Klinsmann (South Korea), Arnold (until June last year) etc.

Bit of an arduous task to go through, but what a combined XI between NZ and each of the four countries we will play look like? Would Australia x NZ have the closest? Wood gets in Australia; DR Congo/Greece possibly? Obviously doesn't get in ahead of Evan Ferguson for Ireland. Cacace gets in Aussie too possibly, ahead of Behich, maybe not ahead of Masuaku for DR Congo and not ahead of Tsimikas. Stamenic/Bell hard to place. In current form (ie none really) hard to say Singh even, maybe Australia only.

He might be monitoring 55 players at 'pro' level, but that would have to be down to the Ljungskile guys and similar, which is a far cry from the Champions League. Their last three home crowds have been 361, 451 and 321, and the town has less than 3,500 people.

Anyway, I guess you can't have all: high quality opposition, attacking/dominant football and wins. Maybe you can get two out of three for the most part. But expectations have to be realistic.

You are right Boxall wont be around much longer and yes Tuiloma and Pij are mistake ridden. Surman should be playing alongside Boxall for experience and education and when Boxy goes Surmans defence! How Smith is still getting picked bizzare...dads army stuff.

#playsurman

Shame Bell isnt there or Lewis, we'd look way more composed through the middle with them. 

Hoping we put in a big game against aussie. The last one in auckland was so disappointing.. 

To be fair to Smith he still playing at a decent level, having his experience about us beneficial. Surmans not established himself in a 1st team and Pijnaker not setting the world alight in Ireland.

Smith is playing at a better level than most... and in a winning team.

Also... you need experience at times to settle players.

In our last few friendlies how many goals have we gifted up... and how many came from the younger brigade?!

MetalLegNZ

Smith is playing at a better level than most... and in a winning team.

Also... you need experience at times to settle players.

In our last few friendlies how many goals have we gifted up... and how many came from the younger brigade?!

He's younger than M Boxall and still playing at a decent level. Had that bad error against China, but he seemed unhappy last season at Colchester. Things going pretty well now at MK Dons. 

Bazeley hasn't picked any ALM guys, so no Surman. Probably a good thing for Surman as he tries to build a CB combination with Wootton over next few weeks in pre season. Likely a big ALM season ahead for the young Cantab.

Bindon will get mins with AWs for sure. Tuiloma could end playing more at RB than CB for these 2 games. Kirwan is the only other RB in the squad. The most under threat I think now is Pijnaker. His club career has just never taken off, unlike most of Des's U20 team. Still prone to basic errors. It's a bit telling that Shrewsbury & reportedly some other L1 clubs have had a look (aka Mata), and seemingly not been impressed enough to sign him.

If Jack Iredale a fellow left sided player becomes eligible & keen - it wouldn't surprise to see Nando dropped for the Nov window.

coochiee

MetalLegNZ

I don't think being compared to Reid or Nelson will phase him to be honest. To be doing what he is already doing at 18 suggests, 1 he has the talent and 2 the mental nous to handle comparisons.

At the end of the day, comparisons are made all the time and mean nothing. He's his own player.

Tony Readings mentioned, he can remember him around the Football Ferns when his mum Jenny was in the team. With his Mum & Dad both playing international high level sport, he'll have some great sounding boards about the ups & downs, dealing with expectations etc. He maybe still living at home, as Jenny has a coaching role with London Lionesses.

Anyway he sounds well invested in NZ, which is great news. Still has a Kiwi accent. Dibley-Dias a bit different. Jack Iredale the next target. Those concerns about the AWs thin future CB stocks eased alot.

Oh and would be good if a journo could get an update on Ryan Thomas. What's the latest injury? Chance for the November window?

Tyler Bindon, the son of former Football Ferns goalkeeper Jenny Bindon, has been named in the All Whites squad for next month’s friendlies against DR Congo and Australia.

The centre back’s stocks have risen rapidly since his debut for English League One club Reading in August and his commitment to New Zealand over the United States moving forward is a major coup for coach Darren Bazeley.

“He's made it really clear to me that he's a New Zealander,” Bazeley said on Tuesday. “His heart is with New Zealand. That's what he has told the US coaches, which they have accepted.”

PS. Looks like Woud has only got picked as Jamie Searle made himself unavailable.

Jenny was my (absolutely fantastic) goalkeeper coach about twelve-ish years ago, and Tyler would apparently sit on the sideline and watch us train. My old man remembers chatting to Tyler when he'd come and pick me up haha

Snooping around on Wiki it really appears the only reason the Bindons left NZ for California in 2017, was to further Jenny's coaching career. So perhaps not surprising that thankfully, young Tyler feels more Kiwi than American. Also read somewhere that they returned to NZ for awhile during the pandemic. And now looks like the family all live in the UK.

Sport and war comparisons are always dangerous analogies. But I find the fact that Jenny's Dad (Tyler's grand dad) was a decorated Vietnam war veteran, a fascinating yarn.

Agree with the other Smith defenders, for me he is currently our second best CB and it is up to others to prove they are better. Tuiloma and Pijnaker have repeatedly proven they are not but kept getting played anyway 

Tommy Smith with an i. Let's play him.

I know he seems to have been around for ever, but Smith is only 33. He’s playing at a better level than LOI at least. 

But it’s fair to say that our defensive positions are up for grabs if there are players who put in some dominant performances. 

Boxall the only definite CB on the team sheet.

I’ve seen Tommy play twice this season. Seems to be playing a lot better then previous seasons. Probably helps that Milton Keynes is a very kiwi style city and the club has a beautiful stadium, better then anything in NZ.

Sounds like McGarry will definitely be pulling out. Not that it really matters, don’t think Libby has missed starting an AWs game since Oman behind closed doors last year

https://theniche-cache.com/football/2023/9/29/all-whites-vs-congo-draustralia-squad-yarns-amp-preview

I’m struggling with this assertion. Smith is more English than Kiwi in terms of where he has been raised and played all of his football. Milton Keynes can look like Hamilton as much as you want but that won’t effect Smith (in a good way anyway lol).

Marto

I’ve seen Tommy play twice this season. Seems to be playing a lot better then previous seasons. Probably helps that Milton Keynes is a very kiwi style city and the club has a beautiful stadium, better then anything in NZ.

Gonna have a go at guessing the November squad (a prediction not a preference)

GK: Crocombe, Sail, Woud

Defense: Kirwan, Tuiloma, Boxall, Smith, Pijnaker, Bindon, Cacace, McGarry

Midfield: Singh, Garbett, Stamenic, Lewis, McCowatt, Bell (Dibley-Dias doesn't recover in time)

Forwards: Wood, Waine, Kosta, Mata, Just

Yes expect Sail to come in. Woud or Tzanev toss a coin. If neither are going to play, you might as well pick Euro based Tzanev, or even Henry Gray again as the 3rd keeper.

Hopefully Jack Iredale is available/eligible by Nov. If so out goes Pijnaker. Seems unlikely given their teams need luck just to stagger into the MLS playoffs, but if either Minny or Charlotte go on a deep finals run - Boxall or Tuiloma could be unavailable.

Yes sounds sadly like Dibley-Dias has had surgery so won't be in AWs reckoning again until March next year at the earliest. In comes Bell if available - Viking still have one league game after the Nov window.

Forwards unchanged. Champness offered hints of promise, but maybe you drop him for Lewis as an extra midfielder. Kosta's AW days are over. Though he'd be a useful Athens tour guide. But I'd pick a clubless Rojas before him.