What we know (and what we don’t) about the All Whites heading into a World Cup year – Stuff.co.nz

ANALYSIS: Pressure will be the big difference for the All Whites in 2022 compared to 2021.

On the pitch, where the teams they meet in Fifa World Cup qualification wont afford them as much time and space as Bahrain and The Gambia did in losing in October and November. Curaao, who the All Whites also defeated in October, were the toughest test in that regard.

And off it, where whats at stake a place at the World Cup for just the third time in 40 years, and for the last time when getting there is set to be seriously difficult is sure to mean a few extra nerves for what is now a very young and inexperienced playing group.

SKY SPORT

Chris Wood scored twice as the All Whites made it three wins from three in 2021.

The staff, led by coach Danny Hay, and the players, led by captain Winston Reid and his de facto deputy Chris Wood, are well aware of it. They want tougher tests, even though theyve just notched up three rare wins outside Oceania. And they know they could have been much more clinical in getting those wins.

READ MORE:* All Whites looking for tougher tests next window as World Cup qualifying nears* Chris Wood strikes twice as All Whites beat The Gambia to finish 2021 on a high* 'When Joe talks, players listen': Young midfielder already an All Whites leader* All Whites chasing a third full international win in a row as they face The Gambia

But theyre in a pretty good place heading into a World Cup, considering how they hadnt been together for more than 18 months prior to the Tokyo Olympics, where Hay got the ball rolling with an OlyWhites squad that contained 13 players selected for the All Whites over the past two months.

Heading into what is set to be the biggest year for New Zealand football in some time, heres what we know and what we dont about how things are shaping up.

STUFF

All Whites coach Danny Hay praises midfielder Joe Bell as someone who backs up his words with actions.

Across the four OlyWhites matches at the Tokyo Olympics and the three All Whites matches in October and November (and the non-cap earning fixture against Algeria A), a core group of players has started to emerge.

Goalkeepers Stefan Marinovic and Michael Woud. Centre backs Michael Boxall, Nando Pijnaker, Reid, and Tuiloma. Left back Liberato Cacace. Midfielders Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Sarpreet Singh, and Marko Stamenic. Forwards Joey Champness, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, and Wood. Fifteen of the 25 called up altogether.

Ryan Thomas would be there if and when he makes himself available for selection again. Right back Niko Kirwan would be very close to being there. Tim Payne would potentially be there if A-League Men players had been available this year, not stuck down under due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Isa Ebrahim/Photosport

All Whites centre back Nando Pijnaker is one of three players to have made at least three starts in Danny Hays five matches in charge.

That leaves fullbacks Francis de Vries and Kelvin Kalua, centre back Tommy Smith, and forwards Elliot Collier and Andre de Jong as lesser-used incumbents; goalkeeper Nik Tzanev and defenders Nikko Boxall and Dalton Wilkins, who were called up in October, but didnt play, and werent called up in November Boxall and Wilkins due to injuries and goalkeeper Jamie Searle, who replaced Tzanev, unavailable for personal reasons. Beyond them, theres around a dozen professionals in North America and Europe who might have missed the boat for now.

The big question is around the New Zealanders currently contracted in the A-League, a group that includes seven players who went to the Tokyo Olympics. With the All Whites squad for January set to be locked in a fortnight in advance, they will have around 10 matches to push their case. As Hay readily acknowledged after the win over The Gambia, those who have been on these last two tours have the benefit of incumbency and extra time together in front of him, and those who havent, through no fault of their own, are playing catch-up.

Payne appeals as a centre back who can also play right back. Hay already looked at calling up goalkeeper Oli Sail and, Stuff understands, right back Dane Ingham for the November window. Kosta Barbarouses missed Hays first window in charge, pre-pandemic, as it came hot on the heels of the birth of his daughter, and would add some experience to the forward line. Midfielders Clayton Lewis and Marco Rojas offer experience as well, but have a lot of work to do if they are to displace Garbett and Stamenic, or, in Rojas case also, players like Champness, Just and McCowatt.

Theres also forward Ben Waine, who turned down an offer from Coventry City in England to stay at the Phoenix; and attacking midfielder Ben Old, set for his first season with the Wellington club; but otherwise its a long list of fullbacks, none of whom stand out as being clearly superior to the likes of de Vries and Kirwan, and even Kalua. Perhaps some might by mid-January to give Hay some food for thought.

Matt King/Getty Images

Sydney FC forward Kosta Barbarouses is the most notable All White yet to play under Danny Hay.

It can be easy to get caught up in how players in lower-tier leagues and age-group football in Europe are getting selected ahead of those playing first-team football down under. But the key is the individual players themselves, their ability, and how they fit into what the All Whites are trying to do. Playing as much as possible at the best possible level remains the aim, but its not the be all and end all.

Five matches into his tenure, at the end of 2015, former coach Anthony Hudson had already given 39 of a possible 55 starts to 12 of the 13 players that ended up starting in the intercontinental playoff loss to Peru two years later and to Wood, who would have had he not been managing an injury at the time.

Five matches into Hays tenure, hes handed nine players at least three starts out of five and given two starts to a further six. He has repeatedly stated the need to keep an open mind, but playing time together in the limited opportunities available matters and most of the key figures for the next 12 months are undoubtedly already in position. Expect evolution, not revolution from here on out in this cycle, and changes to mostly take place on the fringes.

DAVID GRAY/Photosport

Left back Francis de Vries is the most recent player to have made his All Whites debut the 13th to do so during Hays tenure.

The All Whites have tended to stick rigidly with one formation or playing system over the past decade.

Once Ricki Herbert switched to a 3-4-3, to make the most of his surplus of centre forwards and centre backs and fit three of each in, ahead of the intercontinental playoff to make the 2010 World Cup, where the All Whites defeated Bahrain, he only rarely used anything else.

Hudson came in wanting to play with a 4-2-3-1 (four defenders, two defensive midfielders, three attacking midfielders, one forward), but by the time he arrived at World Cup qualification, he had settled on a 3-5-2, with an emphasis on playing the ball long to Wood, which made for a frustrating watch at a time when some promising attacking talent was starting to emerge.

DAVID GRAY/Photosport

All Whites Matt Garbett and Callum McCowatt, pictured here celebrating the latters goal against Algeria A, are two players with plenty of versatility.

Hay has a more technically talented group of players at his disposal than any previous coach, and he has been flexible in how hes used them. Against Curaao, they played with a midfield diamond behind two forwards and there was a focus on pressing the opposition in the middle of the pitch. Against Bahrain and The Gambia, they played with a midfield trio and three forwards, and there was an emphasis on using their wide players McCowatt and Champness, then Just and Champness to attack and get in behind. There have also been sightings of systems with three centre backs, most notably at the Olympics and towards the end of each of the three recent matches, with mixed results.

The likes of Just, McCowatt, and teenage duo Garbett and Stamenic all trained at the Ol Football Academy have great versatility to go with their ability on the ball and can play a range of roles in midfield and for Garbett, Just, and McCowatt forward areas. Versatility could also come in handy in defence, with Payne someone who has moved between centre back and right back in recent years, and Tuiloma, as revealed by Sky Sport pundit Jacob Spoonley ahead of the match against The Gambia, being looked at to potentially play a similar role.

The tactical flexibility also reflects a desire to be able to focus on each opponents strengths and weakness. It stands in stark contrast to the rigidity on display on the other side of the Tasman right now, where Australia are currently on track to end up in the intercontinental playoffs themselves after failing to make adjustments when needed. So far, at least, that is a potential strength of the All Whites setup.

PHOTOSPORT

All Whites coach Danny Hay (right) speaks to goalkeepers Stefan Marinovic, Michael Woud, and Nik Tzanev during training in Bahrain in October.

The All Whites are hoping to have two matches in the January international window, which is only for teams outside Europe and was added when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of World Cup qualifiers in 2020. It is understood Asian opponents ranked inside the top 100 in the world by Fifa are the most likely, though there are a number of African countries ranked inside the top 100 that are also available.

After that will come Oceania qualifying for next years World Cup, which is set to take place in Qatar the controversial host of the actual World Cup in March. Beyond that, there are no details available four months out, something that has become a source of frustration for Hay and his staff.

The hope was for an eight-team tournament over a period of 16 to 18 days, featuring a three-match group stage, semifinals, and a final, which would mean getting players released from their clubs for twice as long as during a normal nine-day international window. If a tournament was to run that long without an extension of the window, the All Whites would be impacted more severely than their rivals. A compromise could be to extend the window by a day, as has been done for other regions, and go from eight teams to one across three days of knockout fixtures, but that increases the risk of one bad day or a bad refereeing decision having an outsized impact. Hopefully there will be clarity soon.

Rick Rycroft/AP

Australia and Saudi Arabia are two of the teams hoping to qualify directly for the 2022 World Cup from Asia.

The draw for the intercontinental playoffs is also yet to be made, but they will feature the top team from Oceania, the fourth-placed team from North and Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf), the fifth-placed team from South America (Conmebol), and the fifth-placed team from Asia.

As of the end of the November window, Colombia sit fourth in Conmebol on 17 points, ahead of fifth-placed Peru only on goal difference. Chile and Uruguay then follow on 16 points, with Bolivia on 15, and Paraguay on 13. There are four matchdays to come, two in January and two in March.

In Concacaf, Panama sit in fourth on 14 points, behind Mexico only on goal difference. The United States are second on 15, while Canada, led by former Football Ferns coach John Herdman, are out in front on 16. Fifth-placed Costa Rica are five points behind Panama, but there are six matchdays to come, three in January and three in March.

JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press via AP

Canada celebrates a win over Mexico in a 2022 World Cup qualifier. They sit top of the Concacaf ladder with six matches to be played.

In Asia, the current round involves two groups of six, with Iran and South Korea way out in front in Group A, and the United Arab Emirates in third on 6 points, followed by Lebanon on 5, Iraq on 4, and Syria on 2. Its tighter at the top of Group B, where Saudi Arabia has 16 points, Japan 12, and Australia 11, four clear of Oman. There are four matchdays to come, two in January and two in March, followed by a playoff for the two third-placed teams at the start of June.

That playoff means the intercontinental playoff featuring the Asian team wont take place until the back half of that window, which runs from May 30 to June 14, but it remains to be seen if the other playoff will take place beforehand or concurrently. If they both take place in the back half, or if the Oceania team draws the Asian team, it will provide a welcome opportunity for warm-up matches.

Once World Cup qualification is done and dusted, there is a two-match international window in September and players then have to be released for the tournament proper on November 14, a week out from the first match. The World Cup then runs for four weeks, culminating with the final on December 18 [December 19, 4am NZ time].

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What we know (and what we don't) about the All Whites heading into a World Cup year - Stuff.co.nz