The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Arsenal denied by Wolfsburg but Manchester United march on in WSL – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Alex Ibaceta and James Lewis to to discuss Wolfsburg ending Arsenal’s European dream, why a sell-out crowd at the Emirates is cause for hope and the latest domestic action

This is The Guardian. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Chelsea and Arsenal's Champions League dreams are over for another season. Hopefully the sight of Leah Williamson pulling pints has at least softened the blow a little bit. But Arsenal's ACL curse continues with yet another player on the treatment table. Meanwhile in the WSL, did we witness the best game in the league's history at the Poundland Bescott Stadium? Something I never thought I would ever say. And the relegation

battle intensifies. We'll discuss all of that, plus take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Well, what a panel, all fresh from the Emirates we have with us today. But I'm sure Susie Rack, you are absolutely gutted. Yes and no. I sort of went into that match thinking that Arsenal had nothing to lose and it's almost impressive that by the end of it, it felt like they had lost. Gutted because of the manner of the defeat,

but also the fact that they were even there in that semi-final. It was just impressive in and of itself to a certain extent I like it Alex of Assetta I saw you uh with your photos pitch side I mean what a moment yeah it was I mean result besides I think the the occasion was quite emotional I think for for a lot of people it was it very, I don't even know how to explain it. I think it was very raw in the football environment of everyone kind of enjoying the day as a whole, rather than just, you know, the football match.

And I thought it was really impressive the way that everybody was behind Arsenal. You know, Wolfsburg scored and the people started cheering Arsenal every single thing. Manus in Springer, every single ball she got out of the area could have been

the simplest of catches. The crowd started cheering. Every tackle, every everything. The crowd was behind the team and I thought that was very emotional.

I think for everyone. So, it was nice. It was indeed James Lewis I'm not even going to talk to you about the game not yet anyway we're going to go in depth with it in a second I want to talk to you about veg because I saw um the other day you post up broccoli and saying I don't even like veg. And I don't know if you listen to the Guardian Football Weekly with Max Rushton,

but I think it's Mark Langdon who doesn't like veg and it's brought up every single time he's on the pod. Maybe this is your thing. It was delicious. It was absolutely delicious. I was in Nando's for,

let me try something different. Let me get some broccoli and had some lemon and herb sauce on it. Absolutely incredible. And for a man who doesn't like veg, impressive. Maybe you've been turned. Wonderful. Right, let's start at the Emirates, shall we?

Arsenal 2, Wolfsburg 3 on the night. Wolfsburg go through 5-4 on aggregate. And it was just heartbreak for Arsenal, conceding a 119th minute winner from former Manchester City striker Paulina Bremer to exit the Champions League in front of a record crowd. A goal from Stina Blackstenius had put them 1-0 up after 11 minutes before Jill Roard came back to haunt her old club in the knockout stages yet again with an equaliser just before half-time. Alex Popp nodded in to give Wolfsburg the lead in the second half after Arsenal had another Black Stenius goal ruled narrowly offside. But Jem Beattie popped up to equalise after 75 minutes to push the game to extra time. It really looked like we were heading to penalties

until substitute Euler Brand pounced on a lot of Ruben Moy error for Breymat to score that late winner. You've said it's not heart-wrenching, Susie, but hearing it kind of back from end to end, it probably feels like it. But equally, as you said at the top, it's been a pretty remarkable Champions League campaign all round, really. I mean, just a remarkable season when you look at the injuries that have stacked up obviously and like how influential the players are missing are and yet you put in a performance

like that like phenomenal stuff really. I think it's more the manner of conceding so so deep into extra time and that it's a lot of up and boy with the error losing possession of the ball to brand um you know who then plays it back for perimeter pop in it is particularly hard she just looks so crushed in that moment and then on the full-time whistle as well just like absolutely broken you know obviously lifelong Arsenal fan was in the press the day before the match talking about how much of a dream it was to be playing at a sold-out Emirates how it's a dream that didn't exist when she was a child because it was just like so so far removed from reality and then to be responsible for to to a certain extent,

for the goal that loses it and doesn't send you to a Champions League final is really, really brutal. But yet she was phenomenal across both legs, obviously provided the assist for Jen, set up a goal in the first leg. It feels very, very harsh if any blame falls on her when, yeah, she was just brilliant across both

i haven't seen anybody blaming lots of uber moy i mean it would be like shooting bambi's mum i think but uh i think it's fair to say that this was a a step too far for arsenal alex really given all their injuries the quality um that Wolfsburg were able to bring off the bench as the match went on as well? I mean, yeah, when you started the match, you kind of knew that the biggest advantage that Wolfsburg had over Arsenal was the bench at the end of the day. And you knew that Arsenal couldn't afford extra time and you knew they couldn't afford not one injury on the pitch and luckily

they mostly went through no injuries obviously the Laura Ryan-Rodier she came out as a sub and unfortunately

got injured so that was bad but at the same time at that court was a good player to be replaced

the way that you understood it I could question but other than that I think Arsenal was a good player to be replaced. The way that you answered it, I could question. But other than that, I think Arsenal kind of knew that them going to extra time was kind of good.

Could have potentially have been a downfall. I think at the end of the day, when you make a mistake like Lata did, you really have to put it down to tiredness. I mean, she's played, you know, she's been obligated to play for both legs and she's not had the minutes. And I'm not saying that that's exactly the reason,

but at the end of the day, when, you know, your legs aren't going to be as sharp to make that cut that she wanted to do. And a player like Eula Brand, who has just come on and has the legs that she does. I mean, in terms of legs, I thought that steal was quite easy from her. And kudos to her for squaring it because she could have gotten the glory. She's well capable of making a shot from there.

But yeah, I think for Arsenal, it feels more of a loss than what it did. I thought they were well up for the occasion, and clearly they were. It was very unfortunate to get so many goals called offside and a few opportunities missed. At the end of the day, it was an even match as well. Wolfsburg and Arsenal had very similar chances, amount of chances, they had similar possession.

It was up for grabs for anybody I think Arsenal could have done exactly the same that Wolfsburg did it was to grab a last minute winner up top but obviously

it went Wolfsburg way but yeah I think Arsenal should be proud it is you know it is gutting because they could have done it despite everything

in the background and despite the injuries I think they had the team to do it and the luck just didn't go their way essentially. So now we go to the final without Arsenal. I had a slightly terrible feeling going into this game that Arsenal had lost the game in the first leg

in the sense that the two Wolfsburg goals were very much gifted to a certain extent particularly the second one and obviously they had that massive fight back which was really impressive but I worried that that would come back to bite them at the Emirates. Yeah it's interesting actually that Susie makes that point James because Arsenal probably obviously be frustrated with the first leg, but maybe also frustrated with the beginning of this one as well, because they could have made a little bit more of their start, perhaps. Wolfsburg looked a little bit overawed by the occasion, maybe.

Yeah, I think it's always a case of if you can get an early goal, try and just really pressure the team because you don't know that kind of especially the roar that Arsenal fans gave the team I think I felt that was the best time to really try and get two goals early Wolfsburg didn't really like what happened after that first goal they didn't look as assured as they did in the first leg and I thought if Arsenal was really gonna like put them to the sword they could have done it in the first half. But I think sometimes I feel like Arsenal were trying to settle in even after they scored that first goal. They were just kind of trying to get their passing patterns together and then they just kind of relaxed and I felt like that kind of let Wolfsburg off the edge.

Yeah, both those Wolfsburg goals in normal time came from set pieces, Susie. And Manuela Zinsberger looked a little bit nervous at a few corners. I mean, you kind of would do with Alexandra Pop lurking around your six yard box, but she obviously popped up and scored. Jill Roard left with all the time in the world to pick her spot for the first one as well. But when Jonas Eideveld kind of goes back over this match, which he inevitably will pick it to pieces, what's he going to pinpoint as Arsenal's main weakness, would you say?

Set pieces is a massive one. Like all season, they've struggled from set pieces. I think I remember turning to Johnny Luke, the first Wolfsburg corner and just going like really, really worried for Arsenal whenever they've got the ball on the ground for a minute. I don't know. Obviously, there's issues with Nolia Williamson having to play in a back three.

The relationships between those players at the back not necessarily being as strong as you know the back two of Lira Raffaele or Lira and Lotto but yeah I like that's obviously a huge issue injuries is obviously a huge issue literally how much can you do when like 90% of your players are falling by the wayside i think my motor's injury looked really bad when you see it back it looks like another acl um and that we we haven't had this confirmed yet but if it is another acl that would be three of arsenal's four acls this season done at the emir? Has there got to be something looked into that? I think there has to be something looked into everything because no team should be having

four ACLs in a season. As I say, at the time of recording, we don't have any confirmation of Laura Wienreuter's injury, but it is worrying, very worrying going forward um I tell you what's worrying from an England point of view or actually heartening I would say from an England point of view in many ways and perhaps a lesson learned for for loss of Uben Moy because as Susie said Alex it you know gutting that it had that she had to be the player that that happened to but at the same time you know, credit to Wolfsburg who brought on Eula Brand and she really changed the game, I felt, in extra time.

She just had that burst of energy that allowed her to close Vuban Moy down and win the ball off her. And she'd had a great match before that, but you can't switch off even just for one moment, can you, at this level? Yeah, I think it's quite evident, the timing of it as well. You know, you're kind of, I think everybody had their minds on penalties already. And unfortunately, that's what happens when you kind of switch off just for one second and you relax.

I think the players, especially Arsenal, I think were obviously playing for penalties mostly because of that firepower that Wolfsburg had and Arsenal didn't. And, you know, there's no playing that down. There's no kind of getting away with it. You know, Gen P was struggling with the cramp. These players were absolutely exhausted by the end of it and that was fine. But, you know, get your head head together you can't be trying to to make a simple cut when a Euler brand is coming right at you really fresh I thought it was poor decision making um periods you know doesn't matter what time of the match that is um Lata just wasn't really thinking straight in that in that moment and that's you know it's football it's it's the beautiful game of, you know, it's football.

It's the beautiful game of football. You know, one little mistake literally costs you an entire Champions League season. And yeah, it was gutting. But at the end of the day, yeah, I think Wolfsburg always had that advantage. I think after the first leg, they you know they were the better team than Arsenal man by man because quite literally they had about six

other players but I think I think Lata should kind of put her head up I thought she was absolutely crucial in

in the overall play because when you look at the Arsenal side again when you looked at Arsenal going up against a very strong Wolfsburg side. I mean,

in the first leg, you know, you had a branded non-sitter playing together. That's just stupidly scary prospects when you have both players on the pitch. And I thought lots of Jen and Rafa did really well. Again, you know, Rafa did give away a mistake in the first half and first leg as well.

But when you kind of expected much less of the Arsenal defense in first leg as well. But when you kind of, you expected much less of the Arsenal defence solely because, you know, these players are called upon because there's literally

no other options. And lots of Gen haven't had many minutes in the overall season. I thought, I think, you know, Jonas' trusted back four is quite evident when you look at Lille and Rafa and Steph Cattley and Noel Maritz. And that's quite evident. And look at Lia and Rafa and Steph Catley

and Noel Maritz and that's quite evident and you know that Lads in general weren't getting as many minutes and now you know

they're starring in a Champions League semi-final it's not you know it's quite a lot of pressure to have on your shoulders and I bet they did well

so Lads should you know should focus on that at the end you know it's easier to say you know that she's only going to focus on that one mistake that you know you can't it's easier to say you know that she's only in the focus on that one mistake that she did and it is a lot of weight on her shoulders because quite

evidently that similar mistake did cost Arsenal um the Champions League final so you just kind of have to motivate her um from from the inside now yeah I feel as if she's the type of player that will that will motivate herself uh for sure despite, James, Arsenal sold out the Emirates for the first time, 60,000 tickets, such a great atmosphere on a beautiful evening as well. It's been an amazing ride actually in the Champions League for Arsenal this season, as we said earlier on, and it felt like the send off they deserved, even if they couldn't make the final, final which seems like a strange thing to say but you know what I mean yeah 100% I think that performance that the Arsenal team gave I thought that really showed what a team can do when they all work together when they all give 100% like the fact Steph Catley and Katie McCabe were constantly getting massages like going into extra time and just what Jen Beattie gave. And like a lot of people weren't really expecting it because it was kind of like once those injuries happen,

people were like, what's going to happen to our defence? Where's the goals going to come from if obviously Viv and Mead aren't there? But players step up in those crucial moments. And I think people like Lotto, Benoit and Jen Beattie, they did. Yep, they really did. And it just wasn't meant to be for Arsenal, wasn't meant to be for Chelsea either. Finished Barcelona 1, Chelsea 1,

Barcelona 2-1 winners on aggregate. It feels like that. The semi-final happened about a million years ago. So much has gone on since. Chelsea became the first team in 80 matches to not lose to Barcelona at home, but it was not enough. There's a one-all draw at Camp Nou, saw them go out 2-1 on aggregate. A Caroline Graham-Hanson goal looked to put the tie beyond Chelsea.

It was very early on in the game until Guru Wrighton equalised just four minutes later. Chelsea couldn't find the extra goal, needed to send the match to extra time though and it kind of felt just like the Arsenal game Susie as if as if this game could have been described as as a valiant effort which sounds patronizing but I think bearing in mind the way the seasons have gone I think it's fair yeah I mean like you can't overlook chelsea's huge number of injuries as well obviously no kadisha buchanan no millie bright um no panina harder for much of the season obviously came on in this game and like for the first time in this year and no frank kirby for most of the season as well so like yeah huge results at the new camp again, damage done in the first leg. I think the 80-game thing is impressive.

Taking a draw away from the Nou Camp is impressive. But I just felt like Chelsea were playing to not lose badly rather than to win the game. I felt like it was a little bit too late for them to really try and push for a winner. And maybe that's a bit harsh given, you know, we've seen what Barcelona do to teams, particularly at home, like absolutely tend to shreds. You know, Rosengard 6-0, Roma 5-1, Bayern Munich 3-0.

Maybe you don't want to play and open yourself up. But when you're trying to reach a Champions League final, you sort of have to go for it at some point. And I feel like they left it a little bit too late to go for it, if that makes sense. Yeah, it absolutely does make sense. I mean, looking from a positive side for Chelsea going forward, Alex, you don't see that many teams come to Barcelona and frustrate them.

And their kind of compact setup meant that they did exactly that to Barcelona more than other teams have managed to recently. Yeah, I thought it was kind of a, let's say a one-off. I thought Chelsea didn't play well, Barcelona didn't play well. So it wasn't a match where you can kind of say this is what would happen if Chelsea and Barcelona

would play against each other. I thought they were both exhausted. I think Chelsea, we quite know, is evidently quite exhausted. We've looked at their fixture list from now until the end of the season. I think the max rest they have

between matches is about four days. And so it's, you know, Chelsea are exhausted, Barcelona as well. You know, they've played a lot of games and have been dominating in the league and that is exhausting just as much as they dominate in Champions League.

So it was a very diluted match, I would say. And it's quite evident that Barcelona were, they were fine with the result. I think that says more about Barcelona than does Chelsea, the fact that Barcelona didn't really have to shift the next year to beat Chelsea, essentially. And yeah, you know, they drew, but at the end of the day,

that's all they needed. And Barcelona showed up when they needed to. Chelsea's goal was exactly the goal that you expect them to score against Barcelona. And,

you know, Barcelona did have a lot. From what I saw, I thought Barcelona had a lot more chances. And essentially, that's always going to be Barcelona's weakness

is their inability to finish all the chances that they create when they've got the chances to create and the actual goals they score it's quite evident and they still score so high because that's how many chances they create so when you look at the balance

of that it's quite easy but I thought yeah I thought it was evident that Barcelona were the much better team even though the match didn't necessarily show that. I'm going to talk to Susie about Guru Wright in a second, because we've been waxing lyrical about her on the pod all season. But James, I want to talk about Caroline Graham-Hanson first of all, because if any player was going to unlock Chelsea, it was going to be her, wasn't it?

Yeah, I think she's an honour to watch yeah I think she's she's an honor to watch I think she's a 1v1 demon that one player that you don't want to be by yourself against because she's just very unpredictable I think she's one of the few players that will drag back a ball they won't just immediately cross it like she'll try and do like a ball roll or something like that she always wants to make a defender guess whereas I think a lot of wingers can be quite predictable and I think that's the scariest thing about her you don't know what's coming next and I love the fact that she just always wants to attack sometimes you can have like a great winger that always wants to like give it back but she's always like I'm going to take you on I'm going to try my best and like I'm you're going to give up before I'm going to give up and I think that's what allows

her to win so many duels and just the way how she lets shots And I think that's what allows her to win so many duels. And just the way how she lets shots go, I think that's a great thing. You always want a winger that wants to shoot as well and not just cross, because sometimes you won't have strikers that are doing the job. But if you have a winger that's happily to like take on that burden and try and get goals as well,

like she's done in both legs. Yeah, she's incredible. I'd like to see more of this for Norway as well. I think this is quite like, there's a difference between her at Barcelona and her at Norway. So I'd like to see this kind of player at more as an assist machine but this season with exactly how James has just described Caroline Graham Hansen you could pretty much you know cut and paste and an insert for Guru Wrighton Susie yeah you could she's had a phenomenal season really stepped up with the absence of Harder and Kirby and I mean you look at the front three of Norway as we did at the Euros in the summer those two and Anna Hegerberg in between them and

you just think that's one of the like scariest attacks on the planet it's a shame that they don't have the defense behind them in particular you you sort of run out of ways of talking about Guru in the same way that you do about Graham Hansen I mean Graham Hansen I think is a cut above I think she's the best winger in the world. It's criminal that she's not ever been nominated for shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or. But yeah, Guru Raitan, I think, has really thrust herself into the spotlight and plays with a lot of passion, which is really satisfying to watch as well. Speaking about the Ballon d'Or, Alex, a quick word on Alexia Puteas. We thought we might see her return against Chelsea,

but the game was a little bit too tense for that in the end. Did see her, though, return this weekend against Sporting Huelva. Have I pronounced that right? How bad is my Spanish? It's terrible, isn't it? That was good, actually. Really?

Okay, all right. I didn't even do GCSE Spanish. I can't even say I've got that. But it was just in time to lift lift the the league trophy for the fourth consecutive year I can see your Alexia shirt in the background of your of your zoom shots um Champions League final when are we you know how much more of an impact can she make this season it's a hard one to call I think Champions League final might be too soon. I think Barcelona have gotten to the point

where they can afford to not have Alex Cortes in the midfields. And you wouldn't have. Wow. You wouldn't, yeah. It's a strong statement. I think Barcelona have, you know, they did struggle at the beginning of the season.

I think everybody knew that they struggled. And even if they were winning matches, they were winning matches not in the way that they wanted to. And they were quite vocal about that. The fact that, let's say they won 4-2, 4-1, they're going to be focusing on those two goals conceded, on the way they played, and they were just not happy with it. And I think it was quite evident that Alex Koutias was missing.

Particularly, Adana Boumoudi was trying to become Alexia and that's not what the team needed. And eventually she found that out and now Barcelona are working, you know, the way that they always have. And I think it's quite nice for Alexia to come back and not feel that pressure. I think she might have felt that pressure at the beginning because of how much Barcelona missed her.

But now that Barcelona have gotten to the rhythm, I think they can afford to leave Alexi on the bench and let her come back at her own rhythm as we said, the Chelsea match was a bit premature so whether that be because of

medical staff or her she can not have that pressure on her shoulders and just come back at her own time without having to start because the team needs her, if that makes sense. But I thought it was quite symbolic, the fact that she came back and put the captain's armband as soon as she came in, went up to lift the trophy.

I think that says her importance in the team outside of the football thing. You know, she is essentially probably the most hardworking, you know, footballer in the world, essentially. Everything she does is for football. Everything she does, you know, is to make her a better footballer. Her days off, she will enjoy them because that will make her a better footballer. Because rest will make it.

That's essentially, you know, the way she thinks. So to have her on the sideline brought out a new side of her in terms of the role that she took on as a captain. She was there, she was travelling to a lot of the games and she was present for a lot of the teams. So the fact that she came in, put the camp star in bed and lifted the trophy on her first match back, that was quite symbolic to how important she is to the team off the pitch. And again, I think they can afford to kind of have her back. So I don't know if she'll be starting in the Champions League final. She'll probably definitely make an appearance.

But like I said, I think Barcelona are fine without her at the moment. Is it the right final for you, James? Barcelona-Wolfsburg in Eindhoven? Yeah, I think it's all about who can get it done, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what happens. Both teams, they faced their challenges, but both teams were able to get past all those challenges. And it's going to be a great final, but I do feel it's going to be a very easy tie for Barca. I feel like Wolfsburg will put up a fight, but I think the way how Barcelona were able to just nullify Chelsea, I think I could see the same thing happening to Wolfsburg.

I was trying to watch Alex's face then, and there was a tiny little bit of, yeah, probably. Susie, just to wrap this all up, I mean, historically there's been a bit of a suggestion that English teams just aren't at the same level as their European counterparts the league is is clearly stronger all round um but not necessarily that you know competitiveness against the bigger teams but how do you assess both Arsenal and Chelsea's Champions League runs? Do you feel as if both of these semis kind of, obviously they lost, but did they dispel that myth?

Yeah, to a certain extent, yes. Obviously, to a certain extent, knowing that neither of them went through. But I think that they, both results speak to the strength of the Women's Super League in that you've got this situation where both are really struggling to maintain challenges in all competitions

across the length of the season. The injuries are piling up for both and that speaks to the competitiveness of the Women's Super League. There's no games where you can rest players. There's no games where you can, you know, decide to sit out a player here and there. As much as the Liga is a great league, Barcelona can do that to a certain extent if they need to. In France, Lyon and PSG can do that.

In Germany, Wolfsburg and Bayern can do that to a certain extent. Like, there aren't a huge number of shock results and I'd say it's it's a relatively recent phenomenon that there is in the women's super league um you know usually the league is decided by the games between the top uh three now four but I think that's changed in the last two seasons maybe um where the competitive level of the whole league has stepped up gear you know the likes of Aston Villa even Brighton now in the past week and a half or something uh you know Leicester I mean all of these teams are starting to provide real hard challenges uh for the teams at the top uh in a way that is both a benefit to the

development of the league and these teams but also like not necessarily that helpful when you're trying to go far in europe at the same time that's like it's the it's the problem in the men's side in men's game as well isn't it for, for the Premier League? It's not necessarily very geared up to encourage success in Europe in a way that some other leagues do. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. That's it for part one. In part two, we'll look at what went on in the WSL over the weekend. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit?

No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Right, so away from the bright lights of the Champions League, there was football that was just as dramatic under the bright lights of the Poundland Bescott Stadium. Aston Villa 2, Manchester United 3 is how it finished.

Rachel Daly gave Villa an early lead, but Leah Galton equalised before Daly put Villa ahead again. This time, Nikita Paris equalised and it seemed as if we were heading for a draw until substitute Millie Turner popped up with a header from a Katie Zellum free kick to win in added time. Susie, some people were calling this

the best WSL game ever. Discuss. I mean, I think that's a stretch. There's been some pretty good WSL games I think of the Chelsea Arsenal opening day of the season at the Emirates a few years back and things like that like there's been some really great end-to-end games I mean it was a great game but whether it's the best game ever I mean not too sure about that thrilling yes best game ever not so sure i mean right whoever came up with that suzy rack says no all right bow to her expertise on this one it's it's easy to do that isn't it

when you've watched a thrilling game like that is to then put it in a in in some kind of um ranking system but suzy Susie says no. But James United are making a bit of a habit of these kind of late shows, aren't they? Is that the mark of a never say die attitude team or that they're running the risk of slipping up far too often? I think as an Arsenal fan, I'm quite fed up now. I think United are starting to connect the dots.

I feel like they understand how it should be now. They understand they need to get these points, so they're managing to get these points. So it's quite frustrating as an Arsenal fan, but I can see them going all the way. Well, I was going to ask that exact question, Alex. Where exactly does this result leave United? The supercomputer at 5.38, I'm reliably told by producer Jesse,

is giving Chelsea a 50% chance to win the league and United a 46% chance. Better to have the points on the board or the games in hand? One of those eternal questions in football. Yeah, it's a hard one to kind of look at. I think Chelsea have the... I don't know if that prediction was kind of taken to the account, the fixture

schedule, essentially, which I think might be the reason why Chelsea might slip up. And I'm not saying that they would, but essentially Man United have a point to the board and now it's all down to Chelsea, you know Chelsea getting the job done

and essentially I'm looking at the schedule right now and the match rest days they have in between matches is six days and that's at the end of the season, before that it's three days four days rest days between matches and you're now talking about easy matches you're talking about playing

the FA Cup final against Man United just then you're playing West Ham, then you play Arsenal. And, you know, the teams that Chelsea have to play is, it's friendly

in the sense that you're not playing, you know, you're only playing Arsenal as kind of that top team. But we have seen Chelsea drop points against a

bottom of the table team essentially. And, you know, when you look at the last years of Liverpool's, the Reddings, they have a lot to lose. And Chelsea, essentially, it sounds dumb to say, but Chelsea just have another league title to lose. And, you know, when you've won four consecutive ones, you've won a fifth one. But at the end of the day, it's not as pressing as getting relegated. So, you know, you might see an upset there, but I think essentially it's Chelsea's to lose.

I think obviously, you know, with the games at hand, they have that advantage, but they do have to get, you know, maximum points to kind of keep up with Man United, because Man United, you would kind of, Chelsea would kind of hope that they drop points against Man City, but at the same time, Man United just have to play Liverpool and Tottenham. And again, the same could apply to Man United in the sense that these teams have a lot to lose and it could be gone, but Man United didn't have to play the Champions League

against Barcelona over two legs. Chelsea have had that burden pressed upon them and trying to beat Barcelona exerts so much energy and that's not just Barcelona you know playing a Champions League semi-final will take up a lot of your energy both physically and mentally and Man United haven't had to do that so you would kind of give the edge to Man United in terms of league games and being prepared for that. But yeah, I think on a point system and you look at the teams that Chelsea

have to play, you would give them the kind of advantage to win the league. But then you look at the details of the mental fatigue, the physical fatigue, the rest days in between, and the pressure of the teams you're playing against not to get relegated you

know all those factors do add up um so i think i think man united right now are comfortable and they have a right to be i think you know if we talk about that that winner they gotta get against anstuban and we can we can debate that that was it really a foul um where the goal came from i thought that was um i don't think that was fine i think point blank that wasn't really a foul. Where the goal came from, I don't think that was a foul. I think point blank, that wasn't a foul. So it kind of sucked for Aston Villa to concede that late in the manner of that foul. But I think Man Utd have the confidence to be able to go into this league quite happily with what they're set. I know you have a point to make on that, Susie,

but can I ask you a question within your point, if that's all right? Okay, so Sue Klesnix has tweeted, and it's more of a statement than a question. But they say, with Chelsea Arsenal injuries and City losing so many key players at the beginning of the season,

anything less than making champions league and winning the fa cup is a failure for united this season what say you i mean they've got to make champions league like i think anything less than champions league is a failure if they lose an fa cup final to chelsea i mean not great in the circumstances given that you know chelsea obviously bruised from the champions league and a lot of injuries piling up United are playing so well at the moment um and have have really been almost lucky in the way that games have fallen for them that they've not had any like big injuries to key players because they've not got the largest squad in the world um but yeah like yeah i don't i don't think it'd be a failure if they didn't win the fa cup i like i'm starting

to think it'd be a failure if they didn't win the league to be honest uh given the the situation around them but uh but no for me like ultimately as long as they get champions league i think they'll be satisfied to a certain extent. Not particularly happy, given the position they've put themselves in, but satisfied at least. I think the FA Cup is actually going to have a massive say on the outcome of the season, because I think that's a real momentum shift

for whichever side loses it, going into those final few games of the season I mean you know Chelsea got West Ham afterwards but then play Arsenal at home um and uh United's first game after it is the City game at home um like they're huge I think that weekend is going to have a massive say on the destination of the title and i think whatever team comes out of the fa cup final the happier is gonna take that into those games and that weekend and that could actually have quite a big influence on things so i i think it's still really open i just just can never, ever write Chelsea off, right?

Like no matter how battered and bruised they are, you just can never write them off. And James, don't ever write off Leicester City either at the moment because the WSL relegation battle took another twist. Leicester thrashed Liverpool by four goals to nil. Josie Green, Carrie Jones, Ashley Plontery and Missy Goodwin lifted a dominant Leicester thrashed Liverpool by four goals to nil Josie Green, Carrie Jones, Ashley Plontery and Missy Goodwin lifted a dominant Leicester

off the bottom of the table into the dizzying heights of 10th unbelievable was it a case of just one team being on the beach and the other having something to fight for? No I think it was more of a case of when your luck's in your luck's in I think Leicester

scored two deflected goals, one corner and then another cross. So it wasn't like the greatest Leicester game they've ever played, but deflections were going in, things like that. And they did really good corners. It's going to sound really weird, but like five corners, they did really good corners. Yeah. Like when you actually like look at the game, I encourage everyone to go look at Leicester's corners against Liverpool because they were insane. Like they were doing short piece kind of corners that were working out.

They were finding corners that were meeting plumbers head. I don't know what Willie Kirk was doing in training, but it's paid off. And I think Leicester need to stop playing seriously in like March they need to start playing like this from the start of the season I always feel like the second half of the season you get much better Leicester than you get at the start and I feel if you just played this way from the start maybe you wouldn't end up in these relegation battles all the time so I think for next season if they do stay up like let's give

this kind of fight earlier. But then the season wouldn't be as fun and we wouldn't have anything to talk about. How impressive has this turnaround been, Susie, under Willie Kirk? What is he doing on the training ground? They do look like a totally different team. I believe I said it as well, Faye. I believe this is one of my predictions coming to fruition for a change. Hold on, hold on.

We're not at the end of the season yet. Yeah, but I said in January, the sort of midway point, that if Willie Kirk avoids the drop with Leicester, it'll be one of the most impressive WSL feats in history. And I think that's true. And he's such a phenomenally good manager. He is so good about not just getting the best out of players as individuals,

but building a unit and a belief in a side that like, yeah, just it is, like it's really great to see some joy back in their football again, because they really looked quite lost and quite broken at various points of the season. Yeah, I i mean it's brutal obviously for the teams around them put some pressure on uh some teams that probably thought well at least we're not leicester um and maybe believed that they were safe regardless so yeah thrilling but like i'm really excited to see what Willie Kirk does with a summer transfer window, to see how much he's backed, to see how careful he is as well, because obviously, you know, before he was dumped unceremoniously from Everton,

they had signed nine players in the summer, had a really high squad turnover, and it was struggling to gel things, and obviously you want to avoid that, but when you're not trying to break into the top four you can be a little bit more like steady and slow with your your development of a squad in a way that um hopefully less to give him time to do take note tottenham and brighton perhaps uh the points shared at the tottenham stadium bethany england once again bailing out Spurs. Goals from Elizabeth Turland and Lee Hyun Min twice gave Brighton the lead. as Willie Kirk in terms of making a side look completely different to what they looked a couple of weeks ago. In terms of confidence, they're both two teams who look up for this relegation at the moment,

which perhaps gives them the edge over others. Yeah, I mean, ultimately looking at that game and the way Brighton are playing in particular with a new manager in charge. Obviously, Tottenham have got Vicky Jepsen as a temporary interim manager while they search out someone new, which doesn't look like it's going to come before the end of the season.

You're looking... Reading have to be worried, right? Really, really worried. But I just really like Belle Phillips and what she's doing at Brighton I think they've got huge potential like I hope they stay up from that point of view because I'd really love to see what she can do in the Women's Super League season um you know after doing so well with London City Lionesses before she had that brief stint stateside I think that's really exciting the prospect of her

managing the Women's Super League um i have to throw in like beth england has to be on the plane for australia like how like she just has to um another two goals obviously spurs are really really struggling but like the fact that she's putting them in despite that like i just like i just don't understand why she's not getting called up to camps like is it an issue with her i've got i've got no idea on this. I've got no intel on this. I just, like, for me, like, she has to be on the plane. She should be starting games. We should be having Russo back on the bench,

being the amazing impact player that she is and not messing too much with that formula. And the form Beth England's in, I just don't get it. But, yeah, I just don't get it. But yeah, I've veered significantly from the fixture, but I had to have my little, why the hell is Beth England not on the play for Australia yet or in the squads yet? It's a very good point because those were her seventh

and eighth goals of the season and at the rate she's scoring at, Alex, she'd be up there with Bunny Shaw and Rachel Daly in the golden boot race if she played as many minutes as them it surely it's becoming harder and harder for Serena Vigman to justify not selecting her yeah I think I think the main argument for that I think when you you can even put aside Beth England's numbers at the moment. I mean, you know, she's underlyingly, you know, an out-and-out striker. She's, you know, proven that since she's been at Chelsea.

But I think for her World Cup argument, I think the main argument to focus on is that the fact that Alessio Russo has no backup. There is no other striker outside of Alessio Russo. You know, you argue that Rachel Daly will be that. And essentially, Rachel Daly is the backup to Alessio Russo. You argue that Rachel Daly will be that, and essentially Rachel Daly is the backup to Alessio Russo, and that's just not, it's not realistic in the sense that Rachel Daly has been putting in numbers, but when you look at Rachel Daly on a global scale, you're going to be putting Rachel Daly with the likes of Alessio Russo,

with Bunny Shaw, with Sam Kerr. And Richard Daly just isn't at that level of striker. And you have an up-and-up striker of Bethany England who has international experience, who has Champions League experience, who has played with the biggest team in the Women's Super League. And she's putting in the numbers. So I think essentially that's the main argument, is that Alessia Russo does not have a backup.

You know, Alessia Russo was Ellen White's backup. And that was a switch of an out-and-out striker. But now Rachel Daly is going to be that backup for Alessia Russo. And I just... It's not unfathomable, but when you compare Rachel Daly, who has been put in so many different positions, that has not been focusing solely on being a striker.

I think when you have an out-and-out striker like Bethany England, who's putting the numbers, I think she does deserve to be called up. But I think, yeah, the main argument would be the fact that if Alessio Russo gets injured, you're going to have to play with Rachel Daly for the entire tournament. Is that going to be a feasible thing to essentially bring England to win the World Cup? And again, you can argue Rachel Daly's numbers, but at the end of the day,

Beth England has been doing this for a lot longer and kind of knows how to deal with that pressure a lot more. You've seen Rachel Daly blunder a few clear chances in very important parts of the match. And, you know, you kind of wonder if she will be able to put that pressure on her shoulders at a World Cup, for example. I think you've seen Beth England do the same, though. That's the thing. She has, you know, when she has pulled on an England shirt

and played up front, you know, she's not necessarily performed the best. Like whilst I'm obviously waving the flag for Beth England, but I think that came at a time when she wasn't playing regular football, which was the big problem. I do think Rachel Daly could do it up top, but with the absence of Leah now as well, that back line is looking like increasingly like a puzzle that is going to have to slot in pieces that don't always work.

Does Rachel Daly have to move backwards again, despite the fact that she's now playing as a centre forward for Villa, scoring loads of goals in a golden boot race? I just don't think that you could remove that entirely as an option, given how much defensive overhaul there's going to have to be. Obviously, if Millie Bright comes back, that's a big boost. You know, she was on the training grounds the other day. That's great.

But I think that has to be an option. And then so you're weakening the options behind Rousseau even further by potentially having that like dual role again for Rachel Daly um who I mean even like even I would potentially argue that Rachel Daly should start over Alessia Rousseau because Rousseau has proved so impactful off the bench but hasn't necessarily proved herself across 90 minutes for England uh in a way that you know many other players have um doesn't quite look ready to be able to sustain that level of presence across 90 minutes in an international shirt yet maybe but yeah for me Beth England like is a full player she she thrives off minutes and game time and that's like when the goals come and you've seen that in her starting

for spurs and like yeah for me that is like i think we would see a completely different beth england in an english shirt like to the one we've seen previously where she wasn't playing much at all um to now um and and weirdly like i mean i was all for her moving in January and moving in the summer even and getting minutes and stuff elsewhere but you do reflect now on the number of injuries Chelsea have had and think maybe they shouldn't have let Beth England go because there's no one to no one to give Sam Kerr a break. We've veered slightly off of the relegation battle with that chat. I'm going to stick the gear in reverse, James, and go back to it because things are looking

a little bit worrying for Reading. Manchester City 4, Reading 1 is the last game to talk about in the WSL. And obviously with Leicester's resurgence, you really have to worry for Kelly Chambers' side. They took a shock lead through Sonny Trollsgaard after just a minute, but it was the quintessential case of scoring too early and Manchester City made light work with 37 shots in the end to win it 4-1.

I mean, Reading have Villa, Spurs and Chelsea still to come. Alex has made a decent case in terms of relegation battlers are going to have more to play for necessarily. But I don't know what you think about it. And we didn't talk too much about Brighton in terms of Leicester's relegation rivals. I think I'm most worried for Reading. I feel like they haven't really,

they are one of the few teams that's near the relegation zone that hasn't stepped it up. And I don't see where they're going to find this injection of step up from. I feel like Leicester, they brought in Janina Leipzig, two players like Ruby Mace, like they've done something to actively change their situation. Whereas Reading are kind of used to this moment, but they're not used to other teams being better than them. I feel like there's normally a team that's always worse than Reading, so that's how they are able to stay up. But I feel like how these teams are playing,

Tottenham, Brighton, Leicester, Liverpool, they all want to stay up. I feel like Reading are kind of hoping that teams slip up, but they're not actively giving everything in their games. I don't see... They've given all their push. Like, you know, like in a long distance race, they do that last kick on to try and win. Leicester don't have anything to kick on.

Everyone else is trying to like do their kick on. Like Leicester look like Mo Farah right now, whereas Reading are just kind of like, we're going to hope. And I feel like hope is what's going to get them sent down. Yeah, it is looking a little bit worrying for them. Really quickly, Susie, we need to just look at the Champions League title race. It's really difficult actually to assess it too much.

So I think we'll go into it more in detail next week because obviously lots of teams didn't play because they were in European action. But I mean, it was a big game for Manchester City when you think about it. It gives their goal difference a big boost as well, which it could end up coming down to at the end of the season. Yeah, I sort of semi-love it when things are decided on goal difference,

as harsh as that is. Yeah, I mean, it's huge for their goal difference. The title race is thrilling the race for champions league is thrilling i think the the interesting thing that uh jonas was asked about after the walsford game was like how hopeful he is as of arsenal being able to put up a real challenge in the competition next season with you know the likes of Beth Meader, Viviana Meader returning, Kim Little will be back by then obviously Leah Williamson's going to be out a bit longer but you know you'd think towards the end of the season might be back and he was like

we've got to qualify first and I really really worry for Arsenal and Champions League qualification. I think it's a really big ask, particularly with that game against Chelsea, the last game of the season being against Aston Villa, the injury to Laura Weimarter to add on to the already hefty pile. I'm finding it hard to look beyond united city and chelsea taking the three champions league spots um and in terms of the title race i i find it very very difficult to look past chelsea always any other fans of teams um who didn't do very well in in suzy rack's

predictions there. Don't worry about it. Her predictions are usually terrible and completely the opposite of what ends up happening. So keep the faith. Right. That's it. James, it's been a pleasure. Hopefully see you soon.

Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Alex, see you soon. See you at a great game. A game near you? No, it won't be a game near you. Probably. I wish it was, but it won't be. But I'll see you soon regardless. Thank you at a great game. A game near you? No, it won't be a game near you. Probably. I wish it was, but it won't be.

But I'll see you soon regardless. Thank you for having me on. Susie, take care. Have a good week. I will no doubt speak to you on the phone in about 10 minutes. Always. All right. Take care, guys.

We'll be back next week for all the remaining twists and turns as the WSL approaches its conclusion. A reminder as well, you can now email us on womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Becky Taylor-Gill

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