Chris Wood at Nottingham Forest and with the All Whites Photo: Photosport
All Whites coach Darren Bazeley might have to be careful what he wishes for.
"Lets get more Chris Woods, that would be nice," Bazeley said after losing the Soccer Ashes to Australia in a series he said the players expected to win despite being 60 places lower in the world rankings than the Socceroos.
Wood scored the All Whites' only goal across the two matches against the trans-Tasman rivals, with his 57th-minute strike in the second game the first by a New Zealander against the Socceroos since 2010.
But it was not only the Nottingham Forest striker's goal-scoring prowess that Bazeley was referring to.
Bazeley often advocates for New Zealand players to be playing their club football in top leagues around the world and on Tuesday night he was championing again for more All Whites to be pushing to be playing in the Premier League.
Wood was the only Premier League player in either squad during the Soccer Ashes.
Both New Zealand and Australia also have players in the Championship and scattered around Europe and Asia. The All Whites called up some A-League players for the window, while Australia opted not to.
"He's playing at a different level to any other player on the pitch here," Bazeley said of the All Whites captain.
That different level comes with some different demands.
"I'm so pleased he scored a goal. But yeah, we have some agreements around management of minutes, loadings because he's quite an expensive player for Forest and it's important what he's doing there."
Wood's minutes were managed in both games against Australia, as they were in the June window when he twice came off the bench at the Canadian Shield.
It was a decision made between player, club and country.
"It was always the plan to get him off when we did. It's not ideal but it is what it is," Bazeley said of Tuesday's game in Auckland.
"He puts so much into playing for New Zealand and he turns up and he does everything off the pitch.
"He's such a good person, he gives his time so much so he deserves us to work with him.
"But it's difficult because do I look like the coach that takes off a Premier League goalscorer after 65 minutes, maybe that's what it looks like, we see it as giving opportunity to players."
If more of the All Whites follow in Woods' footsteps Bazeley might find himself in even more of a minutes juggle in international windows.
Following game one of the Soccer Ashes in Canberra Bazeley noted how managing minutes was impacting on the game plan with substitutions made for workload rather than tactical reasons.
"Would have been nice for us to do what Aussie did and throw some young strikers on because we had them on the bench. e didn't get that opportunity to really push for the win because of maybe some of the factors that happened within the game."
Wood has a big workload for Forest this season - potentially up to 60 games - and has always been committed to showing up for the All Whites regardless of where in the world games are being played.
There is no suggestion he will not be available for the All Whites upcoming internationals in October, where again Bazeley might have to make concessions to ensure his star player can contribute in a way that the player, club and country can compromise on.
