Stuff Digital Edition

All Whites: Problem areas and other questions . . . At a glance

Andrew Voerman

All Whites coach Danny Hay says right back is the position most up for grabs as he considers his starting XI for the World Cup qualifying playoff against Costa Rica next month.

Before flying out to Spain, where the national men’s football team began their preparations this week, Hay felt he had ‘‘some real clarity’’ as to the makeup of his side for the US$10.5 million (NZ$16 million) match in Qatar on June 14 (June 15, NZ time).

He is yet to tip his hand regarding the identity of his first-choice goalkeeper, with Oli Sail and the man he displaced at the Wellington Phoenix, Stefan Marinovic, the two contenders in the running, though he said he was leaning towards one of them.

There is also a degree of mystery as to who will join Winston Reid and Bill Tuiloma in a centre back trio, if that is how the All Whites set up, and who will play in midfield, alongside Joe Bell, and up front, alongside Chris Wood.

But the position where there is a genuine contest under way is right back – an area of the pitch that has troubled the last four All

Whites coaches.

‘Nobody has really put their hand up’

Thirteen different players have started there across the national team’s 48 competitive matches since the start of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, including the three in camp at present – Tim Payne, Niko Kirwan and Dane Ingham.

Hay said right back was ‘‘definitely one position that is very open, hence why we’ve brought three’’.

At the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament in March, Ingham played in the All Whites’ opener before returning to Australia, where he plays in A-League Men for the Newcastle Jets. Payne and Kirwan then split playing time evenly in the other four matches.

Payne probably has the inside running, though he has only played right back sparingly during his last two seasons of club football with the Wellington Phoenix, as injuries have led to him playing mostly as a centre back.

Hay said it was ‘‘one area where there’s not 100% clarity’’ and that performances in camp and in the All Whites’ two warmup friendlies, against Peru and Oman, would matter a great deal.

‘‘Nobody has really put their hand up and said, ‘This is mine and you’ve got to come and take it off me’.’’

‘I’m leaning towards one player’

Sail and Marinovic also split playing time evenly at the Oceania qualifiers, with Sail starting the first two matches before returning to the Phoenix and Marinovic starting the semifinal and final. They played in that order due to the awkward timing of the tournament around the window where players have to be released by their clubs, so nothing can be read into the fact that Marinovic featured in the knockout stages.

‘‘In my mind at this stage, I’m leaning towards one player, but that said, it’s going to come down to how they train and then how they play in the games,’’ Hay said.

‘‘I’m so lucky, and the players themselves are so lucky, that we’ve got somebody who is as experienced as [goalkeeping coach and former Celtic player] Jonathan Gould in the setup.

‘‘He’s a big person that I will lean on in terms of helping me make that decision.’’

Choosing a system

Beyond those two positions, Hay’s choices will be influenced by how he decides to set the All Whites up for their biggest match in five years – a winnertakes-all shot at making it to the World Cup for a third time, after 1982 and 2010.

He has said he wants to be unpredictable and that has certainly been the case so far, with four different starting formations used in the nine All Whites matches since October.

The first decision will be whether to play with two centre backs or three. If it’s the former, there will then be a choice between playing with a midfield trio and a front three, or a midfield diamond and a front two. If it’s the latter, it will be a

All Whites squad

■ Goalkeepers: Matthew Gould, Stefan Marinovic, Oli Sail

■ Defenders: Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Francis de Vries, Dane Ingham, Niko Kirwan, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Winston Reid, Tommy Smith, Bill Tuiloma ■ Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Elijah Just, Clayton Lewis, Marco Rojas, Marko Stamenic

■ Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Joey Champness, Alex Greive, Callum McCowatt, Logan Rogerson, Ben Waine, Chris Wood

Fixtures (NZ time):

■ Monday, June 6, 3.30am: v Peru; RCDE Stadium, Barcelona, Spain

■ Friday, June 10, TBC: v Oman; TBC, Doha, Qatar (behind closed doors, untelevised)

■ Wednesday, June 14, 6am: v Costa Rica; Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Doha, Qatar

choice between a midfield trio and a front two, or a midfield pair and a front three.

Costa Rica have played with a back three in their last four matches and made it to the playoff on the back of a sevenmatch unbeaten run where they typically conceded possession and looked to strike on the counter and at set pieces.

Questions further forward

Either way, the names Bell, Reid, Tuiloma and Wood, as already mentioned, can almost certainly be written down in pen. Liberato Cacace will join them at left back and Marko Stamenic should have a place in midfield, whether alongside Bell in a duo or ahead of him in a trio.

The question marks in goal and at right back have been covered, which leaves three other positions to be filled.

Further forward, a midfield diamond can probably be ruled out, with Sarpreet Singh absent injured and unavailable to play at its tip, which means the final positions to be filled would be a midfielder and a forward, two forwards, or if Hay went with two centre backs, a midfielder and two forwards.

Lewis and Matt Garbett would be outand-out midfield options, as would Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, and Marco Rojas, who could all also play in a front three.

If Wood was to have a single partner, Alex Greive stands out as the likely option, having shone during his first halfseason in professional football in Scotland.

He would also be a leading contender to start in a front three, an area where Hay can also call on Kosta Barbarouses, Joey Champness, Logan Rogerson and Ben Waine.

Sport

en-nz

2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282514367157235

Stuff Limited