Newstalk ZB's D'Arcy Waldegrave and the NZ Herald's Bonnie Jansen get together to preview the weekend's sport.
Video / NZ Herald
All Whites’ coach Darren Bazeley admits the team needs to get more out of Chris Wood – which could necessitate a change to their playing system.
From a footballing perspective, the Premier League striker is a national treasure.
With his recent double against Luton for Nottingham Forest, Wood has scored 58 goals in the top flight – a ratio of better than one every four games in the toughest football league in the world. Across a long professional career in England, he has found the net more than 160 times – including 78 in the Championship - which are staggering numbers.
New Zealand has only once before had a goal scorer of his quality, the incomparable Wynton Rufer, who lit up European football in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood scores the winner against Sheffield United.
That was apparent again in the 2-0 loss to Australia last month in London, where he barely got a touch, with a lack of quality crosses and opportunities created. The 31-year-old won’t be around forever – and the squad need to make much more of his presence.
“I agree,” Bazeley told the Herald, ahead of the match with Greece on Saturday (6am NZT). “We need to get people closer to him. We need to get better service into him and help him.”
That could mean adjustments to the 4-3-3 system, favoured under Bazeley and most of Danny Hay’s tenure. It’s a set up built around the abilities of a cohort of young midfielders but hasn’t always suited Wood.
“We have looked at it,” said Bazeley. “We are going to tweak the style a bit to get more interaction with Woodsy or our striker. Right now, we are too far away, we are not getting enough numbers near to him.”
New Zealand employs a front three, but the likes of Alex Greive, Eli Just and Callum McCowatt are used out wide and tend to drop deep, leaving Wood isolated.
All Whites striker Chris Wood
“We have got players that play in [those] positions and they are not wingers. We have people in wide positions but they are not really affecting the game as much as we can.”
Instead, Bazeley wants them to be “more inside and higher”, with the fullbacks tasked with providing the width on occasions. It won’t happen all the time – depending on the game situation – but is a conscious change.
Other key areas are the quality of the final ball or cross – which has been an Achilles heel in recent times – and getting more players in attacking areas.
“If we get there, from crosses or general play, centre backs have to pick them up which means they are not concentrating on Woodsy,” said Bazeley. “If we don’t get numbers in the box, he is up against two centre backs most of the time, which is difficult.”
The current issue isn’t new. There were similar frustrations during the Anthony Hudson era, but it has been accentuated with the possession heavy focus of the past few years. The All Whites are now a team that retains the ball well, without always having the final thrust. It’s part of an overall plan to become more effective and efficient, with a cutting edge.
Retaining the structure is important but Bazeley hopes the team can also be more free flowing at times.
“We need to find a balance,” said Bazeley.
World No 51 Greece will be a stern test. They have banked two wins over Republic of Ireland this year, along with narrow 0-1 away defeats to France and the Netherlands.
“They are a solid team with good players in Europe,” said Bazeley. “They can be strong and aggressive, pretty thorough with how they play the game. This is a good test. They will look to press us but hopefully we will be able to use the ball better than we did against Australia.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.
