The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - A new winner awaits after FA Cup semi-final drama – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Robyn Cowen and Chris Paouros to discuss the FA Cup semi-finals and preview the upcoming last-four ties in the Champions League

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starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to The Guardian Women's Football Weekly. The FA Cup will have a new name etched into it in mid-May as Manchester United make it to the final for the second successive season and Tottenham make history by reaching their first. That's not even half the story though after a dramatic weekend of semi-final action

as Chelsea's quadruple hopes have also now halved. Emma Hayes still has her eyes on the Ultimate Champions League prize though. That would be poetry, wouldn't it? We'll preview the last four first leg ties with our brilliant panel. All the action

lower down the leagues is also on the agenda. Plus, we'll take your questions and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Women's Football Weekly is supported by Google Pixel, the only phone engineered by Google, an official mobile phone of Arsenal Football Club,

Liverpool Football Club and the England teams. Google Pixel's working with the FA, Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC to close the visibility gap between men's and women's football with the formation of Pixel FC, a collective of next generation creators and presenters dedicated to covering the women's game. They'll have exclusive access to players, additional resources and content creation opportunities to give women's football the visibility it deserves. Search Google Store to find out more. Susie Rack, you are still on an exile. So I have taken to the friendlier Instagram to ask for questions today. How are you doing?

Yeah, I'm all right. I don't think I'm coming back to X. I mean, I'm sort of, you know, still reading it and stuff. But it's made my life so much happier to not post and not be stressed about the replies from idiots, basically. I very rarely post nowadays and it is refreshing. Robin Cowan, fresh yourself from commentating on the drama at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. How are you? I wouldn't say fresh, but yes, really enjoyable. And yes, here's to the lurkers, not the posters. The lurkers, I like that. I like that a lot. Chris Poweros, you are not a lurker. You are most definitely a poster

and a brilliant one at that. And to be honest, we could only ever have booked one Spurs fan for this episode, couldn't we today? I'm still bouncing off the walls, Faye. I'm not surprised. Listen, there is one thing that we know for certain as we start

to look at the Women's FA Cup semi-finals we are going to have a new name on the trophy come the 12th of May which is very exciting it was a drama

filled Sunday of semis last year's runners-up Manchester United take on Tottenham who make their first ever appearance

in Wembley's showpiece we're going to start in the North West though though, so don't stress out too much, Chris. We're getting to Spurs, don't you worry. But Leigh Sports, she's disgusted with the running order. Speak to producer Sophie. Leigh Sports Village hosted the rerun of last year's final. Chelsea coming out on top on that occasion. But the tide turned on Sunday. Mark

Skinner's side earning their first ever victory against the London team. The hoodoo is over. It finished Manchester United 2, Chelsea 1 with the hosts opening up an early two-goal lead thanks to a first-minute finish from Lucia Garcia and a Rachel Williams header. Lauren James did pull a goal back for Chelsea just before the halftime break and they put United under plenty of intense pressure as well in the second half. But the Manchester side held on. What did you make of United's performance? Susie, where did they get the job done?

Early on. I mean, I think that massively helped any team that goes ahead against Chelsea, particularly in the first half. They really struggle with what to do. You know, it's so rare that they do fall behind. It's rare that they have to find a solution to a problem, right? So Lucia Garcia scoring in the first minute and then Rachel Williams rewarding Skinner for starting.

I was walking from my car to the ground not long before kickoff, and I had a couple of people yell at me, Skinner out, Susie, right? Skinner out? And I was like, I don't know. I don't know if I'm on that bandwagon with you. And they went, Rachel Williams is starting, though. And I was like, oh, hadn't seen the team sheet yet, but that's interesting. And, like, there was a real, real you know a real frustration at her beginning that

match ahead of you know all these you know strikers they've got Mallard, J.C. etc so you know it was a surprise that she had begun the game and that you know that of all the games that you start a 36 year old forward in who has only come off the bench for you it was a big one to do it in against a team that you've never beaten before but it was really shrewd I thought she was everywhere like um really all action and they really uh sort of went man for man against Chelsea's back line and that caused them real real real trouble and they were there was a you know a degree of luck in the first minute with the ball gifted to them by eve perise um like really poor back pass that allowed uh leah gorton in um to swing it across

but it was uh a very like intelligent performance in that they knew that they weren't going to see a lot of the ball and they were sort of willing to instead of try and have that battle ready to give it up a little bit and you know know, really catch Chelsea on the break. And that was hugely successful. Yeah, it was. I mean, the move definitely paid off, didn't it? We kind of knew that Mary Earps was going to be between the sticks. One of the many standout performers for United. Her second half save as well to deny Lauren James was absolutely incredible and arguably has to be in the running for save of the season, I would say.

Bearing in mind, I say she was definitely due between the sticks. We thought she was due between the sticks at the Aviva Stadium last week, but she had to handle the disappointment of sitting out England's game against the Republic of Ireland. That was some response, though, Chris, wasn't it? Yeah, absolutely. And you could sort of see how much it meant probably off the back of not being in the in that England lineup and and that was that was some save and you know like she's not getting any younger I could say that as a as a person of age myself and and I think you know like the FA Cup final is a great opportunity for them although we'll come on to hopefully it's not a great opportunity for them but you know you beat Chelsea in the semi-final you're like you know you're already thinking oh well the trophy's got

our name on it and so I imagine from her perspective she said it after the game she's been there how many years she's five years she's been there that you know they want to have that sort of that success if you like but yeah i mean i thought you know rachel williams we saw her for a bit of spurs she does like putting herself about and i guess that's what he was after i thought she was lucky not to give away a penalty um against neve charles i think she properly bundled her over and actually looking at it from any angle it was definitely a pen i wasn't completely convinced by the katieellum handball. I put handball in inverted commas, but I think that was definitely a foul. So they got away with that.

Yeah, we'll discuss what Chelsea kind of will be aggrieved about in a second. But just wrapping up things from a Manchester United point of view, Robin, it has been a really disappointing season for them apart from this cup run and Susie mentioned it you know there are sections of the fan base that want Mark Skinner out he's been under really intense pressure himself but reports actually this week have suggested he's on the brink of signing a new deal do you think success at Wembley in the FA Cup could could turn this season's narrative around? I think so.

I mean, some fans, as we know, we follow football, they just won't change their mind. But I think this is a huge, huge result for them. Not getting to the final per se, but they've beaten Chelsea for the first time in their history. They've come close occasionally. See, I was on my way back from the Spurs game. By the way, Remy Allen on TalkSport,

a fantastic co-commentator. Oh, such a great listen. But just, it sounded like they'd kind of sacrificed their sort of principles and their style to get the job done, which just shows that actually that's a big tick for Mark Skinner. I did want to mention, though, I thought he got away lightly from Emma Hayes. You know, he didn't even get a punch in the face, a knee in the groin. That is a joke, by the way.

On that point, by the way, I know I always give you our email address to get in contact with us, and you have done over the past couple of weeks. And we had two completely polar opposite emails, one saying that we weren't hard enough on Emma Hayes and the other saying we were way too hard on her. So I think we did the job right when we did that, to be honest. Perfect. It's very difficult, isn't it, when people have such strong views on it and we try to give every single side in a balanced way for you. In terms of the balance, I mean, look, we'll talk in a second about the chances that they had.

But, you know, for Chelsea, the last two games have really shown how quickly things can turn around. From hunting down the quadruple one week, they now find themselves left standing in just two competitions and their quest to send Emma Hayes off with more silverware looks like it's dwindling. We'll talk about where this game went wrong, but I want to touch on the points that Chris made a second ago, Robin, because from a commentator's point of view, we've just given huge plaudits to Remy Allen, who's a brilliant co-commentator and we used during the World Cup actually on Talk Sport

and is excellent. But the refereeing in this game, Chelsea felt they were hard done by, you know, two potential penalties. The first one looked like a clear handball against Katie Zellum. Chris doesn't seem to think so, says that one's dubious.

She tried to block Johanna Ritting-Canyard's shot before then the Niamh Charles one, which was, you know, a clumsy Rachel Williams challenge. Should they feel aggrieved, do you think? Well, they should. I mean, I think, you know, VAR, in my opinion, would give that handball because Katie Zellum's arm is slightly out. You know, it's morally, when you play, you think, oh, that is just rubbish.

We don't want that to be a handball. But I think if VAR was in operation, that would have been given. The other one, probably as well, although I think that was a bit more, slightly more dubious maybe. But yeah, it's clumsy from Rachel Williams. Yes, they should feel aggrieved. But it was interesting because I think Emma Hayes sort of, at first, kind of said after the match,

it's just something you've got to deal with and swallow because we've sometimes had decisions go our way. I think maybe she was referring to, you know, that West Ham game where West Ham had a goal ruled out, but it was clearly onside. But then she did kind of, I guess, after she was asked multiple times, say, you know, these referees need help. I agree with that. I don't think the help should be VAR. I think it should be your full-time now and this is, you know, your refereeing full-time players. So that seems only fair really to everyone.

But you know, referees make mistakes and yes, they feel aggrieved. And actually for me, they should really look at themselves because they missed a hatload of chances. And this is the thing. Yeah. Well, this is exactly what Emma Hayes said, Susie.

They created so many chances. 22 they had actually, eight on target. But Emma Hayes said, no one died. We lost a football match. The frustration lies with us in the way that we conceded the goals. It was a game we dominated, but you can't give two goals so early against top level opponents what was that the main area it went wrong that she's focusing on well yeah I mean yeah they gifted uh two goals in the you know obviously one came from a mistake one came from

a throw in in the first half like I said earlier on it's that I think they've got an issue when they fall behind and if they fall two goals behind I think they've got an even bigger issue I think they really struggle to dig their way out of problems because they're not used to being behind and you can sort of see that in the substitutions right it was like throw the kitchen sink attacking wise at the game and hope for the best and in a sense it just made things more muddled because whilst they were still creating chances players were getting in each other's way and things you You had an incredible number of attacking changes with Nushkin, Beaver Jones, Kirby and Macario all coming on within six minutes.

And them switching to a back three for a period with Carter, the only centre-back, and Perisset and Charles, who are two very attacking full-backs. So you basically had one defensive player, maybe you could count loopholes, who didn't have a best game in that, on the pitch. So, yeah, it was a real, I thought,

a bit of a desperate throw of the dice without much strategy to it at the end. So for me like you score early against Chelsea and you put them in in real real trouble I agree with Robin I think for me the the handball whilst it's unfair and like close range and that's a bit shit is like a snowball penalty not convinced by the other one but um I thought the interesting thing that Emma said at the end on that was, she said the stuff about referees needing help, but she also said they need consistency.

So whilst Favre might not be the answer, she was saying it needs to be all or nothing because they go from playing a Champions League game where they have it or a Conti Cup final where they have it to then a league game or a FA Cup semifinal or whatever it may be where they don't. And she said it either needs to be all or nothing. We need to have it or we need to not have it to then a league game or a FA Cup semi-final or whatever it may be where they don't and she said it either needs to be all or nothing we need to have it or we need to not have it because you know she said if they didn't have VAR in the Conti Cup final they would have won that game because Arsenal got the goal via a VAR decision which was correct so she wasn't arguing with the decision but she's saying you know we we win that cup if we have the ar we lose this semi-final if we don't essentially like yes they had loads of chances but like i i agree that i think full-time officials is the answer for me

but i also agree with emma that there does need to be some level of consistency and it's either going to be all or nothing and if you've gone part of the way we have to go for our all in for me as well I think that's an interesting one. It's been mentioned a few times and in the men's game as well because you know I think it's bonkers in the FA Cup men's FA Cup that some of the games have VAR and others don't you you just can't it can't work like that it's absolutely crazy with games coming thick and fast though Chris they've got Aston Villa midweek in the league it feels like there's a little bit of a rot setting in. Kind of on that theme, Teresa Phipps has sent us a message on social media saying, is there a chance that Chelsea end up not winning anything this year?

Well, that was actually my concern. I mean, I say concern, I've got no love for Chelsea particularly, but I do really like Emma Hayes and I think she deserves all the flowers and you know what she's done for the this the game in this country is unbelievable and so to sort of go out on with a slight sort of fizzle um rather than a sizzle I think would be a real shame and and actually I thought the same of Jurgen Klopp actually so there are some real parallels there like you know when they both announced they were leaving, it was like, oh, you can imagine like the teams

are going to completely rally now to send them out on a high, given what they've both done for their respective clubs. And they're both having a bit of a wobble. I don't, you know, I don't really mind

who wins the WSL. And I guess if you, again, if you kind of bring the parallels with the Premier League, I'd rather that Manchester City didn't win everything. It gets a bit boring, doesn't it? parallels with the Premier League. I'd rather that Manchester City didn't win everything. This gets a bit boring, doesn't it? And obviously the Champions League is what Emma wants.

So, you know, for that moment, I'm going to be hoping that sort of, you know, Chelsea do something. But it is a bit of a worry because they are having a wobble. But you never know, you wobble and you stand back up again, don't you? So maybe that's just what this is. I find this all really fascinating, actually. That's exactly what I was going to bring up, Chris, because we've also got Jonathan Guraldez

and now Sonia Bompasta, we think, also leaving. So it's like, we will never really know, but what's going on when these incredible, legendary managers announce they're leaving? Is it too much pressure to kind of send them off you know on a high I mean for Chelsea I think Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel, Millie Bright these aren't these are long-term injuries they're nowhere near and it's just I think that's just caught up with them she doesn't seem to trust Sophie Ingle anymore um Frank Kirby looks really low on confidence I think she had a big chance

right at the end which she didn't take. A fit, confident Fran Kirby would have taken that all day long. Just something just isn't quite right. Because it's still surprising when Chelsea lose games. Because we've seen them play badly, but we still expect them to win. Whereas now it's like the Conte Cup and this one, they've played not particularly well and they've lost. And it's still a surprise. It's still a surprise.

It's good for the league. It's good for women's football in the UK, though, because, you know, you need competition. But I agree with you. I think Emma Hayes has been such an incredible servant to the game in this country that I think all of us who are human would like to see somebody who's had that much impact go out on a high for sure.

Right, this is your moment, Chris Poweros. Let's turn our attention to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It was a very competitive encounter and saw Spurs come from behind to reach their first ever major cup final. Tottenham 2, Leicester City 1 is how it finished. Jutta Rantala giving Leicester the advantage in spectacular fashion with an early goal. But Jess Naz's strike sent the tie to extra time before Martha Thomas' 118th minute goal

eventually won it for Spurs. Chris, the floor is yours. Honestly, it sounds like a cliche, but what a journey. Journey bingo. If I think back to the final game of last season, it was a doubleheader at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the team had to win to stay in the WSL.

We've had ups and downs this season, but to go on an FA Cup run like this, to beat Manchester City, and we got a good draw in the semi-final, don't get me wrong, but honestly, it's incredible. And I think back to sort of hanging over a railing at Chesson with 150 people not that long ago. Ash Neville was there when we were hanging over a railing

in Chesson for 150 people, so was Jess Naz. And if you think about what they achieved on Sunday between them, it's absolutely incredible. You know, the thing that kind of gives me a little bit of hope because we're definitely going to go into

their underdogs, but you know, who doesn't want to be an underdog in an FA Cup final? That's exactly, it's what dreams are made of, being an underdog

in an FA Cup final. But we've got some experience. You know, Beth England and Drew Spence have got two and three FA Cups between them respectively Amy James Turner and Becky Spencer were in the 2015 uh Women's FA Cup final which was the first one that um to be played at Wembley the thing I'm really sad about uh is that Grace

Clinton isn't going to get to play you know she's been absolutely instrumental for us this season and plays with a big smile on sort with a big smile on her face. Anna Scowl, which is what I think another thing that you like about her is that she's loving it, but she's utterly competitive and determined and wants to be the best she can be. So actually earlier on,

when you were talking about Mark Skinner, like every Spurs fan is Skinner in because I think we all think that if he stays, we've got more of a chance of signing her so there's a there's a little subplot there as well and honestly just everything you know that it had everything the game right so you're gonna go one nil down you go one nil down I turned to my mate and I was like it hadn't occurred to me that we might not win this game I couldn't you know it's like I've been watching football for 40 years and still somehow.

Hang on a minute. You've been watching Spurs for 40 years. So how did you not know that? All right. Yeah, well, exactly.

You think I've learned by now, right? And I'm just like, how is it possible we might? And then, and then of course, you still think the team, this team has got something in it.

I mean, we were to all sorts of things. So Robert Villaham, for anyone who's watched Spurs, every game wears bright white trainers, bright white. And I'm always like, how does he keep them so white? On a touchline, in the mud, whatever. On Sunday, they were cream. We were like, I can't believe it.

All season, bright white trainers. He's wearing these cream trainers. That's it. It's down to, you know, so you do all of those things. But honestly, when, when nothing,

when Jess scored, I think we all knew that, that, that regardless of what happened, somehow we'd find our way through. And, you know, Yuta Rantala is,

is dangerous. That free kick that Becky sort of tipped onto the bar and it sort of, and it, but it bounced, but not in the goal. Cause it's sort of of, but it bounced, but not in the goal because it's sort of the one that it could bounce and bounce in the goal. And at that point as well, you're like,

okay, we're going to manage this. I didn't know how it was going to be. I wondered whether we might end up with penalties, but honestly, it was absolutely incredible. And Martha Thomas, you know, two match winning goals, two, you know, season defining goals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, you know, beating Arsenal for the first time

and now getting us into this FA Cup final. And I think the other thing that we were all saying was, well, at the beginning of the season, we'd never beaten Arsenal. You know, we gave Chelsea a good run the first game of the season. It was only, you know, that we didn't look out of place. We've had a couple of hairy results this season, but come to an FA Cup final and, you know, I started with a cliche, so I'm going to end with one.

Anything can happen. Anything can happen, especially if your manager wears cream trainers at Wembley. Yeah, listen, we don't need to assess this game anymore because you've pretty much covered absolutely everything we were going to discuss. And it is so harsh for Grace Clinton. If anybody doesn't know, her parent club is Manchester United,

so she's not going to be able to play in the final for that reason, which is absolutely gutting for her. But what Robert Villaham has built this season has been absolutely incredible, to be honest. And it's not the first time that Martha Thomas has been the hero in a Spurs shirt either, Susie. That was her second big goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And her manager described her as a player who wants to shine. When you think, I mean, you know, this is quite interesting, bearing in mind we've played journey bingo already with Chris at house.

You know, she came in from the wilderness at Manchester United. And since then that the journey that she's been on has been quite incredible yeah uh journey's the right words because like her journey's been actually quite remarkable um I wrote a piece on her back in October when she was player of the month and um I was looking into her history a little bit and she spent a lot of time um in the US uh from about the age of six and so that's where she started playing football when she played for the University of North Carolina and you know like had a really phenomenal record was their most valuable player in all of the four years she was there scored 47

goals but then suffered an ACL injury that hit her career mentioning going to the nwsl draft and she ended up um joining uh la harve in france then that was her path to to west ham so it's not like she you know wasn't a proven goal scorer she scored 47 goals uh for a university side and then just really struggled for opportunities at man united i think she like played like i think it was 38 or 39 games, but she only started nine of them and only started one game in her final season at United. So there wasn't a lot of sort of trust

put in her. There wasn't much rotation at United. Obviously they had a really good season last year, so they could sort of justify their lack of rotation, but they're sort of paying for it now in that they've not got the luck

they had last season injury-wise and stuff. So're having to rotate but they've those players coming in haven't had the game time to really elevate them so seeing her thrive at Spurs isn't really like it shouldn't be a surprise right like you play a player who thrives on confidence in their correct position and you play them regularly and they're already a proven goal scorer you're gonna get um that start to see the best of them and see them thrive and see them happy again which is a big part of it as well so not surprised by it you know it's it's like really nice to see and it's like you know interesting that one of the players who you could say she's underwhelmed at United, but she didn't really have a fair chance, but also had, like, her back to the wall

from the moment she went in because she wasn't of the calibre of signing that fans wanted to see either. So she was sort of, like, kind of fighting perception from the off. And it was quite nice to see her be the hero and reach a cup final at the same time as seeing Rachel Williams, who was the decision to include her in starting level so heavily criticized you know she's loved by United fans for her super

sub like role um but they don't think she should be starting and they they don't think she's you know the caliber required to start for a Man United team and maybe that's true in the long term but obviously performed in this game. And it was quite nice to see two strikers that have not necessarily had the best run of time at Man United. Both reached the final, both performed, both excel. And yeah, like Martha Thomas,

brilliant instinct for the goal as well. Yeah, I mean, she's just been brilliant, hasn't she, all round this season. Robin, it was a really tight game, as we kind of all predicted. Both teams love to attack. Chances at both ends of the pitch made it really exciting from start to finish. But Leicester are going to be so disappointed they got so close. When the margins are kind of this tight, where was this game won and lost, do you think?

I honestly think it was just that mistake that let Jess Naz in. Because in all honesty I didn't think Spurs were great I thought Leicester I was really impressed with Leicester really impressed no Chris doesn't matter does it I think you know Spurs are a better team generally Leicester put in a really good performance I felt you know obviously Rantala with a you know ridiculous card how someone hits a ball that hard. It's just incredible. They were really good because they kept trying to create. And it was just that little mistake that let Jez Naz in. She showed a brilliant composure to put that away. But actually,

we had Farrah Williams as a pundit. I kind of agreed with her. Tottenham looked a bit like they were kind of running out of ideas a little bit. They had England and Thomas on the pitch. They were starting to sort of dominate possession, etc. But actually, Leicester didn't look that uncomfortable. But then as soon as Naz puts that away, the momentum totally shifted and it was always going to be, you felt it was always going to be Spurs' game. And I was just super impressed with Leicester, to be honest, super impressed,

given the context of what they had to go through as well. I thought it was a really interesting interview Susie did ahead of this one with like the quotes from Aileen Whelan and Jennifer Foster, just talking about, actually in particular, Jennifer Foster saying like,

you know, it's quite a serious thing that's happened, clearly. This is Willie Kirk's dismissal for his conduct. So she was really conscious of trying to kind of put a bit of fun into training and things like that just found that really interesting and yeah i just think they've actually built quite a good squad lester they've had a kind of slightly dodgy run but to get to a semi-final and to just miss out that is going to be pretty devastating but i think they should be really proud as i said really

impressed with them other two Japanese players were really good. You know, obviously we expect them to be technically brilliant. Janice Kamen, Champions League winner they've got there. And yeah, so I think actually they can, you know, I'm sure they'll be looking for someone permanent, whether it's Jennifer Foster or not. And I think they'll be looking up next season, hopefully. So super impressed with them.

And it was great. The club laid on, I think, six free coaches to get fans down to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it was a fantastic atmosphere. I'm going to leave this last question to Susie because I don't think Chris is going to give me a completely unbiased opinion on it and bearing in mind you said that the atmosphere was incredible there were 18,000 inside the stadium, which is brilliant. And the roar that came through when Jess Naz equalised sounded pretty special. But this is an interesting question on social media.

Andrew McCarron says, should semifinals now be played at neutral grounds? What do you think, Susie? It's a good question. I can see the argument for it, obviously. Particularly when you've got both teams like Spurs and Leicester you know obviously Spurs played this at Tottenham Stadium Leicester play week in week out of the King Power like you know that they're used to playing at big grounds they would probably take decent travelling contingents but I think at

this stage of the game in England I'm not necessarily convinced it is totally the right answer because do you get as many fans at a neutral ground somewhere for this game? I don't think you do. I don't think you get that atmosphere. And yes, obviously that impacts Leicester a little bit, but they also were giving it large about having a little bit of an advantage in that Spurs don't play regularly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium whilst they play regularly at the King Power they're used to big stadiums and playing at the Premier League grounds and Spurs aren't as much too so they were saying oh well you know it

is a neutral ground in a sense anyway momentum building crowd wise I think there is an argument to say that you know it should be at one of the club's grounds at the moment. I don't mind that. It definitely shouldn't be at Wembley. Don't like that. I said that before on the men's side. Don't play semifinals at Wembley. I think that's a terrible idea. But yeah, I think in the long term, neutral grounds.

But whilst we're still building up these away contingents of travelling fans, not having it at a neutral ground, I think is very beneficial for growing that audience. Okay, so in time, maybe. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll look at the big news in the domestic game in England and look ahead to an important Champions League weekend while we also say goodbye to an England legend.

Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. There was just one fixture in the Barclays Women's Super League this weekend as Arsenal cruised past Bristol City in their rearranged match at Boreham Wood. Arsenal running out 5-0 winners in the end. Braces from Beth Mead and Alessia Russo sandwiched an unfortunate own goal from Ella Powell. It was a really positive evening for the Gunners. Susie re-establishing a nine-point gap over United, remaining in prime position for that final Champions League spot. Some good news as well, because they were also able to welcome back

Laura Wienreuter for the first time since she did her ACL. Well, England youngster Katie Reid as well came on to make her senior debut. Positive signs. Yeah, I mean, it's great, isn't it? But it is a bit too little too late for Arsenal this season. I mean, obviously you would expect them to get a comfortable result against Bristol City who are hurtling towards relegation. That's a bit of a given.

But yeah, a very nice performance, dominating performance. But you're three points behind Chelsea who have a game in hand and six off City. The damage is done for the season, yes. You're shoring up third place and Champions League football. But I think this season has to be viewed as a bit of a failure given what they were looking at at the start of the season despite the Conte Cup and the strength of the squad at their disposal of that even with the players coming back and stuff so yeah good performance

great to see Beth Mead on the score sheet again fantastic finishes by Alessia I thought but I think it's just disappointment in that you know you could play this stunningly beautiful football completely dominate one week but then throw it away the next I think you know they'll cruise to the end of the season in third and that's fine but it's not good enough for what they demand of each other and the team generally yeah a bit of a disappointment isn't it but I mean that that feels a little bit like it always happens towards the end of the season. A team kind of fades away.

In terms of the championship, that team is Birmingham City. It looks like four teams could potentially go on and get promoted from the Women's Championship. Every single week we say to you it's so tight. We're just going to look into it a tiny little bit more. Watford are down uh it's been a really tricky campaign for them on their return to the division but a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Charlton meant that their relegation to the FA Women's National League was confirmed at the weekend I mean I tell you what Chris it's been a bit of a sorry time really for the Hornets. They head straight back down to Tier 3 after working so hard to get back up

to the Championship. What's next for them? Well, it's interesting because I saw their manager was saying that, you know, they're the only part-time team in the Championship and that it showed. So I guess it's, you know, it comes back to the club then

to make a decision about what they want to do with their women's team. And I think, you know, looking at how we're trying to sort of you know develop the game and I can't believe we're still having the conversation about developing the game particularly when you're a team like Watford like actually you need to just make sure there's some consistency for your women's team and so that's what you know that's what you want to see for the likes of Watford whether in whether they're in the National League or the Championship, that they're able to actually make some plans. And if you don't know, like if you're literally living hand to mouth, season by season, then, you know, that's going to be a challenge.

And so I think that, I think, you know, you just want to see the investment. And I don't think it has to be that much either at that level, but just to really, you know, be able to have a team that's there every day to compete in the league that they're in. Yeah, it's difficult, isn't it? I mean, they could relegate Reading at the end of the season because that's the final game of the season for Reading, who earned an important away point to Blackburn Rovers in their battle to avoid relegation.

There's some really tasty ties at the top of the table at the end of the season as well. Two games left to play ingation. There's some really tasty ties at the top of the table at the end of the season as well. Two games left to play in the championship. Crystal Palace are top of the table. They beat 10-player Birmingham City by a goal to nil, putting them in prime position for promotion with two games to play. By the way, that result, as I mentioned,

ended Birmingham's title hopes after a turbulent week that saw manager Darren Carter leave the club. Amy Merricks has been appointed in his place. So she's reigniting her partnership with technical director Hope Powell, who, of course, she worked under previously at Brighton. I'm going to ask your predictions, but I'm just going to let you know this because this is vital. So next week, this is the table, by the way, just as a little bit of context. First place at the moment, Crystal Palace. Everybody's played 20 games, by the way. Crystal Palace, 42 points.

Sunderland, two points behind them on 40. Charlton, a point behind them on 39. Southampton on 36. So looking unlikely, but still mathematically possible, although their goal difference is nothing like Crystal Palace's, who is far beyond everybody else's. So it's probably not going to be for Southampton. But this is what is absolutely fascinating,

because the final games of the weekend, of the season even, which we will discuss in a week or so's time Crystal Palace host Sunderland first versus second Charlton host Southampton third versus fourth I mean you just couldn't make it up it's wonderful and with that in mind Graham on X says predictions not being this pod strong suit who's going to win the championship let's go round in order Susie well logic says that it's gonna be um Crystal Palace right because they play Lewis who could be relegated if results don't go their way next weekend so you know in theory an easy game for Palace before they play Sunderland Cholton have got both Southampton and Sunderland.

Sunderland have got Crystal Palace and Cholten. So on fixtures alone, you say Crystal Palace. So that's what I'm going to say. But like, who knows? I mean, it's going to be absolute, like brilliantly chaotic. Logic in football just doesn't work. I mean, look at the premier league title race no one wants it look at the championship men's title race no one wants it who's going to take it robin

oh fay this is the thing like particularly my predictions are so terrible that this is like putting the kibosh on the team so who do i hate most it's like i don't really hate anyone because i predicted aston villa to get Champions League this season. I do need to apologise for that. I take full responsibility. I mean, that was dreadful. I'm going to go logical and say Palace, just because, as you rightly mentioned,

looking at their goal difference, it's insane. That's another point, really, isn't it? Unless, as you say, Faye, they get to that final game and they're playing Sunderland and the Lasses can pull off something. I mean, that is what a weekend that's going to be. Absolutely incredible. Chris, are you going with the form guide or are you going to upset it? Well, I think it's all about emotion for me, Faye, as you well know. And Palace has got one ex-Spurs player in and one Spurs player on loan. So Rhea Percival's at Palace and Anna Philby we had a lot of fun with back in the Chesson days. So there is something of Palace there.

However, with Karen Hills being the manager of Charlton, I'm going to give a little shout to Charlton to see if they can somehow find their way back into the WSL. So I think despite the fact of saying that about the experts players, I'm going to go Charlton. Okay, right. So I am going to go for Sunderland in that case. So at least one of us might be right, unless Southampton happen to beat Charlton by 20 goals to nil

on the final day of the season, which, you know, bearing in mind our predictions, you just never know. So we shall see whether we're right come the end of the season. Big congratulations need to go to both Newcastle United and Portsmouth as they were crowned champions of the FA Women's National League, Northern and Southern Premier respectively.

Therefore, promotion to the championship. Two great sides going into the Championship next season. Newcastle's Becky Langley securing back-to-back promotions with a 10-0 victory. See, it is possible, Southampton, a 10-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in front of 7,382 fans at Kingston Park. Robin, what have you made of their lightning progress

over the last few years? Well, I might rain on the parade and I know I'm going to get free abuse from Newcastle fans, but that's what they should be, isn't it? I mean, they've got a humongous investment now. A bit like, you know,

we were talking about Watford earlier. Newcastle are the only fully professional team in that division. So yes, they should be getting promoted. I'm sorry, I don't find their story very romantic just because of the context of Newcastle United itself and what's happening there I think you know obviously it's great if

they're inspiring young girls in the northeast to want to play football I think that's a good thing but um yeah I don't don't find it romantic I think Portsmouth should have huge credit. They were brought semi-professional from the start of this season. They've got the rewards. Clearly the men's team are about to go up as well to the championship. So yeah, great season for them. Yeah, I echo those thoughts. And I like to try and think that investment is coming in anyway.

So let's focus on the positive side of what it can do to women's football in the northeast, which has always been a real hotbed for talent coming through, particularly into the England squad. It was a result ultimately, unfortunately, confirmed relegation as well for Huddersfield alongside AFC Fylde, who were beaten by Wolves as well but Robin mentioned Portsmouth there Chris they didn't even have to kick a ball this weekend because Ipswich's win over Hashtag United basically confirmed them as title winners and Jay Sadler's side have really impressed this campaign losing just once all year how good is it going to be having them in the championship? Exactly that there is something quite glorious talking of romance. Weirdly, I do find there's something romantic

about managing to be promoted without kicking a ball. So you're all sat in the clubhouse together, just waiting to find out what's going to happen, and then you can just have a party at the end of watching someone else play football, which is wonderful. And I think, as Robin just said, I think both the Portsmouth teams

finding their way into the Championship, I think, is a good thing. And I think exactly what we were just saying earlier about investment. So, you know, I think they need to heed

what the Watford manager said, that they were the only part-time team in the Championship. So it's Pompey beware on that sense. So what are they going to do to try and make that transition so they have some safety?

You know, I completely get that you can't completely go from zero or from 10 to 100, but actually got to try and think about what you're going to do to kind of sustainably grow to try and keep your team in the division. And I know Portsmouth are a big club, but you want to see teams in in and amongst it who aren't sort of those traditional teams and you know a team from the south coast as well that's always like a good away day to go down by the sea and all that kind of stuff so

you know I want to see them I want to see them do well yeah I know exactly exactly what you mean by the way a couple of times Luton have been promoted without kicking a ball and it's not quite the same just sitting there watching another result come up on the yellow ticker on Sky Sports News, I can tell you that right now. It's still a delight though

you just have to jump around in the living room by yourself. We'll of course keep you up to date with all of the big news from the remainder of the season as well but let's turn our attention to the UEFA Women's Champions League which is happening this weekend Barcelona-Chelsea

I mean it wouldn't be a proper European semi-final these days without a Barcelona-Chelsea encounter would it? Feels like they've kind of become Emma Hayes' nemesis in recent years the team that stood most often between her and that coveted trophy. Chelsea travelled to Spain first, where the formidable Estadi Olympic awaits Emma Hayes' side,

along with arguably the best team in the world. Susie, what will Chelsea have to do to navigate their way through this one? A lot. Pray. through this one a lot pray um jonathan geraldes was at the man united's game at the weekend and i mean i imagine he would be pretty like pleased with the way chelsea are looking at the moment i mean they look pretty depleted and exhausted i would say obviously you know we talked a lot about them navigating March and then it was eight games in March or something like that and they won seven of the eight losing the Conte Cup final only I think was the the stat at the end of it but perhaps we spent too much time talking about them getting through March and not enough time about the impact that could have

in April because yeah I think it's the fallout from that schedule and the momentum that that schedule brings and the you know they were they were so on it in that month and now everything is sort of starting to crumble a little bit and they just they just don't look at it so I I mean, it was Barcelona's to lose anyway. But, I mean, it's an absolute mountain to climb for me, for Chelsea. I just can't see them getting past them. It would be a miracle if they managed to get through to the final of the Champions League. Robin, what have you made of Barcelona this year?

As Susie said, they're in a similar position to Chelsea, really, losing manager Jonathan Geraldes to Washington Spirit at the end of the season. Yeah, I think that's the fascinating thing. But, you know, they're just imperious,

incredible, undefeated this year. I mean, Chelsea didn't do that badly last season, did they? It was the same. They managed to, they lost on 2-1 on aggregate. I mean, they were, they did have 2-1 on aggregate I mean they were they did have to go very defensive didn't really show much of themselves they had Sam Kerr then

it's going to be really tough but I'm with Chris and I really really hope that Emma Hayes does get this one but it's it's going to take something pretty special and for Barcelona to maybe just be a bit complacent which I can't really see happening. They're just, they're pretty machine-like. And yeah, I mean, I wouldn't rule Chelsea out. And I do think, you know, they have a point to prove given what's happened the last couple of weeks. But yeah, very, very, very tough. Especially, yeah, as you mentioned, Fede, they've got this midweek game as well against Aston Villa. I mean, not really ideal. No, it kind of feels that's how their fixtures have played out. But as you know, our predictions are terrible.

And there was a little bit of splinters going on on the backsides there. Don't rule Chelsea out, etc, etc. Covering backs going on, we shall see. Let's look at Lyon PSG. Sonia Bombastor, another manager rumoured to be departing their club interestingly having reportedly agreed a deal with Chelsea in the meantime though her full focus is going to be on another important European encounter for Lyon against perennial underachievers PSG how do you see this one playing out Chris? I mean it's hard to look past Lyon

really isn't it? I think, you know, every time they've played against each other in semifinals, Lyon have come away the winners. And I just think there's something about that sort of mindset of going into a game against a team like Lyon to sort of, you know, think, are we going to get through this? But I mean, you know, who knows? I mean, it's cliche day to day for me.

You know, anything can happen. The game of two halves. Oh, God, here she goes. I'll tell you what, we were kind of thinking anything could happen, but not this we weren't expecting because we're going to have to say a fond, but thankfully only partial farewell to Rachel Daly. This kind of came from left field last week after England's 2-0 win over Republic of Ireland. You know, she announced her international retirement, which kind of brings to an end a really prolific eight year career with the Lionesses.

She got 84 caps, 16 goals. I really thought she was going to hit her century. Known as one of the most versatile players in the squad, of course, playing a key role in England's Euro 2022 success as left back and, of course, their journey to last year's World Cup final as well. This is what she had to say. I'd love nothing more than to play for England forever, but the time has come for me to hang up my boots on the international stage. Today is an extremely difficult day for me, but it's also one filled with reflection and immense gratitude. Playing for and representing England has been the greatest

honour. Susie, how do you even sum up her England career? Well, I mean, like really impressive, right? Like, but probably England's greatest ever utility player like in the she's literally played everywhere for that team um like I suppose the biggest team player in that sense that you've you've ever seen because not only has she performed in so many positions she's performed in so many positions to a standard that has meant she has like forced her way into the side you know like when she's not necessarily playing there the fact that you know she was playing at fullback whilst playing striker at club level and then vice versa is like quite remarkable really the thing that is so hugely impressive and I think that's been a downfall a little bit in a way in that being a good utility player and being able to play in

multiple different positions is obviously a huge bonus because you can slot in wherever but it means it's really difficult for you to nail down a starting position because if you've got a player who's playing who comes through playing in that position week in week out you know say an eve charles or an Alessia Russo up front then your chance of starting is a lot slimmer so I think you know it's been what has made her England career but is also possibly what has like ended it at this point which is uh you know a shame but I can also understand why players would want to step away rather than give up every international break to be a bench player get a couple of minutes maybe here or there um and you know long term you know is she the

future of the England team no she's not so I can sort of appreciate the decision to prioritize your prolonging your club career and making sure that that is the best it can be if it's literally going to be minutes here and there. Yeah, you were nodding along there, Robin, and I can understand that, absolutely. But why do you think she's made this decision now? Is that what she's come to? It's in her hands rather than having to suffer the ignominy of maybe being left out of a squad further down the line? Possibly. I just think they're speculating about why.

I mean, obviously we have to kind of do that. But I've seen a lot of people saying, oh, you know, it's definitely because she's just not being picked in the position she wants to. It's like, as Susie said, maybe she just doesn't want to go fly on international duty and have a bit of a break instead. You know, the season's intense. If she was like England's established number nine, probably she wouldn't have retired but you know it it's it seems to be like a quite personal decision and she's going out i mean it doesn't matter what happens now she's a euro winner and

she was a massive part of that huge part of that and also had to slot back into left back at the left wing back at the world cup when needs must and And, you know, she had to do that too. So, you know, incredible international career, Rachel Daly. I do think she probably is underappreciated for her role. I'll remember her as just this incredible athlete, just like look, just totally tireless, running up and down that wing for England during the Euros. And yeah, just brilliant and

and hopefully this will help her you know kick on with Aston Villa and maybe make maybe I'll just say like my prediction was a year too late and they'll make the Champions League next season could you do that for me Rachel that'll be really nice. Tough tackler is how I remember her and actually I think it's really important to look at what she wrote in her statement about wanting to spend more time with her family as well, I think. And maybe, Chris, it's a relief, actually, from a fan's point of view, if you like, that she's going to be able to play club football still because she's still got a lot to give. Absolutely.

And I'm sort of with what Susie said at the top there I when I saw it I was like you know why are you going to go all around the world or whatever just to sit on a bench and it's not like you're at the beginning of your career going I'm trying to I'm trying to achieve something it's already been achieved I think the thing for me is no more England camp TikToks with Millie Bright that's what I'm going to miss the most. Those were fun. Those were fun. Well, Millie Bright herself, that is, what of Millie Bright now when she goes away? I know obviously they have other friends, but God, it's just beautiful relationship those two have. Yeah, it is. And maybe, Tim, we've answered your question on X of whether Rachel Daly will regret her decision to retire so early.

It might just be those England TikToks, but I'm sure there will be. I don't think she's coming off the medium, so I don't think she's retiring from that. So thank goodness for that. Right, team, it's been an absolute pleasure as always. Chris, I'm so delighted you just got to wax lyrical about your team for the pod. I cannot wait to see you pre-Wembley and get excited about what's going to be an epic final. See you soon. See you soon. I can't wait either. Come on, you Spurs. Robin, always an absolute delight to have you on. Have a good week.

Thank you, Bo. Susie, I'll see you soon. Yeah, see you soon. see you soon it's gonna be a while isn't it this is weird i know i think so um i'm also god i hate to tell you all this i'm really annoyed with myself because i let my husband book the book the holiday dates i'm gonna miss the fa cup final i know don't't. You should see all our faces. I know. I know. What an absolute shocker. This is what happens when you let someone else deal with the holiday dates.

I know. I don't even know why I did that. As you know, I'm a control freak. So why on earth did I do that? But anyway, I shall be watching with a pina colada in hand from a beach in Portugal instead. Right. with a pina colada in hand from a beach in Portugal instead. Right, keep having your say by sending in your questions via X or emailing us at womensfootballweeklyattheguardian.com. And as ever, a reminder to sign up for our bi-weekly

Women's Football newsletter. All you need to do is search Moving the Goalposts sign up. In Tuesday's edition, Ella Braidwood looks at the increasing number of women's football watch parties and sports bars. Then on Thursday, Magda Ericsson explores the Champions League semi-finals in her latest column the Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray music composition was by Laura Iredale our executive producer is Salamat Women's Football Weekly is supported by Google Pixel the only phone engineered by Google and official mobile phone

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