The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - FA Cup goals plus who has done the best business in January? – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Emma Sanders to review the fourth round of the Women’s FA Cup, assess the latest transfer moves and answer your questions

This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faker others and welcome to The Guardian Women's Football Weekly. No FAC Cup sets at the weekend, but plenty of goals and history made for fourth tier side, Chatham Town, who reached the fifth round for the first time. Charlton get brackets after their score. They put 10. That's T-E-N past Swindon. West Ham and London City get that winning feeling back.

And Arsenal beat Aston Villa. We'll go through all the stories from the fourth round. cast our eye over some of the transfers in the January window, plus is our mailbag episode. So we'll take even more of your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. What a panel we have today, Susie Rack. It's behind you.

He's behind you. She's behind you. Who's behind you? That's such a niche reference that we need to explain, don't we? I'm off this week and I'm helping make props for the local Panto that my son is in. And everyone should come to. Cabaret Grimm in Waltham Stowe Tradeshall, which is on in half term. Oh, no, it isn't.

That voice is Tom Garry's. Oh, yes, it is. How are you? Well, thank you. Silly as ever, and nice to see you. Nice to see you too. Emma Sanders, any other Panto references to add in? Sadly not. I've already told Susie that I wore a Mr. Potato Head outfit while I was at uni in my second year, thinking that could give inspiration to her magic mirror costume, but she wasn't having it. No, there was a little bit of a, hold on, I need to just show you what I'm about to do.

The creative took over, and she immediately said, no, no, no, you're just not getting what I'm trying to tell you. It was quite funny to watch. Anyway, we digress. We have a lot of football to dissect. The fourth round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup took place this weekend. 16 teams booked their spot into the fifth round. I will run through the results very quickly, but actually, let's just dive in, shall we?

And any results that I miss, you can all say, which, and one of them, we're not probably going to discuss is Zipswich Town 1. Sheffield United 2, by the way, just as a disclaimer. But we'll go straight in because the WSL teams entered at this stage. They dominated proceedings as well. Only two fell at the hurdle, and they faced WSL teams. So Lester were out, beaten 3-0 by Spurs, and last year's quarter finalists, Astinville, lost 2-0 to Arsenal. No real FA Cup sets, Susie. Was that a surprise to you? Or is it kind of to be expected at this stage in the journey of the women's game? Not a surprise at all in that I think me and Tom

were sat at the Arsenal, Manchester United Women's game in the league. And it was at the same time as the men's FA Cup games were being played and we were looking at the McWordsfield result as we were against Palace as we were kind of paying attention to the game and afterwards. chatting about it. And we're saying I don't think either of us have ever seen an upset between, say, a WSL 2 and a WSL1 side even. When you think of how long we've been covering the game, like it's that unusual because the gap is so big. You know, it's not like in the men's game where there's so many tiers of professional football for players to be playing in that there's a, you know, when everyone is professional to a certain extent, there is a sort of minimum level there.

and it's not the same in the women's game. That gap is so much bigger all the way through at the moment and it will change as it grows. But for now, upsets in cup competitions are extremely rare. Yeah, they are. But the magic of the FA Cup was certainly alive. Fourth tier side, Chatham Town, made history, beating York City, also of the fourth tier

by three goals to nil to reach the fifth round for the first time. They've been on an incredible run. The lowest ranked team now left in the competition and their reward is in a way tie against Birmingham City, who beat Hull by six goals to two. How much are they going to be looking forward to that, Tom? Listen, disclaimer here, I'm a Birmingham City fan, but even I have to admit that is an awful draw.

It's the least romantic draw that they could have got, you know, in all the options that they were. And when they were drawn out, I think Arsenal was still in the hat as well. So you were sort of thinking, oh, could they get Arsenal, something like that, or even a home tie would have been lovely for them. But it's still a really nice story. 20 and a half years since Kippo Anas, the manager, won the Cup with Charlton.

And an emotional year for him, because his assistant at that time was Matt Beard, of course. So he's had a really tough year personally. So many people have who knew Matt. And for him to be on this cup run, I think is really lovely. And showing that there is maybe a little sprinkling of magic. But I did hear. somebody say they were on like this unbelievable cup run, you know, they did be a fellow fourth tier

side. It's not quite McElfield knocking out the holders of the men's competition, is it? So maybe in the next round against Birmingham, they can produce a really, really exciting upset. But yeah, Susie was saying, you know, shocks have been few and far between really for a very long time. We know, we traw back through. There's no examples of a WSL side losing to anyone below the second tier since the WSL was formed in 2011. There are a few examples of second-tier size knocking out top-tier clubs. Birmingham actually knocking out Everton

about two years ago and Lester beat Man United four or five years ago, but Lester at that point had already clinched the second-tier title. So I don't know if we can even count that. We're clutching at straws to find a sort of shock. So maybe this next round can be the one that delivers a man.

We need Susie's costume. Pass the magic on from the cost. you into the cut, please. I've also made a magic wand, which, you know, could also be helpful. I was going to tell you, you lot are taking all the fairy dust away at the moment. Well done, Chatham Town, I say. I don't care who you beat. I'm delighted for you.

What a history-making group that will always be the case. Right, Arsenal beat Aston Villa 2-0. That was an all-WSL clash. Kind of a potential stumbling block for both sides, Emma. So I'm sure Rennie Slegger's is going to be. pleased that they're safely through it. Yeah, I think Ashton Villa have proven to be quite difficult opponents in the WSL this season. They're just quite inconsistent, aren't they?

So don't really know what you're going to get with them. But I think Arsenal wouldn't have enjoyed having to play them at this stage in the Cup, especially when you see quite a lot, the WSL clubs had lower tier opposition. So, yeah, definitely a good one for them to get through. Just want to take a moment to yet again talk about Kim Little, because what a player, goal and an assist. Still one of the best midfielders in the world. It's incredible how she keeps doing it.

In this instance, you can't say, well, it was against weaker opposition. It was against a good WSL team. So a good result for Arsenal and just getting through, I think, is the main thing, isn't it, at this stage of the competition. Yeah. AFC Bournemouth took on WSL leaders, Manchester City at a sold-out Snow Stadium. I mean, this one felt like a proper FA Cup tie, didn't it? City did win it convincingly. Sixth-Nill it finished.

Graham from Bournemouth sent us this email. Isn't the FA Cup a great thing? Yes, it is. AFC, Bournemouth got to have a go at the best team in the country yesterday. And for 40 minutes or so, we managed to hold on to their coattails, frustrate them defensively and even have a few goes forward ourselves. Of course, City's class shone through, the skill on the ball, the quality of the passing, the vision as to where to put the ball next. All incredible.

But even at 6-0, I'm very proud of how the whole Bournemouth squad played, highlight a few. Jess Hennessey had the game of her life defending against first Bunny Shaw, then Viv Meademar. Sophie Quirk was impressive as ever. Erinfoli and gold kept out more than went in. A fantastic advertisement for the FA Women's National League and hoping that we're going to continue to push for WSL2 next season. By all accounts, the paperwork is being filed. Love the pod as always, Graham from Bournemouth. How much will Helen Blesard's side learn from that experience, Susie, as they try and push for promotion? Loads and I mean they're really exciting in the league as well there's nothing to lose from a game like that right

when you're top of the Women's National League a game against Man City is a chance to test yourself against WSO opposition with nothing to lose and that they even held on for 19 minutes with the goal with the scoreline at nil-nil given the way Man City are playing is hugely impressive to a certain extent as well they've got quite an incredible defensive record in the league in that they have only conceded seven goals

across their 12 games, which is significantly better than anyone else, basically. So, like, they are playing really well. It's quite incredible given that Helen Blizzard was appointed as interim manager. That was only seven days before the start of the league season. And then had that change to being given the post until the end of the season in September. So, like, it was a really, in theory, tough start to the campaign and to the footballing year for them. But the reality is that they've done extraordinary well.

And yeah, you go into a game like that with like zero to lose. It's exciting, I think, for Bournemouth, because I've got a friend of mine called Mitch, who has followed the men's team, he's a season ticket holder, and he started going to the women's games a lot more recently. They've got a phenomenal league record, as Susie says. I think it's two and a half years since they lost a game in the league,

which is just incredible. He was messaging me off the back of the 6-0 loss, and he said, you know, it was a bit of a humbling. We've not really experienced this for a while, but you can see the golf in class between Mancitt's. in Bournemouth, but it didn't take away from, you know, the Bournemouth players and the way that they conducted themselves. And I think just the way that they're really exciting the city. So I think, you know, I just wanted to mention that, because I think that's a real positive for them and

the fact that their women's team are progressing and they are developing it, I think is a really good sign for Bournemouth. I mean, you say it was humbling, but Aston Villa shipped six against city as well. Exactly. You know, so anyway, Tom Gary, you had a little trip up to the northeast at the weekend. It was the Northeast versus London for two new WSL managers. London City Lioness's boss, Eden Maestra and West Ham's Rita Guarino, getting their first wins away to Sunderland and Newcastle, respectively. What did you make of their performances? Did their WSL2 opposition give them something to think about?

How are the games? Yeah, both WSL2 sides, Newcastle and Sunderland. Both played relatively well. I think that Newcastle will be a bit frustrated. They weren't a little bit more clinical in the final third. And perhaps Sunderland played the better of the two. They really defended brilliantly for a large part of that game to hold it to only one nil. So they've kind of both performed respectably, but I think they'll be slightly disappointed.

They didn't lay more of a glove on their opponents. It was a couple of really interesting games because, as you say, it was two new managers, both in only their second games in charge. Rita Garino, who got her first win, 3-0, and I think we'll be quite pleased with how West Ham grew into that game. And then for Edairmeister at London City Lionesses, I think it's a new style for them. So they're kind of slowly going to be taking a bit of time to get used to that. But there were positive signs.

What they had was a huge height advantage. Like normally when it's like a cup tie like this, maybe the lower level side might be fancying their chances at the set pieces. But actually London City had so much height in comparison to Sunderland. That actually was the other round. And they got the winning goal from a Giorlo corner. So the other nice thing to mention about that game was it was a debut at long last for Danielle Vandadonk, which was really lovely to see her back after such a persistent knee injury.

She waited seven months to make her debut for the club. And producer Sophie and I spoke to her afterwards and she was just so happy. She said it was a proudest she'd ever been of herself for getting back. So great to see her back, but no cup sets from my venture up to the northeast. No, but still a bit of fun anyway. And time with producer Sof too, which is always a joy. Right. Exactly.

Liverpool's new signings put on a show. They scored six as well past London B's. Denise O'Sullivan and Martha Thomas both scored on debut. Alice Bergstrom also bagged her first two goals. Are they going to be useful, aren't they? Emma, those kind of minutes for the new faces going into the second half of the season? Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, Gareth Taylor has spoken about this quite regularly.

He wanted those new signings in early. I think Liverpool have had a really great window. I think they'll be pleased with the fact that they were able to get the majority of them in sort of before the last week or two of the transfer window. So, yeah, to get, you know, the likes of Alice Bergstrom playing a couple of games now, getting on the score sheet early, in fact, both Denise O'Sullivan, Marfa Thomas already opened their accounts as well. You know, it's a really, really good positive. And they'll have taken the cup games seriously this season, a mixture of both Garif Taylor wanting to do well in it,

but also, you know, lack of, I suppose, availability that means that. they haven't been able to rotate the squad, so they've essentially had to play the starting 11 in every game all season. But in that sense, it's given them at least the fans and the players some wins and some good wins in the cup. Obviously, they had the thrashing by Chelsea and just before Christmas.

But I think just to get those kind of results so that you're not losing every single game or failing to win every single game, I think it's just a positive for them. So hopefully they can turn this result. And obviously those new signings, into a win in the WSEL because that is obviously the priority. They want to get the league up and going now.

Yeah, once you lose that winning feeling, it's very difficult to get it back. It feels like an uphill challenge, doesn't it? Drama at Court Place Farm, Oxford United mounted a late comeback. They scored three goals in the last nine minutes to see off Middlesbrough. They now welcome WSL2 League Leaders Charlton in the next round. Karen Hillside beats Swindon by 10 goals to nil,

which was brilliant for them. But the game against Oxford United is going to be quite special, isn't it, Susie? Yeah, I mean, Charlton's league position, I find astounding because they're top of the WSL2 for those not in the know. And they've scored fewer goals than like, I think it's eight or nine teams below them. There's only three teams, I think, in the league that have scored fewer goals than them. And yet they sit top and that like is a testament to an incredible defensive record that has seen them only concede five. if no one else has conceded less than just quickly scanning it, 13, right? So it is quite remarkable and they've got a five-point lead.

So they are a very, very well drilled side. They're a really difficult team to be. Karen Hills, it was her 150th game in charge of Charlton at the weekend. So they are quite a steady ship. And to be doing that in the context of sort of the money that is being spent now, when you look at the ownership groups around Newcastle, Bristol and Birmingham, and still be ahead of them is really impressive. So yeah, a huge task for Oxford United in the next round.

That said, obviously Charlton's focuses will be on the league. So, you know, you can always have a tiny degree of hope, but with a defensive record like that that is basically ensuring you're, you know, sitting pretty at the top of WSL2, I think it makes it an nigh on impossible task. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. what, there were some really tasty fixtures coming out of the draw on Monday night at Wembley Stadium, weren't there? Holders Chelsea will face Manchester United, who they beat in the final last year, you'll remember. Liverpool and Everton are going to meet again in a Merseyside

Derby. We didn't mention Everton's score. They beat West Brom by five goals to nil. West Ham will host Brighton. Brighton beat Nottingham Forest by two goals to nil. And London City will take on top who knocked out Lester, as I mentioned. Elsewhere, WSL will take on WSL 2, Manchester City, host Sheffield United, who beat Ipswich and Arsenal take on Bristol City, who needed extra time to knock out Southampton. All those fixtures scheduled to be played the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of February. Listen, we really need to address the frustration that many fans have had this weekend

who were not able to watch their team play if they couldn't attend a game. This is why, you'll remember we discussed this at the time, the first time there is a standalone broadcast deal for the Adobe Women's FA Cup. So that meant that TNT Sports showed four games this weekend. They're going to do 19 in total across the competition this season. Channel 4 shared the coverage for one match. But the restrictions of the deal mean that any game that clashed with those four broadcast picks and just a reminder of what they were, West Brom-Everton, Newcastle,

United against West Ham, Sunderland, London, London, City Line, and Arsenal Villa couldn't be shown live and they could only then be put up at midday the following day, which meant the Spurs Leicester was the only game allowed to be streamed by the club. You know, there's reasoning behind it, partly because they're looking at finding a balance between broadcast coverage and encouraging the growth of attendances, but obviously still problematic and there's never going to be an ideal solution, unfortunately. But what did you make of it all, Susie? Can you understand the frustrations? Completely understand the frustration. in that people want to be able to watch their teams, right?

And if there isn't a way of doing it, then people are irritated. But at the same time, I'm also kind of like sympathetic to experimentation. It's clearly must have been difficult if this is the solution to sell the rights for this round of the Women's FAA Cup. They found a solution that tries to then drive the TV audience to the broadcasters that have taken those rights. So I can understand the logic of it. And I'm like, at this stage of things, I'm like sympathetic to experience. experimentation, like not everything is going to be perfect. It's like the same as the, you know, the WSL fixtures all being played at the same time on the Sunday or predominantly or whatever. And these

midday kickoffs and things like that. Like, I don't like them. Am I a fan of them? Do I enjoy them? Do I like games being played at the same time? Not particularly. Do I mind them having a go and seeing what happens and like testing whether something works? I think that's fine. So as long as like lessons are learned from these things and, you know, broadcasters and the FA and. in this case or the WSL in case of WSL fixtures, sit down at like the end of seasons and go, yeah, this was successful, this wasn't, what worked, what didn't work. Then I don't really kind of, maybe that's me sitting on the fence.

Maybe I'm just being too nice. But yeah, I don't like, you know, I don't really mind a bit of experimentation when you're trying to get things moving audience-wise and TV-wise. Interesting, because producer sofas just messaged me to say, Susie is the Zen to my anger. That is so unusual. It's usually the other way around. Tom, was it a missed opportunity, do you think?

Yeah, I understand what Susie's saying, but I think they've experimented, and I think that experiment has failed. Everything Susie said is totally valid, but they need to learn from it now. And I sincerely hope that those terms of the deal a tweet for next season, i.e. they don't stay for the full remainder of the rights deal,

because essentially it's created a blackout for every other game while the televised game was on. They either need to be scheduling the kickoff time for the big televised game away from all the others, which is what tends to happen in men's football usually, or this needs to be tweaked. Because if we just take a really specific example, like a sort of a diehard London Bees fan who couldn't make the game

from like tuning in somehow, because there was another game being televised. That, for me, it just didn't make any sense. And I think that I think that was a bit of a missed opportunity. We also need to remember how it's fairly expensive still for a lot of fans to pay for it. It's a good sign that there is a proper right steal for the Women's FAA Cup. That's been really welcome news. It's not cheap for everyone to sign up for this.

And we need to try and make this competition a lot more accessible to fans as much as possible. Emma, do you want to put in your two pennies? Yeah, I'm more in line with Tom, to be honest, in the sense of, you know, I completely understand what Suze is saying in terms of the experimentation, but for me, I just found it a little bit short-sighted because you kind of knew what would happen.

And I do think when you're alienated so many fans from so many clubs, I think that's an issue. I think the fact that, you know, it was on TNT, which is a paid-for subscription TV broadcast as well, might be slightly different if it was more of them that were on Channel 4, a little bit more availability. I think what they hoped was that if you had a select few on TV, then a mass sort of neutral audience would watch those games.

But I think that's where I think it's maybe being a bit sure-sighted, because as Tom says, if you've got a London Bees fan, I don't see how they're going to be so invested in wanting to watch one of those games that were on TV. I think, what was it, Astonville or Arsenal were one of them maybe? I just don't see that happening. I don't see the harm in clubs being able to stream their own games while they're being broadcast on national television because the neutrals who would want to maybe watch those games on TV

could quite happily have a laptop open with a stream from the club website showing their game as well and they could have done multi-view. I don't think that would have harmed that kind of neutral audience. And then the fans of those clubs were obviously going to watch it on TV anyway. So I just think all it did was Ali. in it the fans of several other clubs that couldn't see their games. And I just think if only they were allowed to stream them on the club websites, I just don't see how that would have harmed any of the broadcast figures

to an extent that it would be such a concern. Don't think of me wrong, I completely agree with all that. Like, my position is, I think it's a terrible idea and didn't work. But I'm just sympathetic to like experimentation and trying things. Because when you're trying to get a deal like, when was the last time the FA Cup this round had a deal of this scale possibly nether, what is the alternative, right? If the broadcasters say, look, if we're going to pay this money, we want exclusive airtime on this slot, what is, say, the FA in this case, supposed to do in that scenario?

Do they say, okay, no, we don't want this money and we don't want that broadcasting, we don't want the one televised game or whatever it be, versus this is the option that maybe put on the table in front of them? And they can obviously argue against it and things like that. I'm sort of like sympathetic to that, but you just, you just. want to get a deal in place. You want to prove that there's an audience there, right? You want to say next time round when there's a new deal for the FA Cup or next season even, like, mid this deal for the FA Cup, you want to be able to go, this many people watch it. We don't think

this is going to be affected. Let's try it for one weekend with gate clubs also being able to stream their games on their websites or on YouTube or whatever. And let's see if there's a big impact on those audience figures in that weekend on the televised figures. So, like, I think, you know, it's, for me, like, I'm just sympathetic to it being a starting point. And I know that sometimes these conversations with broadcasters are really difficult. But I agree with Tom as well in that, like, you need to, like, it can't be for the length of this deal that this is what happens. You know, there needs to be some kind of give in between as well. Like, there needs to be some kind of, like, reflection.

And also, we should say how good it was that there was exposure on television for West Brom on the Thursday night. Great for attention on them as a club. and obviously Newcastle on the Friday as well and I think that we should welcome there being four televised ties that overall that was a step forward in the right direction. Yeah, I agree. And there has to be compromises made in order for growth

and there's lots more that come out of, you know, television deals when you think commercially and various other things. So I do think it's a balancing act and it takes a little bit of time to get it right. But I'm with Susie in terms of experimentation and you have to make compromises at some point. Anyway, let us know your thoughts.

What did you think about that? Were you adversely affected? Or did you think it was a good idea? Right, that's it for part one of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. In part two, we're here the latest going on in the transfer window, and it's our mailbag episode. So we're going to take some of your questions. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly.

So we're at the halfway point of the winter transfer window. Safe to say it's been pretty busy so far as well. Manchester United have strengthened. Man City have signed a USA international. Spurs have been creating headlines. Liverpool have been doing some much-needed strengthening as well. Susie, look, we've talked extensively on this pod about Manchester United's need to strengthen

and Mark Skinner made it very clear before Christmas that they have to bring in players. Leah Schuller, Hannah Lunkfist and Ellen Van Goghheim have all signed. Is that just what he wanted? Did he get all his Christmas gifts? I think they're great signings. Who knows? I imagine he has a very, very long Christmas list if we're talking about potential players

that they might want to get in. But yeah, what quality signings, what quality additions. And I find it extremely exciting when you're looking ahead at sort of Champions League and things like that, that they've bought in, you know, real high quality attacking talent in Leah Shuler, a 28-year-old German international. And then also, you know, very young, exciting Swedish player, 21, also forward.

I think that's a really complementary pair of attacking players to bring in. And yeah, you know, kind of great goal records. Like both of them, obviously, Shula for Germany in particular, but also club level. Ellen Wangeheim has got an exceptional record at Hammabee as well, who have been playing incredibly well. So, like, there's, I think, some real excitement there. And then, you know, obviously, Hannah Lunkfis adds depth right back to. So I think they've done some very, very smart business in this window.

Like it's, you know, proper sort of top four type deals in that, you know, it's not just scattergun and like get as many players in as possible, but really strengthening the positions where they really, really need it. You mean a strategy? Yeah, a proper strategy. And they've been given a little bit of money to do it, which is also nice to see too. So, yeah, I'm actually really excited for their signings and for how they look as they come in. Liverpool and Lester, two more that desperately needed to boost their squad. They've both done that as well. Gareth Taylor has brought in six new faces, including Denise O'Sullivan, Jennifer Falk and Martha Thomas.

Rick Passmore, meanwhile, has made four signings, including Rachel Williams from Manchester United. Both these managers have brought in quite a lot of experience there, Tom. How important could that be going forward in the league? I think Liverpool particularly have had a really strong window so far, but it was much needed. I think they had a weak summer window. So they're almost kind of making amends for that now. They brought in, I think, not just experience, but actually quality, real quality.

And I think particularly in the goalkeeper department, like Falk, is going to be an excellent, excellent signing. We've wanted to sort of see how she could do in this league for a long time. I think she'll be superb. Anno Sullivan's clearly a very, very classy footballer. And we could mention several. But just generally, it's interesting to see a lot of people leaning towards experience. in this window.

I think Garraf Taylor's alluded to this a couple of times. It's one of those windows in January where because there's no tournament coming up, maybe the kind of the loan deals for somebody younger who might be trying to burst into a national tournament side for the tournament, maybe those deals don't exist this winter because there isn't a World Cup or a Euros coming up in six months. And in the same sense that we don't have as many deals where somebody like last year, Chloe Kelly was obviously really desperate to move because she would need to get back in the England's side and play football.

There aren't that many of those kind of transfers going on right now. But it has none the less been a really interesting window. It's going to be interesting to see now what happens with Kelly Gargo at Everton. She clearly wants to leave. Our understanding is there's been a transfer request put in. But at the moment, I'm not aware of any bids forthcoming to sign her. So it'll be interesting to see whether or not she leaves or stays in this window, clearly would like to leave the club.

But I think both mentioning Merseye's side clubs just to finish on them, I think they'll both still be quite busy between the end of the window. I think there's more to come from both of them. Spurs are a busy team. They've already announced the arrival of Signa Galtzett, Hannah Wick, Matilda Nilden, Julie Blackstad and Micah Romano. They've got players in early doors, no messing about. How impressed have you been with their business, Emma?

Very impressed. I think aside with Liverpool, Tottenham, have had the best window, probably just ahead of Liverpool, to be honest, in the sense of that they did all of it ridiculously early. Senior Gulp set, I think, is a phenomenal signing, and they got her in in November. You know, they've worked really hard to make sure that they were done early doors.

It's a reward, I think, for Martin Ho. He obviously came in in the summer and has done a great job so far in the season. I thought that their business was maybe a little bit limited in the summer. I was a bit critical, you know, sort of thought they probably needed a little bit more, but actually what he's been able to do with that, squad up to this point, I think it's been fantastic. And then now they've delivered the players that I think I personally thought they should

have got in in the summer. And obviously, I've been still corrected there because clearly it's worked. And now they're bringing these players into a setup that's very well run, that's in great form, that's obviously pushing, you know, still 10 points behind City in the title, which I think Tottenham would have snapped your arm off at the start of the season. So, yeah, fantastic players. I spoke to Julie Blatstad last week, I think it was, who's obviously. come in. She's got previous WCL experience at City as well. So they're not just getting players

who are performed well outside of the league and, you know, are having to adapt. They brought in the likes of Blackstad who knows what it takes to play at a top club in the WSEL. The likes of Permano, who's obviously, you know, a huge rising star in Japan, who's been playing really well at Chelsea, but just wants more game time. And obviously, Gap'set is, you know, one of the best young players in the world. So it's very clear what their sort of targets and they're kind of strapped. strategy is. And I think that's something that Tottenham personally I think have really struggled with in recent years. Like I look at their signings and I think what is the strategy? And I have questioned the board before in the sense of where they're just buying players for a specific manager. And naturally, you know, they've used the contacts I think Martin Ho had in terms of Scandinavian clubs. But equally in January, they're very limited to Scandinavia in the US anyway. So I think, yeah, like I say, I think it's it's not just a case of they've gone. Let's go for Scandinavian clubs because it's Martin Ho. I think they've gone, let's go for a market that's very accessible at this time of year

and let's really, really strategise our targets. So fantastic window for Tottenham, I think. There have, of course, been two headline signings from the NWSL, as Emma mentioned, only really a couple of leagues. She can be poaching players from this time of year. But the USA midfielder Sam Coffey has arrived at Manchester City and Delphine Cascarino has come to London City Lionesses. How much are you looking forward to seeing what they can do in the WSL, Tom?

Oh, immensely. These are the big two so far, by the way, that have arrived in this league. Cascarino going to London City Lionesses, that's a world-class winger, a six-time Champions League winner, still in her peak years age-wise. And a really curious deal in the sense that she left San Diego by mutual consent on Sunday, and then has arrived for London City Linus is on the Monday with seemingly no transfer fee.

But it was announced quite late last night. We're recording early on the Tuesday morning, so I confess I've not had time to make some real calls on that to kind of get to the bottom of that. But there are clubs around the rest of the WSL scratching their heads going, that's a bargain. How on earth have they managed to make that happen?

And as for Sam Coffey, that's a fascinating signing by Manchester City. They spent a lot of time tracking her. It paid significant money for her as well. they think it's a really physical and athletic presence in the midfield, but also leadership and gives them different options tactically in midfield as well. So they're really bolstering their squad to kind of go on all fronts next season. I just feel a little bit sorry for Laura Bluerre and Kilda Brown,

who has played so well in the holding midfield role this season, really stepped up. I hope she still gets a lot of minutes and doesn't simply get relegated to the bench now because she's been brilliant. And I just want to say one thing after what Emma was saying about the Scandinavian League, fascinating at how many clubs in WSEL have targeted that market. But if we only do you think of it from a Swedish or Norwegian or Danish point of view, their leagues have been decimated in the last two weeks.

If you or somebody sitting on the operations board of either the Swedish League or the Norwegian League, for example, this has been a terrible few weeks for, like, great that those clubs are now being rewarded financially for developing such good young players. But if you draw on a list of the best 15 players playing in Scandinavia, be it for Christmas, I think 10 of them have already left. And, you know, like it's extraordinary. They've been completely decimated by the double-sale big spenders. Tim Wright has asked on email,

will Shukunushkin still be a Chelsea player at the end of January or next season? Emma, any intel? Yeah, great question. I think the whispers were that, you know, she could have been on the move this month. I wouldn't roll that out, definitely now. Obviously, we're edging closer and closer towards the trance window and the deadline, sorry, and she's obviously been in recent squads. So I think as it stands, Chelsea is preparing for her to stay in the summer.

But I do think these things tend to move quite quickly. I wouldn't roll it out. It's definitely one that I'd be keeping an eye on. Yeah, quick look to WSL too as well, Em. The top four have got in on the action as well, Birmingham City, Charlton Palace, and Bristol City, all strengthening. Newcastle have as well, which makes the promotion chase more interesting, doesn't it? Yeah, definitely. I think Birmingham City will be very happy so far as well.

Newcastle have made a handful of great signings. I think the WSL 2 now, particularly the last two in those, they brought in real, real quality. And I think it's because the WSL are now, you know, the squads are getting deeper in terms of the quality. There's more depth. So there's a bit more of, I don't want to sound disrespectful when I say this, but maybe a bit more of an overhang of quality in squads. And therefore there's more players of that statute available, I think, to WSL2 clubs. So if you've got, you know, and Tom mentioned someone like Laura Blinkilder Brown,

let's say her minutes do reduce because Man City have gone and brought in a world-class midfielder, then you've got an extremely good midfielder available on the market. it and the WCL2 clubs like Newcastle like Birmingham City and imagine we'd be keeping an eye on those types of players who have got acres and acres of quality and just need more minutes. So like I said, the last two windows, I think particularly have been really strong for WSL2 clubs

and that title race in the second tier is just so, so excited. And I think it's been such a great season. You know, if you're a fan of a WSL2 club, I think you're having a great time because what a lead to watch week and week out It's really, really exciting. You know it's my favourite league. I absolutely love it.

I find it fascinating. Listen, we have wanted to do a mailbag episode for such a long time. And there's always so many stories going on that we never get an opportunity to really go through and actually ask you to fully send in all your questions so we can go through every single one of them. Plus, we'll take your questions is my favourite part of my intro to this pod every single week. and we never get to ask enough of them. So thank you so much for sending so many in via email or social media. We're going to kick off with this one.

Jamie Laurentius via email has said, is it me or is Beth Mead amongst the most complete players in England lately given she's been a striker, winger, and now helping England and Arsenal in many different areas, including the midfield and defensive duties? What team could really use her if she were to leave Arsenal in the summer? where do you guys see our going next? I'm going to give that to Tom.

Where do I see her going next? If you'd ask me, a fortnight ago, I would have guessed London City Lionesses, but they've just signed somebody rather good in a similar position. Very good, in fact. So maybe not. I kind of hope she stays at Arsenal, actually,

for both her and the club, because she's been so loyal to them. She could have left last summer, but decided to stay. I still think she's got a lot to offer. So looking at it from that point of view, I don't think it's a given that she would go. I know from a full point of view, I sort of hope she stays, actually.

Last summer there were different conversations about where she might go, and I'm not sure that all the places where we're talked about would now have the same requirements for a wide forward like that. So that's just my thought. Susie, if we were a visual pod at the moment, everybody would have seen you giving heart signs out to Bethmead. I will let you have yourself. Oh, God, I sound like the overlord.

I will let you have your... say. Jump in on Bethmead. I don't need to say. I just think she's a phenomenal footballer and has been like so, so brilliant for both Arsenal and England in the last sort of six months year and, you know, does a incredible job defensively. It is really, like, just really significant to both teams forward play, just gets on with it without much fan-fever. at the moment I would say as well

and yeah like I just you know when you asked Tom my question I was thinking any team would be happy to have her like I think she would improve every single team given the level she's playing at at the moment so yeah I was doing the hearts both at Beth me but also at Tom for saying that he hopes she'd say at Arsenal

191219N via Instagram has said Emma who has been your standout player of the WSL so far this season Oh, God. That's a great question. I think at one point, probably Bunny Shaw definitely was right up there. No, you know what? I'm going to stick with Bunny Shore because I think she's been the best player in a Manchester Cityside that I think of being the best team in the league this season.

Good answer. They are dominating. Holly Naomi, Holly Neomix via Instagram, who do you think are the main contenders for the playoff spot in the WSL2 this season? We mentioned a bunch of them there, Tom Gary. Your Birmingham City are in that mix. Who are you going for? My gut feeling is that Birmingham will go out with Charlton. It's tight, but my gut feeling is that those two will get the automatic.

So the pack behind who could all either still get sneak automatic or get in the playoffs is fascinating. Mike, to answer the question with the Pacific answer, probably Bristol City just put Newcastle as well. also I would think of really strong contenders. They're having a good window as well in Newcastle. So Bristol City and Newcastle probably for the playoff. Don't roll out. There's a few there.

Like Southampton playing well. Forest have had a great season. So it's wide open. You could probably make a case for anybody in, I would think, maybe the top seven or eight in the league table at the moment. To have a dash at it. But yeah, if you want me to give a natural prediction and give a good answer, I'll go chart and title, Birmingham second.

and Newcastle third in the playoff. Nice. All right, we'll hold you to that. Love this email. This is from Imogen, all the way from Tasmania. G'day, Guardian Women's Football Weekly, long-time listener. I visited again over Christmas, and unfortunately, due to the Christmas break,

I was unable to see any WSL action. I had to settle for a chilly boxing day game at Kenneworth Road. Come on, you Hatters! Where I saw an unexpectedly good performance from Luton Town. It was unexpected. It was a wonderful festive period and it was a 4-0 win against Wickham, if I recall, which was wonderful.

Oh, I wish I'd known you were going. Anyway, back to being Imogen. I was wondering what your thoughts are on the Christmas break that's currently part of the women's schedule. And if you think that in the coming seasons, this might change. I understand trying to control the amount of games that the players have to play and we don't want to see anyone getting burnt out or any more injuries.

However, the question has to be asked, if players remain as focused and if the shifts in momentum caused by the break can majorly affect certain club seasons. Here in Oz, lots of spotlight with Sean on Sam Kerr's wedding celebrations and all of the Matildas and WSL stars in attendance. I couldn't help but wonder how the short turnaround

and jet lag for players travelling such distances over the Christmas break may have affected their game. Brilliant email on many levels, Imogen, and hello to the cows. Who wants to take this one on? Susie and so, well, you both fight for it. it. Defending the winter break is the hill I will die on, regardless of like logic of how great

the, you know, kind of boxing day fixtures in the men's game and stuff are. And it's like from a commercial point of view and from an audience point of view, while people are on holiday and stuff, it probably makes sense. But I do think it is really, really, really important for that player welfare piece, both mentally and physically for them. You know, when you think of players in the men's game who are on the staggering wages that they are for them to either fly home or fly their entire families out to them to spend the holiday period with them is a drop in the ocean it's you know we're talking private planes we're

talking a lot of them have already done that their families live with them because they can afford to do that kind of thing right so like these are few opportunities that players get to actually kind of take a little break to go and see their families but also I think a lot of the players, so we speak to day and day out, like really, really value that physical and mental break that the winter break gives them. And with the calendar as packed as it is, I think that's really, really important and need to be protected

and I will protect it until my dying days, regardless of any logical decisions, because I need the break. Quick one, Emma? Yeah, I agree. I do think that winter break is really important, but I remember an interesting conversation I had with Izzy Christensen when she was Everton captain at the time. And she was sort of saying it wouldn't surprise her if the break was reduced in length

because I think there is still a bit of an issue with clubs maybe who aren't competing in Europe or aren't going to the last stages of cup competitions in the WSL that don't play that many games. And I do agree with that. I think as the game really becomes more and more professional each season, you know, the likes of, you know, Liverpool, Villa, Brighton, West Ham, Lester, who were in that kind of bottom half of the table

that are just kind of playing one game a week and then having, what, four weeks off over the Christmas period, I'd imagine for them, they might quite fancy the idea of playing an extra couple of games in that period. However, I think when you look at the top, you know, I spoke to Lucy Bruns yesterday and she said the break was amazing for her

because it gave her an extended period to recover from the injuries that she had obviously off the back of the euros. She only came back in October and then it's basically played every game. So for her that was invaluable. So I think there's a real like sort of top heavy situation. And so I think in the future it wouldn't surprise me if that breaks slightly reduces. But I agree that it's needed. Yeah.

Right. We're going to finish with an email from Emil Harvite in Norway. It was actually sent a couple of weeks ago and regards ex-pallas boss Laura Kaminsky. Emile had heard reports that she was taking over at SK Brand and she was indeed confirmed as manager last week. And Anil points out that ironically, she's replacing Leaf Smerud, who replaced her at Palace. Hi, Faye, Susie and the rest of the women's football weekly team, long-term listener, first time, Mailer and so on. There was a lot of bump about what was going on, but actually it's been confirmed, so I don't need to read that now. But the question is, I fear the club is going to see an exodus of their best players in the summer if they appoint the wrong manager once again.

The question is, what can we expect from Laura Kerminski at Bran? What can you say about her leadership methods and preferred style of play? Thanks for a wonderful podcast. Keep up the good work. Best, but slightly anxious regards from Norway. I'm handing this over to you, Tom. Yeah, I think it's a great move for both parties, actually. Laura Khaminski is a grafter.

She'll get up at five every single morning and crack on with prep. She's a hardworking coach. Very well thought of, actually, for her time at Crystal Palace. I wouldn't read too much into the results when Palace were in the WSL because the squad they had and the kind of budget available. I think there are very few coaches who would have kept that team in the WSL. But what she did in WSL 2 when it was called for championship, winning that title was really impressive. And I think she's still very young. She's still learning, going to get better.

What she really relied on in those two seasons and got the best out of was too prolific. goal scorers, but that led to quite exciting attacking football. So good a lot to her. I think that it's good to see, you know, another British coach get a chance abroad from our bias point of view. And but generally, you're getting someone who's who's got a good relationship with players, who's generally quite well thought of behind the scene. So on the face of it, it looks like a good hire. There you go. I hope that eases your concerns, Emil. Thank you very much for sending that in. By the way, loads more time to send in questions. We will try and pepper them through the pod for the rest of the season.

We always do try to do that. There's just always so much news going on, but keep sending them in. We love to read them. What you need to do is just send them via Instagram. We'll plug out a post every week or email us, as many of you do, on women's football weekly at the Guardian.com. This is also your regular reminder to sign up for our biweekly women's football newsletter. You just need to search for moving the goalpost sign up,

and it will pop into your inbox every time it is available. Emma Sanders, it was lovely to see you as always. Andrew, to be honest, I'm quite excited to just go back to bed. I'm absolutely exhausted today. Well, okay, I'm glad we've tired you out, and I'm glad you woke up to spend some quality time with us. I've got no more Panto references, I'm afraid, but I am booking my ticket for the goth Panto.

Is that right? Is that what it is? The got got that wrong? No. It's a cabaret panto. Where do I get a goth pantos? Couldn't be more different. I think it's because I watched an episode of industry last night and I got all the references

of it. It was the most bonkers episode I've ever seen if anybody else watches it. Anyway, random reference. Tom Gary, see soon. See you soon, mate. Take care. Susie Miramira on the wall. I really want to see this magic mirror that you are creating so you can tell Amasandas

how real creation. Mr. Potato Head. Hey, my potato head outfit was amazing. Didn't need much of an outfit. Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm not ending on a diss like that at the end of the pod. Sizzy Rack, hang your head in shame. Right, the Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray. Music composition was by Laura Ayerdale. Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens. This is The Guardian.