The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Arsenal win League Cup as Manchester clubs flex muscles – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: March 7, 2023

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Sophie Downey and Moyo Abiona reflect on an eventful Conti Cup final and round up the latest WSL news

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. Arsenal end their four-year wait for silverware, beating Chelsea in the Conte Cup final. Jonas Eideveld praises his side's character. Well, Emma Hayes really wants you to know that it was a very, very long wait. Bunny Shaw and Alessia Russo bag hat-tricks as United and City make it a 1-2 in the table.

And does anyone remember Yen Shua? We'll discuss all that. Take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Susie Rack, a trophy. Woohoo! I'm so happy. That's all I have.

I'm just very happy. The thing is, I went into that game and I was very much expecting defeat and was like nothing can bring me down after the men's nothing can bring me down nothing can bring me down and then I just got lifted up it was great oh she's up on her cloud number nine delighted Sophie Downey you're wearing my favorite hat did you do that just for me? No, I wear it all the time. But we'll say it's for you. We'll say that. We'll say that. Thanks very much. Moyo Abiona, how are you? I'm good, thank you. How are you? Very well, thank you. It's been a little while, hasn't it?

And in between that little while, there was a trophy, a final. And between the two titans of the WSL, arguably, I'm sure both Manchester clubs would not particularly like me saying that, Arsenal 3, Chelsea 1. Chelsea took a second-minute lead against Arsenal, and I think all of us immediately just thought, oh, here we go. But it ended up being a deserved win for the Gunners. Three goals in the first half, Chelsea losing their second consecutive Conte Cup final. Let's go properly into it and climb off your number

nine cloud, please, Susie Rack. 2018-19 was the WSL title and the last piece of silverware that Arsenal... You're jigging. Oh my God, she's dancing. It's Tuesday. You won it on Sunday. It's 48 hours. It's been four years Faye four years sorry I'm sorry do you need four years to keep celebrating in that case tell me bearing in mind it's been four years how important that win was for Arsenal oh huge I think like the biggest point less so even like getting a trophy more getting the win against Chelsea in the context of the season that Arsenal having in the run they've been on and all of the narratives that you know Beth Mead

and Viviana Mead are not being there Christina Blackstenius not really taking advantage of the opportunities that she's getting you know question marks over whether they can do it without those players you know lots of nice play but not really making the most of it as we saw in the you know the game the preceding week they really needed a win like that like that kind of manner of win where they were fiery battling clinical you know obviously the trophy is the cherry on the top and winning breeds winning like that's generally the way it goes, although it didn't quite work for Arsenal last time round. But I think they just badly, badly needed a performance and a result like that against Chelsea more than anything. You know, they're not one in five games prior.

The last win coming in that opening day of the season to Chelsea and United side of ours first game in charge which you know obviously had the caveats of of it being the first game back and then you know not being very well rested and short turnaround between competitions and that kind of stuff so like the you know there was all that going on so yeah I think I just badly badly needed a win against Chelsea and the manner of it is going to be huge, I think. Yeah, I think the manner of it is what everyone's speaking about, Sophie, really. How impressive was it of Arsenal to turn it around, particularly going a goal down after just two minutes? Yeah, I think actually Leo Williamson alluded to it post-match.

Actually conceding that early probably helped them a little bit. It refocused them. You know, if you score just before half-time you start to panic a bit, but actually when it goes in the first two minutes you know you've got time to figure it out and sort things out and turn it around. And I think they just got back to business. And I do think

Jonas Eidevall outfoxed Emma Hayes and we don't say that very often but he spent the week honing his tactics and making sure his players knew exactly where to target. Kim Little had all of the space in the world. And yeah, he got one over on her, I think, this time. Yeah, I mean, she pretty much blamed her players, didn't she, for being off the pace. But, you know, she made substitutions. Khadija Buchanan introduced after 38 minutes.

But was she kind of post-match almost admitting that she'd got it wrong? Do you think, Soph? I don't know. I was really confused by her comments because I don't think you do blame your players like that. You know, she changed tactics about three or four times in the game. She took Kankovic off on the 35th minute, I think, to bring on Buchanan. She just was not happy with the way that her team was set up.

And I was saying, you know, you can't change your team or your tactics that many times in a game. You're asking for trouble. And Arsenal just capitalised. So I think she's talked about complacency. I don't think it was necessarily just the team. I think it was all around the club. But yeah, it was complacent, but that's not an excuse. As a winning club, you have to battle against that complacency, don't you?

I thought it was the first time that I've seen her react as if she's really rattled in a post-match in a way that I've not seen before. She's so clever and calculated in what she-match in a way that I've not seen before. She's so clever and calculated in what she wants to say in interviews and the points she wants to get across and it was slightly more scattergun. She didn't really

have one answer or one clear excuse that she came out with. There was this very clear blaming of the players which went a little bit far the wrong way, I felt. There's very clear blaming of the players which went a little bit far the wrong way I felt like you know you could there's a way of blaming the players without blaming the players isn't there uh quite so directly um then there was the you know the

criticism of the time wasting of uh Manuela Zinsberger which coming from someone who manages Anne-Catherine Burgess, who is the absolute king of that tactic, it felt slightly bizarre. And just like all of these different sort of semi-excuses just felt a little bit desperate in a way that I've not really seen her seem quite so rattled before. Yeah, one of them was, you know, you mentioned complacency there she basically quite pointedly pointed out how much they'd won in comparison to Arsenal I mean is it that simple Moyo Arsenal wanted it more it was another random one I completely agree with Susie to be honest I felt like you know like when you're in the heat of the moment and your emotions are so high it felt like everything she was thinking she just said out loud at that moment as opposed to thinking okay this is how this is going to sound so let me not say it or let me let me kind of say it in a way that's more subtle I

feel like she literally said exactly what she was thinking and it was to the detriment of like how she came across but I also think as well that she went into the game thinking that Chelsea were going to win I don't think in her head she had planned for what to say post-match because she didn't think post-match she'd be talking about a loss and I feel like that changed so much but I also think there may have been an element in which her energy of I feel like we're going to win probably radiated onto the players so I guess there could be complacency on both her end and the players. And if she feels like the players were complacent, I feel like that could only have come from her. And I guess that's where she needs to take ownership for it. But I feel like Arsenal as

well felt like they were going into the game completely as the underdogs. I feel like sometimes when they go into finals, they feel as though, yeah, we've got a really good chance here. But this is probably the first time that pretty much everyone else was saying Chelsea have won this and I feel like it's helped as well that they've played Chelsea so recently because they could fix the things that it didn't do well in the last game but I feel like Arsenal went into this completely underdogs with nothing to lose and it sort of gave them the freedom to express themselves I feel like the pressure felt off of the players that were there. It's like people like Steena, people like the midfielders,

like Kim Little, I thought I had a really good game as well. I feel like the midfielders showed their true quality because the pressure wasn't so much on them. And Chelsea just couldn't really respond. Yeah, let's talk about Kim Little, Susie, because she deservedly picked up the Player of the Match awards. I think actually there are a couple of players that were in for a shout for it,

to be honest, but Jonas Idavel said it was her best performance under him. How key was she to what Arsenal managed to do to Chelsea on Sunday? Oh, I mean, she was unbelievable. You know, she's absolutely in control. I mean, I was watching some of the highlights earlier this morning, just to remind myself, and like the way she just sort of shrugs off erin cuff but who is like it's erin cuff but right one of the most battling players in the league like real kind of like terrier like fighter and she's just holding her away from the ball just shielding it so calmly

like so so so relaxed on the ball and there's a there's a great little um like map doing the rounds on twitter of the past networks between the players um and at the heart of arsenals is kim delivering to pretty much every single player on the pitch and it's so stark how integral she is to this um arsenal side i like every time i watch her now ever since she obviously retired from international football uh which was you know not quite two years ago I fear for an Arsenal without Kim Little like she's so so critical to the way they play and like I don't think it's possible to get another player like her I don't think there'll be another Kim Little so like what do you do when she at 32 eventually decides to retire but I mean on the basis of that performance could you

see her ever retiring you know can she go on forever can we have we got time to find a way to clone Kim Little before she retires that is like I think that that is the question that that science needs to answer before anything else your twitter handle moyo is moyo's laboratory it's me it's me i'll take over the reins thank you thank you you're doing the lord's work so i want to talk a little bit about lauren james actually moyo because i felt as if she really struggled in in this match she was brilliantly marked by Leovolti, but almost tried to do too much herself. I saw a moment with one of Emma Hayes' coaching staff coming over and giving her instructions. We've heard Emma Hayes talk about her defensive frailties, if you like. I feel like that's a harsh word to use, but she's talked about

defensively her needing to do her job a little bit better. She's still only 21 and it's so easy to forget that. She's such a mature player on the pitch. But it does show that there's still further to go when it comes to her development, maybe. To be honest, I don't feel like Lauren James had an awful game. I do feel like she was still a threat. But obviously she wasn't, it wasn't as effective in terms of it actually coming off. I still feel like she was trying a lot of stuff which was good and I feel like that would have been encouraging to Chelsea and Chelsea fans as well um but I feel like the bit she was lacking

on was that sometimes she was going into dead ends so like for example there was a point that Arsenal started like doubling up but also being intentional being on the front foot with defending against her because I feel like oftentimes people step off because they don't want her to just breeze past them but I feel like the only way to stop someone like Lauren James is to actually be on the front foot and go to her directly there were points though in this final that I felt like she sort of like went back to like her at United because I feel like at United there were times that like we just needed her to make something out of nothing. And so like,

we would just give her the ball, that could be even on the halfway line, and just be like, okay, we need something from you here. And I feel like at Chelsea, she doesn't necessarily need to do that. I feel like the level from what she,

when she was at United, is completely different. And I feel like she doesn't need to go into like, hero ball type of mode. And I feel like at times, especially in the second half, when Chelsea became at United, is completely different. And I feel like she doesn't need to go into like hero ball type of mode. And I feel like at times, especially in the second half, when Chelsea became more desperate and they felt like the game was slipping away,

she also started becoming more desperate. But I guess it's more so like, that's probably the first final she's played in. And I feel like that probably also played a part in the sense that like, she wasn't really sure of how to combat what Arsenal were blocking her with but it also didn't help that Chelsea themselves didn't really know so like there wasn't someone that could say okay we're doing this and could like guide her towards

what Chelsea wanted to do it felt like everyone was sort of clueless and so she also became more clueless as the game went on yeah I don't think she particularly necessarily had like a terrible game in and of herself I think she was just like stopped from playing and like Arsenal really targeted that side of the pitch and Chelsea didn't really find the way to back her up basically like I thought Moritz was brilliant um on that side like keeping James really really deep into her own half getting her you, real push, push back. And then Katie McCabe was able to sort of come inwards a little bit and find space and be an extra person sort of more centrally.

And it really caused the Chelsea defence real problems. And Lauren James was getting pulled further and further back to try and cope with Moritz. And that's not a job she is good at or used to or, you know, is developed in. So I don't think it was necessarily, yeah, like Moira said, that she had a bad game per se. It was that she was being asked to do something very, very different. Arsenal were really targeting that side and Emma Hayes didn't find a way to solve that and help her out of that problem.

Sophie, what impact do you think this game is going to have on both these club seasons? I think it's massive for Arsenal. It was the one that they really needed, right? Everyone's been talking about their form or the lack of Beth Mead and Viviane Minderborn and how much of a hole that's left and they just needed something from somewhere and last week against Chelsea in the FA Cup they weren't actually that far away they just did not have that like clinical edge they were producing chances they could have easily got a couple of goals so I think winning a trophy winning this game against as Susie said against the like biggest rivals in Chelsea as well it's going to be absolutely huge for them.

And I could just see when Steno Blackstein is scored, you could just see the confidence levels rise in her. So that's going to be absolutely key as well because she put in a hell of a performance and getting that goal is going to be a massive weight off her back. A big week ahead. They've got, I think, Liverpool tomorrow and then Reading at the weekend.

So a real chance to pick up points in the league. So I think for them it's a massive springboard and Kim Little did speak about that before the game she said this happened in 2018-19 season we won the Conte Cup then and then we went on to win the league it was a massive you know jumping point from that it gave us all of the confidence to go forward from that point and they will be hoping that that will come good again because they've got big champions league games as well so it's a big month it's just what they needed for Chelsea I don't really know Chelsea are Chelsea right we know them as the mentality monsters they always seem to bounce back but who knows what could happen with another result like

that or another defeat like that when you've got also games back-to-back. They play Brighton tomorrow. They should get through that, but it's still closed games. So it's going to be interesting to see how they recover and what MAH does to kind of keep the morale strong because it's the first time I've really seen Chelsea rattled in terms of they just don't seem on the same uh song sheet or whatever so it's going to be interesting to see how they respond yeah that's actually an interesting

point isn't it because we always talk about squad depth and and the importance of that for for Chelsea when they're fighting or were fighting on on all four fronts but actually with that comes a little bit of a disjointedness maybe but thing is Moya I'd quite like to know especially as a Man United fan by the way I cannot believe I did not at the beginning of the pod mention 7-0 7-0 7-0 I was happy that we brushed over that quite quickly to be honest when you see Chelsea lose to Arsenal like that and particularly as a Manchester United fan and what you've been doing as in the women's team this season it shows the WSL is obviously a lot more open this season and than it certainly has been in past seasons as well

but because this result and you know there's always the caveat isn't there that it's the Conte Cup but it showed that even the teams who seem out of form can still beat the teams who seem unassailable I don't know how much of that is is the narrative and how much of that is that this season is just really open yeah I think to be honest the result on the weekend sort of gives me like confidence but also takes away confidence as well because I feel like out of the City, Arsenal and Chelsea I always felt like City always looked the most equipped to beat Chelsea and I always felt like Arsenal were in the rut in the same way that when I as a United fan go into games against Chelsea I always just think yeah the game's just written off like it's already like Chelsea gonna win this game and I feel like

from that I got confidence in the sense that like Arsenal beat Chelsea like they're it's not like you cannot beat Chelsea and also teams have been scoring goals against Chelsea this season like we saw Spurs who haven't been good in front of goal score two goals against Chelsea so it's not like you can't score against Chelsea right now they've got frailties in defence even though they've got individual good defenders but at the same time I feel like sometimes when Chelsea get a loss like this it means that they just turn on like a different mode and now they're not going to lose the game.

I feel like sometimes they take the anger from a big loss and then just tunnel vision now and just make sure to just defeat everything that comes in their way. So I'm scared that it's going to go that way, especially with us having a game against them soon. Well, I would say Brighton should be scared first and foremost because they play them on Wednesday. But actually, it's a question from Dom, Sophie.

Will the Conte Cup final defeat harm Chelsea's Champions League and WSL push? Or, as Moyo just suggested, will it have the opposite effect and spur them on to new heights? I think it could go both ways, to be honest. As I mentioned before, I do feel there's a little bit more disharmony in that Chelsea squad. You know, the whole conversation around Eriksen and Harder as well. It's not what you're used to with Chelsea, really, are you? You're used to having quite a tight squad. There's never

really many rumours around players wanting to go or talking about going or thinking about going. So it's new ground for ahead of the season. I think the whole Berger-Musevic thing, I know Berger started the last couple of games, but Musevic had a couple of games before that. That seemed to be a bit up in the air as well. So it's going to be really interesting how they knuckle down and go forward. I think Brighton, I mean, they should beat Brighton, but I do think with United coming so close at the weekend, that's going to be the real test for them to recover because United look really, really good.

I guess they were playing Leicester, but Leicester have improved massively and they got the job done. And the United of old would have struggled against Leicester, whereas they absolutely, you know, sort of dominated them at the weekend. So, yeah, it's going to be interesting going forward. In addition to the, ericsson harder situation of them possibly leaving in the summer like you've got the fact that buchanan has not settled in him perhaps quite the way emma hayes would have liked and looks to be really really struggling to like

kind of keep pace with the demands of the wsl and what what what chelsea want of her and so that's created a problem right because who do they play at centre-back do they go back to Ericsson who is you know likely on the way out do they keep persevering with Buchanan who has a big error in her as we saw and she was very lucky to get away with in the game against Arsenal I mean that was like Stonewall penalty all day long how we haven't even talked about exactly oh my goodness exactly that um how how that wasn't given i i just don't know it couldn't be more obvious it was right in the box like um she's a liability and so they've got a real difficulty there and i think that's helping

contribute to the the sort of various issues around the team that clearly are there at the moment that Sophie mentioned, because it's making a problem of something that I think, you know, Emma probably thought she had dealt with in signing Buchanan to, you know, allow Ericsson to move on if she so desires. Just to wrap this up, actually,

and it's less of a question, more of a kind of statement, but there is a question in it. It's from Sue. She says, Why is everyone so surprised with Arsenal's win? Chelsea not been firing this year, now heavily reliant on Kerr. Defence hasn't been settled. Arsenal did enough in previous games to suggest that this was possible.

As a neutral, I went with Arsenal fans and pre-game, we all predicted this. And actually, I think what we've pretty much summed up is exactly that. I don't think it was as much of a surprise, maybe, Sophie, as everybody was predicting. No, I do think a lot has been made of Arsenal, but actually they've been pretty... Take out that game against City, they've been pretty structurally solid and a lot has been made of a few errors in defense that do just happen you know

and the fact that Stina has had to play a different kind of role in the last few months to what you probably expected to play when you had like the likes of Mead and Miedema scoring goals around you they scored something like they were involved in something like 66 percent of their their goals when they were fit or when they were playing so you know it's been a massive hole to fill but they haven't looked structurally bad they've created chances they have played good football at times it just hasn't just been coming off for them I'm taking the City game out of that because I think that was just tactically all wrong and that's what I put it down to so I wasn't that surprised I did think it was kind of coming maybe that a big performance was coming whether it was going to come in the performance was coming, whether it was going to come in the Conte Cup final

or whether it was going to come in the Champions League, where maybe the pressure was off a little bit more because they're playing Bayern Munich and they probably weren't expected maybe to win it. So it loosens the pressure a bit. But yeah, it's an interesting one. But I do think a lot has been made of Arsenal's deficiencies rather than thinking about the strengths that they have. Yeah um thank you for your questions by the way we've got a couple more in part two sent them to me on twitter but I need to flag to you we now have our

own email address so if you have your own email address you can reach us on womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com that's it for part one in part two we'll look at the weekend's WSL action 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. So whilst the Conte Cup caught everyone's attention at Selhurst Park over the weekend,

the two Manchester clubs kept their heads down and found themselves in first and second place in the table. Alessia Russo scored Manchester United's first WSL hat-trick and a perfect one at that. They beat Leicester 5-1. Moyo, I didn't mention the 7-0 at the start. Although you have mentioned it a couple of times now. It's more than a couple. It's more than a couple.

I've shoehorned it in everywhere I possibly can. But Manchester United women, a 5-1 victory. They were clinical in the end and it felt like a bit of a confidence boosting win maybe after a few wobbly performances before the international break. No, it was a really good win. We probably could have even had more goals

to be honest. There were a couple of chances that I was thinking, how did we not score that? But I feel like it might be a bit crazy of me to complain when we won 5-1. But yeah, I was really happy with the performance to be um but I feel like it might be a bit crazy of me to complain when we won 5-1 but yeah no I was really happy with the performance to be honest I feel like everyone played to a really good level like sometimes you feel like there's like major standout moments but I feel like everyone actually played to a really good level and the thing I was happiest with actually was that the goals that Russo scored I've always like picked up like oh Russo she's such a good goal scorer she's such a good goal scorer but I've always the only thing I've been critical on is that I've always felt

like she doesn't get enough like scruffy goals like tap-ins I feel like that's where you get your numbers up I always think like there's certain teams that you just need to go and stat pad against like Bunny Shaw does it Rachel Daly's been doing it and I've been waiting for the moment for Rusa to just unleash goals on the team and I'm sorry Lester that it had to be you but it had to be somebody but yeah I was just really happy with the goal she scored and I feel like outside of the goal she scored I feel like her all-round game as always to be honest was really good her hold-up play was really good back to goalto-goal was really good. She was linking up so well, playing the wingers in.

I feel like we kept our width really well in this game and I feel like that's when we're best, when we're getting the wingers involved and we're getting our full-backs involved. But yeah, I'm just starting to see really good combinations and I feel like it's really promising for the games coming up and for the end of the season as well.

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's very exciting at the moment. And I've got a question from Jim very shortly on that. But anything Alessia Russo can do, Bunny Shaw can do better. Her own matching hat-trick to Tottenham in their 3-1 victory. City went behind to Celine Bizet's first Tottenham goal,

but came back to earn a comfortable win in the end. James has a question, Susie. Are Spurs in the relegation battle they're only three points above Leicester at this point can Rhian Skinner turn this round I'm really worried for Tottenham um like really worried are you genuinely really well I mean you know objectively speaking I'm very well I'm very worried for Tottenham and it's you know it's good for the game to have them in the league as much as I dislike them as a club generally speaking um I quite like Rhiann Skinner although I don't think she's necessarily doing the best job at the moment no like Leicester have it despite the defeat to Man United Leicester have a real bit of momentum behind them since Willy Kirk has come in.

Like you can tell that he's getting them organised and they have a plan. The goal they scored was very nice. And, you know, a game against Man United, who are league leaders at the moment, is expected that they're going to lose that game, right? Like they're not going to walk away from that with heads really, really low necessarily.

Like the bigger games are to come. And, you know, you look at the, you know, the fixture list of Leicester, the fixture list of Spurs, Leicester have got like a decent run of games where they can definitely pick up points. Spurs are struggling big time, that three point gap is going to close very very quickly Brighton obviously are in between them but have two games in hand over both sides so obviously we'll go into Brighton's managerial chaos at some point but you know I'm less less concerned about them given how badly Spurs are doing at the moment yeah they're in real trouble and at what point uh Tottenham say, Rhian can do no more here and we really need a new manager boost, even if it's a temporary one, just to save our skins and keep us up? It's a big question for them. It's hard, it's a difficult point of the season to be making changes, but nothing is quite working for them at the moment. I think the problem for Spurs is that they tried changing the manager

before right so I wonder about the willingness to change it mid-season again I don't think she's getting the best out of them I also do think not a lot is said about their injury crisis the amount of ACLs they've had in that squad is is crazy I do think that with Beth England and the team, and when she's fit, you always have a chance, whereas compared that to Brighton, Brighton are the ones I'm really worried about. I think Tottenham are in a fight, but I think Brighton are the ones that I'm most worried about because I was at that game against Villa,

and they were just woeful. They just can't defend, and I just can't see where they pick up points from, especially with the run of games coming up. So it's going to be between those two and Leicester. I think Reading are doing enough to get out of it, especially after the game at the weekend. I think they've got confidence now.

For me, it's still Brighton, but I do get your point, Suze, about the problems that Spurs this season. Yeah, we will talk Reading in a second, but let's talk Manchester City because no WSL side, Sophie, has won more points than City since October. And you know what we said at the beginning of the season on this pod. We've kind of gone from people calling for Gareth Taylor's head to seeing them on this upward trajectory.

They're second in the table now. Are they actually title challengers? I think so, absolutely. I'm feeling a bit of deja vu this season because we all wrote them off at the beginning of last season too and then they went on that massive run that got them right back into the Champions League spots and it seems to have happened again this season.

I think it really helps that they have Bunny Shaw, obviously. that she provides her instinctive nature in front of goal you know the three goals one was a penalty but two were completely reactive and she just was more alert than defense around her to put them away and they desperately needed that I think last season the fact that she was swapping in and out with Ellen White. Ellen White was probably not in the best form of her career either. It was a bit of a struggle. This season they really had that goal scorer and you can see getting on the end of Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kenley's crosses that's exactly what they needed. So they're definitely title challengers. They're second now. I know they've got a couple of game in hand or something like that but they're definitely up there and in for the fight.

And they've got all of the momentum and confidence behind them to try and make that a proper fight. Moyo, Jim sent in a question. He says, the four-way title race is fun, isn't it? Plenty of permutations to consider, rather than just, will Arsenal better Chelsea's result or vice versa? Longer term, though, he says, can you see anyone else breaking into the title picture?

Or do less established teams have a glass ceiling? So good question. It is fun in a sense that like, it's nice that like you don't have to only worry about your results. It's nice that there's like your eyes have to be on pretty much everything. Like you even saw a couple of weeks ago when United dropped points against Everton and Lauren James was like come on you blues like everyone's eyes are pretty much everywhere and I feel like it helps with the competitiveness of the league I feel like in terms of if someone else like if another team can come into the discussion it's tough because if you'd have asked like last year people probably thought United wouldn't have been in this discussion either.

And that happened. So I guess they could, but it would take a lot more. I feel like the current structure of the WSL almost works as though, so like, for example, if someone has a really good season, this season at Aston Villa,

you would then expect, or if you look at previous things that have happened you would then expect someone in the top four teams to then buy that person that has had a really good season in Aston Villa and then the problem is that the cycle just continues and then it almost works as like a monopoly and I feel like that's been the major issue with like other teams progressing in the WSL I think if clubs can actually retain their players then we can see like more teams climbing up the tables like we've seen with Aston Villa they're almost taking the kind of plan that United had a couple seasons ago which is that okay we'll take people that are out of favour at the clubs

above us and then we'll sort of build from there the problem is though that's it's not a sustainable method in the sense that if those clubs above you then start buying players that are better than the people that they're letting go then the gap will obviously still be there but I guess it depends on if other like if youngsters can start coming through as well I feel like there's other factors that need to be considered I think it's on the clubs as well they need to buck up and invest more you know the the top four have shown the way they're investing heavily they're progressing season on season yes Aston Villa have done well in the transfer market but what is their ceiling

as a club we don't know so I think it's on those clubs now the Everton's Villas Tottenham's of the world if they survive in the division to go we need to give more to this game it's no good just like sort of sitting on our resting on our laurels as it were and just accepting that we're going to be mid-table every season they have the finances we all know they do so to give more investment to their women's they need to buck up and and sort of follow the top four into making this league even better than it already is there's a warning sign isn't there, in Everton from a couple of seasons back? Was it last season even? It all blurs into one

with Covid, distorting time. But the season where Willie Kirk got sacked, where they signed nine players, everyone thought that they were going to be the ones to threaten the top three and upend things a little bit. And then it completely fell away. Willie Kirk was gone.

They slipped. And I think the warning sign a little bit and then it completely fell away willie kirk was gone they you know slipped and like i think the warning sign there was they signed a whole load of players to try and compete but that disrupted the momentum that the team had but you sort of you have to up the quality of the players within your team and that's a really difficult position that any of those teams have is they've got to improve the quality of the players whilst also retaining quality when you're not fighting at the top so you've got that problem that moya mentioned earlier where a player does particularly well a team you know a sort of mid table top end mid table team like that and then gets poached by somewhere else

you need to retain those players and then and more and you've got to try and ideologically convince them that you are like when you sign them you're not necessarily going to be competing but three years down the line you might be that's the aim you've got to stay around for it kind of thing that's a really hard conversation to have and the bonus that man united had is that they had a load of players who were Man United fans going back to the club to play for it you know Alessia Russo, Ella Toon, like Katie Zellum you know fans of Man United wanting to play for them wanting to stay there wanting to build a legacy there that meant that they weren't necessarily seeing their best players poached at a time where they really needed to start upping the quality level and then obviously the Man United brand name helps too so that's the biggest issue for me is like how do you

upgrade your squad to be able to compete with those whilst managing the disruption that that causes and then if it doesn't quite because it that takes time you can't sort of do it wholesale as Everton shown how do you then keep the players that you recruited that year to have a go at it on the promise that it's it's not necessarily going to happen this season it's going to be a season or two down the line that we've got the turnover over a couple of windows to be able to upgrade the squad wholesale invest in longer contracts tie them down yeah there's a raft raft of measures that could be brought in. I think the problem you've all summed up absolutely perfectly is investment, isn't it? That you have to actually make that jump and have a strategy

that is more than just one season or two seasons. Brilliant question, Jim. I'm sure we're going to have more interesting topics on that going down the line, especially with the new co-op being formed. There was a 2-0 win for Aston Villa over Everton. Speaking of both those teams, Ken Zadalian and Megan Finnegan own goal. Just a quick one on this, Moyo. Perhaps the difference between these two sides at the minute is the experience of Villa players

who can find the back of the net and Everton just don't have that confidence. Yeah, before that game, I was like, yeah, that game's the battle of the fifths, to be honest. Like both of those teams could end up fifth. They're both sort of battling to be the best of the rest, essentially. But yeah, I felt like what you said was right there, to be honest. I feel like the difference was the midfield because Everton actually had a lot of chances in the game.

Like they had shots on goal. They had chances that were created. I just felt like Villa were more clinical and the drive of the team came from the midfield, which is where their experience is. And also, Kenzadali's been fantastic this season. Really, really good this season. I feel like sometimes people say,

oh, okay, yeah, this move has worked or this move hasn't worked. But she actually has gone up another level. Like, she was good before, but she's looking really good right now. She looks like she could play in a team higher up, but that's the problem. That's the problem right now. But yeah, Villa looked really good.

Their midfield brings a lot of balance to the team. I feel like the versatility they have in midfield, in the sense of, like, Jordan Nobbs can play multiple positions, Luce Stanforth can play multiple positions, Ken Zadali can play multiple positions. I feel like it helps them in terms of the opposition not quite knowing who to pick up and where. And I feel like that ends up being a turning point in the game. So for you were on hand for Reading's 2-1 win over West Ham. Does anyone score as many ridiculously good goals as Rachel Rowe and Reading?

How did this one play out? I mean, it's just what she does, isn't it? You know, actually, West Ham were the best team in the first half, and Reading were lacking in sort of energy. They were just about doing enough to stay in it. Grace Maloney was superb in goal. She made three big stops in that first half to kind of keep it level at half-time.

And then whatever Kelly Chambers said to them at the break worked. Absolute miracle. miracle they came out they were full of energy they tweaked a few things tactically um they were finding the spaces and they just came at West Ham and you just felt that they were just gathering momentum with every single minute that was going by and then they took the lead um through Charlie Wellings and West Ham came back into it and you were like oh it could be a bit rocky but Rachel Rowe she just does what she does she was running into the box all of the second half she just has an engine that just doesn't stop and she epitomizes that Reading team I think she's in her eighth season there she is a sort of Reading OG as it were and someone

that Kelly Chambers can really rely on in games to pick it up sort of by the the neck and sort of go with it so for me they've got momentum yes they've got Arsenal this weekend that will be a free hit the most supportive thing they got a point or three points out of this game Arsenal the weekend will be a free hit and then I think they've got Leicester and maybe Tottenham after that which are the the two big games that they need to get points from. And if they can get six points out of those two games, I think they're safe. Yeah, real key part of the season for Kelly Chambers' side.

Let's look at Brighton because the managerial merry-go-round, as the cliche says in the WSL, continues. Brighton parted ways with manager Yen Shua. Less than two months six games he came from Bayern Munich but just picked up one point in his last three WSL games left by mutual consent Amy Merricks is back in interim charge and of course Brighton head to Chelsea on Wednesday night it kind of came a bit left field, didn't it, Susie? Oh, yeah. Dropping it late into the evening as well. Not the friend of the journalists, let's say, the late press release. No, really bizarre situation. I mean, you know, reports that, you know, there were concerns over his management style and how forthright he was

and things like that. And clearly, there's been over his management style and how forthright he was and things like that. And clearly there's been problems behind the scenes there that they've dealt with, which is, you know, if there are serious concerns about the way a manager is handling themselves, then, you know, dealing with that quickly is potentially a good thing. But, yeah, I mean, it also speaks to the recruitment process in the first place how much due diligence was done um he was their top candidate when they were recruiting following Cope Powell's departure so how much how much due diligence was done in in that hiring and I think that's a question that we don't ask enough um in women's football generally speaking particularly when it comes to coaching wires but yeah i mean it's strange but again like they've gone through a lot of disruption already this season um a little bit more if uh if they're having trouble with a manager um in the way that is suggested uh then

it's probably best to deal with it and amyrick has already stepped into the breach once, we know she can do that we know she has the ability to step up and give it a go and I think it's good to see someone like her get a chance it's a nasty situation to have to take over a club in, I mean it's like throwing on a 17 year old in a cup final

you losing like 6-0 or something with 4 minutes to play giving them the worst uh the worst kind of like start their their life in uh in a in a new position and a new job but you know if it's what needed to be done it's what needed to be done but yeah very surprising you know someone who came into the role with quite a strong cv but maybe not the due diligence that should have been done. Yeah, so if you have seen a couple of managers from big European clubs struggle in the WSL,

Jean-Luc Vasseur had a short stay at Everton last season, now Schuer as well. Why can't they get up to speed? What's the problem? I was just going to say that Jean-Luc Vasseur was another one where I think the club didn't do their due diligence around him as a manager. Because, yes, he came in with a title-winning CV from Lyon. But actually, I think there had been a fair amount of whisperings around Europe about his style of coaching, maybe, or the way that he, yeah, how he manages. And it not always being all that great. And I think the same was of Ian Shoya so while it

was a surprise in the manner that it happened I'm not so surprised that it eventually did happen I just it's in that time frame that's just the shock I think for me give it to Amy Merrick as Susie said just give it to her you know she knows the club she knows the players she's part of that whole like foundation of what Hope Powell built there. Give her a chance. If she keeps her up, she's a miracle worker. If they go down, well, it's not really her fault, is it? So just give her a shot and see what she

can do because in the three games or whatever she had in charge, they look really a lot more compact than what they have done the rest of the season and a lot more together. So just give her a shot. Right, a quick Championship round-up to finish us off. Bristol City's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace saw them go six points clear at the top of the league

as London City Lionesses lost 2-1 to Sheffield United. Two goals from Manchester United low-knee Grace Clinton have helped Bristol firmly take control of that promotion push. Elsewhere, Charlton beat Southampton 1-0 whilst Birmingham City came from a goal down to beat Blackburn

Rovers 2-1. Blackburn now without a win in six matches and Lewis beat Sunderland 2-0 and Durham thrashed Coventry. Five different goal

scorers for Durham in this one. 5-1 that finished. Right. See you later, Moyo. Nice to see you as always. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. 7-0. finished. Right. See you later, Moyo. Nice to see you as always. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

7-0. 7-0. Sorry. Low blow. Sophie, take care. See you soon. Thanks for having me. Susie Rack, see you soon.

Always a pleasure. Don't forget, we do have that email address for you to get in touch with us. So please get your questions in. We are here every week as the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. We'll be back next week for the top of the table clash between Chelsea and Manchester United. You can email us on womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Lucy Oliver and Jesse Parker-Humphrey.

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