The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - England beat Spain again and Marie-Louise Eta blazes a trail – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Sophie Downey and Ayisha Gulati to discuss Lionesses’ Wembley win, as well as results for the home nations and Republic of Ireland

This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faker others and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. The lionesses have the edge in the qualification campaign for Rio 2027 after a 1-0 win over Spain. Lauren Hemp's early goal was the only difference, but the question is, will it be enough? It was a good night for the Home Nations and the Republic of Ireland. We'll dissect all the action, plus we'll preview England's game against Iceland. We'll also discuss Mary Louise Etter making history. Plus, we'll take your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. What's a panel we have today? Susie Rack, good morning to you. Morning. Sof Downey, how are you? I'm okay, a bit coldy, but all good. Aisha Galati, lovely to see you as always. Lovely to see you too, Faye.

Lovely to have you all with us as well. Everybody had a late night last night, obviously, watching the lionesses at Wembley, because England got the better of Spain again to maintain a 100% record in their World Cup qualifying campaign. Lauren Hemp's third minute goal was the difference for Serena Vigman's side, and they maintained their sport at the top of their group.

It was massive in terms of qualifications, Susie. Really important victory. We knew it wasn't going to be a pretty game. It was going to be a difficult game. But what were your reflections on the night? Yeah, it was interesting because I thought if you were a neutral watching that game, it wasn't the most thrilling game to watch. I said it wasn't the most Spain, England of games to be watching in that sense,

in that obviously the Euro's final thrilling encounter, the World Cup final thrilling encounter, various meetings between these two sides, like always great games, always fine margins though. And I just think it was lacking in that like real kind of like high excitement level across the 90 minutes. I thought England played brilliantly, just needed to be more clinical, fair few missed chances obviously the hemp effort off the post

I wanted that to go in so much because it was just such a beautiful move in the build-up to it a couple of late chances perhaps should have been more on target lucky not to concede to a certain extent particularly at the end but it was great I mean the most important thing about this game

was getting three points and putting ourselves in a really really great position for topping the group and avoiding having to go through playoffs and having extra matches in the calendar that you know mean something and they did that and it was a very strong performance and I think Spain really, really missed Monmatti. Yeah, without a doubt. And actually that's what I meant when I said,

you know, we thought it might be like that because when it's two-legged essentially, which it is, you can expect two teams to be a tiny bit cagey and then when you lose a player like Itana Bon Mati, obviously Spain are not quite as pleasing on the eye in many ways. And actually, since their defeat in the World Cup final back in 2023 in Australia, England have won three of their four encounters against Spain. And so if you wrote about England having found the blueprint to succeed against them, what does that game plan entail, spill the secrets? So England have come on leaps and bounds in terms of their out-of-possession work,

and they've realised that, you know, against Spain, you can't play possession football. you can you should be able like you can allow them to have the ball for I think they had 65% of possession or something 63% possession last night and England had what 35 or whatever it was going to be and they've become very content of the ball so every time Spain had possession they were so well organized and so well structured you can see the lines of defending the lines of the defense and the midfield everyone was like knew where they had to be and who they were picking up and it kind of closed all the point and the passing names, the space for Spain to do their, like, rotations and operating like they normally do. And I think they've realised that I think it was this time last year, wasn't it? Or just around this time last year at the Wembley game where that phrase, proper English, came out about the fight and the desire. And I think everything that's happened in the last 12 months have only given England that fight and desire even more. And they've learned it through the Euros.

They've learned that real character. And even I was panicking in the last five minutes when, you know, Edna O'Mardi has that head on target and Hannah Hampton has to produce a wonderful save. But they don't look panicked at all. They just looked like they knew that what they were doing. They'd been there. They'd done it before. They've done it on much bigger stages than Wembley and much more like stressful situations.

And they were just handling the situation. They were absorbing the pressure. Yeah, there were chances. Yeah, there were mistakes. There's always going to be mistakes. But I think England had become really comfortable in that. these games are always defined as Suzy said decided by fine margins

it won't always work but I think England have come closest of anyone else I've seen to regularly compete with the Spanish side and realizing that you can't just try and go for it and possessable you have to be very very savvy about it and

frustrate them and that's okay yeah and it helps to get an early cushion as they did Aisha Lauren Hemp's scoring inside three minutes and she was impressive again, wasn't she? Yes, she was. She was so impressive. And I think actually that early goal was so crucial. And we thought there might be more goals after that moment because the chances were created from both teams. But actually, it really was that fast start that was needed. And there's no better player than Lauren Hemp to have that kind of explosive nature to her. But also shout out to Lauren James in that move because that was kind of what won the corner, that real persistence. Alex Greenwood's delivery was bang on the money. And also, Russo's assist. I mean, we can give Lauren Hemp all the applaudits,

but that whole kind of sequence of events was just moments of excellence from all of the team, all really fighting, not stopping and making every moment matter. The way Russo kind of juggled the ball between her feet while she was on the floor and laid off Lauren Hemp, who then just created that amazing moment. And, I mean, you could say maybe Alexia Piteos could have cleared that quickly. I think maybe she'll look back and be a bit disappointed with that. And Lauren Hemp actually said in the mix zone, oh yeah, I should have hit that a bit harder, shouldn't I?

But she was very grateful for the goal line technology on the night, of course that that is in play, which was actually needed. And yeah, it was a brilliant goal, like from all the team. And Lauren Hemp continued to be on fire, as you mentioned, that move with the Lucy Bond's back heel. I mean, this is against the world champions. and England were playing this really free-flowing football. And yeah, they didn't have all the possession,

but in attack, they looked so fierce. And they should have been a bit more clinical in moments. And in another game, they would have kind of be led to regret that. But thanks to Hannah Hampton with that couple of brilliant saves to keep that lead. But also keeping that clean sheet, you know, I'm praising the attackers, but we had a centre-back pairing of Lottabin Moy and Esme Morgan, who haven't played a lot together. And for them to be able to keep a clean sheet, obviously aided by Hannah Hampton making some

great saves, it was a real team performance. I've not even mentioned the midfielders who were, again, you know, Kira Walsh, amazing. But yeah, I was really impressed with England, but as Serena Vigman said, they need to be more clinical in those moments because on another day they might be ruin those mischances. Yeah, there were some quite big calls that she made, Susie, didn't she? Serena Vigman. As Aisha said, lots of Ubermoy and Esme Morgan as the centreback partnership. Obviously, no Leah Williamson. How much of a surprise was that?

And I mean, they clearly handled the pressure because they kept a clean sheet. And they didn't have too much to soak up, but it was impressive from them. Yes and no a surprise in that like personnel-wise, I feel like that is almost what kind of had to happen. It's been obvious that Serena has favoured having Mayor Letticeyé as, a deputy right back to Lucy bronze rather than playing Kerr more centrally with those options sort of a little bit limited at the moment and then obviously you've got no Leo Williamson at the moment. Neve Charles is only recently back from injury-ish so playing out Alex Greenwood out

there when you're strapped makes a bit of sense so then when you're looking at centreback suddenly some of the options in that squad a little bit kind of faded away and it's just brilliant to see for me a lot of Wobamoy get a chance to start in a big game like that for England because her options have been so, so limited over the years that she's been in a squad, like ultimate professional. Everyone speaks so highly of her in and around the camp.

And she's a great footballer too. And whenever she gets a chance, I think she really steps up to the plate. We saw it for Arsenal a few seasons back when they played Walsberg in the Champions League, when they had that season sort of completely marred with injuries and it was her and Gent Beattie, partnering each other at Centreback.

for a chunk of the end of the season and they were fantastic and she was absolutely brilliant in that with Lear Williamson injured and a few other injuries and we've seen it again this time round with Lear injured again Steph Catley obviously spending a significant chunk of the start of the year at the Asia Cup

meant that Laura's played a lot of minutes recently and done incredibly well Arsenal's record defensively has been really strong and it's nice that she's being rewarded for that at international level. And Esme Morgan, I think, has been performing brilliantly when she's been coming in for England since, well, whenever she's coming for England. But really, I thought there was a big step-up around the Euros when she did come into the side during the tournament all the way through to now.

So, like, surprising in that we've not seen them really much together as a pair starting for England, and partly because we've not seen Lottor starting for England much at all, but then also not surprising because of the sort of personnel issues, injuries, etc. Well, what was surprising, I don't know, not on the fence and was immediately what my eyes were drawn to on the team sheet when it came out. Lucia Kendall chosen to fill in at number 10. Massive night for her, just 21 years old.

So what did you make of her performance? I think everyone knows how big a fan I am of Lucia Kendall and I actually wasn't surprised at all by the decision because I think especially when you're playing in Spain you want a bit more defensive solidity in the midfield and she is naturally probably more eight or a six she can play either of those positions so she added a bit of defensive gritty

maybe she wasn't as good in possession but she didn't have a lot of time on the ball I had my head in my hands when she had that opportunity that she sent over the bar I think she was devastated by the fact that she didn't put that opportunity away because what a moment that was been on her first night at Wembley. But I think she did really well. She applied herself really well.

We've got to remember this is like one of her first few handful of caps as well. She's only just come into the side. So to be trusted to be in that 10 role and to provide that kind of solidity alongside Georgia, Stanway and Kira Walsh is a massive call of trust by Serena Vigman. It shows how much she values her. I think she applied herself well throughout the night. She really, really added a lot of cover. And I think she's probably cemented her in place at this point.

Yeah, definitely. Spain without Italo Boretti, as we mentioned, Aisha, Lear-Alexandria as well. But they've still got incredible talent on the pitch. And so perhaps registering three shots on target was not what we were expecting from them. Do you think they look static? Were you surprised by that? Yeah, I was. I think we're so used to seeing a Spain team that just creating chances all the time. We mentioned the possession, but it's kind of actually what they go on to then create. They create really normally brilliant goals. And the opportunities yesterday, I think it said a lot that it was on a Bacche who had that first good chance, I'd say, you know, right back.

and then the next good chance fell to Carmona at left back. And it's kind of like not those players that you'd be expecting to actually be finding the goal in those situations. I think if you cast your mind back to that Germany semi-final at the Euros, it was all square and it did need that moment of magic from a player like Bon Matty. And I think it's easy for us to say that there should be other players who can go and be as good for Spain. But there's only one Itana von Mati.

But having said that, I think there's players. that do usually shine weren't shining in the same way that they do normally. You know, Patry and she was decent, but it wasn't, you know, a normal Patrick performance you would expect. She ended up coming off injured. I hope she's okay because that would be incredibly disappointing for Spain. But yeah, it was just those attacking players not finding the opportunities. And actually those opportunities they did get, they just weren't ruthless. I think that that can be said for both sides in fairness. And they did find the positions in the box.

They didn't finish them. Yeah, not the Spain team, not the free-flowing, attacking Spanish team that we've come to know and love watching. England have the edge, though, when they meet up again in New Yorker and just under two months time. What would you say both teams need to improve on, Susie, ahead of that one? They're finishing would be the biggest place to start, I think, for both. both kind of lacking clinical quality in this match and I think that was hugely important for England obviously did get the early goal which made up for that

but I think that's going to be significant in Spain it's a tough ask but to be coming out of this game with three points and going into that not necessarily needing a win but being okay with a draw as well I think is a really really comfortable place to be particularly given you know as Sof said the way that England have sort of figured Spain out and worked out the best way to play them and to kind of not try and compete with them for possession of the ball.

It's a really good position to be and to be leading the group going into that fixture. So that's key for England and for Spain. I mean, Bon Matty is the kind of player that can pull something out of their hat, right? Even when they're kind of not finding the spaces and the passes that they want. And there were some nice movements. They did have some good chances. But, you know, hit the post as well. But they're really missing that element of surprise.

that can pull something out of the hat at a moment's notice regardless of what is happening or how frustrated they're being and in theory they've got players on the pitch still that can do that in Mariana Caldente Alexei Puteus you know like there's players that

have that ability but don't seem to be doing that quite as often as perhaps they should be and I think a lot of that has fallen on Itana to kind of shoulder that element of their game so they need to find that creativity in the final third a little bit, I think, because for all the possession,

they should be having more chances, more clear-cut chances on goal. Yeah, and just a reminder, there is only one automatic qualification spot up for grabs. We're at the halfway stage now of World Cup qualification. This is how it looks. England's sitting top of the group, three wins from three, and a plus four goal difference over Spain. So that is a pretty good psychological advantage, I would say, for England, so. Yeah, definitely. They are atop of the group, as you say, they've got the goal difference, which is probably going to be crucial,

coming down to that final set of games as well. I think England have a real psychological edge now over Spain. As you said earlier, they've won three of their last four encounters. They're not scared at them. That doesn't mean that they can be complacent and it's not going to be tough. but I think that element of fear is definitely gone. I will just say once more, though, that this qualification system is mad,

the fact that you have across Europe the potential of four big teams going through a playoff system where there's an element of risk involved. And for the Euro's qualification, it was the top two teams in each group that went through. So you're looking at it across the board and at the moment Spain or a second,

Sweden are a second, you know, those kind of teams are looking at having to go through a play-off system, which the first Lego players should be easy enough for them because they're playing like league C teams or something like that. But then you get into the really tricky bit where you could have a really big, you could have like Sweden against, I don't know, Italy or whatever, as a playoff. And then the jeopardy is really high. I just don't really understand why we have so many teams heading into that playoffs,

where if you come talk to in your group, that should be enough. Do you know what, though? there is a little part of me that is like, well, it should be difficult to qualify. It should. Big countries don't have a divine right, even though they have history. I mean, look at Italy in the men's game. You know, yes, it would be a better tournament with them in it, but, you know, it's, it's tricky for a reason. That is just, by the way, I'm not saying I disagree with you because I absolutely don't think that the qualification system makes any sense. I'm just, I'm just playing devil's advocate. I'm just saying that I think there shouldn't be as many playoffs as there are because you're bringing the Hall of League B into play and their whole point to the Nations League is to celebrate the best in the world and when you consistently have teams at the top two of the groups they're consistently the best teams in the world.

They should get the job done but you just never know one referee call one lack of goal line technology at some point that you know last night that goal wouldn't have counted if it had been down to the reference. freeze because they didn't give it. It was down to the technology. There's just, you know, any mistake could happen, any injury could happen. And you're suddenly without Spain as to World Cup and that just seemed like the jeopardy is too high for me. It's not saying they don't have to earn it, but I just think it's way too high that you're only having four automatic places. What is really special is the game against Iceland on Saturday. We'll talk about why that's special in a second, but let's talk about the actual match itself at first, Aisha, because England beat them 2-0 back in March. What do you expect from them on their home turf? Yeah, I mean, that 2-0

wasn't necessarily an easy game. I mean, they came out on top and they were good in attack, but I think they might have hoped to be a bit more free-flowing in that game. Iceland put up a good fight, but they set up fairly well defensively, but they weren't able to create much in attack, so England weren't super threatened. Iceland are going to be a lot better in Reckovic than they were in Nottingham, that's for sure. But I think England will definitely be looking to get another win. They'll be hoping to keep that top sport. And I think it will be a comfortable win for England in the end, even though it is on Iceland, home turf. Yeah, it's going to be their 500th international fixture. So at Wembley last night, there were lots of special moments, including former

lionesses. And the FA have done a lot of work around remembering past lionesses, as well as the current group. How impressed have you been with their efforts, Suzie? I saw Mary, ups on pitch. Yeah, it's great. I mean, giving merryups a proper send-off at Wembley, I think, was really fitting and good that they did it on a big occasion like that, you know, particularly after the controversy around the book and things, which probably has like very different feelings on in hindsight after that whole episode. And, you know, good to see her recognised for what she achieved with England and the role she's played. And I think that was an important statement from the FA and I think the work done on sort of recognising the legacy of the team and the

contribution of those that played in the 499 games played so far is being really important not just for like now in terms of you know what it says to players today and where they fit in the ecosystem of the history of the lionesses and also you know kind of people watching stuff but also what it says to those players who were at the very, very start and having to fight to be able to play and fight for recognition from the FA and things like that was a battle that has got us to this point. And so to be able to reward those pioneering players for the role they played, I think is really significant, particularly when it's from an organisation that even when it did recognise women's football, it was still, you know,

a bit of a hands off approach. So even, you know, kind of after the ban was lifted, it was, you know, kind of still a long, long time before it kind of got proper recognition and funding and support and having that recognition of the role those people played in doing all of that work in those early years. I think it's really, really important and really nice for them. And like what is great is it's not being tokenistic in any way. I think it's really being genuine, which has been really nice. It's definitely not tokenistic because they're doing it in the men's game as well. It's across the board and you can tell, you know, the efforts and you reap what you sow, don't you? The investment into the women's game from the FA has, you know,

brought us two trophies. It's really important. And hopefully, if England can qualify, we'll bring a third and a World Cup, which would be incredible. Right, in part two, we're going to catch up on some of the other key World Cup qualification matches. And we'll talk about the historic appointment of Mary Louise Etter. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Carla Ward's Republic of Ireland got their first three points of the campaign with an impressive victory over Poland. It finished three, two. Ireland's goals coming from Emily Murphy, Katie McCabe and Marissa Sheva. Tanya Pavaleck and Eva Paior scored for Poland. It felt like a real statement victory for Ireland.

So, how pleased would Carla Ward be with that performance? She'll be very, very pleased. I think the team got quite a bit of criticism, undeserved criticism, to be honest, after the first two games with their narrow losses. to France and Netherlands. I think there has to be a real evaluation of where Ireland are at the moment, right? And they've qualified for one major tournament at 2023. They didn't back that up with the Euros. They just missed out. And so when they come up against the Netherlands and France, you're not going to be expecting them to win. It's just about how close they can get to them. And they gave them both a really good try. It was a game against Poland, I think, for me,

that was a real marker of where they are at. Poland obviously just been at the Euros in the summer. So coming off that high and have some really good players and the likes of Eva Paior, we all know what she can do in front of goal. She's scored an absolute blinder goal as well yesterday. But I think this was a real confidence-boosting win for Ireland, for sure. They had a lot, it was a really good performance. The conditions weren't brilliant, but they had a lot of chances. It should have been a 4-2, Katie McCabe, Skyde Penalty, late on.

So they know that they had the margins there. And I think it's against these teams that we've seen real progress in the year and a bit that Carla Wars been in charge. And they host them again at the Aviva on Saturday. They'll be having feeling that they can do it again. And if they can get six points from those two games, then they're looking pretty steady in terms of that third place. And then they go to that final run of games, knowing anything could happen against the Netherlands of France. You know, they've beaten France before in Cork. They've got good results.

They know they've got quality in that team. Katie McCabe is a ridiculous player. Carla War said last night that she was the best left back in the world. But she really like brings that team along. You've got youngsters like Emily Murphy coming through. That was her third player of the match in a row. She's really broken out into this island team. And I think they're going to be looking steady for a playoff place in terms of

qualification. And they want to back up that one from 2023, for sure. Good night for Scotland as well. They kicked off their difficult doubleheader against Belgium, salvaging a point at the death at Easter Road. Kathleen McGovern grabbing a 95th minute equaliser, which cancelled out Sarie Kise's opener. It felt like a really vital point for Melissa Andreaata's side, Susie. They've got to go to the Dendreef on Saturday.

You've been there several times. I really love it, actually, as a ground. I think it's brilliant, but it's quite a formidable place to go. Great ground. Hate going there because I'm always watching the news there. And it's been a scourge. And it doesn't make sense, you know, like Spain beat them 5-1 there in May last year. Like, there's no reason why it should be such a bogey ground.

Some reason it is. But yeah, like, I mean, Scotland have put, like, the momentum that they'll have from that late winner puts them in a great position in that group and going into the second game. I'm always glad that they're coming back to back like this because they literally carry the momentum straight in. But at the same time, I also think that, you know, when you play back to back games, that also, against the same side, that also presents challenges for both teams.

So it's going to be really interesting to see how Belgium sort of set up in that game and how they respond, because Scotland, after they conceded, really, really went for it and, you know, kind of really,

really pushed to get something out of the game. And, I mean, it looked like Belgium were clung on until, you know, obviously the very, very late equalizer.

But, you know, it was a really strong attacking, like intentful performance from Scotland, they have a really, really good chance to put themselves in a great position in the group in League B, which has a complicated playoff scenario of games that you play.

And it's important to get the kindest draw possible when a lot of those playoff games are going to be between teams who were in that League B at various stages, thus are in and around sort of their level. So they're going to be really, really tricky. Belgium are not an easy side. So to come away from that game with a point is significant and they've sort of got everything to play for going into the away game

and a lot of heart can be taken from the performance in Scotland. Yeah, without a doubt, quite a lot of heart to be taken from many of Wales' performances of late. It was a routine win against Albania in Wrexham, their second of the World Cup qualification campaign. Hannah Kane scoring twice in their 4-0 victory. The other goals came from Elise Hughes and Rianne and Roberts. Look, we knew that they were always the favourites in this one, Aisha. But just how important is it for them to be getting these results over the line?

It kind of shows the progress that they're making under Rianne Wilkinson at the moment. Yeah, definitely. I think a dominant win was what was needed. She said at full time that, you know, how could you not be impressed with that 90 minutes? They did dominate that game. And as they were expected to do, I think 40 places between the two. team. So it was, like you said, a routine win, but a really important one. And in that group, we've just mentioned the importance of trying to top that group. And they are going head to

head with the Czech Republic, like properly toe to toe with them. You know, it's only, Czech Republic are only ahead on away goals scored, which tells you everything you need to know. And that's all they can really do in that group. Czech Republic, you know, they almost were a league A team. So they're in that same category. And I think that's going to be a really important tie for them come June that tie against Czech Republic and all they can do until that point is just keep winning and keep dominating those games. Some great goals in that game too. So yeah, nice to see Wales getting a well-deserved win there. Northern Ireland started off life under new manager Michael McArdle with a confident 4-0 victory over Malta. It's been turbulent, I think it's

Fair to say, Sof, hasn't it, for Northern Ireland? They lost their first two games of this qualification campaign. So pretty important, really, for Macado to get this first win under his belt. Absolutely. And you always want to kind of just, you know, get that off your back a bit when you've come into a job, especially a job that is tricky. It is a very difficult job. It's, you know, the resources aren't all there.

They don't have a professional league, as it were, to have a pool of players from, He's going to have to do a lot of work around not just like the team itself, but I think building up the team. And he's got experience. He's been at the Scottish FAA for 17 years. He knows what it's about. I think they chose well in terms of getting him through the door. But yeah, the task is monumental.

And I think we've seen that before with like when Tanya Opsby came in. She did a really good job. But the task there is huge in terms of the pool of players not being particularly big. and how you go about solving some of those situations in terms of finding players, finding the next generation. Northern Ireland are hosting the under 17s in May. I think that's going to be a real boost for them.

I think them hosting competitions, there's another way of trying to increase interest in the sport and try and get young girls playing football. I really start that pathway going. But yeah, to start off with a win like that, they were always expected to beat Malta, I think. that Malta are the lower team in that group and it would have been a bit shocking

if they hadn't beaten them but you still got to get the job done right and get it over the line and they go to Malta on Saturday as well so it's a double header for them they can get another win out of that and get six points on the board then things start to change in terms of the perspective of the group a little bit

some big results elsewhere across Europe and depleted Netherlands beat France 2-1 19 year old Renee Van Aston scored on her debut meanwhile Yanni Thompson scored a 92nd minute winner as Denmark beat Sweden in Gothenburg. But I want to talk about some history being made this week because Uni in Berlin named Mary Louise Etta as their interim manager until the end of the season. She's become the first female

manager to take on a head coach role in one of Europe's top five men's leagues. It feels like it's been coming for a long time, Susie. It feels like, you know, everybody's been waiting for it. We talked a lot about Emma Hayes and what moves she might make. But how big a positive could this be for female coaches as a whole, finally breaking down this barrier? It's brilliant. I hate the pressure of that. The pressure that comes with that is awful, isn't it? Right. Not only do you step up into the interim role to help a team stave off a possible fall towards relegation. They're not in deep trouble yet, but they have had such a slide that they're clearly worried.

and you've got a big enough pressure there and then you add on the weight of the fact that you are the first woman to be in charge of a men's team in the top five European football leagues as another pressure, right? Like your success and failure could impact the opportunities and, you know, kind of how much sooner they come for other top female coaches. It could set it back or it could accelerate if all. right? Like it's a really crap situation to be in when, you know, every single with coach is an individual and, you know,

would behave in different ways and stuff and, you know, success and failure should not impact in that way. But it's fantastic. And the fact that she, you know, this isn't the first time that she's stepped up into the role in that, like, I think a couple of years ago, she was the first woman to take charge of a Bundesliga game when she was temporarily put in charge of Union Berlin. She was their first female assistant coach about three years ago as well. Then she stepped in when the head coach was serving a free match band. So she has actually been in the head coach role whilst not the head coach of a Bundes League game. So in that sense, it's great because she's not like floated in. Like she knows that team and clearly been there for a long time,

understands the players has done a good job there. You know, it's clearly not any kind of like tokenistic appointment. and yeah, hugely excited to kind of see what she is able to do in this small bit of time in charge. And, you know, she didn't have very, very extensive playing career, but she did win the treble with Turbine Potsdam when she was there and then, you know, kind of played in the Bundesliga 2 for a bit after she left them. And, you know, clearly has been in coaching for some time and working very hard at it and is very well respected.

and I think her journey has an exciting one. I think she's already agreed to take over the women's team, which is great, but also given that she's kind of taking this step, it'd be nice to see her journey not be pushed into the men's game entirely. I'd like to see where she goes in this too, but maybe this period will change things, I don't know. But it's, yeah, it's going to be great. It's going to be great to watch.

I just, you know, win or lose success or failure. It doesn't impact the future of women. coaching in the men's game because there are plenty of rubbish male coaches. Yeah, she's got five games left and I think there's seven points ahead of St. Paoli in the Bundesliga who are in the relegation playoff spot. So if she can keep them up, that would definitely be a good thing and work in her favour for sure. I've just got one more question that's come in from you lovely lot in regards the WSL and one of our favourite players on the pod to wax lyrical about.

Hi, Faye, Susie and guests, are there any updates on Bunny Shaw's contract? Seems to have gone very quiet and getting towards the end of the season now, which is crazy for a possible player of the season. That's from Russ Barber. Anyone know the latest? I don't know the exact latest, but I think she'll be a city next season. I think they'll pull out all of the stops. I know there were the rumours with Chelsea,

but I don't think that was much in it. Personally, I think... Were they agent rumours? I think they were agent rumours. I think they were trying to get a better deal, probably. But I don't see why she would leave City at this point in time. They're on the brink of doing something really special. She is the best striker in this league at the moment.

And she has a really good rapport with the players around her and that link up between her and Lauren Hemp and her and Viv Miedemar and Carolyn and players like that. They're very... Yeah, I wouldn't see... I would be very surprised if she's not... as she'd be playing next season. And our own Tom, Gary,

reported, I think about a month ago that she was very, very close to agreeing a new deal at City despite there being some interest from Chelsea. Like, I find that really funny. Like, what team wouldn't be interested in Bunny Shore? Like, despite interest from any team in the world ever,

like she's close to agreeing a new contract with City, I think, is that probably the better way of putting it. But yeah, like there's no way to see you're going to let her go. And if she's happy, which I would assume she is, given that they all seem to be quite happy at the moment and on the cusp of a league title, like I think there's no chance she's going anywhere.

I would just like, I'd love to see her get a little bit more recognition on sort of Ball and door lists and stuff. She really deserves that. Yeah, without a doubt. Thanks for your message, Russ. I do remember speaking to Tom about it a while ago, actually. Fingers crossed, that all gets sorted. But maybe they'll need to win the league.

first and then it will get announced. Maybe they don't want any distractions, perhaps. We shall see. You can keep having your say by sending in your questions via X or emailing us at Women's Football Weekly at the Guardian.com. This is also your regular reminder to sign up for our biweekly women's football newsletter. It's called Moving the Goalposts and all you need to do is search Moving the Goalposts sign up. Right, it's been an absolute pleasure. Sorry for the early start, everyone. Aisha, lovely to see you. Thanks for having me. See you soon. Sof, take care, look after yourself with that cold. I will do.

I'll go to go and have some hot honey or something. Hot lemon and honey? Yes. That's the one. I knew what you meant, don't you worry. Susie loved you to see you as always. I've got an image of Sof now, like with a Popeye's chicken and some like hot honey, like dipping it in, like as the cold solution.

And I'm kind of here for it. I quite like it as well. Any remedy works. Right, we'll see you all next week. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray. Music composition was by Laura Iodale, and our executive producer is Ian Chambers. This is The Guardian.