For sure a big opportunity this ALM season for any of Bayliss, Rojas, OVH, Randall, Gillion, Toomey, Champness, Rogerson or Mata to go on a hot run of goals plus assists, and say pick me. Like Ben Old had a break out season with the Nix. Now he's gone from wider squad player to likely starter, and near certainty for 2026.
Some of the above could get picked for the OFC qualifiers in Oct & Nov anyway, when we can easily afford to bypass a few of the Euro based guys if they have a niggle. Definitely want a full strength squad though for the qualifying semi & final in March.
https://theniche-cache.com/football/2024/8/28/the-all-whites-in-north-america-squad-yarns-amp-preview
........here’s a shadow squad of 21 alternates as picked in a different Niche Cache newsletter recently...
GK – Kees Sims, Nik Tzanev, Henry Gray
DEF – Bill Tuiloma, James McGarry, Sam Sutton, Kyle Adams, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Niko Kirwan, Nikko Boxall
MID – Matt Dibley-Dias, Ryan Thomas, Marco Rojas, Jay Herdman, Cam Howieson
FWD – Callum McCowatt, Max Mata, Alex Greive, Andre de Jong, Oskar van Hattum, Lachie Bayliss
Some of the above could get picked for the OFC qualifiers in Oct & Nov anyway, when we can easily afford to bypass a few of the Euro based guys if they have a niggle. Definitely want a full strength squad though for the qualifying semi & final in March.
https://theniche-cache.com/football/2024/8/28/the-all-whites-in-north-america-squad-yarns-amp-preview
........here’s a shadow squad of 21 alternates as picked in a different Niche Cache newsletter recently...
GK – Kees Sims, Nik Tzanev, Henry Gray
DEF – Bill Tuiloma, James McGarry, Sam Sutton, Kyle Adams, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Niko Kirwan, Nikko Boxall
MID – Matt Dibley-Dias, Ryan Thomas, Marco Rojas, Jay Herdman, Cam Howieson
FWD – Callum McCowatt, Max Mata, Alex Greive, Andre de Jong, Oskar van Hattum, Lachie Bayliss
Nothing wrong with that. That there’s a squad that would cruise through an Oceania Nations Cup. Every single one of them is a full professional and most of them have already been capped at senior level.
However it’s still the attacking areas that are the funkiest... those positions contain the most scope for things to drastically change.
It’s going to take some sustained magnificence for a goalkeeper to come through and bust up the duopoly at the top, or for a midfielder to demand starts ahead of Bell/Stamenić/Garbett/Singh/Old/etc.
But up front? Other than Chris Wood and Sarpreet Singh, both of whom have had recurring injury niggles in the past, it’s not so certain. McCowatt and Just are pretty well established at this point but if someone from outside this squad went on a bender for a few months, scoring copious goals, including potentially in the A-League, then they could absolutely rustle their way into a top strength All Whites squad. Keep in mind this is only a 21-man group whereas a World Cup, for example, would require 23 players.
It’s going to take some sustained magnificence for a goalkeeper to come through and bust up the duopoly at the top, or for a midfielder to demand starts ahead of Bell/Stamenić/Garbett/Singh/Old/etc.
But up front? Other than Chris Wood and Sarpreet Singh, both of whom have had recurring injury niggles in the past, it’s not so certain. McCowatt and Just are pretty well established at this point but if someone from outside this squad went on a bender for a few months, scoring copious goals, including potentially in the A-League, then they could absolutely rustle their way into a top strength All Whites squad. Keep in mind this is only a 21-man group whereas a World Cup, for example, would require 23 players.
That’s now the challenge for all of those chaps. This team needs goals. That means there’s a ticket up for grabs for anyone who can provide them over the upcoming season. With this many options, surely at least someone will do so. It’s just a matter of which blokes rise above the crowd to claim their opportunity.