Football: All Whites coach yet to be convinced on player transfers
Photo:
EYEPIX
Around a third of the 60 players on All Whites coach Darren Bazeley's radar have moved football clubs in the last couple of months, a situation he has called both "unusual" and "unsettling".
Among the movers are defender
Libby Cacace
from Serie B side Empoli to English Championship side Wrexham; defender Tyler Bindon was on loan with League One club Reading last season and has now been loaned by Nottingham Forest to Championship club Sheffield United for this season; goalkeeper Alex Paulsen from A-League side Auckland FC to Premier League club Bournemouth and forward Kosta Barbarouses from one A-League club, Wellington Phoenix, to another, Western Sydney Wanderers.
"Until the seasons start everywhere we don't know if they've been good moves or not so," Bazeley said of all those who have transferred.
"It's quite unusual for us [to have that many] and a little bit unsettling for players because a lot of them have gone into new environments and this is the time for a lot of them to really embed themselves in those environments and sort of work out how they stand there, so it's a little bit unsettling for some of them, but also very exciting."
Bazeley and his coaching staff monitor players against wide-ranging criteria before naming squads. Current form and fitness, past performances and what a player can offer on and off the field is taken into account.
"It is quite complicated and we do go in depth of what every player brings to each window."
An individual player's situation with their club is also considered. Earlier this year Finn Surman was
not selected
for All Whites duty while he pushed for a starting spot with Major League Soccer side Portland Timbers - a move Bazeley said "worked out really well for him and us".
"Every time we pick any player for any squad we always try and pick the strongest we can but then we look at every individual and what's best for that player in that moment."
Will Bazeley not select some of the players who have recently moved clubs for September's
home and away games against Australia
?
"It's definitely something we look at every window, but we would never compromise the strength of the squad to play any international game."
The All Whites also have games in the October FIFA window against
Poland
and
Norway
.
Balancing club and country commitments could be "difficult" for some players over the next six or so months as they try to get themselves on the plane to next year's Football World Cup.
"Over the last three years we've never really had any issues with players or clubs coming into the international environment, it's something that they're really passionate about.
"Most of our players are at clubs that stop for the windows, and clubs have got other players that go off to international duties, I think they're mostly used to it but it is difficult and it's a challenge at times. But at this stage everybody's really committed and they just can't wait to get together."
Bazeley is pleased with the depth of talent available to him and how he can track their progress real-time.
"We can monitor most of our players relatively quickly and see how they're playing, see how they're doing within their club environment. We get all the data of minutes played and how they've gone. We're even getting some of their GPS data now from their clubs as well.
"We're able to get a lot of stats from around the world, but then the video footage that we get is probably the most important.
"If there's anybody that plays anywhere around the world, our analysts can pretty much get that footage and if I want to watch Tyler Bindon or anybody, the analysts can turn that into showing me all of the times they touch the ball, and turn it into a five, six minute video, so I'm just watching that player, rather than the team that that player plays for.
"So we're across most of the players. It's a little bit harder when clubs are in pre season, like a lot of them have been, but the last couple of weeks it's got really busy with everybody starting to play games and we've been watching a lot of football and speaking to a lot of players and monitoring them all."
Being based in Auckland, Bazeley is in a different time zone to many of the players he is keeping an eye on.
"I find myself talking to players very early in the morning or late at night if they're in different time zones, it's sort of become a bit of a 24 hour job seven days a week, but that's football and that's what I've been used to my whole life.
"I'm very lucky I've got family and a wife who is very understanding of football constantly being on the TV and me being on the phone."
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