The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Euro 2025 qualifiers kick off with ‘Group of Death’ – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Amee Ruszkai, and Emma Duffy to discuss the first few games of the Euro 2025 qualifiers, including those for England and the Republic of Ireland

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starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. We come to you from Dublin in Ireland today ahead of the Lionesses' second Euro 2025 qualifier against the Republic. With news Leah Williamson retains the England captaincy and will start at the Aviva Stadium. We'll look back at all the opening games of the Euro 2025 qualifiers with teams back in action on Tuesday night. And we'll look at the state of play in a number of the domestic leagues around Europe, some competitive, some not. We'll discuss all that, plus we'll take your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Women's Football Weekly is supported by Google Pixel, the only phone engineered by Google, an official mobile phone of Arsenal Football Club, Liverpool Football Club and the England teams. Google Pixel's working with the FA, Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC to close the visibility gap between men's and women's football with the formation of Pixel FC,

a collective of next generation creators and presenters dedicated to covering the women's game. They'll have exclusive access to players, additional resources and content creation opportunities to give women's football the visibility it deserves. Search Google Store to find out more. What a panel we have today. Susie Rack, it was a joy to spend time with you in Dublin. Not a bad place to be. It's all right, isn't it? A little tour guide as well going on. Might go on a bit of a jaunt today. And we've got two debutantes today. Let's start with Amy Ruschke from Goal. How are you doing? I am good in this gloomy, wonderful day in the north of England. Can't wait to get out after this and walk the dog in the rain.

It's gloomy and wet and windy in Dublin as well. So you're in good company. But somebody who has to experience this all the time is Emma Duffy from The 42 here in Ireland. How are you? Morning, guys. Nothing new here. Welcome to Dublin, though. Great to have you. Yes, we got very damp yesterday. It was not pleasant, but it's a beautiful, beautiful city. I love the fact that we've got two debutants for the pod today. Let's kick things off, shall we, and look back on what happened on Friday night in qualification for Euro 2025,

where everything kicked off. Teams looking to book their spot in next summer's tournament, of course. Just to explain, the top two finishers from the four League A groups are going to join hosts Switzerland automatically into the tournament, and the remaining seven are going to have to qualify through a playoff system.

So Group 3 and Ligue 1 immediately caught the eye. France, England, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland were pulled out of that hat in the so-called group of death. I mean, it contains the world's second, third and sixth ranked teams in the world and an up and coming Ireland team as well, who are looking to reach their second successive major tournament. But let's start at Wembley, shall we? Serena Wiegmann's Lionesses getting their campaign off to a bit of a stuttering start under the lights. They were held to a one-all draw by Sweden in the end.

There's a lot of history between these two teams, but the last time they actually met, England were comfortable 4-0 winners at the semifinals of the 2022 Euros that they eventually went on to win. And I think it's fair to say it wasn't a classic for the 63,000 people at Wembley. But the Lionesses, I'm sure, would be the most frustrated given it was on home soil and some of the mistakes that were made across the pitch. And they just struggled to create more than a handful of clear-cut chances while Sweden stretched and tested them. Alessia Russo's goal eventually cancelled out by Fridolina Rolfo.

What did you make of the performance, Susie? What's going to be causing Serena Wiegman and her staff sleepless nights at the moment? It's an interesting one, isn't it? Because I don't think England were awful. I just think Sweden were very, very defensively well organized had a plan to sort of targeting Kamira Walsh and targeting Alex Greenwood and cutting off the supply to the forward line and it worked really really well in some ways I'm sort of like

unworried because I don't think look in the look terrible in other ways it sort of slightly harks back to the um nation's league campaign uh when they missed out on um the protocol getting a chance to take team gb to the olympics because there was just like a lack of um lack of bike popping not in that tournament particularly early on so with such a competitive group there's not really any room for like a leading or you know a little dumbbell here and there so they sort of need to find their shooting boots fast and i'm not totally convinced that that is necessarily going to happen, which is slightly concerning. Yeah.

I mean, Wiegman called Sweden's equaliser completely unnecessary as England's defence switched off and Lucy Bronze allowed Rolfo to surge in unmarked at the back post, heading home Rosa Kefahi's cross. The Lionesses have managed just two clean sheets in the last 12 games,

which is a worry in itself, Amy. Yeah, I think it's somewhat understandable when you consider Millie Bright's been out for quite a while and was in and out before that. Lee Williamson's obviously not played for England for a year. And I think we've done to death the lack of sort of full-back, left-back at least. And then you look at Lucy Bronze on the right and she's not really got much competition for that player,

she'd say. So I think there are quite a few sort of individual problems across the back line. And, you know, some of them are solvable and some of them are sort of less so. So I think it goes a bit back to what Susie was saying there. You need to sort of keep your shooting boots on when you know that you can't just keep teams out

and win 1-0. You need to score two. You need to score three. You need to score possibly keep your shooting boots on when you know that you can't just keep teams out and win 1-0 you need to score 2 you need to score 3 you need to score possibly 4 to win the game and they need to sort of build on that as well as looking to solve

some of those issues at the back Yeah I mean look we've got to give massive credit to Sweden as well because they were really aggressive in their press

they bypassed England's midfield on numerous occasions and they could and should have won it as well but Steena Black's then he has just fluffed completely that one-on-one opportunity that she had their coach Peter Gerhardsen said post-match that the number one plan was to take away Keira Walsh I mean we've heard this before haven't we and Emery arguably got his game plan spot on what was so effective about their strategy yeah I definitely think

I suppose targeting Kiera Walsh they got great joy out of that and it's certainly a blueprint that Ireland can look to ahead of their big game and then just as well they were really effective on the counter-attack like you know it's all well and good sitting deep and then trying to break but without substance behind it it's not really going anywhere. And that's probably something that Ireland have certainly struggled with. And Sweden showed them the way the other night. Like, you know, they have some really big hitters. You mentioned Blackstenius, Ralfo, those type of players who are generally clinical.

Obviously, that was a pretty disappointing miss from Black Stenius and a real let off for England because they tore them apart in that instance and it wasn't just there and then there were other examples too but I do think on the balance of things 1-1 was probably a fair enough result but definitely there's learnings that Ireland can take from how Sweden set up and how they approached the game

Yeah, we're going to look in depth at the Ireland game in part 2 that Ireland can take from how Sweden set up and how they approached the game. Yeah, we're going to look in depth at the Ireland game in part two. But the spark in England's performance, Susie, was arguably Alessia Russo. It was her third goal in three games. And Serena Wiegand was particularly pleased when I spoke to her yesterday with her movement. But where does this performance leave England overall, would you say? It's a good question. I mean, yeah, I think Alessia Russo is obviously starting to find shooting boots on a little bit more of a regular occasion for England.

I do think England needs someone who's going to stay between the width of the post to a certain extent, like a bit of an Ellen White type figure that they don't have. And I don't think that necessarily means that that has to be Alessia Russo or she has to be dropped for someone that is going to do that. But I think they need to have that option within their ranks, which they don't really have. They're struggling.

You know, when they bring her off, it's often shifting hemp into the middle and she's not a target player. And that I don't think is necessarily the solution and again Sweden they're sort of reliant on trying to break through the back line and get the ball into the feet use the pace that use the pace of hemp to break the back line and it just didn't quite work for them and I think they just need a few more options up top and that would solve some problems but it's not Aleta Russo's fault that she's not necessarily that player because she's a different player holds up the ball so well and stuff so I'm not really sure what the answer is but I don't think they've quite quite worked out how they replace

even now a year on someone like Ellen White, who is an out-and-out goal scorer, will stick between the wind of the post and will break records in the process. It was really interesting, actually, because I posed this question to Serena Vigman yesterday, and she got a bit defensive about it and protected her players and said, actually, she's really pleased with what the front line are doing. And she's pleased with the work that Alessia Russo has been doing additionally. So maybe it's just us that have to adapt the way we see, you know, a target player up front and

that the game is evolving and she's actually playing the players who are best suited to the game that they're playing now maybe if it starts to be results then maybe yeah look the whole point of this new format as well was was to play the toughest opposition so we always knew that this was going to be a really stern test and it looks as we expected that this group's going to be really tight and competitive as well um got this question from sue who got in touch with us on X. Really like this format for the qualifiers. 15 of 16 teams from League A

could progress but allows for any improving in B and C to join the party and also results in competitive fixtures. What do you all think? Who wants to take this? Amy? I love the format. I've been a fan of the format since they announced it. I know that it was quite convoluted.

When you look at it head on, when they announced it, everyone was like, how on earth does this work? But I think it's actually a lot less complicated than it looks on paper, in motion. There are some flaws to it. Obviously, the scheduling is a big talking point at the moment. With the volume of games at the Nations League and then the qualifiers present, that's going to be a sort of problem. And hopefully UEFA can sort of look at that and address it and make it less demanding on the fixture schedule. But I think even when I've spoken to sort of smaller teams, I spoke to when they announced the format, people in Malta, people in Albania, like people in Luxembourg, and they were like, we love this format

because it allows them to develop at their own pace rather than chucking them in to lose 20-0 every few days with players that can't even get the day off work to travel to England or Sweden or something. I think it's great. I think it does restrict possibly the embedding of young players a little bit, maybe. You know, you don't have as many friendlies or games against

sort of really low-ranked teams. But you do also get that chance to put those young players into really meaningful games and you get to bed them in. And, I mean, look at how competitive it is. You get to get these top teams to come against each other every few days. Like, I think it's great. I think it's exactly what the game needed after all, you know, the 20-0s.

I remember that international break when England beat Latvia 20-0 and you had like an 18-0, a 19-0. I think it's a really good first answer to a problem and I think it will develop over time as well. Yeah, what do you make of it, Emma, as a Republic of Ireland fan? Because obviously, you know, everybody is expecting you

to finish bottom of the league. But what are your thoughts? Yeah, it's definitely interesting. I'd echo some of Amy's thoughts there. The scheduling definitely needs to be looked at. But I suppose this is probably a bit of an anomaly of a year,

just an Olympic year as well. So it is quite front loaded. Yeah, the draw, I think, could be done a little bit better um I feel like Ireland are really hard done by there but such is life you know they want to be among the best teams in Europe among the best teams in the world and how else to get there than to play against them it's actually quite interesting I know that former Ireland manager Vera Powe wasn't a fan whatsoever of this new system. She spoke about how teams in the middle tier, aka Ireland at the time, may be forgotten about, whereas the focus is on the top tier teams and then the developing lower ranked teams, as Amy said, that are trying to develop at their own pace a lot of it comes back to funding as well but I do think like you say you're getting competitive games you just hope that the fourth seed teams can compete and we saw Ireland did on opening night it's not going to get any easier

whatsoever but it's definitely an interesting system and it just means loads of top level games against top level opposition and hopefully narrow scorelines as well you don't want those 20 nils those 18 nils because you know that is just so difficult on the teams that have to to gear up to face that and so yeah I suppose we'll we'll play it by ear see how it goes but so far so good. Yeah well I mean look you kept it to a low scoreline against against France who are ranked third in the world mean, look, you kept it to a low scoreline against France, who are ranked third in the world, didn't you? You know, they earned a narrow win over Republic of Ireland on Friday night, finished France 1, Republic of Ireland 0. Eileen Gleeson's side are the underdogs

in the group. I think it's fair and not patronising to say, but they seem to kind of thrive on that, it feels. And bar that six-minute goal from Marie-Antoinette Cototo, they seem to kind of thrive on that it feels and bar that six minute goal from Marie Antoinette Katoto they managed to keep the waves of French attack at bay on Friday they also could have equalized in the 87th minute to bring a point back to Dublin but what what stood out for you Emma from this Irish performance? Yeah I think it went as expected Faye like Ireland were obviously always going to set up really defensively they were going to revert to a 5-4-1 and you know it was all about sitting deep and trying to catch France on the break now when that goal went in in the sixth minute I was going oh god this could be pretty bad the hope was to hold it nil-nil for as long as possible possibly grind out a scoreless draw or seize an absolutely famous result at the death somehow, some way.

But it was always going to be a taller order once France scored earlier. But I think Ireland responded well, to be fair. I think they got on with it. And like you say, France did have a fair few attempts. I think it was 21 shots as opposed to Ireland's one and that wasn't even that chance at the end that you referred to that was I think a Caelan Hayes flick on from a header which just happened to go on target but yeah that was a I wouldn't say an opportunity at the end it was certainly an opening and Leanne Kiernan unfortunately took the wrong

decision Katie McKay was absolutely screaming for it unmarked in the box so I suppose Ireland do need to seize those chances they're not gonna come around very often if they play this way but they do have to take them when they come so I suppose it's a little bit of mixed emotions there's definitely positives to take from it because a lot of people would have expected a much bigger scoreline but then there are a little frustrating things like that as well that these chances or opportunities don't come around too often you have to take them and they'll certainly have to take them now against England if and when they do arise I think what's really interesting is you know even if they do finish bottom of the group like the going into the playoffs the amount of experience playing top level side this takes

into the playoffs is the more interesting thing for me like sort of regardless of how well they do in this group which I actually think they could cause a fair few problems that that playoff situation is what is really exciting for me because I mean like so few teams in that tournament post this group stage are going to have had this level of teams that they've played at this level of the game. So that's where this tournament really comes into its own for Ireland for me and where it gets really exciting. Yeah, I agree. And you mentioned the chances there as well. But Everton's Courtney Brosnan was well up for the task, wasn't she? She produced another really inspired performance in goal

to keep the deficit to just one. Is she maybe one of the more underrated goalkeepers in the WSL, Amy, for you? Yeah, I think so. I think I've put her in my team of the season so far at Christmas, actually. She's one of those goalkeepers that can just come up with those really, really big moments.

And I think that's so big for Everton and Ireland as well, to have a goalkeeper that, you know, can sort of stand up against really top teams, you know, when her team can be under pressure, like they were against France and like Everton, you know, often are when they come up against the big teams in the WSL and just produce something that, you know, not just keeps the team in the game,

but sort of gives your team a little bit of belief as well. Like, you know, look who's, look at the saves our goalkeeper can make, you know, have that confidence in the goalkeeper behind you. Yeah, I think, I think she's a real top class goalkeeper. I really do. Yeah, she has been incredible, hasn't she? You'll kind of remember France suffered disappointment in February. It was a really underwhelming performance in the Nations League final. They qualified as hosts for the Olympics anyway, but they kind of don't really seem to be firing on all cylinders, which they haven't done for a while. And manager Hervé Renard is constantly linked with other jobs,

which is not particularly helpful either as they head into a home Olympics. But what do you make of them overall, Susie? Yeah, it's an interesting one, isn't it? Because that Nations League final, I mean, like it's Spain, right? They are just above everyone else, world champions.

So, you know, a loss to them in a Nations League final is not like, you know, anything to be sniffed at really. And their record before that is actually pretty decent. You know know the last game they lost before that was the quarterfinal in Australia which was on penalties after a nil-nil draw at the end of extra time and before that their only sort of normal time loss was a loss to Australia in a friendly back in July last year. So in terms of consistency, they've actually been not too bad.

I mean, they've not played the best teams in the world. Germany in the Nations League semi-final, 2-1 win, though you could say Germany are not necessarily a top team at the moment either. But they have got a degree of consistency there, even if they've not sort of been set in the world alike so they're sort of perennial underachievements right like for the talent at their disposal it never seems to quite click at the right times for them but they are

consistently getting results at the moment bar that nation's league finals but like I think they are a threat in this uh group a greater extent than maybe some people give them credit for. Elsewhere in League A, Italy recorded a surprise victory over the Netherlands, while Germany came back from two goals down to win against Austria 3-2. World champions Spain, meanwhile, beat Belgium 7-0. Are we all just thinking that the Euros is written for Spain? I hope it becomes more competitive than that. In League B, disappointment for Scotland and Northern Ireland, who both played out goalless draws. Wales, though, got off to a perfect start under their new manager,

Rhian Wilkinson, with a 4-0 win over Croatia in Wrexham. And Jess Fishlock starred in this one with a brace and an assist that puts her now within two goals of Helen Ward's all-time goal-scoring record. She's 37 now and she's going to reach her 150th cap if she plays against Kosovo on Tuesday night. But has said this is going to be her last qualification campaign. This is what Lawrence on X says. Jess Fischlach, 150 caps tomorrow. Amazing, isn't she?

I mean, Susie, is there anyone that epitomises Welsh football more than her and how much are they going to miss her when she calls time in her career? No, like so no one. She's so talismanic for that Wales team. She's irreplaceable. Not just like obviously footballing ability. She's like supremely talented, right? But also just personality and like, yeah, what she brings to that team in terms of like identity and the focal point, I think is unrivaled.

I mean, I suppose you could say if you compare to tim little at scotland like that level of impact but i would say even greater you know you're talking about someone who has been a figurehead and has driven that team from the front for such a long long time utterly irreplaceable and i don't know what the team looks like without her like i just can't picture Wales without Desley Fishlock you know they've got a lot of talent coming through but you know the fact that at 37 she is still the star of that team speaks to just how influential she is and how how much they've got to do to to bring through some of those players to sort of plug this huge huge gaping goal she's going to leave it It'd be great if she breaks that goal-scoring record

because, I mean, she deserves it. It's Helen Ward's goal-scoring record and, you know, another brilliant, like, legend of Welsh women's football.

But, yeah, it would be nice to see Fishlock walk away with 150 caps plus and that goal scoring record. Yeah, it feels as if they're entering into a new era as well, because they're going to have to find a new captain. Because Sophie Ingalls stepping down from the captaincy after nine years,

she will continue to play. But this is what she had to say. I think it's the right time for me, for the team moving forward, that I pass on the captain's armband. It's probably maybe the character that I am today, because when I first received it at the age of 23, I was a shy young girl who didn't really speak to the team. That really gave me the power to have to speak to the girls

and develop those relationships. We've done that for many years now. I mean, what an innings she's had. But as I say, a bit of a revolution going on in Wales at the moment. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we're going to look ahead to the huge game in Dublin between Republic of Ireland and England. And we're going to take a look at the state of play in some of the European leagues ahead of the home stretch. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly.

Let's look ahead to the game between Republic of Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night. Full disclosure, we are recording this in Dublin on Tuesday morning. Very much looking forward to this one. It's a historic fixture as well, but they haven't actually faced each other competitively since 1987. Over 30,000 tickets have been sold so far. Emma, how are you feeling ahead of this one? There must be quite a lot of emotion involved around how far Ireland have progressed to get to this point where they're hosting these kind of occasions. Yeah, absolutely. It's been incredible covering this team the last few years in particular.

I suppose the World Cup last summer was obviously so, so special and qualification for that and that night in Hampden Park when Amber Barrett scored the goal that sent us to our first ever major tournament. But now to be playing regularly in the Aviva Stadium and to be getting massive crowds like you say over 30,000 it's it's incredible to see it really is massive occasion but just another game as Katie McCabe and Eileen Gleeson are saying it's just another step along the journey they're really trying to downplay this but you know there's no hiding from the fact that England are obviously European champions, World Cup finalists, second in the world, Ireland are 26th in the world. There is obviously a huge difference between the teams but

Ireland have certainly been punching above their weight in the last while and they'll hope to continue to do so on their journey as they keep developing hopefully into one of the top nations. No one falls for the mind games anymore. I don't know why footballers and managers try and do that in this day and age. None of us are getting it. Listen, Amy, we know the island are going to set up pretty strong defensively, most likely with five at the back. But I mean, England's lack of creativity against Sweden might have been a bit of a warning sign. What are they going to need to improve on to break this Ireland team down? Yeah, I think that's sort of the main thing I was thinking about going into this game as well.

I think they've sort of lacked that spark in the number 10 role for quite a while now. If you think about the Nations League performances, Frank Kirby was pretty good in that 6-0 over Scotland. But other than that, I don't think anybody who played in that attacking midfield role really lit up a game. So I think that's a real challenge. And I mean, Sabine Riegel's got, what, four, maybe five options to play there.

So maybe choosing the right one to suit this game and to suit the players around her is quite an important sort of selection in that team. I was quite surprised on Friday to see Lauren Hemp and Lauren James start on the wings that they did. It's not often that you see Lauren Hemp spend much time on the right, really. You know, it forces her to sort of cut inside onto a left to shoot

where her strength is probably running to the byline and getting a crossing. And you saw it was literally, what, two minutes after they swapped that Lauren James, you know, was in a little dribble and puts the ball in that AlSE Russo heads home so I think just it's just those little fine details of just getting the team selection right getting the combinations right and attack because it's going to be really difficult we saw Ireland at the World Cup last year they put up a real fight and they were a real tough test but everybody in a really tough group you know it's not just that they were

great on Friday. They've been great for a while. So, yeah, England are going to have their work cut out. Definitely, I think. They're going to have to be improved defensively as well themselves. But Leah Williamson joining Serena Vigman in the press conference yesterday kind of, you know, alludes. Well, it doesn't allude.

Serena Vigman confirmed it. Leah is starting, which is brilliant. And she's starting as captain as well, which she told me yesterday she felt was a real show of faith from Serena Wiegmann and she was really delighted with after having a year out. But how important for the Lionesses is it going to be to have her back and what's she going to add to the game?

It's huge. I mean, there's a lot of pressure on her in a sense as well. I mean, you know, she's not, like she's a lot of pressure on her in a sense as well I mean you know she's not like she's been good coming back for Arsenal but it's not been like completely perfect performances across the board you know she's had games where she struggled um the Chelsea defeat in the league like I think is is one of those um so you know it's not a given that she's gonna come in with you know the exact same ability and vision we sort of see from her time in, time out before her injury for England. So it's going to be interesting to see exactly what that looks like.

But having her and you presume Alex Greenwood playing at centre-back is just like such a solid par. Alex Greenwood, arguably the most informed English centre-back at the moment and then Leah's got that vision bringing the ball out from the back that is irreplaceable really. I feel quite sorry for Lotto Obamoy who has been exceptional for Arsenal

so far this season, finally gets her chance at England and then Leah is sort of back coming into fitness. It's like the timing of that is not amazing for her you know England didn't look defensively infallible against Sweden um quite shaky when uh when they broke um and that's what you're going to see Ireland trying to do so it's logical to bring in someone who's going to shore that up a little bit more that said you know that was a lot of like first That said, you know, that was Lotta's, like,

first start in a competitive fixture for England in God knows how long. So, like, it's not totally fair to say that she wouldn't have settled a little bit more into that role as well. So, yeah, it's hugely important for the sort of vision she had playing out from the back. But, like, England have options at centre-back now, which is really exciting, like, good options.

And it's not a given that she necessarily walks into the squad, which is also quite exciting. I did ask Serena Vigman if it was going to be a change in her formation or just in personnel, and she said just in personnel. So they'll stick with the four at the back. But I did wonder whether Alex Greenwood could return to left-back as an option for them and see Lotta and Leah together. But as you say, she's in such fantastic form as centre-back for Manchester City.

That would kind of almost be a bit of a travesty at the same time. But I wonder whether she might do a little bit of a rejig, depending on how the game is going. But from an Ireland perspective, Emma, I mean, that match against France was Eileen Gleeson's first competitive match since she was named permanent manager. She obviously did oversee the successful Nations League campaign in the autumn. But there were three new competitive debutants in Anna Patton, Emily Murphy and Jessie Stapleton. What have you made of her time in charge so far and the new additions to the team so far?

And also, what exactly do we need to look out for in terms of how they can threaten England? I suppose in terms of Gleeson she obviously came in for the Nations League as you said not everyone thought that she would be made permanent manager and she kind of brushed it away herself every time she was asked she basically reeled herself out of the running so to some it was a big surprise when she was named permanent manager before Christmas but then picked up where she left off obviously a 100% record through the Nations League two friendlies in February a 0-0 draw with Italy and then a 2-0 defeat to Wales which was disappointing like Ireland weren't great that night they did change formation they tried to play four at the back one of Gleeson's big mantras is adaptability and being able to adapt to games and change things and so Ireland

have played five at the back for so long as everyone knows the three with the two wing back so three or five they played the four against Italy did quite well but then it all kind of fell us under against Wales and they've reverted to their five. But as you say, she's blooded new players. Caitlin Hayes has been a huge addition. She came straight into the team and hasn't left it since. Has really, really impressed the centre half. Same as Anna Patton the other night. That was a surprise to me, I'm not going to lie.

I didn't realise that that was going on in the background. But obviously from watching her in the WSL and seeing her against France the other night looks a really good addition as well and you know so composed on the ball can offer those I suppose past that passing from deep means of breaking the lines as well so she's another big recruit and then as you say Jessie Stapleton, Jessie is one of the brightest young talents in Irish football really versatile player can play centre half midfield can nearly put her anywhere and but Stapleton actually was in training with Ireland in a home-based training session at the age of 13 so her star has been marked from that young age and you know she has carried that weight of expectation exceptionally and I think she's

going to be a huge player for Ireland going forward. But yeah, definitely there's been a focus on, I suppose, building more depth in the squad, that's for sure. Even when you look at the comparisons between the England squad and the Ireland squad, all but three of England's players, I think, play in the WSL and that's Lucy

Bronze and Ciara Walsh of Barcelona and Georgia Stanway at Bayern Munich. And then you look at the Ireland squad the vast majority playing the championship and then it's other leagues around Europe the US Ireland and then the WSL and so that's definitely a gulf and that has been flagged and it's I suppose being worked on and the thing just with the Irish league as well just as an aside and I suppose there's lots of young talent in the Irish League but it's just not at the level of of England just yet and but you'd hope that that will you know the work that's going on there at grassroots level will pay dividends down down the line

and and then your other question Faye was just about how you think Ireland could get at England correct? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Basically, I think, yeah, their best bet is on the counter again. That's no secret. I was quite disappointed the other night that they didn't seem to have a plan. And look, it's easier said than done. Like you're playing against immensely high pressure in France and in England and and in Sweden and you only have a second

on the ball like they're straight on you and so it is it's easier said than done but I do think they need to show a little bit more going forward they do need to be a little bit braver like yes they're going to sit deep but they really do need to take their those openings if they do arise and you know like Keira Crews up top was chasing shadows the other night but she's more so a hold-up player so when she gets the ball it needs to stick and they need to go from her and there's no point trying to play her in behind like if you want it's a different type of player you need if that is the if that's the plan so I think in terms of team selection it'll be similar,

but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few changes. Wouldn't be surprised to see Katie McKay back at left wing back. The likes of Izzy Atkinson may be coming in. And I think the midfield will be freshened up. I could see Roosha Littlejohn starting tonight and then potentially someone else to play off, Keira Caruso, maybe Lucy Quinn, Leanne Keane and someone like that.

Right, it's going to be fascinating, isn't it? And I really hope that all of you are listening to this on Tuesday so that this is completely relevant. Otherwise, you're just going to be going, what a load of rubbish, none of that happened. So I'm not even going to ask you for your predictions just in case you're all listening on Wednesday. But with the final part of the season ahead, we thought we'd take a look at how things stand in some of the leagues across Europe while we're in this European qualifying stage.

We actually get a little bit of time to go around and see what's going on. We'll start in Spain, where Barcelona currently lead Real Madrid by 12 points at the top of the table. It looks very much like manager Jonathan Giraldez is going to leave his time at Barca with a third Liga F title. We will, of course, be talking about Barcelona properly in the coming weeks in terms of Champions League.

But once again, Real Madrid fall away, Susie. I mean, there's rumours of multiple departures on the horizon with Colombia's Linda Caicedo linked with Lyon, Hayley Rasa on the way out as well. Why is it that they're struggling to close that gap? Yeah, I mean, it's a bit of the impossible task, isn't it? In that Barcelona are a developed side with a developed youth system and a style of playing football that keeps them at the top and are so, so dominant that you're basically reliant on players, top-level players coming in and accepting that they're not going to win anything

and are going to be second best for seasons and seasons and seasons. And you need to retain them in order to develop and add to them. But you're basically going into Real Madrid knowing that you're going to be second. So that's really difficult, right? Like if a player is ambitious and a big club from another league like a Lyon come in who are perennial winners, you want trophies. So that's a really difficult position to be in

I think you could look at say league positions since Real Madrid came in as a team and say oh well the gap is closing 25 points for a season 30 point gap second season between them and Barcelona top 10 in the third season currently a 12 point gap oh it's getting smaller

you could argue that but that like it i mean yes they're improving season on season but they're not uh beating barcelona they yet to beat them so like it's a really really difficult situation to be in because um you're chasing the best team in europe possibly in the world, who are still developing, who can attract any player they want in the world. Yeah, Real Madrid's recruitment is on the basis of, you know, for a good while, you are going to be joining a team that is going to be second.

So keeping hold of those players is really difficult. But I think that is like, that's the big problem. Barcelona are such a mature team um developmentally and um yeah then with this absolutely brilliant like youth structure below it as well like it's a really established and developed team and closing that gap on a team of that nature is is like not a one-year project not a five-year project it is like a 10-year project, not a five-year project. It is like a 10-year project, which players aren't necessarily going to stick around for. It feels very similar in Germany as well, Amy, to be honest.

Bayern Munich enjoying an equally comfortable lead at the top of the Frauenbundesliga, looking to lift successive titles. It was a comfortable 4-0 victory for Georgia Stanway's side, seeing Wolfsburg's title hopes fade dramatically. It's always been a bit of a ding-dong between these two sides, but it almost feels a bit as if Wolfsburg are falling away

too. What is the reason for that? What's been the key to Bayern's success this season? I think we're kind of seeing, time will tell, but it's almost like a change in a big guard there. I know Bayern have been targeting being the number one team in Germany for a while now, and it's been about building up

because Wolfsburg have had that status for such a long time. And, you know, you look at Lennart Oberdorf's going to leave Wolfsburg this summer and join Bayern Munich, and I think that's quite symbolic in the way that German-Wernher Schuttmull's kind of going. I think for Bayern this season, it's been a little bit last season, like they're,

I think this is what's the old saying, you know, defences win championships, right? And their defence has been massive. I mean,

they do not concede chances, never mind goals. You know, the fewest shots against in the league, fewest goals conceded, you know, the XG against them is the smallest in the league, fewest goals conceded. You know, the XG against them

is the smallest in the league and they've actually got the most positive difference between the XG they've conceded and the goals they've actually conceded as well. They just do not concede goals. They're so hard to beat. And then you look at the other end of the pitch,

you look at some of the players in their squad, you know, Clara Boole and Pernilla Harder and Leah Shuller and Georgia Stanway and these kind of players that will, you know, while you're to nil, they'll go down the other end and win the game. So I think we have to mention how well they've played in those two games against Wolfsburg as well, because the gap to them is seven points

and they beat Wolfsburg home and away and that's six points of that gap. So to turn up in these games, you know, we know know it in the WSL how big those games between the top teams are and you know Bayern have absolutely shown up in those two games to give themselves quite a comfortable lead to to put themselves in position to win the title. Yeah and Wolfsburg's kind of equivalents in France were always Lyon and And actually, they're still continuing their domination of French football. Emma, aren't they hunting down their 17th division title, which is quite incredible. I mean, it would be the perfect farewell for Sonia Bombastor, wouldn't it? But as it's been reported, she's leaving for Chelsea in the summer.

But I mean, at some point, someone else has got to step up, haven't they? Yeah, absolutely. And I suppose no more than at Chelsea, where Bombastor is reportedly, as you say, coming in. Beculation has certainly been shut down by Chelsea. But, you know, it's obviously a huge job at both clubs. Like you say, 17 league titles in 18 years they're closing in on that's just unbelievable three in a row suppose even i was just looking back at von bastor's record and it's 110 games played 94 won 10 drawn six lost which is incredible

a win rate of 85 and then obviously you throw in that 2022 Champions League title it hasn't been half bad it would be the perfect send-off they're obviously still in Champions League contention as well and Chelsea on the other side of that draw so it's going to be an interesting few weeks for sure but just in terms of the season overall their domestic season they're looking to go unbeaten it's 18 wins and one draw they play PSG later this month so that's obviously going to be a big one but it's looking like it's going that way and that Bombastor will be leaving on a high note should she be departing we'll obviously find out more over the next few weeks but just credit to what she has done at Lyon both as a player and as manager but definitely as you say, big, big shoes to fill

for whoever may come in there. Oh, I mean, wouldn't it be incredible if it's Emma Hayes versus Sonia Bambosto for the Champions League final and both want to end their, you know, careers at incredible clubs on a high? That would be something else, wouldn't it?

They've got to get there first. Let's look at Italy's Serie A. It's another league that seems to be pretty wrapped up already. AS Roma leading Juventus by 10 points with six games to go, which would be back-to-back titles for Alessandro Spugna's side. What have you made of their journey to success, Susie? It's an interesting one, isn't it? Because chatting about Real Madrid earlier, Roma equally a team relatively in their infancy, but able to have a real impact on a league pretty quickly. And I think that speaks to the league as a whole and, really shrewd recruitment that fits the philosophy of the manager has enabled them to have an impact that is making them be able

to retain players and to go on a charge and to have the ambition of actually winning things in a way that Real Madrid can't, for example. So it's sort of like a bit of a different scenario, you know, because the real sort of investment in Italy has come from Juventus and Fiorentina sort of. Juventus more recently, Fiorentina a little bit more historically. But that level has been pretty low. So coming in and making an impact and shaking things up

and becoming the dominant team is a far easier job in Italy than it is in, say, France, where Lyon are the developed team or in England where you've got a few, particularly Chelsea at the top or Spain where you've got Barcelona. So that to me is really exciting. But it's not just that they've come in and brought in a load of like really, really like top superstar players. They've brought in players that really fit the system and it's made them a really, really exciting team. I think it's no accident that, you know, first season in the Champions League, they reach the quarterfinals. Like obviously this season, Champions League, not the best exit from the group stage,

bottom of the group. But like when you're in a league, like a group stage with Bayern Munich, Ajax and Paris, I mean, that's sort of to be expected to a certain extent and speaks to the fact that the Italian league is, you know, developmentally a step behind the top, top European nations. But in terms of like philosophy and talent and like just being enjoyable to watch, Roma are doing a really, really, really good job. Let's go to Scotland, shall we? And this is what we want. A competitive league, a title race. Yes, please.

The Scottish Women's Premier League serving up the most drama this season. Rangers currently leading Celtic by one point with current champions Glasgow City just three points behind the latter in third so will Joe Potter's side be able to lift the second domestic title Amy? I mean I hope we get another end of the season like last year they call it helicopter Sunday was it where it was like three teams in the in the race for it um I love a final day like that and I think this season as well none of, I'm pretty sure when I looked the other day, none of them

play each other on the final day so it'd be three games to keep across and the kind of permutations of hopping around so I hope it stays as close to the final day as for Rangers I think that League Cup win the other week could be a real boost to them.

They lost to Celtic just the week before and then about a week later, you're lifting the trophy. So that must give you a real confidence boost as you move into the last stages of the title race. But I think there's eight really big games left and I think it's kind of the beauty of this split format that Scotland has had kind of historically across men's and men's football at least.

But yeah, I think it's kind of been, as that split makes it so much more intensified and amplified each game, you know, there's no sort of like, oh, well, they'll easily beat that team. It's so amplified and yeah, it's going to be a really, really good running. Yeah, it certainly is.

Finally, a quick word on the League of Ireland, given that we have Emma on today. It would be remiss of us not to ask. Look, the season's only been underway for a few weeks, but how are things shaping up early on? How important is this flourishing domestic league for the future of the international side as well. Yeah, hugely important. It's been quite a stop start so far this season,

obviously with the international break and the All-Ireland Cup around the games there too. But Galway United are currently top with three wins from three. P-Main are second, the reigning champions and Shelburne are third. So P-Main won last year. There was a lot of changes in the off-season, I suppose with the league moving to a semi-professional capacity. P-Mount are not affiliated with a men's team, so it was a massive, massive achievement to see them go and win the league.

You know, a lot had been made of their underdog status. They will say they were written off. I'm not sure they were entirely because the last few seasons it has been Pima and Shelburne and Wexford in the mix towards the end but it was that's not taken away from their achievement it was absolutely incredible what they did last year they've obviously started with a little bit of a mixed bag this year but Galway United are looking very very good they've quite a good young team a nice smattering of experience

there as well but lots of really talented young internationals and underage Irish internationals and so they've made a strong start and there seems to be real belief there with what they're doing so it's going to be interesting to see how the next few weeks pan out but like Amy was saying there a few seasons back a few seasons in a row we had it go down to the to the wire right down to the final day and it was so exciting last year was settled a little bit earlier than that and but I wouldn't mind seeing it go all the way this year again yeah that would be brilliant wouldn't it I I love just hearing about how the how the leagues have gone around Europe um this year because we don't get to focus on it too much on the show because the

WSL is so competitive and you know it shows how lucky we are in England really to have such a competitive league but we'll keep doing these updates because I think it's really interesting going forward and this is slightly left field because we've been talking about European teams but we must mention players coming towards the end of their careers. We were just talking earlier on about Jess Fishlock and Sophie Ingle. But outside of Europe, New Zealand are bidding farewell to a legend, Rhea Percival, announcing that she's hanging up her international boots. She's obviously been part of the Ferns set up for the last 18 years.

166 caps that she's amassed, which is the most of any New Zealand player, male or female. She's appeared in five World Cups, four Olympic Games. I mean, I don't even know how you even begin to summarise the impact she's had on the game in her country, Amy. No, a remarkable servant. I think any of us that flew to Australia to do the World Cup last summer, probably our eyes open to how demanding it must be to be a regular international of Australia or of New Zealand

and to play in Europe for her to have an 18-year career and to have spent, you know, I think the last 12 or so years in Europe, Germany and Switzerland and now in England. You know, she's flying 24 hours to New Zealand every time she's flying to represent the country back up and you know for things like qualifiers in in OFC and stuff all the way there all the way back for that long I mean it's remarkable and to continue to deliver your best and to lead your team you know she's been one of the figureheads for the progress that they've made

in that time like yeah I think think it's just a remarkable achievement and she's had some fantastic memories to take with her. I spoke to her a couple of years ago and she was playing in front of 50,000 at 17 in a World Cup in China. She was part of that New Zealand team that got out of the group stages in the Olympics in London in 2012,

which is a massive achievement for a nation that's so small in population. And obviously she'll take that first World Cup win at a home tournament last year with her as well. So, yeah, she's had a remarkable career with some real high points to take with her. Absolutely, she has. We wish her all the very best. Right, it's been a pleasure.

I wish you the very best tonight, Emma, for Republic of Ireland. Not too much, obviously, as an England fan in me is desperate to get out of this group of death. But it's been lovely having you on. Take care. Thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it. Wonderful debut from you as well, Amy Ruschke.

See you soon. See you soon. Enjoy Dublin. Susie, I'm very much looking forward to our touristy afternoon. I'll see you later. See you later. OK, keep having your say by sending in your questions via X or emailing us at womensfootballweeklyattheguardian.com.

And as ever, a reminder to sign up to our bi-weekly women's football newsletter. All you need to do is search Moving the Goalposts sign up. In Tuesday's edition, Louise Taylor looks at War Bella, a play of the incredible story of heroic female footballers during World War One. Then on Thursday, Sophie Downie's going to look at the lost World Cup

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