The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Liverpool stun Chelsea and Daly dazzles as WSL kicks off – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: September 20, 2022

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Jonathan Liew and Moyo Abiona reflect on the thrilling opening weekend of the WSL season

This is The Guardian. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Opening weekend, Mark Two did not disappoint. We had a dazzling display from debutante Daly at Villa Park. Penalties only at Prenton Park in a shock defeat for champions Chelsea. Arsenal and Manchester United both hit four,

while there were also wins on the board for West Ham and Tottenham. We'll discuss all the action from the first WSL game week. Take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Happy birthday to you for yesterday, Susie Rack. That's the extent of my singing, I'm afraid. I'm going to have to make today my birthday because yesterday's was rubbish and I spent the whole day in bed with this cold that you can, like, smell delightfully.

Smell? Hear, hear delightfully. I can't smell. Oh, that's rubbish. I want to channel the energy of Susie Rack who said, bleep it, faker others, this is going to be the biggest and best season ever. That was the most enthusiasm I had all weekend as I was like lying on my deathbed. So yeah, you got the best out of me that weekend. Well, thank you for that. It did bring a very

big smile to my face. It was appreciated. Johnny Liu, you promised us that you'd watch Arsenal Bryson and then spend three days thinking very hard about what you'd seen. So I'm very much looking forward to your analysis today. Yeah, I mean, there are actually downsides to watching a game on Friday night and spending three days thinking about it.

You actually kind of forget what happened in the first place. But, you know, let's have a crack. Yeah, well, fingers crossed you make it. Moyo Abiona, lovely to see you as always. Have you recovered? You stayed up late, didn't you, for the WNBA finals over the weekend

on top of all the football? I did. Wow, I feel like I've been caught. Yes, I did. It was amazing. It has been a good one and I'm glad that that series is done. So yes, back to normal timing, I think, I did. It was amazing. It has been a good one and I'm glad that that series is done. So yes, back to normal timing, I think, for me. I don't think I could cope with watching American sports on top of everything else.

I don't think I have enough time in my day and I need more than three hours sleep in my life. So kudos to you for that. Right, there is so much to dig into. Let's go straight off with WSL holders Chelsea losing 2-1 away at Liverpool. Two Katie Stengel penalties in the second half, trumping Frank Kirby's third-minute penalty. This is a tweet from Michael Reid11. Liverpool are the first newly promoted side to beat the reigning champions in the WSL since Sunderland beat Liverpool back in March 2015. Gosh, I mean, just three of those things change everything. When you think March for a start, how much has women's football changed? Adam Salter wants to know why do Chelsea always start slowly to seasons? They've failed to win four of their last opening

five games, yet they've still won three WSL titles in a row. I mean, that is a good point, Susie, because it was a big shock, wasn't it? Or was it? I mean, yeah, it was a shock. Like, you know, far more of a shock than, say, them losing to Arsenal at the start of the season last year, which, you know, a far bigger opponent. I don't think anyone was expecting Liverpool to fly out of the blocks in quite the way they did. That Chelsea look disjointed, is it something to worry about? Probably not. As the stats for how the season plays out when they lose an opening game of the season show, it's not necessarily a big problem. It's not like they can't score. But yeah, I think just a little bit of, you know,

a lot of these teams are coming back into the new season having not actually played many friendlies. Chelsea's one of those teams. A lot of players competing at the Euros. So yeah, I mean, not the greatest performance you've ever seen. Not the greatest refereeing performance either. But very, very good performance from Liverpool.

You can't take it away from them. They were brilliant. They really, really frustrated Chelsea. I thought Chelsea's setup was a little bit weird as well.

Yeah, it was interesting what Emma Hayes said after the match. They couldn't hit a barn door and that's very much what it felt like. Although Sam Kerr did hit the barn door

although she was called offside for it but going back to the kind of context of this game Johnny do you think this is something we're going to see a little bit more of as the league gets a bit more competitive? Hopefully I mean Chelsea last season they dropped to what I think was it 10 points they they lost two and drew two and I think got 56 points from 22 games and they've already dropped three which I think is kind of encouraging for the rest of the league and you know we have seen how teams a little bit you know outside the big three you know your United's your Everton Spurs West Ham's have

have kind of really invested in their women's teams it It doesn't take a huge leap. It's not an unbridgeable gap. And so you see weekends like we just did, where the mid-table side are giving the big teams a bloody nose. And frankly, I can't get enough of the drama. It was a really good weekend. Yeah, it was. It was a cracking weekend. Moyo, Susie alluded to it there, the set-up, the way Chelsea were set-up,

the way Chelsea were set-up. A lot of attacking players on the pitch, but not necessarily a whole lot of attacking going on. What did you make of it? Yeah, I found it strange, to be honest. Obviously, I know Penina Harder

was taken out of the starting line-up after feeling, I think she said, a tight hamstring. But it was confusing to me that the replacement for Penina Harder was Sophie Ingle I think I don't know about how Emma wanted to set up before that injury or precautionary injury happened but like it was very strange to me that it was Sophie Ingle that was brought in

just because they're obviously not like-for-like players like one of them is a defensive midfielder one of them's obviously forward and I feel like that changed and that's probably what made it look as disjointed as it did I feel like the ball wasn't being taken from midfield into the final third

quickly enough and that was probably a big part of how Penelohada drops deep into midfield to collect the ball yeah I just feel like they didn't really

adapt well to the change in line-up that happened Yeah interesting going forward but I mean take Chelsea aside, Susie. It was impressive for Liverpool in the first place

and a debut for Katie Stengel to remember as well. And she was pretty impressive. And it also shows that Matt Beard's side shouldn't be overlooked this season for sure. Yeah, brilliant start. I mean, obviously they couldn't have hoped for much better. I thought Leanne Kernan had a fantastic game. She was everywhere.

And I remember watching her under beard at West Ham and thinking that she is a great player with a bright future. She was quite young then. She's a much mature player. And I thought she caused that Chelsea back nine load of problems, which was cool to see. You know, there's no doubt that Matt Beard is a good manager. Whether he has been given enough resources at Liverpool,

obviously chronically underfunded the team for such a long time, to actually do anything beyond the odd upset here and there this season is going to be an interesting thing to see. Yeah, definitely. I think having spoken to Matt Beard, they're going to hope interesting to see. Yeah, definitely. I think having spoken to Matt Beer, they're going to hope to consolidate this season and definitely survival is number one aim, but I think they can for sure do more than that.

We need to talk about the refereeing decisions in this match and there were others throughout the weekend as well, including in Arsenal's game against Brighton. But the offside decision is a really difficult one, isn't it? And it brings up a load of questions, Jonny, but I don't think the naked eye can see an offside that tight for Sam Kerr's first disallowed goal. No, and even after watching, you know, dozens of replays, there is still an element of doubt there until you actually get the little blue and red lines in from VAR. There is always going to be a slightly subjective element to that. And when we get to Arsenal, there was a big, big offside call in that game as well, which was really, really crucial to the way that game went. So, yeah, I don't have a huge problem with referees,

like human referees, making mistakes on tight calls. And I think one of the things that fans, I think really kind of need to just get a little bit mature about these kind of things. If there are blatant errors, then, yeah, it's fine. It's fine to have a little bit of a moan. But I think we've seen that VAR is not the panacea for solving arguments about refereeing decisions

that maybe a lot of people thought it was when it was brought in. We saw it at the Euros, and we were still arguing about referees a lot. And there was an extent to which you can have a conversation about whether the standard of referees in the WSL is good enough or whether there is the depth of talent there. But we are all basically humans making mistakes and screwing up.

So that's what I think about it. I mean, speak for yourself. I'm pretty perfect I'd say I never make mistakes he makes a very good point though Johnny doesn't he Susie because there does seem as if there's a bit of mistrust towards referees at the moment but I also think there's an element of understanding that at least something is being done behind the scenes to try and improve things where possible and we just have to be realistic about where refereeing is in the women's game at the moment. Yeah, I mean, they don't like you saying they're not professionals.

They're not full-time. They are extremely professional in the way they work, obviously, and get a lot of resources and stuff, but they're not full-time. They're not able to focus on it full-time in the same way that referees in the men's game can and that is going to affect things that's not their fault it's the FA's fault it's the fault of a league that thinks it's okay to have professional players but not professional referees like that's a hole that needs closing does women's football need VAR and goal line technology goal line

technology maybe VAR like I'm not so sure like I say I haven't got a problem with uh like Johnny said you know the mistakes of referees um in you know really really marginal decisions um you know yeah you watch that Sam Kerr offside 10 times over and you can't tell it's offside until the BBC draw the lines on it like the camera angle when I was watching live was just so bad that like it could have been it it might not have been um so yeah the the idea that a referee can he's always going to get that right in the heat of the moment uh yeah really really difficult call um I don't want VAR as Johnny said there's there's still mistakes with VAR you still get the questions with VAR. Improvements to refereeing, more investment, the chance for them to be able to be full-time. That's where the money should go. That's where the money for VAR, which costs a lot, should go. Unless they switch all the teams into playing in the main stadiums that are already set up for VAR then that becomes less

of a problem well I was just going to suggest that actually because that is the biggest problem with it isn't it you know some teams don't even have the correct facilities for their players to do their jobs so finding money to invest in VAR when you haven't got those kind of things in place I think is uh is not going to happen at the moment I know right working lights in toilets and things like that would be a good start wouldn't it like well I mean yes amongst others uh always always helpful when trying to find the loo um wasn't just Chelsea who had a disappointing opening WSL weekend was it Manchester City losing 4-3 to Aston Villa, which has to be the game of the weekend. Villa 2-0 up thanks to goals from Alicia Lehman and Rachel Daly before they were pegged back to 3-2.

Two goals from Laura Coombs and then a header from Bunny Shaw. But Villa didn't down tools. They had a deflected effort from Kenza Dali go in and then Rachel Daly's second gave them the 4-3 victory. Do you know what? This question's here and I don't want to ask it because I want to focus on how good Aston Villa were in this match. But just as a quick aside, Johnny, who was worse, Chelsea or Manchester City? Oh, Manchester City, by a mile. I mean, Manchester City were an absolute mess. Chelsea looked a bit rusty. And, you know, they looked a bit disjointed, I guess, and a bit slow. But you could kind of see what they were trying to do. Manchester City were shambolic for large parts of that. And, you know, they kind of bungled in, well, they bungled in some goals, you know, from set pieces and when you have like bunny shaw and lauren hemp like you know shaw hemp kelly how we how are you not you know scorching the surface of the earth with it with a front line like that uh i don't i don't know what's going on behind the scenes you know there was lots of talk about

gareth taylor and and and what he's doing or not doing or trying to do there um but you know they they seem like so much less than the sum of their parts and actually have done for a while. So, you know, and that's not to take anything away from Villa, who were, I thought, really brave. I mean, brave and well-organised. And, you know, they had the courage to actually do something with the ball, not to play the simple pass, to try things. And there's something really heroic, you know heroic about pressing a player and you don't know whether the guys behind you are pressing as well.

If the three guys behind you aren't also pressing, the thing doesn't work, you've left a huge gap. So there's something, that's why pressing is so hard to organise and why it's so effective when it works. And then Villa pulled it works, but it's, and then Villa pulled it off, you know, the trap they set for City again and again

from their goal kicks and from when City were passing it out and suddenly, boom, triggered and they were kind of, they were on them.

So I thought that was a great performance. Don't. I was waiting for the next part then. I've already spoken for four minutes. I know I loved it though it was brilliant um and I was going to ask Moyo about Aston Villa but I still will ask Moyo about Aston Villa because I'm quite excited by them this season and not not just based on on that performance but you know Matt Davis Adams tweeted in saying Daly got all the headlines

but could Kenza Darley be one of the best low-key signings of the summer? She bossed the midfield on Sunday and her passing was. It was impressive. And I think overall, Aston Villa could do something special this season. Yeah, to be honest, when I saw Aston Villa's line-up, I was really excited. Purely because when you saw the lineup even just on paper you could see what Carla Ward was trying to do even just with the personnel that was there like the front three all had something in common which was that they all have pays but they all

very much can be that sort of pressing person it all can be the person that will be high intensity high energy and you could tell us what Carla Ward wanted from her front line. And I think from there as well, one thing we could see that was really evident in the game was that the players have really started building up a good sort of trust and connection. That is in line with what Jonathan was saying before about how with pressing, obviously you want to press from the front, but you don't know if everyone else is going to continue to do that. But one thing we saw was that the midfield was very much in sync with the

front line, which was good. And it just felt like they were really high on confidence I feel like they gained a lot of confidence from the fact that the first time they pressed City did look shaky and I think that sort of momentum just carried on throughout like obviously it wasn't helped by like some of the goalkeeping in in this game but like there was very much attacking intent from Villa from the beginning. And I think they gained a lot of confidence from the fact that they scored early and were able to keep that pressure. Yeah, it's a really good point, Susie, because it's actually only the second time that they've ever come from behind to win a game in the WSL,

which is pretty impressive in itself. But it feels, I don't want to put all of this on on Rachel Daly but obviously most people in this country have only ever see her play as left back but she was a forward for Houston Dash but she plays in defense for for England for the majority of the time but this was a a real mood change for Aston Villa and for WSL viewers as well. She was the leader. Oh, totally. And I mean, what a leader. She's got so much fight in her as a person as well, not just as a player.

And yeah, I saw someone tweet a poll afterwards that said, is Rachel Daly a defender or forward? And everyone was just going, why can't she be both um because she she does do both well um as we saw in the summer but yeah like centre forward is her natural position she was prolific there for Houston Dash before she joined Villa and Carla Ward has made it very clear that she has no intention of playing her in the back line rightfully so I mean in a team like Villa that's where she's most needed is up the top getting goals I actually thought you know obviously we've shouted out Rachel Daly, Kenza Darley but I thought Alicia Layman had a really good game as well and sort of last season

I thought she was a little bit overrated I know she was fans player of the season and then she sat out the summer and I thought oh is this the end of Anisha Lehman in football even because she chose not to be part of the well what was put out anyway is that she chose not to be part of the Swiss squad and didn't want to play at the Euros and wanted to have some a bit of time out you just thought that's a bit of a strange decision uh but she i thought she was phenomenal you know the pressure she put on the ball for rachel daly's first and then obviously her movement for the for the first goal as well were really really great she was everywhere but far more effective and clinical in her decision making um it's like it's a real exciting front line they've got there now and car Carla Ward is such a good manager. She really wants her team to play tenaciously.

And she really wants them to show a lot of fight. I think we saw that when she was at Birmingham and managed to just about keep them up. There's a really, really talented manager there. It's unfair to say she deserves to be at a bigger club than Aston Villa but I think like she could do something special at Aston Villa that that prompts a lot of other teams to sort of turn their head her way a little bit sooner well they have a project don't they at Aston Villa which she's very much bought into and and yeah I think as long as they keep going on the trajectory that they're planning to go on, then they can keep her.

But yeah, she's definitely destined for big things, Carla Ward, that's for sure. Johnny mentioned it, Moyo. Manchester City, shambolic was the word. I hope I'm not misquoting you there, Johnny. Gareth Taylor said in his press conference before the match that it might take them a little bit of time to get their new players up to speed but I don't think we quite expected them to look that bad and obviously we know that they've lost a lot of key players this summer but the match showed that the midfield is the biggest biggest problem yeah before the game I was talking to one of my

Arsenal supporter friends and I was saying that the match being postponed between City and Arsenal was very much preferential towards City because it was very clear that they were going to have these sorts of like teething problems obviously even just looking at the starting lineup they've brought in some really really good players but they've also lost a lot of good players like they've lost a lot of good players and a lot of the players they brought on started on the bench this weekend so it's tough because most of the starting lineup is made out of people who weren't necessarily starting last season other than the forward line and it's with the hope that they'll step up the midfield did look really

shaky to be honest like a lot of blame, I think, is going on Alexandrie, but I don't actually think that was really where the issue started. I know there was a lot of emphasis on, oh, Alexandrie's replacing Walsh. But I think that the actual problem was the connection between midfield and defence. I feel like pretty much the defence normally stays consistent in most successful teams, and so does the base of midfield. And I feel like there being that lack of like synchronicity,

essentially between the midfield and defence is where the issues really started. I also think that like teams get a lot of confidence from like their goalkeeper calming things down. And obviously Ellie Roebuck didn't really have a good game. She's someone that normally you can really trust. I think it was just an off day for her. But obviously that wouldn't have helped as well. I feel like there were a lot of things that sort of added to City looking as shaky as they did obviously Laura Coombs did well to get on the end of those two goals but I feel like before she scored her first goal she wasn't really driving

into the box as much as she needed to and I was actually kind of surprised that Gareth went with with Laura Coombs in the starting lineup over maybe like a Lozada for example. Yeah interesting I think there's quite a lot to unpick there and a lot for with Laura Coombs in the starting line-up over maybe like a Lozada, for example. Yeah, interesting. I think there's quite a lot to unpick there and a lot for Gareth Taylor to have to unpick. And he doesn't have very much time to do it either because Chelsea are the next opponents at Kings Meadow next weekend.

So whereas Arsenal perhaps would have liked that opening game, Chelsea will get to benefit perhaps from the slightly disjointed Manchester City at the moment. And they're going to be licking their lips as well because they need to bounce back too. That could be a relegation six-pointer. Go on, Susie.

Yeah, I also, like, I'm not having loads of new signings. It's going to take time for them to gel. Be patient, like, from Gareth Taylor. Because, you know, look at some of the other teams that have had huge turnovers. The likes of Tottenham, the likes of likes of west ham i mean 12 new signings five in their starting lineup you know look just look so more organized the city the city players don't look like they understand what is being asked of them there doesn't seem to be a plan and if there is

one they don't know it and i think now we're seeing a real real test of Taylor as a manager he's got a squad like a good squad um he's got a team that you know would be the envy of of many managers he's got to get them playing together and he's not and I don't I don't think he'll last long if uh if they keep playing the way they did the other day. Yeah, pivotal season for Gareth Taylor and for Manchester City. That is for sure. That's it for part one of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. In part two, we'll talk Arsenal and Manchester United's big wins,

as well as the battle of the new managers out in Dagenham. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters.

Get customized coverage today, starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Customised coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. So, if Manchester City and Chelsea struggled, Arsenal and Manchester United breezed through their early season tests against Brighton and Reading. Not a great start for Brighton, was it?

Emma Kohlberg sent off after just seven minutes after bringing down Stina Blackstinius, even though it looked like Blackstinius was offside. From there on, goals from Kim Little, Beth Mead for two and Blackstiniius as well herself. Pretty straightforward match really for Jonas Eidevall's side. Johnny, you were at this game.

Obviously when one team is a player down for almost the majority of the match, it becomes a little bit distorted. But what did you take from this in terms of Arsenal's performance? Yeah, I mean, I think we all feared the worst for the game as a contest when Brighton went down 10 players.

I thought they actually, I mean, I thought they actually did the worst for the game as a contest when Brighton went down to 10 players. I thought they actually did OK. I know they lost 4-0, but at no point did they kind of collapse or subside or really lose their shape. You know, they really made Arsenal work for those four goals. I think Arsenal had 38 shots, which obviously, you know, when you're putting the amount of pressure on the final third that they're going to do you know there's going to be you know a lot of chances but brighton held pretty firm which is a testament to their fitness i guess it's testament to you know the way hope powell has managed to to get us a team which has had so like i mean we if um you know gareth taylor's talking about the change they've had, Brighton have basically had to replace half a team, a whole team almost. And so they looked pretty organised in the circumstances.

And it took Arsenal a while. I think it was almost half an hour to actually get the first goal. And, you know, a lot of running up dead ends, a lot of kind of passing it quite slowly around, you know, from the flank to the centre and just trying to work an opening. And then, you know, around the start of the second half, it really started clicking and it looked good. Beth Mead was, you know,

has lost absolutely none of the form that we saw in the Euros. I thought Callum Ford was really, really encouraging on the left wing. And then, you know, that front forward is going to create charters and score goals um laxini has got one i think and it was a happy camp by the end like i think it was a record crowd as well and yeah given what happened to chelsea and manchester city afterwards i think australia can be can be pretty confident that they have hit the ground the best out of the main title contenders. Susie Rack is kind of nodding away. I was expecting a big beam on her face because as an Arsenal fan, it has been a pretty impressive weekend for you all in.

But you're on the side of Arsenal who have been in this position before. Do you think they're going to be better prepared perhaps for taking this early advantage than they were last season good question I mean you'd like to think so right like the squad is stronger they like had a really unusually difficult sort of December January last year that that ruptured things the absence of Leah Leah Williamson was a big blow around that time. Then they brought in Black Stinius and Wien Mafia and another in January and really, really arrested those problems. So you kind of think now Ida Bowers had the January transfer window

and the summer to do what he wants with the squad, that they should be in a place where they can compete across the course of the season I'm not totally convinced they've got the squad depth there to compete in four competitions across the whole season I know it's going to be a bit of a challenge but like given the form of the likes of Steena Black, Stinius and Beth Mead I mean mean, Beth Mead for that fourth goal, just like such incredible control and patience. Really lovely to watch.

I feel like they're a big injury to Lia Vulte away from having a big problem. Obviously, they can move Lia Williamson forward into that position, but then you sort of disrupt the the coherence of the back line that is is so reliant on her so there's potential issues there I think it's going to be a case of a bit of luck in the same way you know England were quite lucky in the Euros with Katoto doing her ACL and Putellas doing hers before the tournament even started and you know

little things like that that just go your way. Whether they've got the confidence in them to challenge Chelsea, that's another thing. You saw at the end of the season, Chelsea just did not look like they were going to lose and have just a resilience to their side. You didn't really see that of Arsenal last season, whether Eidevall's been able to sort of win them completely behind him in the same way as he did in the first couple of months last season.

It's going to be an interesting one. They look great, though. Like you say, it's great to be an Arsenal fan. I texted Marcus, one of the football editors at The Guardian, and said, if Arsenal do the men's and women's double, I'm retiring. So, you know, see you later. Well, well, well, well,

you are getting way ahead of yourself, lady. I'm just going to pause you there. The double? Yeah, yeah, men's and women's double, calling it now. My predictions are dire, so all Arsenal fans are going to be like sending... We know what your predictions are. Exactly, sending me hate mail.

You are now Mikel Arteta's best friend. Manchester United top with Arsenal, Moyo. It was a demolition really in the first half of Reading, wasn't it? Mea Letizia twice, another good debut. Katie Zellum as well and Alessia Russo also on the score sheet. And they look like they could be quite good fun this season, actually, Manchester United. I think they could do something.

Well, as a United fan, I've had hope that we'll do something for a couple of years now, and it obviously hasn't happened. But it does look good this season. I think that a lot of the problems that United had last season were down to dropping points from winning positions. So obviously that wasn't tested over the weekend, but that's something that we're going to have to see for next season,

how they come to terms with either being up and then conceding and then seeing how we recover from that as well. But one thing I liked about this United side from the weekend's game was that the ball was moving really quickly and I feel like that was an area that United weren't necessarily known for last season it was like they're starting to understand what it is that Mark wants and they really exerted dominance over Reading this weekend I think they had their foot down with the first goal my Myla Sissier had an absolutely fantastic debut. I think, first of all, when that signing was made, I was like, yes, this is a very good signing. But she even exceeded my expectations for her debut, I think.

I think she really rose to the occasion. She didn't look nervous at all, which was good. But the United team very much looks as though they're saying Champions League or bust this year. And I feel like that's the mentality that they need to have almost, because I think after three years of coming forth, it's kind of like coming forth again will not be an achievement. And they really need to make strides to sort of put their foot down and say, OK, we need to get top three this season. Yeah, actually, one player who might be pivotal in that, Susie,

you mentioned her in your talking points for The Guardian, is Katie Zellum. It was her 100th appearance for United at the weekend. How important is she going to be if they really want to make a genuine push for the Champions League? She was brilliant, wasn't she? I mean, she was just everywhere. And just her set-piece delivery, second time, how much was it, like four goals she scored from corners last season? Like real incredible dead ball ability.

And I think it's no accident that my Leticia has now become some sort of super striker, despite playing all of her career at centre-back. You know, getting on the end of Zenham's crosses. Yeah, she's a phenomenal player. And even though she didn't go to the Euros, she's really benefited from being in the England camps before the Euros and since the Euros. Like, I think it's taken her up a level a little bit. I think it's really pushed her on.

And a good season from her is like transport, made to refer United. I think Moya had it right. It is Champions League or Boston. And with City, the way they are, how long are City going to be below par, to put it nicely? At some point, the board are going to turn around and go hang on a second we need to do something about this and this is prime time for united to really take

advantage of the sort of chaos that's that's going on there i think it's no accident that you know when a load of the city players were departing the likes of georgia stanways and kira washes and stuff they're not they're not praising Taylor. They're praising Nick Cushing for being influential on their time in Manchester City Blue. And if Man United sort of have a bit of a fire lit under them by Mark Skinner, it's really needed now because that's not going to be the situation forever. And United don't want to miss this little window of opportunity to really, really steal a march on them. Gareth Taylor's taken a battering from Susie in this pod so far.

I really hope he's not listening. Well, no, I hope he's listening for other reasons, but you know what I mean. I want to watch Kieran Walsh and George Starr. I want to watch them every week. And because of him, partly, probably, we can't. Well, what we can watch next week is Manchester United's game against West Ham, who are their next opponents.

And Paul Konczewski's opening game went very well. I mean, there were quite a few seemingly mismatched ties in the WSL this weekend, but certainly Everton against West Ham seemed to always be a strong mid-table dogfight. And West Ham won it 1-00 thanks to a Lisa Evans header. I think we're all rooting for Paul Koncheski now, aren't we? I think I met him years and years ago, but I've not met him in his new current guise. But he comes across very well and especially, you know, we talk about a turnover of players. West Ham lost a couple

of starters this season in Svitkova, Hasagawa, Gilly Flati as well, but they always kind of looked pretty well placed to replace them. And it seems like they're quite a reliable team. What say you? I think that, to be honest, for me, Oli Harder leaving at the end of last season was a shock to me. I thought he'd done really well with their team last season. I think he'd gotten the best out of players who hadn't necessarily looked like they were going to reach that level beforehand. And then when the appointment of Konczewski happened,

I was like, OK, this is interesting because it's going to be fresh ideas. We can't lean to something else he's done within the league and say, oh, but in the WSL before he's done XYZ. So for him, it's very much a clean slate. This West Ham side obviously has lost quite a few good players, important players to them.

Obviously, Adriano Leon's gone to Manchester United. Hasegawa's now gone to Man City. And I feel like those were two players that had played pivotal roles for them before. So it's going to be interesting to see how they adapt to those sorts of losses but I think them getting Lisa Evans on a permanent signing has been a really good signing for them I thought she did well on loan last season and so going into this game with sort of the like assurance that you know this is your team now not just the team you're at temporarily I feel like she looked confident as you were saying before like EvertonWest Ham is probably a very well-matched game

in terms of anyone could have won it. And I feel like we saw that in the game, that there were chances for both sides. It wasn't necessarily like end-to-end, but there were chances for both sides. And we know that both teams are capable of scoring like a scrappy goal. And like, even with the Lisa Evans goal,

I'm pretty sure there were like two attempts or three attempts on goal by someone else within the box before Lisa Evans had finally put the ball in with her head and I feel like West Ham are going to get a lot of goals like that they've got a lot of people that will fight for the team even if they've lost a lot of quality in terms of like technical ability. What about Everton Susie because obviously it was Brian Sorensen's first game in charge for them as well. Looks like he's got a bit of work to do. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't a terrible performance.

That's the thing. Like Mario said, it was a bit of a scrappy goal. They should have done better defensively. They should have cleared it much, much sooner. But it was not a terrible performance. They've lost so many players, though. I worry for them. Valerie Govara just did not live up to the hype.

Well, she did before she got injured, didn't she? Yeah, before she got injured, yeah. Gone to North Carolina Courage, so clearly they rate her. Simone McGill, Daniel Turner, both gone to Aston Villa. Poppy Pattinson to Brighton. Sadie McIver, goalkeeper, to Man City to play back up to Eddie Roebuck. Rennes Dottier to Bayern Munich,

Grace Clinton to United, Angevard to Hacken, like Kenza Dali to Aston Villa as well. They've lost so many players and they've not made a huge number of signings. Katrine Veggie from Rosengarden, we know she's a good player. She was good for Arsenal, not quite Arsenal standard, but a decent signing for sort of a mid-table team.

They're going to struggle, I think. It's going to be very much a case of seeing how good a manager Brian Soroson is at sort of getting the best out of these players. And a Merseyside derby at the weekend as well. Yeah, exactly. Aggie Beaver-Jones from Chelsea, she actually looked quite good, I thought. But yeah, I think they're going to really,

really struggle this season, given the amount of experience they've lost. There's not much grit left in their XI. No, it's going to be fascinating, isn't it? And Anfield, that Merseyside derby, is going to be out as well, which is going to be fantastic. Now, last but not least, Tottenham hosted their own Goal of the Season competition at the King Power Stadium.

2-1 winners over Leicester, thanks to two absolute belters from Ashley Neville and Drew Spence. Susie, first of all, which one was better? How can you do me like that? Ash Neville. But that's like, I'm always like slightly coloured by Ash Neville. I think she's a fantastic player. And I just like love her story and her journey with the Tottenham team

as having like come through the leagues with them to a certain extent and then being one of their best players in the Women's Super League, despite the rogue signings of the likes of Alex Morgan and then some of the bigger names coming in. She's still such a consistent performer. And the only reason she doesn't get a look in for England is a she's got Lucy Bronze in front of her but also um because she rose through the ranks in the way she did with Spurs she kind of flew under the radar and was never played uh in the England youth set up at any level so she's not like being molded in the shape of an England player from a

young age and I think if you're not in that system it's it's really really difficult to to break in so I go for her goal it was unexpected and brilliant but it's also coloured slightly by the context of her story which I love. Moyo Leicester have been tipped for relegation by many people this season. But, I mean, they showed a bit of determination to get back into the game against Spurs. Do you think they may be Brighton or Reading? And as we kind of mentioned earlier, perhaps, according to Susie, Everton as well

are going to feel a little bit nervous after the weekends they've all had. Yeah, I think Leicester will be nervous naturally, purely because they've not really got someone that can drag them through games. Like, in terms of their squad, a lot of it is kind of like a level playing field. Everyone's pretty much like the same sort of level.

Like, there's no one that's really like, this is definitely their best player. This is going to be the person they look to when they're losing games or if they need a goal. I think coming up from the Championship, you kind of thought that Natasha Flint would be that person. But she hasn't really taken to the WSL

since coming back with Leicester in the way that we thought she would. I think one thing that Leicester, though, can find a bit of confidence from is the fact that they remained in the game. Even when they went 2-0 down they were still getting like loose balls here and there like if the final pass is better in this situation or that situation like it would have been different so I feel like it's small

adjustments they need to make and also Spurs aren't notoriously a side that concede a lot of goals anyway so I mean the fact that they weren't really scoring against them is no slant on them Spurs naturally don't concede a lot of goals. And I think that they wouldn't have been looking at that game as a must win. I think there's games from the teams that you mentioned before, like the Red Inns, the Everton and such, that they will look at and say, OK, these are the games that we have to win. And if we can get a couple of other points from outside of those games and we'll be fine. And we saw with them last season that they're able to, like they went on a little run at the end of last season where they got quite a couple,

they were picking up points quite a bit. And I think if they could do the same this season, they'll be fine. Yeah, it's going to be really interesting. And it's going to be an interesting season all round. And before we go, actually, Johnny, I just want to talk to you about the article that you wrote for The Guardian

on what's next for women's football. And really interesting take on it facing a battle for its soul, actually, which I think is a really good way of looking at it, because it's in a pivotal point at the moment in its progression. And it can go one of two ways. For anybody who's not read the article yet, can you kind of explain where you were going with it? I thought seminal moment was on your lips there, Faye, just throwing that in there. I know, I know.

I took it out. Well, I mean, I guess it was about how women's football builds on the Euro's success. And I suppose this really um slightly thorny slightly loaded question of how it how it grows how it continues to draw in crowds and uh increase its revenue and create a bigger spectacle and whilst preserving i think the qualities that that people love and are kind of unique to women's football, and there are no easy answers to this.

We know that the WSL and championship teams are going to be hived off into not a full breakaway, but kind of an independent entity. The FA is going to have a share in that, but essentially the clubs are going to be, they're going to have the the freedom eventually after a few years to go it alone and there is already a kind of a competitive imbalance where you have three teams who historically and all over the last few years have been far ahead of the rest now there are other teams who are who are going to bridge that gap but they are overwhelmingly you might want to say exclusively going to be the big men's teams and i think there's you know there's nobody's really

quite worked out whether that's a good thing or how you know whether the logical conclusion is is that women's football is just going to end up being look a bit more like men's football which you know you already see on the continent where if you look at the contenders for the Champions League it's all Ray Albrecht, it's PSG, it's Juventus it's Bayern Munich and

is that what people want? I don't know I spoke to Maggie Murphy at Lewis who is one of the few teams in the Championship that isn't supported by a big men's club. They're kind of on level playing. The women are actually doing a lot better than the men. And she said it's kind of an existential question for them.

If there is this headlong rush to invest and drive revenue at the top, then they're not going to be able to compete, which is a shame because Lewis is a lovely club with a great ethos. So, yeah, it's about that. And like there's no there's no simple answers to it it's just it's just a really delicate balancing act yeah it's a fascinating article i do urge you to go and have a read of it and as johnny says there is there is no obvious answer we're only going to find out how it's going to play out by making a decision on it and that's that's the hardest thing for the decision makers to do that we could do a whole pod on it because there's definitely a shift change ahead anyway fascinating pod as always johnny thank you thanks for having me

bye moyo thanks for having me suzy go celebrate your second birthday and feel better Yeah, I'm going to have to pick another day like the Queen, aren't I? Yeah, you are, you are Right, we will be back with you next Tuesday It's derby weekend in the WSL Arsenal face Tottenham in front of a record crowd Liverpool play Everton at Anfield as well And there's the small matter of Chelsea against Manchester City The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly is produced by Lucy Oliver and Jesse Parker-Humphrey.

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