It’s interesting that after the first Footy Ferns game against the USA both Jitka Klimková and Ali Riley seemed to make a deliberate point, as if it had been weighing on their minds, of defending the fact that this series even happened at all. Going out of their way to push back at the critics (apparently there were critics). Riley was defiantly positive in her post-game interview, Klimková then had that same energy in her press conference.

Riley: “Honestly, I couldn’t ask for more from our staff, from our players, from this camp that was, you know, a lot of criticism about it and we have come in here and made the most of it. I’m so proud of this team and so proud to be a Football Fern.”

Klimková: “I don’t want to really talk any more about the criticism but if you look at the outcome, it’s so positive and if someone thinks it was not a smart idea to bring US here outside a Fifa window that’s their problem.”

That they both independently brought up that idea suggested it was something that had been talked about a fair bit within the group. Dunno how much criticism there actually was but you know what? Don’t mind that from the Fernies, to be honest. Bit of fire in the ol’ bellies. Some ‘prove ‘em wrong’ energy in a World Cup year never goes astray.

As to the apparent criticism itself, it clearly wasn’t ideal to have to play against the two-time defending World Champs with a severely understrength team and it was a shame that the 4-0 and 5-0 defeats that followed had to feel as inevitable as they did. But focusing purely on that aspect was always missing the point. It's like wrote in my preview: the USA were coming here regardless. This was the cleanest gap in their calendar and they wanted a chance to test out the facilities and stadiums that they’re going to be utilising when they return in six months for the World Cup. They were gonna be on that plane even if there weren’t any games – the squad announcement on the USA Soccer website referred to “the January BioSteel Training Camp and trip to New Zealand that will include two matches against the Football Ferns”. The training camp took priority... it even had a sponsor. The matches were just a happy bonus.

If the best team on the planet are dropping by then you might as well give them a game or two, even if it means only half the top players are available. Any training time for an international team is valuable. This may have been a final chance for some fringe players to get amongst it before the World Cup. We ended up with four debutants, always a special moment under any circumstances. Some of the younger/back-up players would never have played against the USWNT before and now they have, getting an understanding of how deep the international footy pool goes. Heaps of positive factors just like JK said in justifying this tour. It was merely a matter of trying not to look at the scoreboard too often in case the mood got spoiled.

No doubt there were others who fell into the critics basket but yer mates at The Niche Cache were not among them. I’ll be honest though, there was one aspect that I completely underestimated: the crowds. Had to figure there’d be decent numbers there given the opportunity to watch the US women’s national team on Aotearoa shores for the first time in history. Even if it’s at the expense of your own team, it’s still an incredible thing to say you’ve seen Rose Lavelle doing things like this...

(The Guardian posted their annual Top 100 Women’s Footballers list a month ago and had Rose Lavelle all the way down in 33... not sure about that one, Clive – not even for a hyper Euro-centric effort such as that one)

But the crowds that turned up were magnificent. Beyond expectations. We had an NZ record for a women’s international turn up to Sky Stadium in Wellington with 12508 hearty punters in attendance... a record that only lasted a couple of days before 12721 folks rocked up to Eden Park in Auckland. Forget about the regional bragging rights... the fact is that twenty-five thousand people partook in female footy internationals over the past week. 25k and mostly all offering their support to the home side despite knowing they’d get thrashed.

That’s great in its own right but six months out from a home World Cup (when that attendance record is going to get shattered again) it’s absolutely brilliant. For a long time it’s felt like wider New Zealand really had no clue as to how massive this World Cup would be. This was only a small taster... but it’s something to get the ball rolling. Regardless of all of the constructive footballing aspects to this two-game series, the genuine momentum and excitement for that tournament that’s now starting to bubble away is by far the most significant outcome of these two games.

Stink that it had to lead to a combined 9-0 scoreline with the Ferns barely mustered anything resembling a chance to score themselves... but, well, what did you expect would happen? This was never about the scorelines. The Ferns had lost 5-0 to the USA the previous three times they’d played them and that was with more or less full strength squads to pick from. Didn’t have that luxury here, although the home advantage did help keep things respectable.

This is where the first half in Wellington comes into the equation. Pushing past the USWNT for a result wasn’t realistic but holding them out for a scoreless forty-five in the first game was a big deal. Even with a makeshift backline that included four fullbacks (as opposed to the four centre-back formation of the previous fixture... strange how that worked out), the Ferns looked organised and focused. The backline was nice however it was the midfield that really laid it down. Betsy Hassett and Daisy Cleverley were excellent, covering heaps of ground and keeping USA from being able to advance freely. Pressuring the ball. Winning interceptions. They also had wide mids Grace Jale and Olivia Chance dropping in and helping out.

It was as good of a tactical performance as could have been hoped for and that’s huge for this team. It shows they can trust their depth to step up and put in a shift. Shows that this team is implementing the kind of top to bottom tactical identity that Jitka Klimková said from the outset that she wanted to introduce. And in surviving into the break they earned something tangible to reflect that progress.

Of course, it didn’t last. They’d been the beneficiaries of some ‘preseason friendly’ vibes from the Americans in that half – which is exactly what this was for all those players, to be fair – and after some substitutions and probably a rark-up from coach Vlatko Andonovski things changed massively and they changed fast. Next thing it was 3-0 after 63 minutes and it ended up at foursies.

Okay, it happens. USA figured out a couple strategies that allowed them to flourish. Dropping a midfielder a bit deeper in build-up to make it easier to play through the press, getting Rose Lavelle in particular operating in between the midfield and defensive lines where the Ferns are often susceptible, and most obvious of all was sending pure unfiltered pace down the wings. Raw speed has long been a major Aotearoa weakness. Paige Satchell aside, pretty much none of the NZ team could win a footrace against their opposite number. We just don’t have the population to ensure that our most skilled players are also the best athletes. We’ve got really fit players who work as hard as possible but no amount of willingness is going to help, say, Ashleigh Ward out-sprint Midge Purce or Trinity Rodman.

One exception to the Athlete Pattern: Grace Jale. She’s tall, strong, fast, and has great technique. She’s very early in her pro career but then so are most of the Ferns attacking group and after starting both these games at right midfield it’s looking like she’s (deservedly) pushed in front as the preferred starter in that role – probably the most up-for-grabs spot in the line-up.

Heading into the World Cup, Klimková seems to have more or less settled on her team. Vic Esson is the starting keeper. Likely looking at a back four of CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, Claudia Bunge, and Ali Riley. Grace Jale and Olivia Chance as the wide midfielders outside Ria Percival and Betsy Hassett (or Annalie Longo if she can recover in time for the World Cup). Malia Steinmetz has been doing the Percy duties in the meantime while Ria’s on her own path back to full fitness. Then Hannah Wilkinson and Paige Satchell up front. There is an argument that Satchell might be more useful off the bench as a change of pace late in games but she’s also hugely important for the press so perhaps not.

We’ve also got a good idea of who the backups are. Having Liz Anton start at left back in game two thus forcing natural left back Ally Green over to the right means that Anton has now started six of the last nine fixtures at LB. It may have looked weird making Green play on the other edge (and then seeing her subbed off after half an hour) but the reason for that was simple: these were important reps for the backup LB. Also gotta hype up Grace Neville’s refined efforts at right back on debut which should launch her straight into World Cup squad contention.

Don’t get carried away though – you’ve only gotta watch the replay of CJ Bott’s performance for Leicester City vs Brighton last week to know there’s no competition whatsoever for the starter’s spot. Bott’s only played two of the last eleven games (and only once at right back) so she’s been out of sight lately... suffice to say that if you’ve been reading Flying Kiwis then you’ll know she’s been coming on in leaps and bounds since moving to LCFC. If she can sharpen up her delivery into the penalty area then she could actually emerge as a key part of the attacking solution, especially with those overlapping runs. A major focus over the next few months should be getting Bott and Jale as much time together as possible on that right flank to build that combination. There’s counter-pressing marvel potential there.

Neville was one of four debutants, with Grace Wisnewski (the only one of the new players to feature in both games) also earning the belated first cap she would have gotten against South Korea had she not been injured. Got some decent minutes off the bench in midfield against some opponents a fair bit tougher than she’s used to in the A-League. Wiz became Football Fern #200 in the process.

Then both Deven Jackson and Tayla O’Brien got a run in the Auckland game. The two highest performing kiwi players from the National League last season – Jitka’s been reading The Niche Cache’s write-ups, surely. Two Eastern Suburbs teammates, the brightest stars of their championship season. It took some exceptional circumstances to have to dip into the Natty League ranks and this opportunity may never come around for them again (on the other hand this could spur them on towards all sorts of wonders)... but if it doesn’t then they’ve still represented their country against the world’s best and nobody can ever take that away from either of them. Pretty bloody awesome, really.

We didn’t learn anything about the Ferns’ much-maligned attack. Didn’t get the chance to. Only thing was a healthy reminder that while the young and inexperienced forwards we have at our disposal (Hannah Wilkinson is the only attacking player with 40+ caps in the current Ferns picture) aren’t really helping the team to overcome their creativity/goal deficiencies... they do work hard and they follow instructions and they’re all very mobile. For most countries, players like Ava Collins and Gabi Rennie would be a few years away from the regularity they’re already at with the Ferns, but then that’s what happens when a team relies on the same few attackers for so many years and they all retire in a short space of time with nobody ready to step up and replace them. Amber Hearn, Sarah Gregorius, Rosie White, and maybe a bit of Emma Kete too – they’ve left a chasm in this team, Hannah Wilkinson excepted.

Future games will offer a better indication of where the Ferns are at in that quest for goals. This was not the one for that. The Fernies don’t score goals and that’s their main issue, sure, but let’s park that idea for now, lest we have to tap on the sign once more...

This team gets thrashed by the best teams, they compete yet mostly lose (but not always) against the second tier of nations, however they’ve tended to get the job done against teams of a similar or weaker level (Ferns are ranked 24 at this moment in time). Still don’t score enough goals even in those ones but luckily they don’t have to because they’re really good at the back.

In trying to unlock new attacking abilities we can’t be dumb and throw the baby out with the bathwater – our relative defensive solidity (yeah, I know, they just conceded nine goals in 135 minutes... but that’s what the word ‘relative’ is there for) is something we should be proud of, not ashamed of. Very few teams outside the top twenty can hang in there the way that the Football Ferns can (not to mention some rugged physicality, the combined foul count in these two games was 18-4). Gotta stay true to that identity, since that’s what suits the bulk of our players, and make minor tweaks which raise the shot tallies. The Football Ferns don’t need to become a team that can score four or five... one or two will usually do.

The good news: the next three fixtures for the Ferns are against Portugal (ranked 22) and then twice vs Argentina (ranked 29). Tough games but games in which they’ll have way more room to express themselves, more moments to flex whatever creative ideas they’ve been working on. That’s where we start to see if this team is on track to be able to win a World Cup game or two.

That chat’s for next time though. This camp was about getting accustomed to these home crowds, it was about getting some valuable time on the training pitch, it was about checking out a few deeper options in the depth chart, it was about continuing to establish that tactical identity... and most of all it was about getting the hype bubbling ahead of the biggest sporting event that Aotearoa has ever hosted.

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