Football Ferns

coochiee

Monto

Holy damn, Wilkenson is shark.

Scores for fun in the ALW (which will be an indicator of the league's strength), and still the best striker the Ferns have.

also says a lot about the lack of quality the Ferns have and why we don't score that often. 
Pleased I turned the TV off after the second goal, which was horrifically defended. We had a back four and yet Endo is able to drag the CB out far enough to be covering noone and leaves possibly the smallest striker in front oif her to head home a low cross. 

I have to wonder what the plan is for the Ferns going forward. Surely NZ football can't be happy with the way the team is playing? With a home world cup coming up this could be disastrous. To still lost 2-0 nil to what was essentially a Japanese b-team and offer absolutely nothing going forward surely isn't acceptable.

I'm under no delusions that we're going to win anything at the world cup but surely the goal has to be to go out there guns blazing and go down trying? We're gonna ship goals regardless and I think it would be better to lose games 5-2 rather than 4-0 for example.

Klimkova promised a more attacking brand of football and I'm yet to see anything of the sort. We must blood the young players now as the old hands offer absolutely nothing of value to the team really.

NZF will be oblivious as they always are, pumping the money into the team and getting them more games, because they qualified for the WC. Despite the fact they seem to be getting worse.

They are a hard watch that's for sure. Wilkinson and Satchell offer little the one being big and the other quick. 
The continued attempting to play on the edge of our 18 yard box and inviting the them to press was crazy. Complete lack of ball speed when passing and minimal movement off the ball.

The Ferns kind of argue against the point that playing more and going to World Cups will really improve the All Whites. Since 2007 they have had a free run at World Cups and Olympics (which are somewhat serious in comparison to the un-loved U23 men's comp), but there hasn't really been any drastic improvement. The team is playing far less locally than 2007, but any improvements have been at the same rate, if not slower than other national teams. In effect, going forwards yet backwards. 

They have only won 3 of the 17 matches since the start of last year. Only 11 goals and 34 conceded. It's hard to know how much blame to attribute to the coach, because the coach is only as good as the players on the field, but she supposedly has a contract until 2027, so she's probably not going anywhere. There might be performance-based clauses for later on, but she's certainly not leaving before the World Cup next year.

Some interesting comments here. A bit overly critical I feel.
Japan B side? We had the b side not japan. Look at the starters not playing.
Riley. NWSL, Erceg  NWSL, Bott  WSL, Percival  WSL, Stott WSL, Longo, + Hand and Cleverly both playing danish pro level.
Yes the quality of play is not as high one would like (especially if you watch mostly mens football). But I thought we were competitive for long passages of that game, keeping in mind the makeshift nature of our back line due to injuries.
Japan are a very technical and skillful team and they created many chances as expected. Yes we have issues scoring goals. (not the only NZ team in that category right now). And yes I wish Wilkinson offered more at CF for a big girl she doesn't hold up the ball very well. Plays better receiving the ball facing the goal. But until someone else steps up she is it. Real shame Rosie White is no where on the scene.
I thought Bunge was terrific again. And thought the new Nix girls Satchell and Hassett showed real grit and fight if not all poise. Promising signs for the WahineNix.
In the big picture of world rankings, a 2-0 loss to Japan away is about what would be expected. 
It's just a fact that as money pours into womens football we are going to get left behind. A small nation at the bottom of the world, with 1 pro team that only has limited spaces for NZ girls.
Lastely. I don't think this team will embarrass us at the world cup like some here are dooming. Can we beat the top teams like England & USA. Likely no. 
But at home against South Korea next month will be a really good litmus test. I really hope the likes of Riley, Bott and Erceg are available for those games.

agree that we had a lot of players out, but with that team you'd expect the bigger names to stand up and be counted. They did not. Satchell tears aroound and if she gets a ball to run onto she'd be more dangerous. But we kept losing the ball in the midfield. Wilkenson should be doing a lot better against players she has a physical advantage against. Yet she appears to have no touch, no control, no speed and no real shot. ALW defenders must let her have all the space she wants, cos the Japanese defenders had an easy ride with her. Our defenders were average last night. We will ship goals in the WC if Naylor is in goal and our back four defend like they have been. 

theprof

agree that we had a lot of players out, but with that team you'd expect the bigger names to stand up and be counted. They did not. Satchell tears aroound and if she gets a ball to run onto she'd be more dangerous. But we kept losing the ball in the midfield. Wilkenson should be doing a lot better against players she has a physical advantage against. Yet she appears to have no touch, no control, no speed and no real shot. ALW defenders must let her have all the space she wants, cos the Japanese defenders had an easy ride with her. Our defenders were average last night. We will ship goals in the WC if Naylor is in goal and our back four defend like they have been. 

Both wingbacks last night were makeshift with first choices Riley & Bott out. And Nayler is 3rd choice now (a long way) behind Esson & Leat.

The future is the likes of Whinham coming through the Nix, and just getting more young girls into the intensive academies (Weenix & Ole) at an early age as with the boys programmes now, and churning out much better technical players. But yes womens football standards are quickly rising all around the world.

Probs get off the topic of missing players. Two have long terms injuries, one of which wasn’t playing well and the other doesn’t even have a club. Who knows what erceg is up to. Every team misses players on any given day - you can only play and comment on what is put out there. 
Why is satchell receiving the ball back to goal in midfield where he pace is her asset?

Watching the game live was great fun.   Me and my mate only kiwis though sadly and there are a few kiwis in nagano ive heard. Japans movement was great.  Bunge played well i thought.   But overall the team needs to move more when they dont have the ball.   Just all to static and makes it hard to find a forward pass.

Players missing games is a part of the deal, as a coach you have to field the best team you can with the players you have. Make shift or not. The defensive errors are basic things, like the  positioning error by Bunge which let their striker have a free header. Every player knows to get infront of the striker, she didnt even look likle she was making any effort, standing there, looking skyward to avoid the ball hitting her. Poor!
Live Feversih has pointed out, Satchell receiving the ball in the midfield is not what she is there to o, but she had to be there cos she was trying to help Steinmetz and Hasset (who lost the ball several times). If this is the best we have then fone, but I wonder if the coaching/tactics they are being asked to play doenst fit their abilities. 

Another point which is probably pretty obvious - we're seeded Pot 1 as host for the WC. That means we will avoid the six best teams, only have to deal with one Japan-level (ish) team, then play a third seed team (most of who are probably on or around our level) and a fourth seed team (mostly below our level). 

This may be the greatest chance we have to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup for a while - in future, we will likely be in the third seeding pot, and unlikely to upset the pot one and pot two teams in our group. Considering we've never made the knockouts and never even won a game - this is big. And we need to deliver because we won't get a similar chance again. 

never gonna win if we continue to struggle to score.

theprof

never gonna win if we continue to struggle to score.

Scored 3 in there last 3 games. Doing a lot better than other NZ national teams in that respect.
But yes that is an issue in NZ football right now.

Ranix

theprof

never gonna win if we continue to struggle to score.

Scored 3 in there last 3 games. Doing a lot better than other NZ national teams in that respect.
But yes that is an issue in NZ football right now.

They are also ranked twice as high as the teams that those goals were scored against, as opposed to the AWs playing teams up to three times higher in the rankings. The Ferns are supposed to be 22nd in the world, not 105th like the men.

Ranix

theprof

never gonna win if we continue to struggle to score.

Scored 3 in there last 3 games. Doing a lot better than other NZ national teams in that respect.
But yes that is an issue in NZ football right now.

Against poorly opposition. Don't forget we scored none against USA, Iceland, Czech Republic, Norway and Wales. 

carlind

The Ferns kind of argue against the point that playing more and going to World Cups will really improve the All Whites. Since 2007 they have had a free run at World Cups and Olympics (which are somewhat serious in comparison to the un-loved U23 men's comp), but there hasn't really been any drastic improvement. The team is playing far less locally than 2007, but any improvements have been at the same rate, if not slower than other national teams. In effect, going forwards yet backwards. 

They have only won 3 of the 17 matches since the start of last year. Only 11 goals and 34 conceded. It's hard to know how much blame to attribute to the coach, because the coach is only as good as the players on the field, but she supposedly has a contract until 2027, so she's probably not going anywhere. There might be performance-based clauses for later on, but she's certainly not leaving before the World Cup next year.

This is such a great comment, especially for all the people who think the mens game is going to go under some miraculous change playing and getting beat and world cups every cycle.

well if you follow NZF's theory the money the men get for reching the WC will increase the games we get during the international windows. So hopefully playing more will improve things.

Don't agree with Voerman - I think playing Norway first up is a great chance to harness host advantage and opening game advantage and pull a shock against a fancied opponent. 

Chances are it will come down to the third game in Dunedin vs Switzerland though. 

Sadly, I think the current side, even at full strength, will only get one win at the WC (Philippines) and get knocked out.  

The fact that Wilkinson who has been poor for a long long time (7+ years) is still a starter is all we need to know about the current side, same goes with Naylor. Switzerland might be ranked one place above us but they will likely be a far better team then us.

Hopefully a lot of the 100 cap club retire after the WC as it's obvious we need a clear out and rebuild. It will be painful but so is watching the Ferns right now.

I'd rather bring through young ladies who actually have ball skills having come up through the various academies in recent years then those who learnt the game in the '90s and '00s playing kick and chase.

Marto

Sadly, I think the current side, even at full strength, will only get one win at the WC (Philippines) and get knocked out.  

The fact that Wilkinson who has been poor for a long long time (7+ years) is still a starter is all we need to know about the current side, same goes with Naylor. Switzerland might be ranked one place above us but they will likely be a far better team then us.

Hopefully a lot of the 100 cap club retire after the WC as it's obvious we need a clear out and rebuild. It will be painful but so is watching the Ferns right now.

I'd rather bring through young ladies who actually have ball skills having come up through the various academies in recent years then those who learnt the game in the '90s and '00s playing kick and chase.

Right now I'm not convinced we can beat Switzerland or Norway. My mind will change if we can beat Portugal in February.

Still no Erceg.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/women-in-sport/130327651/wellington-phoenix-midfielder-grace-wisnewski-named-in-football-ferns-squad

Football Ferns – November international window
Squad

Goalkeepers: Vic Esson, Anna Leat, Erin Nayler

Defenders: Liz Anton, Mackenzie Barry, Claudia Bunge, Ally Green, Meikayla Moore, Ali Riley, Kate Taylor, Ashleigh Ward

Midfielders: Katie Bowen, Daisy Cleverley, Olivia Chance, Betsy Hassett, Malia Steinmetz, Grace Wisnewski

Forwards: Ava Collins, Jacqui Hand, Grace Jale, Indiah Paige-Riley, Emma Rolston, Gabi Rennie, Paige Satchell

Fixtures
Saturday, November 12, 2.30pm: v South Korea; Orangetheory Stadium
Tuesday, November 15, 6pm: v South Korea: Orangetheory Stadium

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/women-in-sport/130327651/wellington-phoenix-midfielder-grace-wisnewski-named-in-football-ferns-squad

The inclusion of Wisnewski was one of four changes from the squad that suffered a 2-0 defeat to Japan at the start of October.

Alyssa Whinham, CJ Bott, Hannah Blake and Hannah Wilkinson have been replaced by Wisnewski, Ashleigh Ward, Daisy Cleverley and Ava Collins.

Bott made herself unavailable so she could focus on her club commitments with English Women’s Super League club Leicester City, while Wilkinson picked up a knock during pre-season with Melbourne City.

Also missing were Annalie Longo, Rebekah Stott and Ria Percival, who are sidelined with long-term injuries, as well as Abby Erceg, who has not featured in a Football Ferns squad since February.

Previously, Erceg’s unavailability had been put down to her club commitments with North Carolina Courage in the United States, but the National Women’s Soccer League has now concluded for the year, casting further doubt about her international future.

Obviously Erceg thinks she's better then the team and will only make herself available for the WC games. 

Time to ditch her permanently as no player is be bigger then the team, no matter who they are, not even Messi.

Fixtures confirmed vs USA! 18 Jan in Welly and 21 Jan in Auckland. 

I'm really happy to see the amount of home fixtures we are getting - the Korea games in Christchurch, plus these two games, plus three games (incl Portugal) in February. Across four cities as well!

Hopefully this will go some way to building up more home support and hopefully some sellout crowds at the main tournament for our Ferns! As we have discussed before the fact that the team has gone so long without playing in NZ has led to decreased interest. 

But the score line could be ugly especially because the game is during a non fifa window 

so? it may be a blow out, but you'll still get to see some of the best women players in the game. Also given how close it is to world cup you may find a good number of the top players want to be involved. US and NZ.

But its not upto the players its upto the clubs.
Wouldn't expect any of the UK based player to attend.
Bott, Stott, Leat, Ward, Esson, Moore, Chance, Rood.
Scandinavian players are probably on winter break so at least they should be available.
How many players can the Nix be expected to release, with 5 games schedules in January.
Might be looking at giving opportunities to US college based players and some of the U20's. I suppose.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/130367371/club-v-country-football-ferns-scramble-to-secure-players-for-us-visit

Edit. Reflecting on previous post.
If there was ever a time for Abbey Erceg to step up for her country this is it.

well, sure, it's up to the clubs to release them, but if the players to come then I'm pretty sure they'll be able to requets their clubs to release them. I'd be confident that the managers of the national teams will be asking.

That training at home feeling 🏠🥰

🌿🖤🤍 | #WhānauFerns pic.twitter.com/8MrE6Gs1Ci

— New Zealand Football (@NZ_Football) November 8, 2022

Nice report on the 6 pm sport news on TV One on Wednesday night about the Ferns preparing for the Korea games in Christchurch.
Showed the players training and coachng school kids at Halswell School.
Included interviews with Ashleigh Ward (talking about her career, starting in Christchurch and her football journey around the world) and Meikayla Moore (her grandparents were pretty stoked by the news she was coming back home for some matches).
News video available on TVNZ+ website.