The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Arsenal stutter again while Manchester City go top: Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Tom Garry and Sophie Downey to discuss the weekend’s WSL action and look ahead to the WCL

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. What a weekend. Would any Arsenal fans like to review their predictions this season? Everton make a point and take a point, while Crystal Palace get their campaign up and running

as Manchester City go top of the table. And Jordan Modric, sorry, Nobbs, makes history, proving good enough is old enough. We'll also look ahead to the return of the table and Jordan Modric sorry knobs, makes history proving good enough is old enough. We'll also look ahead to the return of the Champions League plus we'll take your questions and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly What a panel we have today

as always Susie Rack our resident Everton fan Marva Creel desperate to be here this week and rub your nose in it. Yeah, such a sad thing that we've not got Marva on this week. Yes, Susie books all the guests all the time and just vetoes if anyone dares to beat Arsenal. No, she doesn't. Tom Gary, fresh from the King Power how are you? I'm very well thank you I'm the smug person in the top 22 of the Guardians

Fantasy WSL league out of about 500 Wow! I think I did we last about 30 seconds before I mentioned that? Maybe we got to a minute but yeah I might mention it again later just to be on the safe side How long are you going to dine out on that for?

At least another week. I have not checked are you top of the the guest tree if you like? Well I'm 265th. I haven't even checked how far down I am. Sophie Downey where are you how far are you in the table? I don't partake in fantasy League because I'm too competitive. And I hate losing. So it's just better for me if I don't. I don't think you can use that as an excuse. I'm not having that at all.

Let us know how you're getting on, by the way. You can email us or, of course, you can get in touch with us on social media. But let's crack on and find out what happened this weekend in case you missed anything. Of course, with the postponement of Chelsea-Manchester United, we've got one fixture short to go through, but still loads to discuss. It was quite eventful, wasn't it?

History makers, comebacks, spectacular goals, big refereeing decisions. The WSL fixtures this week certainly delivered. Feels like we say that every week, doesn't it? We'll start at King Power Stadium though, where league newcomers Crystal Palace pulled off one of the surprises of the weekend to earn their first ever Barclays

WSL victory. It finished Leicester City nil, Crystal Palace two, thanks to a second half brace from Annabelle Blanchard to move them up to eighth in the table Palace have been through it in recent weeks Susie haven't they many have written them off including all of us after their opening two games have they proved people wrong with that performance I think on the preview pod or maybe I'm rewriting history a little bit I've been rereading

1984 so that's entirely possible but I think we said that Palace wouldn't be as easy to beat as Bristol were because they have been steadily building. You can see that in the way they play, in the support of the fan base that are clearly on a journey with them and invested in their journey because they're seeing progress and good signs they've invested in players that complement the ones that they've kept that got them up with WSL experience young low needs from top sides Poppy Pritchard from City and then the three youngsters from Chelsea Lily Woodham from Seattle Reigns like, I think they weren't going to be

complete pushovers this season. And I think we sort of said that. But, yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we kind of had them as one of the favourites for the drop. But, yeah, the signs so far, despite the sort of first two games, you know, showing them conceding so many goals, have actually been pretty good i mean i

think in in both those games there were there were signs of real real promise there um it's just going to take a little bit of time for them to get used to sort of physicality and uh mental like demands of wsl football um so like surprising and not surprising in that like we don't expect them to beat Chelsea but could they get points against a team like Leicester yes Leicester have been looking good as well but like that's definitely that's definitely been a more realistic prospect for them and these are the games where it's going to be really interesting to see exactly where they're at and where they sort of slot into the ecosystem yeah it feels like more of a gauge doesn't it this is what their manager Laura Kaminski had to say we've made history for the club, which I'm extremely proud of. I thought the

players deserved the points from their performance. Now we need to keep our feet on the ground, not be too high with the highs or too low with the lows. I was asking the players to really stay steady with the games that we lost previously. And now I certainly won't be asking them to celebrate too hard. How hard will it have been to steady the ship after the first two games, Sophie? It was a bit of a baptism of fire for them. It was. I'll first say that that is a FA-coded quote,

if I've ever heard them. That's straight out of the school of FA coaching. Don't get too high, don't get too low. I've heard it a million times. Sit on that fence with those splinters poking into your backside. But yes yes I think it will have been tough over the last couple of weeks more externally I think because there's been so much pressure heaped on them I am of the account that even that tour against Chelsea I saw I thought I saw enough as Susie said that made me think they'd

be okay at times this season. Whether that keeps them up, I don't know, but I think they will at least compete. It will be tough, but I think Laura Kaminski is very well known as a people person. She's very good with her player management. They all trust her. And I think it's just keeping the noise out and the concentration on what they're doing. When they play to their style, I think that suits them best. When they're trying to bank up, they struggle.

When they try to attack or push forward, that's when they look at their best. And I think they need to keep trying to do that. Their worst five minutes yesterday was after they scored the first goal. And they looked like they were deciding to sit back and bank up. And they really, really struggled. And then they were like they were deciding to sit back and bank up and they really really struggled and then they were like no we're not doing that and they kept going forward so um I think they just need to remember their principles and not to get too scared of the league I guess in terms of trying to change out yeah Leicester have had a season in the in the

league and and we know that they can create but but Palace actually out-created them, Tom. What were the keys to this victory for Crystal Palace? Well, one of the keys was a very impressive performance by an 18-year-old Lexi Potter on loan from Chelsea. We saw an all-round performance of a real number six that looked like she was a 26, 27-year-old player, not a teenager. She was doing the dirty stuff, you know, winning the ball back, but also doing the quality stuff in possession, you know,

getting out of tight spaces, looking really composed on the ball, helping with the way that Palace were building out from their own half by doing those little bits of neat passing. And I mean, you're all going to throw shade at me for making this kind of high pressure reference already, but there were massive Keira Walsh vibes about that performance. She was just screaming Keira Walsh at me throughout the whole of the first half in particular and still got a lot of learning to do, of course, still only 18 years old.

But that was such an impressive performance to be the best player in the middle of the park for either side in a game where she was surrounded by much older players. And then add in that, you've got the clinical finishing of Annabelle Blanchard, who played very well. I thought Katie Stengel looked really good as well. And there was a nice balance. They thoroughly deserved to win. My worry for Leicester is that, although they had such a positive pre-season, that first league win since February is still eluding them. It's 11 league games in a row without a win. And that's got to be a worry now for confidence that they've waited so, so long to break that winless run in the league. February's a long time, isn't it?

And there's been a lot of turmoil at the club as well behind the scenes. So interesting to see how they're going to ride out this season. But early stages, as we always say. Sticking with Palace though, Susie, and Tom mentioned Annabelle Blanchard there. She scored 11 in nine games in the championship last year. It seems quite apt that she's kind of kick-started their campaign this time round. Can we see her as their most prolific scorer this season? Potentially, for sure. Obviously, she's proven that she can do it for them. Can we see her as their most prolific scorer this season? Potentially, for sure.

Obviously, she's proven that she can do it for them. And I think getting off the mark will have such a big impact confidence-wise. It was such a beautifully worked goal as well, real team goal, and then a really instinctive finish. And they're not going to get a lot of chances necessarily in quite a number of the games this season but if she can like react in the way that she did in that game then there's yeah huge potential um we also spoke to her at the WSL media day uh which is where we have a you know four players and a manager from each team sort of coming around and speaking to us all ahead of

the season um and she just spoke so brilliantly i mean she's only ever played before two games in two different seasons for liverpool back in sort of 2017 18 and then 18 19 and then has been in the championship ever since so it's like really nice to see a play like that who's not really had their chance at the top level finally kind of get up there and be able to make their mark I think they're the stories that are really kind of special about the teams that come up into the top flight but yeah she could have a really important part to play in their season and in the relegation fight disappointing afternoon for Leicester Sophie we mentioned it with Tom there

earlier there has been a you know a few things going on behind the scenes, but they still haven't had that first win under their new boss, Omundin Mikel. What went wrong, do you think? Any major causes for concern or just outplayed? I think it was probably just partly just one of those days. It was the end of a very busy week for them as well, as it has been for every team.

So that's no excuse. They've all had three game weeks. But I do think that's the first time Omidine has had to do that in this league as well. I spoke to Omidine Miguel afterwards and she said the intensity just wasn't there. She didn't seem too worried. She just said they couldn't get up to the energy levels that she's seen in previous games, say the energy levels that they showed against Arsenal the weekend before. I think it just took its toll a bit.

And I was a bit surprised to see kind of the change in midfield with Sarri Takarada coming in alongside Ruby Mace. I really rate Takarada completely, but she is a more defensive-minded player. She played the six last week when she came on for Ruby Mace. So I did think that that was a bit of a strange decision for a team that are kind of wanting to attack but they had their chances as well that's the other thing you know Jutta Rantala is an absolute class player and

she had three attempts and goal that you would expect her to put away any other day so I think it was a mixture of things no panic yet that, that's for sure. No, no panic. And just a quick one, because we have been mentioning, Tom, a lot this season, goalkeepers. None of us are goalkeepers, so I don't know why we're protecting the union so much,

but we've been talking about the quality of goalkeeping on the pod quite a lot. And Janina Leipzig obviously started in goal for the Foxes after Lise Kopp played the first two games and produced some brilliant stops to keep Leicester in the match. It's another fascinating battle for the number one shirt.

And we seem to have those across the league at the minute. Yeah, actually, and without Leipzig, it could well have been four or five goals for Palace. I thought she played very well. I personally have always thought that of the two that Leeds is the stronger goalkeeper, but there's very fine margins between them both. So Leicester are in a healthy position there. You know, it was quite well reported widely that Manchester United were inquiring about Lizzie Kopp and Leicester were very sort of steadfast in their determination to keep hold of her. So clearly Amandine Mikel wants to have two top class goalkeepers

and that is beneficial, but maybe that's going to help them because they're both going to want to, you know, they know that competition is there. They can't take anything for granted. So they're both going to be trying to play their absolute best every single training session to try and win the shirt. Yep, certainly are. Needed maybe some decent goalkeepers.

The amount of goals that were flying in at Brisbane Road. What a treat. Fans that went there were treated to yesterday. Finished Tottenham 2, Liverpool 3. Cornelia Kapoc produced a brilliant finish to fire Liverpool into an early lead. Spurs levelled through an unfortunate Taylor Hines own goal. Marie Hobinger's spectacular free kick, by the way, well worth a watch if you haven't seen it already,

restored the lead before Claire Hunt equalised for the hosts again. And then stoppage time, drama-rama, and a contentious 95th minute penalty from Hobinger made sure that Liverpool took home all three points. We'll get to the performances of both sides in a minute. But firstly, Susie Rack, penalty decision against Ashley Neville. Correct or incorrect? Can I sit on the fence?

We've sort of seen them given both ways, right? I don't think they can have too many complaints about being given but also it it felt a little bit soft at the same time and i like i know you know kind of ashley neville was sort of being blamed for it but i actually thought it was molly bartrip sort of almost like leaning back into her that brought her down rather than it necessarily being ashley level coming sort of heavy from behind. I sort of thought they played pinball with her a little bit. So, OK, penalty then. I'll say penalty because I'm talking my way into it.

But yeah, yeah, I think it probably was. Producer Sophie's face is an absolute picture. So before I just saw her face, which was jaw on the floor, she had put in our shared document, in capital letters, it, and I could see her saying it, it was not a penalty. I was surprised at the just singular exclamation mark.

She then highlighted it. The only thing, the only thing, it's not in bold. So it just doesn't, your thoughts don't count. If it's not in bold, it just doesn't your thoughts if it's not in bold it doesn't count yeah that was funny uh listen Matt Beard's relief though palpable on the sidelines uh avoided dropping points from a winning position for the third week in a row uh how nervy was it for him I mean I'm always stressed watching Matt Beard on the touchline anyway.

But wow, that was another level. Yeah, he was definitely thinking, oh no, not this again. And it has so many chances, especially in that first half, to kind of put the game to bed and they just couldn't do it. And I did tweet when that own goal went in from Taylor Hines. I was like, he's a literal walking emoji. He was literally the face palm emoji. He had his head in his hands he was like this is not happening again so there was a big celebration on the on the sideline at the end of the game you could see the relief kind of emanating out of him as they got that important three points because I think while he would always

say that they've done pretty well start of the season he's not worried you can only tell by Christmas what their season is going to be like. It's always about that first win. And I think it becomes a narrative if you keep dropping points from winning positions. And they put that to bed, I guess, in this game. And they've got that valuable first three points and it's a real big foundation for them to build on

over the next few weeks. In the men's game, it would be known as Spursy. Little one there for Susie to make her happy. Tom, let's talk about Marie Hobinger because she took the league by storm in her first season last year. Matt Beard described her as a Liverpool legend after the game. I mean, that's a little bit OTT perhaps. She's only been there just over a year. There'll be some past Liverpool players going, excuse me, but what does she bring to the Liverpool midfield? Still give us some love without using the far too bandied around phrase, legend.

Yeah, I would say what she is doing more is just really driving this team to higher standards all the time. Legend is too early, yes, but the quality she brings, we need more of this. We need more players with the ambition to shoot from outside the box. Let's just do that for the first thing. Send her to Arsenal. Well said.

But I think not just the long range shooting, but the quality she has on the ball, the kind of purposefulness with the way she moves the ball forward, the way that she takes Liverpool into attacking positions, there's far too much sort of passing sideways and backwards that goes one in this game but also I think probably at least four or five games last season swung on her ability to do that as well so yeah Matt Beard's gone a little bit early on that but you could sense the relief actually because I think they were the better team in both of their first two games significantly actually and yet drew them both so to get this one over the line with that little bit of extra quality from the free kick in particular will be really pleasing for him.

Tottenham looked a little bit flat though, Susie, didn't they? Just three shots on target. Is that a worry or are we still in Villaham we trust? Oh yeah, I mean, you know, every manager's got to have a bit of time, right? Like it's a bit too soon to throw him out. Susie, we work in football, you know, every manager's got to have a bit of time, right? Like, it's a bit too soon to throw him out. Susie, we work in football. You know, we can switch from one day to the next

as to how we feel, whether a manager should be cut or not. I thought Spurs had decent moments, and, you know, obviously a dominating possession, significantly more passes, like better pass accuracy, all those things in their favour. It was just they didn't really do well up front, which isn't normal for them. It's not like, you know, comparing it to their rivals, Arsenal,

where it does seem to be like a consistent problem. This isn't a consistent problem for Spurs. So you'd like to think that it's a blip. You know, they did 3-2, but they didn't actually score any of the goals. It was some really, really poor defending and, you know, two bad own goals that sort of kept them in that game. But I don't think it's anything to worry about too much. I think, you know, they've got enough quality in attack and in the midfield to be able to create chances and get shots on target. It's just a matter of bad day at the office.

I don't think it's anything terminal yet. She has to stick the little gunner's nudge in there at the end. I've got to jump on my fence. Plenty of drama on display in Crawley as well on Saturday. Just the six goals, two red cards and two penalties to go through.

What a bonkers game this was. Brighton 4, Aston Villa 2. Villa took an early lead through Rachel Daly, but it only lasted a couple of minutes. Nikita Paris responded with her first WSL goal for Brighton.

Pauline Bramer then opened her account for the season before Daly levelled from the spot just after the break. Then it just got a bit crazy. 15 minutes left to go. Paula Thomas saw a straight red for a foul on Kiko Seiki. Frank Kirby then dispatched the subsequent penalty, which restored Brighton's lead. Then they were also reduced to 10 when Poppy Pattinson received a second yellow card.

This time, Michelle Aguimang made her mark in injury time, making sure that Dario Vidic's side consolidated the three points. So if you had this down as the game of the weekend, and it definitely delivered, it was quite fun It was very fun and I'm glad that my prediction proved to be right I did have a look at the fixtures ahead of the weekend and was like that's the one I want to be at

and poor Tom had me sat next to him throughout the game chirping away getting thoroughly excited so no it was incredibly exciting I think it was it was it was incredibly exciting um it was I think it was two teams that are so evenly matched at times that it was quite hard to see that where they would fall apart I would say that for both teams it's in the defensive areas that they can sometimes struggle it's when they're being pressured and when they keep insisting on

passing out from the back um that's That's where the errors come in. And I think at least two or three of the goals came from those situations where I understand what they're trying to do, the kind of style of football that both Dario and Robert de Pau are trying to instill in them and that kind of passing out from the back stuff. But it just causes a lot of errors. I do think that the card changed it as well. I do think if we'd had 15 more minutes of 11 v 11,

we might have had a different outcome. Interesting. Brighton have hit the ground running so far this season. Susie, I mean, when we talked at the beginning of the season about the acquisitions that they've made, some real potent goal scorers in there. Four different players on the score sheet in this game. That's quite crucial going forward, isn't it?

Particularly the raft of injuries that we're seeming to see at the minute. Yeah, not to put everything in an Arsenal lens, but my God, I would love to see Adjeman back at Arsenal for a little bit. I thought Paris was brilliant obviously got a goal and an assist proper poacher instinct like creative in attack they just look really good they look really um fluid in the way they play which feels weird like relatively speaking for a team that's had such high turnover in players in coaching staff like there's been so much change there and yet they they really

seem to be clicking in a way that i wouldn't expect for a team this early on into their sort of new era for want of a less crap phrase um so i uh yeah yeah i like i'm hugely impressed with um with what they're doing and uh yeah, I mean, four goal scorers, you're never going to complain about that, aren't you? Like for a team at that level of the table to be doing that in a game against a team that you kind of see very, very closely matched with them is hugely impressive.

Yeah, it really is. And Sophie mentioned that it would have maybe been a different outcome if it had been 11 v 11 at the end of the game but he was very unhappy wasn't he

Robert De Pau China in his hand with the Thomas red card decision sorry I can't help it now was his frustration justified Tom would you say

just the one point on the board it's going to take time for him isn't it for him to lay down what he wants from his Villa side. But what did you make of it all? Yeah, I think, actually, firstly, he was unhappy,

but he was quite fair with what he said, Robert De Pau, about the decision. You know, he was quite specific not to criticise the referee or have a real go at them and repeatedly said that, you said that he was sort of essentially saying they're only human. It wasn't the kind of anti-referee rant that we sometimes see. And I thought that was quite refreshing. Similarly with, I think, Robert Villaham and a few other managers this weekend have all said similar things. It was quite respectful to the referee.

So kudos to them. But no, going back to your question, I don't think there's massive cause to panic for Aston Villa i thought there were lots of really positive signs for them over the course of the game i think they can feel quite unlucky with the straight red card which most people in the ground i think were very surprised to see a straight red emerge there i think it was a penalty for me that felt quite harsh and I think most people in the ground would tend to to agree maybe maybe the officials felt there'd been a deliberate elbow or shoulder towards the head

at first glance but on the replay I'm not sure that was the case so that's my take on the on the first red card and that did change the game you know at a crucial point when both teams were going to try and win it so no but for Villa I mean and there are really positive signs for Villa with the type of football that they're playing they created a lot of chances I think what stuck out for me was just how much stronger Brighton's bench was the players they were bringing on in the final 20 minutes were really changing the match and that was perhaps just a little if I was a Brighton fan, that would really excite me. And the other thing that would really excite me if I was a Brighton fan was the tone of Daddy Overdosage's post-match comments to us were very much of the mindset of that he was pleased, but that he thought they had loads to still improve on.

He was almost a little bit critical of the performance. And if you're winning 4-2 against Atten Villa and you think that there's lots of things you're not happy about, that suggests to me that they're really going to go places this season. Yeah. And as you say, Dario Vidovic, I think I called him Vidovic earlier for no reason whatsoever. So anybody listening to that who picked me up on it, apologies, just rolled off the tongue. As did Robert De Pauw's comments about Jordan Nobbs I mean we talked about Matt Beard uh using the um legend word bandying it around but Robert De Pauw has basically called Jordan Nobbs Luca Modric um which is quite incredible I knew what he meant though in terms

of the energy and the experience she brings on the pitch because she's one of the older players. He used the word, good enough is old enough, like a little Modric in midfield, which is a nice comparison. You know I hate the comparisons. I can't bear it. Any players, young players brought in who are compared with old players, male or female, it drives me nuts. But I see what he means at the same time. But 193 league appearances is quite incredible.

So she becomes the all-out WSL record appearance maker. Bearing in mind the injury history that she's had, how much of an achievement is that? I mean, it's absolutely huge. And I think people sometimes maybe underestimate what Jordan has done in this game because maybe she hasn't been like a maybe sometimes number 6 at times but she's an 8 she can be a 10, she can create she's boxed spots, she will never stop running and she's playing this

season as if she was 17 years old again which you'd just love to see and along with Drew Spence if I'm not wrong she is the only player to have played in every single WSL season, 15 seasons it's quite incredible. And I do think the word legend, you're right, it gets bandied around a bit too much.

But I think when it comes to the WSL and it comes to Jordan Nobbs, it comes to Arsenal and now with Villa, she can definitely be called a legend. Yes, I agree with you on that one. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll round up the rest of the weekend's action, including Arsenal, which means that Susie is just disappearing. She's not coming back for the rest of the pod. Oh, she might do. We'll see. We're also going to look ahead to the start of the Champions League group stage. 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. continue with the rest of the weekend's WSL action. Susie Rack, it was a case of the same old story for Arsenal as they were held to a goal of straw by Everton at the Emirates. Don't worry, I'm going to ask Tom about it first. Just an inability to break down a deep, compact defence has been a theme of Jonas Eidevall's time at the club. It finished Arsenal nil, Everton nil.

Tom, the stats are conclusive. 21 chances created, five on target Idavel spoke a lot about how they were too slow on the ball as well what went wrong well it's it's becoming a bit of a worry for me that Arsenal every now and then just have this problem with trying to grind out the nasty win, the really horrible, ugly win, the kind of result that has won Chelsea titles. And before Chelsea fans say I'm accusing them of being an ugly team, I'm not. You know, they play wonderful football, but just every now and then you've got to have an off day and still win. Like Chelsea went to Tottenham, I think it was right at the end of last season, away from home. Tottenham played very well. Chelsea didn't have many opportunities. 1--0 you know job done go and win the title and Arsenal aren't doing that often

enough and this was a classic example I think there you ask what's going wrong a lot of people were asking why we didn't see you know Rosa Gafayi or Catherine Kuhl try and brought on to you know break down those the Everton defence maybe there's just a slight lack of a plan C plan D plan E or whatever it might be the different options to try and break down a defence like Everton's which was organised well but I would also say let's not panic I mean I don't think that it is a big disaster there's lots of people overreacting on social media to the one game Arsenal haven't lost a game yet. Chelsea away was the only defeat in the last sort of,

I think, in the league in the last eight months. So there's no reason to really, really panic. But certainly they really need to work more on finding new ways to be creative and just get through those lower blocks to solve this problem because you can't afford to drop points at home against Everton with all due respect to Everton, who played very well. But none of the title contenders will have expected to drop points at home to them. That's just a reality. Overreaction on social media? Surely not. We will talk and give love to Everton for that performance shortly. But first,

I'm going to make Susie squirm a little bit because it's another two points dropped for your team. Two draws and a win to kick off the season. You're sixth currently. Three games in. No need to panic in the slightest. I'm just enjoying this because I won't get to for most of the season, I predict. But is it problematic in terms of looking ahead towards the end of the season when you know how tight the league can get

and dropping points this early when you're trying to mount a title challenge is a problem? That's question one. Question two comes from Natalie, who's been in touch with us and asked whether Jonas Idervall is going to last the season I mean it's not ideal like the one the frustrating thing for me is like just how like a narrow arsenal were that every they're just trying to like in a low block you can't

keep trying to force through the middle and that's just what they keep trying to do trying to find that eye of a needle pass or movement. And it just wasn't working. But they they don't change that up at all. They don't go wide. They don't kind of bring on someone who has the ability to unlock that through the middle. It's just super frustrating. I agree. I don't think it's completely disastrous. If you had asked me in previous seasons i would say that's it title chance is over but like the reality is is as we said at the start of the season and as we said towards the end of last season blah blah it is getting tighter like the middle teams are much better i've repeatedly said

so far this season like the level of coaching of those middle pack and lower end of the table teams is really, really good. So dropping points to them, I think, is going to be more normal than it usually is for the top three. But that said, to be on the back foot this early on in the season and chasing is not ideal, to say the least. Will Jonas last the season? Yeah, I don't think Arsenal are going to ditch him mid-season unless there was a complete and utter like crisis. They crashed out of the Champions League with two games still to play.

The title race was over by Christmas and, you know, they were out of the FA Cup or whatever it may be. Like if that happened by sort of end of January, then, you you know who knows anything can happen but I think it's it's so unlikely um they're quite determined to stick with uh their managers and give them time um across the club at the minute so like I can't see that happening would he like be here at the end of the season if they have a you know really really poor campaign who knows it? It's anyone's guess.

But yeah, I look forward to discussing Luton Town's ups and downs next week, eh, Faye? I was waiting for you to bring that up. Unfortunately, this is a pod about women's football and the men's championship has no place here. No place here at all. By the way, the Hatters women, I will update you on how they're getting on in their league but right at this moment in time we don't discuss the men sorry it's a no-go zone Sophie gives some love to

Everton this is what Brian Sorensen had to say the resilience the togetherness the willingness to fight for each other the coolness the calmness I'm super proud is what he had to say look they've been through it haven't they the past few weeks but it was a real gutsy display from them it was

and I'm actually really pleased for them I just think that when you put in a display like that with all of the energy that they they put in and the hard work that they you know throughout that game

it will have taken a few tired legs after a busy week as well after a three-game week. So I think it's just rewards with the effort in that. But I do think that they nullified Arsenal. They knew how to nullify Arsenal. They know that Arsenal have this problem with a low block and they went for it.

And I would like to shout out Courtney Brosnan as well. I think she is a highly, highly underrated goalkeeper in this league. I don't think we talk about her nearly enough. I think she's one of the highly underrated goalkeeper in this league. I don't think we talk about her nearly enough. I think she's one of the best shot stoppers there is out there at the moment. And she saved three penalties

midweek against Newcastle and she made some huge stops again at the Emirates. She turns up on the big occasions, both for the club and for Ireland as well. So I just want to give her her flowers.

Yes, thank you,zy rack suzy rack as i'm just looking and by the way i i always keep an eye out for for lutein ladies and i haven't done today because i came straight into the booth to record um yes we're bottom of the league thank you suzy for pointing that out Wonderful. Anyway, who invited you on this pod? Damn it. Co-presents the pods. This is not fair. Right.

Anyway, let's not talk about that. It's why we don't talk about fantasy football either. Let's talk about Manchester City, Susie's other favourite team. Top of the league, Manchester City, in fact. Their second win of the campaign. They beat West Ham by two goals to nil Lauren Hemp

and Mary Fowler on the score sheet Barcelona are on the horizon and actually Gareth Taylor decided to rotate which is something

we've not seen that much of under his tenure Bunny Shaw and Viv Miedema rested Jill Roard got her first start in nine months

after returning from an ACL it was great to see her Tom how important is it was great to see her. Tom, how important is it for City to see her back? Huge, absolutely huge. And I think not just that, but you mentioned Gareth Taylor being able to rotate his side and rest players. That is such a valuable, valuable thing to be able to do ahead of a Champions League week and to have still won the game.

I think he'll be very, very pleased. I think particularly with Bunny Shaw being able to keep her fresh to start against Barcelona will give him a huge boost. This was a really good win for Manchester City because it's one of those games where I think we've seen them maybe slip up in in recent years or the kind of game where they might not have seen the job through. They were a little bit lucky that West Ham had the goal disallowed in very early on in the game for USA that I think replays showed. She looked on side, but that side, you know, they got the job done and I think I said on the preview pod when their first 11 are all available

this Man City team are for me the best 11 in the league and right up there is one of the best 11s in Europe so

it'll be really interesting to see how they get on on Wednesday against Barcelona it's a real sort of real test of where they're at

in terms of their development and how good a game they can give the European champions. Yep, certainly is. Lauren Hemp had an impact again. She was at the heart of everything that City did offensively, as she tends to be. She became the youngest player to reach 50 WSL goals after that goal in the first half,

which is another incredible achievement, Susie. Yeah, like a huge achievement, super talented player. I just thought she was brilliant in this game as well. Obviously scores, but like clips the woodwork, puts it over the bar, forced a save off the line, like just all action performance. only thing is is like she can maybe add some more goals to her game she got 11 goals last season which was her best tally for sitting wsl i think it was uh she's hit 10 once before and like yeah if she could

go a little bit better than that i think she'd like push her game onto the next level um she does so much she's so creative she could have had you know three or four in this game alone and yeah it's nice to see her being quite fluid in that front line with the city um they're usually quite rigid but they me, this season have looked a little bit more experimental. I think having Mir de Meir in there, Shaw's been drifting wide occasionally. When Mary's on the pitch, she's dipping back a little bit. It's just all a little bit more organic and less predictable, which I think could be really, really good for them. Yeah. Listen, I just want to, while you were talking there, I was 100% listening to you, but I was also checking in on Luton Town

because I knew we were better than bottom of the table. You're looking at the wrong table. We're second. We beat, I know, producer Sophie has her head in her hands currently. We beat Enfield yesterday by a goal to nil and we're actually second. We are six points behind Royston Town

in the Eastern Region Women's Premier Division. So, to you to you um okay table i'm looking at well an old one and this is and listen hereby lies the problem lower down the leagues getting access to information is an absolute nightmare oh google's latest uh google's latest table is 2018 2019 that's why I know it is. I know. And yes, we were bottom then. But that would be an incredible season having played 22 games in October.

By October. Okay, I wasn't paying attention. That's a player loading issue, I would suggest. We're talking about welfare a lot. Listen, anyway, I digress. Sorry. Our petty squabbles should not come onto the pod, Susie. Sophie West Ham have now lost 12 in 13 games against City.

And they almost had the perfect start with Vivian Assehi having the ball in the back of the net. The flag went up, though. She was offside. Rhiann Skinner particularly unhappy with that decision. She said I haven't spoken to the referee about it. It's one to follow up with after the game. She's two yards onside. These are the things that have to be looked at

because goals change games. Is she right? Yes because that gets you off to a different start right when you have a goal ahead that early. I mean you can't tell what's going to happen. Manchester City are always going to be the favourites in that game, but it does give you a different platform to build off. It was a frustrating decision.

I heard from people who were there live who said it looked offside, but when I watched it again and again on the replay, it was onside. I'm not quite sure she times her run perfectly. But I think there is a lot that Rhian Skinner can actually take from these first few games of the season, right? So like the Manchester United game, yes, that was a 3-0 loss, but they performed pretty well. They had their chances.

And they played Manchester United, Manchester City. They had their chances again yesterday. Yes, City were better, especially in the second half. But I do think they had Dagny headed wide, which you probably put your money on her to score those kind of goals. She was free in the box. So I think there are positives there. They won big midweek as well against Portsmouth.

So they won't really be too worried about these games against the two Manchester sides. I think it will be more about getting the points against Liverpool like they did last week and those kind of teams in and around them. Yeah, I agree with you. Let's just give you a brief update on the latest action in the Championship.

Charlton dropped their first points of the season, but they did rescue a three-all draw with Sunderland thanks to a late double from Karin Moyer. Durham continued their good start with a 1-0 victory over North East rivals Newcastle United, so they go second. Christy Harrison-Murray scored on her 101st appearance in Birmingham's win over Blackburn, while Isabel Goodwin scored four in London City's 5-1 victory over Portsmouth.

Finally, Bristol City secured their first win of the season, beating Sheffield United 4-2. Right, the Champions League gets underway this week. Some headline fixtures. Tom's already mentioned Manchester City hosting Barcelona as they make their return to the group stage. Chelsea will entertain familiar foes Real Madrid and Arsenal travel to Munich. Tom, you're going to be up there in the north-west

for City Barcelona on Wednesday. I've heard that you have high hopes as well. Tom, you're going to be up there in the northwest for City Barcelona on Wednesday. I've heard that you have high hopes as well. Can Gareth Taylor's side really do it against the European champions? I think they've got a really good chance of giving them a good game. Yeah, I was laughed by a colleague from another newspaper who shall remain nameless. I'd have respect to her. I was laughed at in the press box at Brighton at the suggestion that Man City might get a result in this game. So, and I believe we're sitting near each other in the, in the press lounge on Wednesday night.

So I'm sure she will either take great joy in reminding me of that when Barcelona win by a huge scoreline or I shall be glancing my eye across they know who they are but in all seriousness I can't wait for this game I cannot wait for this game I really can't I was just going to say Sophie have you got anything to say I may have partaken in the laughter but no in all seriousness I may have partaken in the laughter.

But no, in all seriousness, what a fantastic game to start this group, you know, and I think that, you know, there's no better way to try and make a statement about your intentions to kind of go far in Europe than by putting on a good performance against the reigning champions. Barcelona have looked in quite

ominously strong form domestically. They're scoring a lot of goals, but this is just pure box office, really. I think all three English sides have got very interesting and quite difficult games, actually. Probably Chelsea's ever so slightly the easier of the three. And the context, of course, that Arsenal and Chelsea are playing each other this weekend.

I mean, that's just huge to be sandwiched in between the two first rounds of European fixtures. I have a little bit of sympathy for Arsenal in that they're playing Chelsea on Saturday. Arsenal play Wednesday and Wednesday in Europe, whereas Chelsea, their opponents, are playing Tuesday and Thursday. That's just life. Sometimes these things happen, of course.

There's no perfect calendar, but I do have sympathy for Arsenal with that. And I think that's a weird inconsistency from UEFA that we need to talk about. Like why in some weeks is it Tuesday, Wednesday and other weeks is Wednesday, Thursday. That needs to be, in future seasons, that needs to stop. I think that's a load of nonsense um frankly and when so many European leagues play their women's football on a Sunday traditionally then why are we even having Tuesday dates in in the Champions League that's just a little rant out of the way but that aside I can't wait for these games and I think Bayern Arsenal and Man City Barcelona in particular will be pure box office and I just, yeah, bring it on. Yeah. And bring on you taking on

UEFA as well. I'm here for that battle. Go on, Tom. You make a very, very good point. Susie, are you looking forward to a night at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday? Any problems expected for Sonia Bombastor and Chelsea? Well, I hope the DJs

are on it again, because Champions League, under the lights, no, it wasn't Champions League, was it? It was WSL under the lights for the Stockgate. It was Stockgate, and I'll tell you what, we needed the DJ to be on it that night, because he had to

wait so long for the game to kick off. Fingers crossed he's on form on Tuesday. But, yeah, no, had to wait so long for the game to kick off fingers crossed he's he's on form on uh on tuesday but um yeah no uh i yeah i think a big good game i think you know obviously real madrid are doing very very well in um in the liga it's in second joint on points with barcelona atletico um i think they play atletico as well after this fixture so big tie coming up for them big week but

they're not well established in Europe yet as a powerhouse you know they're still building they're at the start of their journey and you know in theory it should be a straightforward match for a squad of Chelsea's quality to deal with but an interesting

first test of Sonia Bonpastor's European credentials at a new club. Yeah Sophie Tom's already bigged up the game that you're heading out to in Germany and Munich how do Arsenal pick themselves up after the disappointment of the weekend? How do you see this one going? Yeah, I'm going on a European tour, so I'm very excited about that. Oktoberfest and music in Munich, not music. There will be music as well, I'm

sure. I'm not going to say no to that, but no, I think Arsenal, it will be a better opponent for them than Everton. Munich aren't going to do what Everton did at the weekend, so they will have a bit more space out there. And I just remember that game a couple of seasons back at the Emirates. I know that was at home, but it was a very, very special night.

And I think they can build on that experience, even though it was quite two years ago now. But I think they can build on that that knowledge and they've got a lot of the same players there as well so I think um it's all to play for I do not I can see goals in it at either end as well um but yeah it's going to be interesting to see how they match up yeah very much looking forward to all of those fixtures and we'll update you on them of course next week in the pod. Any other business? Well, just before we started recording

a little bit earlier than usual, we're recording on a Monday night this week and we've just heard that Bibi Steinhaus-Webb is leaving her position as Select Group Women's Professional Game Director to take up a role at FIFA. Bibi's been pivotal in transforming the Women's Professional Officiating Pathway.

This is the message that came out from PGMOL, who'd like to wish her all the very best for the future, which we would as well, because Bibi is a friend of the pod. Myself and Susie in particular have spent a lot of time in her company and she is a formidable force and will do some fantastic work at FIFA, no doubt. But what she's done for the game here has been fantastic Susie yeah I'm really sad um I did a fantastic interview I spent the day at their um PGMOL women's select group um like training session last season like I think the headline in my piece which pulled it up was I've never understood why anyone would want to be a referee now I do um because like uh like impassion and enthusiasm for refereeing is just so unbelievably infectious

and it just like bleeds through everything the PGMOL are doing refereeing wise like you can feel her presence in like all the work that's being done so it's gonna be really interesting to see how they're able to maintain the like momentum of it without her as like this like unstoppable driving force but hopefully she can bring it to fifa though you know who knows if uh if a massive rock can be moved she'll move it believe me she'll move it in her own unique way i am sure um so what's going on um with England pathway stuff at the minute exciting times particularly for the under 17s yeah it is really really exciting times for the well all youth levels of the English women at the moment but the under 17s so I've been at St George's Park all day today um they started their European qualification for next year's Euros

so they play around one and then they play round two and then if they get through that they get to the Euros next summer. This group is actually probably quite a young group compared to normal because the other under-17s are currently probably on their way to Miami right now to do their pre-camp for the under-17 World Cup in the Dominican Republic that kicks off in just over a week's time. It's going to be an incredible experience, I think, for all of the group out there.

It's the first time England have got to a World Cup since I think it was like they were there in 2008 and then they got there in 2016. So the 2016 era was like the Alessia Russo-Georgia Stanway era of the Under-17s. And now this is the first time since that point that we've reached a World Cup. So very, very exciting for them. I have watched them a lot.

I was at the Euros last summer. It's a very, very talented young group of women. They're going to have an incredible experience out there. They're playing Kenya, Mexico and North Korea. So three opposition that they've never really played before, never really encountered before, because at that level they kind of tend to just play European opposition. So it's going to be an incredible experience to see how they can do out there.

In terms of the pathway, it's a really interesting time because the under-17s is going to an annual World Cup after this year. So the next five years are going to have a World Cup and they're all going to be held in Morocco. And it's a real challenge, think for the pathway at england to be able to learn how to manage that and how to deal with having a euros probably in may time and then a world cup in you know the autumn time around this time every single year um it's going to be a bit of a balancing act i think while the next year of euros is happening um so that's going to be a bit interesting to see how that happens.

But it's very exciting. We've got lots of talent coming through. The girls today were really, really good as well and have big futures ahead of them. Exciting times, that's for sure. Listen, all of you, enjoy your little trips away, even if Susie's is the shortest. I'll give you a wave. I'm not that far from King's

Meadow. Stanford Bridge. Oh of course it is oh my god that's even closer what a muppet what a muppet I knew it was at Stanford Bridge oh my goodness me you tell we're recording late there's a giddiness whenever we do a Monday night pod there's always a giddiness to it and I feel like we've had that tonight. Tom thank you for always bringing the sensibility and calming us all down. Lovely to see you. Chat soon. Soph, lovely to see you. Great to be back on.

See you soon. Susie, bye. Bye. I think we should try and go to a Luton Town ladies game between now and Christmas. 100%. They were at Barton yesterday, which is where they play their home games. And it was a 1-0 victory.

And I'm just, listen, Luton Town ladies, if anybody is listening, I apologise. You know I'm just listen Luton Town ladies if anybody is listening I apologize you know I'm normally well up with your matches and what's going on and I hadn't been at all uh this week so apologies for not repping properly and uh and shutting Susie down instantly with her uh abuse um right keep having your say by sending in your questions via x email us at womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com if you would like 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 goal posts sign up and in wednesday's piece our very own sophie downey is going to be looking at norwegian side valorenga

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