The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Manchester is blue after City’s derby delight – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Anita Asante and Moyo Abiona wrap up the latest round of WSL fixtures and tease the upcoming internationals

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starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected, be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. It was another goal fest of a weekend as Manchester stays blue with City comfortably beating United. There's a gap, says Mark Skinner. That gap is three points at the top of the table still after Chelsea's 5-1 win over Liverpool. Lauren James is quite good, isn't she? Arsenal stay second behind them after beating Brighton. Elsewhere, Aston Villa got a late win over West Ham.

Bristol City came from behind twice to put another point on the board. And Leicester and Tottenham played out a one-all draw. Beth Mead is back in the England squad for the Lionesses' crucial Nations League games against Netherlands and Scotland. We'll discuss Serena Wiegmann's latest squad. Plus, we'll take your questions. And that's today's guardian women's football weekly women's football weekly is supported by google pixel the only phone engineered by google and official mobile phone of arsenal football club liverpool football club and the england teams

google pixel is helping fans get closer to the game they love with access to fresh content and never before seen footage of their favourite players and teams. The new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are fast and secure with the most advanced Pixel cameras yet and Google AI powers amazing features for photos and video, so you can get even closer to the game. Search Google Store to find out more. What a panel we have today. Susie Rack, the lino cutting queen. Please tell everyone who may not have seen it on social media the latest delightful edition you've done uh yeah i've done a one of cheap panini's uh little marry ups uh

expletive laden pictures that they've done as a little like sticker uh so like badly drawn sort of panini stickers and i did a little tweet out saying give me my next idea for a lino cut and loads of people replied to different things and that was the first one to pop up and I was like yes I'm gonna do that so I did a little free color lino cut of it you're gonna start a new business with this I feel it's uh it's a little side hustle going on what is it about us in women's football where someone swears and we get very excited I'm kind of thinking Jill Scott and bleep the bleep off etc I think that says more about us maybe um Moyo Abiona the less said about what happened on Sunday at Old Trafford the better maybe yeah I think that's the right way to go about it to be honest

because it was traumatizing to say the least and this ends the pod yeah Anita Asante Hall of Famer amazing how was that thank you very much oh no it was amazing it was such a special day and you know obviously I was really honored and obviously I bumped into Susie there so it was nice to see her as well but um, it's great to share the stage and the moment with Ellen White too. And Jill unfortunately couldn't be there, but incredibly special. Yeah, it was. Congratulations. Very well deserved. An incredible career. Right, let's get stuck into the weekend's action, shall we?

And sorry, Moyo, I did say we were going to end the pod here, but we have got to start with the Manchester derby because people want to listen, I'm afraid, particularly Manchester City fans. It was the blue half who fought back from a goal down to beat the Reds 3-1 in front of more than 43,000 fans at an expectant Old Trafford. Katie Zellum's 21st-minute penalty cancelled out

by quick-fire goals from Jill Roard and Lauren Hemp and then Bunny Shaw made sure of all three points just 10 minutes into the second half. It looked as if United had been given a lifeline when Laia Alexandri was sent off for a second booking in the 72nd minute but Mark Skinner's side couldn't find a response. I'm going to make you talk about it. Moyo, sorry about that. Give us your thoughts as our resident United fan. I thought I was going to be composed

on Twitter that day, but I just could not stop tweeting. I should have logged out of my account, but honestly, I was so rattled that day that I was just like, I just kept going. You know what it is?

I think City started the game a lot better than United. I think the first 15 minutes were all City. And then United started through Melvin Mallard. They just seemed to sort of like kick start and

actually started getting a foothold on the game she did a couple nice things even before the penalty decision I think she she did a nice little turn on the halfway line got the ball into Toon I feel like Toon was a bit disconnected in the game to be honest like I know post game a lot of people were saying like Toon hasn't been in good form. And I would agree if this was said, like, three, four weeks ago. I think I did say it on the pod three, four weeks ago. But I do think in the last, like, three games, I think Toon's been good. So I thought she was going to go into this game and be good.

I don't think she was good. I don't think she had an impact on the game. But, like, she wasn't the only one. I think that sometimes when I watch United in big games, yeah, it's the same issue every single time. And sometimes I just think they're so naive, like, in the big one. I think that sometimes when I watch United in big games, it's the same issue every single time. And sometimes I just think they're so naive, like in the big games. I feel like when they're playing

like the quote unquote smaller teams, I feel like it's easier for them. Like even if their moments are naive in the game, they can still get back into the game because of the quality difference. But against teams like Man City, they're not going to give you a chance to get back in the game for free.

And it was just little things. Like if we look at the second goal for example Katie Zellum comes to collect the ball but she's not looking over her shoulder at all before coming to collect the ball and it's just like basic little things as a midfielder that you would know but like they aren't being executed in a big game and City were just clinical like well I'm saying they were clinical Marriott probably they could have probably been like scored three or four in the first half alone I think Marriott's made a couple of good saves I don't think Marriott's was that good in the game either to be honest I think the expletives from her were probably part on the defence and part on her as well I think her kicking was scary from the beginning I'll be honest like. I think I said in one of my group chats at 15 minutes, Mary Up's kicking is scaring me.

Some unpressurised moments, it was just going straight out for a throw in. I was thinking, not sure what's going on here. But yeah, I don't think, to be honest, any of them can say they had a good game other than Melvin Mallard and maybe Jade Vieira when she came on. And that's about it Mallard's been a fantastic signing hasn't she Susie

but exactly as Moyo says there were just individual errors and costly lapses in concentration for them and it's maybe

just another example that they're not quite at the elite level yet which is almost what Mark Skinner seemed to suggest in his post-match comments and Sue has asked us is the City loss a true reflection of United they were fortunate to

beat Villa in the opening day and since then convincing only really against Everton and West Ham I mean they did finish second in the league last season and performed really strongly across that campaign and you know I agree with Skinner to a certain extent that yes there is a gap there that you know that was sort of evident I don't think it's that big and I also think that's a little bit of an excuse too because they closed the gap last season and they overtook it and obviously they're lacking sort of that experience piece in doing that successively and Man City are sort of used to competing at the top level and haven't had Champions League qualifiers to contend with

early on in the season and things like that but we've seen some really good stuff from Man United for a year and we didn't at Old Trafford and I think there was issues with sort of personnel, I think there was issues with a few players being pretty anonymous, and a tune in particular, which is a shame. I completely agree with Moyo that, you know, previously I thought she's, you know, had pretty slow start to the season. I think maybe tiredness, maybe, you know, the amount of football she's played in recent seasons in a way that she's,

her body's probably not used to sort of catching up a little bit. But the last couple of games, again, looked really good, but this one off. Leah Goulton playing as a full-back, you know, I just absolutely killed her effectiveness. And going up against Chloe Kelly, you know, she's always going to lose that battle. She's not a defender.

Mary Earps, again, I agree with Moyo, from really, really early on I thought she looked shaky I'm not like totally with it I don't know whether it's the stage whether it's Old Trafford obviously I've played there before a few times but having the derby there is a bit of a different thing I don't know I just feel like the gap is a little bit of an excuse at this stage because they are so up there and they've got such a quality team and bench now that really they should be doing better against a team like City who were efficient to a certain extent but also inefficient in that like Moira said they could have had a few more.

Yeah it's fair to say though Chloe Kelly afternoon, Anita, slapping the City badge on her chest, cupping her ear to the crowd. It felt like a really spicy encounter, which is the kind of rivalry that we want to see in the women's game. Yeah, that's what derbies are all about. You know, this is what the women's game is starting to move towards, where you get in that fandom and engagement from the stands and they're really getting behind players like that. And you can see someone like Chloe thrives on those moments. You know, she's such a quality player. She's been very influential as well for Man City so far this season. And when I looked at City across their games,

aside from the one, you know, sort of shot the feet, they have looked at the team that are in really good form and you can always identify their playing style. You can identify that they all understand their roles and responsibilities within that. And I think that's probably a bit of the difference when it comparatively to Man United. When it's not your day,

I always feel like they lack a bit of a plan B, you know, what to do next. And the way City play in this kind of fluid style where they create overloads, they kind of reverted to type, you know, wide, wide forwards, hemp, Chloe Kelly, and they felt more comfortable in it. And they were a threat. But Katie Zeller, no disrespect to her, but if you're playing in a single pivot, I think on the ball in possession, you know, a very good player,

I think out of possession struggles a little bit. And against a team like that, where you have in possession, you know, a very good player, I think out of possession struggles a little bit. And against a team like that, where you have such good, you know, players like Rold who like to bomb forward, and you don't have someone who can break up play and make it disruptive and allow your team to get back to the way they want to play. That's where I felt Man United struggled a little bit, despite some of the changes. So for me, they're saying they want to be the top competing with the top three these are the games that you prove it in is the cities is the Chelsea's is the Arsenal's and if you're not doing it there that's when you see that they've obviously got to go back to the drawing board and figure out how they can do that yeah and this stat is quite telling when

you think about it even though there has been progression at United. City have only lost one of their seven WSL games against Manchester United which is fascinating. United already seven points behind Chelsea at the top, they're fourth in the table. City move up to third on 13 points which is six behind the leaders which is where we'll go now and events at Stamford Bridge on Saturday where Chelsea showed absolutely no cobwebs from their midweek Champions League exploits as they blew away Liverpool in a 5-1 win over in West London. Lauren James shining as always, picking up her first WSL hat-trick while Aggie Beaver-Jones and Shuka Nuskan continued their fine early season form as well.

Matt Beardside had been given a little bit of hope, hadn't they, Moyo, when Jess Carter put into her own net just minutes after Lauren James got the first. But then they just turned on the style, Chelsea. Yeah, Chelsea had a heavily rotated side. A lot of people would have seen the line-up and thought, oh, they're missing a lot of players. There was no Frank Kirby. Frank Kirby was on the bench. Aggie Beaver-Jones was making a start and she hadn't played at Stamford Bridge yet like

there were a lot of things in that team that a lot of people may have said okay Chelsea may struggle here but like as Anita was saying before about Man City having a system it was very much like the system still has a structure at Chelsea as well um so like no matter how much they rotate and we see it every season Chelsea Chelsea do a lot of rotation, whether that be Champions League versus League, that we see a lot of different people play in different formations. But I thought the first goal that Liverpool conceded,

I didn't think it was good defending, personally. Lauren James is going to score goals regardless. And I feel like the defender has tried to make it tough for Lauren James. I get it. But like she basically said, I'm going to show you down the left and let me see what you can do. But I think everyone at this point knows that Lauren James can use both left and right. Like that's not, it's not new information. And I feel like once Lauren James gets a goal in a game, you can just see the confidence in her goes up tenfold.

Like she starts, that's when the tricks start coming out. That's when the nutmegs start coming up. And you don't even want to give Lauren James any early ammo. And I feel like that's what she got. But yeah, I feel like Lauren James very much took the game by the scruff of the neck and said, yeah, it's game over now. And there wasn't much that Liverpool could do to respond. I thought they had like a decent little period. Van der Sande looked strong, but that was about it, to be honest. She's just unplayable, isn't she,

Anita, when she's given that ammo, as Moyo says. Can you even imagine trying to defend against her? No, I mean, Lauren James is the sort of player I wish I could have played with. You know, she's got that magic and that sparkle. And if you were having a bad day, you're like, well, she'll just turn it on, give her the ball. And I think as a defender, the difficulty is so many teams are trying to go 1v1 with Lauren James. You can't go 1v1 with Lauren James. She's that good. She could go inside and outside.

You know, we encourage defenders to deflect play away from the center of the pitch away from the goal into those wide channels and she can still hurt you so the point is that's when you need to grab a mate and say I need you to double up with me here you know whether that's the wide midfielder coming inside whether it's the other center back coming across and making sure that if she does skip by one, then the next one's there. That's the only way I think you can stop someone like Lauren James. It has to be a sort of collective effort. But I have to say she was exceptional. And obviously her finishes, the way she influenced the game,

her ability to just float into spaces and receive the ball and drive forward. Yeah, you could just feel that she is a girl with so much confidence at the moment you know she talked about Emma Hayes and her influence on her and how that's helped her get through a tough period as well but Chelsea just looked like they could go up a level another level another level each time and having depth in your squad obviously is significant for them with their Champions League campaign as well. Yeah, they're a juggernaut at the moment, that's for sure. The win extends their incredible home record to 19 successive WSL home wins since that goalless draw with Arsenal back in February 2022.

Let's speak Emma Hayes, Susie, because she wrote about leaving the club in her programme notes saying, I felt as if I was abandoning my family when I told the girls and I felt a lot of sadness in the days since but I'm proud of what we've achieved together I hope you understand why I've taken this decision you can tell there's still quite a lot of raw emotion around around the news even though we're kind of two weeks in from it yeah and I think that will go on probably for the entirety of the season and maybe a little bit beyond because she's been such a fixture in the league and its development for such a long time. I mean, even from a media point of view, confident in herself and the way she delivers things and, you know, says what she wants to say, press conferences and things, but also trusting

of us in that, you know, she will have conversations with us after the cameras are off about the game and its development and the future and tactics and things like that, that will never be published because she puts, you know, she trusts that trusts that you know we can have those conversations and confidence in a way that most managers don't anymore so you know she's a huge loss and what I find most interesting is the fact that she's got this incredible team that she's on the looks of it leaving in you know the strongest possible place there's so many young players in there with such immense talent you. You look at these two squads that played, the two starting XI's even, that played against Liverpool and against Real Madrid and it is difficult to decide which one is the better starting XI. They're both incredibly

strong and really, really difficult to play against. what's most impressive about what she's doing now is she's she's putting the foundations in for whoever comes in behind her and in a way that you don't often see um you know you look at some of the sort of you know obviously we don't like to make comparisons to men's game but the longest serving managers are most obvious there you know the likes of sir alex ferguson and arson Wenger and things you know leave with teams that aren't up to much let's be frank but you know you look at what's being left at Chelsea and it's a real real team for the future that has a lot of promise that there's the opportunity for someone to come in and make their mark on as well because that you know there are players that could be

transitioned out of it too so yeah like hugely exciting in a way. But yeah, I think that Emma Hayes is basically going to have the longest farewell tour in the history of women's football because she's that significant and that important to it. Yeah, she is. And woe betide any managers that get in the way of her trying to dominate not just the league, but the Cup and the Champions League as well this season. Just a word on Liverpool quickly. I heard Matt Beard's post-match comments.

He was pretty disappointed and frustrated conceding that many goals. Didn't think they should have done that. They'll be looking to bounce back against Manchester United in the Conte Cup on Wednesday night and then Brighton on Sunday. But they have had a brilliant start to the season, so I can understand why he was annoyed about that. We need to mention as well the amazing viewing figures for both these two games. A peak of 1.1 million tuned into BBC One and the iPlayer to watch Chelsea's win over Liverpool. And the Manchester derby on Sky Sports attracted a highest ever peak viewership on that channel,

589,000, and the highest ever average viewership, 485,000, which is pretty incredible for the WSL and shows how much the game is growing. Next up, Arsenal continued their recent form with a 3-0 win at Brighton. They stay second, three points behind Chelsea. Goals from Stina Black's Thennius, Caitlin Ford, and a lovely stoppage time strike from Frida Mahnum

wrapping up the three points for Jonas Eidevals' side. Five wins on the bounce for them now. Susie Rack has a smile on her face. It was an entertaining game played out in front of a record crowd for Broadfield Stadium, just under 5,000 in attendance. And you're kind of building up a bit of a head of steam at the minute, Arsenal, Susie. Susie Arsenal, Arsenal Susie. On and off the pitch, right? Because I saw Tim Stillman tweet something and I'm going to misremember it so I'm desperately, quickly

searching for it. But it was something about the fact that every team that has broken their attendance record this season has, it's been against Arsenal, it's been Arsenal helping that with a big away following coming along. So, you know, hugely impressive that they're able to take such a massive travelling contingent pretty much everywhere they go. And then, yeah, impressing on the pitch as well. I mean, for me, the standout moment of that match was Alessia Russo's last-ditch tackle

right back in front of her own goal. I can't remember who it was against, but it was just phenomenal. And this is summing up her start to the season, which I think has been fantastic. Obviously, she created the third goal really beautifully as well. Incredible pass.

But it's the defensive effort, it's the clean sheet in this game that I think matters more because Arsenal have been conceding at pace and yeah this is the first clean sheet of the season and yeah that's a big moment. I thought Lotta Wobben-Moy has

been exceptional so far this campaign as well it was quite nice at the end to see her with the captains are banned on even though the likes of Liam Vaughty had come on the and stuff after mccabe had gone off um she took it on and i think that like is sort of testament to the way she's performed so far this season but for me yeah the goals were nice um although steen black's analysis was slightly hilarious where she swings and completely misses it and then does exactly the same again and puts it in and it makes it look like it's a brilliant goal when actually it was a complete cock up but defensively yeah like that was what impressed me

the most they were just so much more organized everyone was sort of working collectively to earn that clean sheet and Alessia Russo's last tackle sort of epitomized it as well so yeah good things yeah good things and actually there yeah, good things. Yeah, good things. And actually there had been good things going on behind the scenes at Brighton, Anita. They had that big win against Manchester City last time out, but it didn't seem actually as if Melissa Phillips was too disheartened by this result. No, not at all. I think this game wasn't a game that they would have looked at and thought

we're going to get three points in. You know, obviously they would have tried to be as, disrupt Arsenal as much as possible. They played in more of a defensive shape, you know, in a sort of 4-4-1. And they were looking to maybe look for those breaks and transition from defence to attack to try and hurt them. But I think Arsenal on the day were just too strong. You saw Kyra Cooney-Cross, who I thought had a brilliant game too, you know, really showing what everything synced and they made it very, very difficult for Brighton to get any kind of rhythm but the project that Melissa Phillips is building

I think is an interesting and an exciting one you know, I have a lot of experience of what she does from her time in the Championship and I think she's an exciting manager to watch because you can feel there's something brewing

you know, the environment it feels good and the players seem very positive and they're really buying into into what she's building there yeah it feels like it and I'm sorry remiss of me Susie when you were saying about that being Arsenal's first clean sheet of the season I should have given you this stat I just didn't see it uh the Gunners have won all six of their WSL trips to Brighton without conceding a goal. So it seems like that is a pretty happy hunting ground for them. I'd love to take the credit for that stat, but that's producer Lucy. I just didn't scroll down far enough to see it. So sorry about that.

Late drama in East London. Perhaps something building back again at Aston Villa after Rachel Daly scored a stunning 93rd minute winner, making it back to back victories for Carla Ward's side, easing their early season worries a little bit. It was a bit of a topsy-turvy game between these two, Moyo, but I mean, a special way for Villa to win it, maybe an injection of confidence with that as well.

And ultimately, they were worthy of the three points. Yeah, I thought they were worthy of the three points. I think both Villa and West Ham have been struggling at the start of the season. Yeah, when it went 2-2, first of all, the Lisa Evans goal was really good. That was a top-level finish. The Lisa Evans equaliser to make it 2-2. But yeah, it just felt like Aston Villa were the hungrier of the two, basically. It just felt as though if someone's going to get a goal here, it is going to be Villa. I thought they dominated, to be honest, the early parts of the two basically it just felt as though if someone's going to get a goal here it is going to be Villa I thought they dominated to be honest the early parts of the the first half

and the second half and if anything they were unlucky for it to be 2-2 at like the 85th minute so yeah I did think Villa were going to push and as we saw last season everything that they do offensively like we know that they look at Rachel Daly as the person to take them to the next level and it was nice for her to be the one to pop up with the goal because I think that was reminiscent of last season I think they can kick on from this. Yeah they move into onto six points up to ninth in the table which looks much more comfortable than it did a couple of weeks ago but for West Ham Susie Rhian Skinner has acknowledged that they're a side in transition and that obviously takes time but it's just one win from their opening seven games and they're only out of the relegation zone on goal difference do we need to be expecting more from

them sooner I mean yes like in that they're in trouble and I'm quite worried about them this season I think January is going to be a really important time for them because they need reinforcements the thing is is I'm not not totally convinced that the project is being truly invested in both financially and sort of just like ideologically as well you You know, like I don't necessarily think the club, you know, sort of since its early founding have really, you know, taken in of the women's side, have really maintained their interest in the team. So I think it's a really difficult job when you've not got that level of support.

You know, I think we've seen Rianne Skinner do good things in the past. Obviously she started very well at Tottenham. West Ham was always going to be a difficult task for whoever came in. If we could see her be backed in the January transfer window, then there's a potential there for them to turn it around. But I worry that they're, I was going to say damaged as a group,

that feels like a little bit harsh. But what I mean is like psychologically the impact of, you know, a really, really tough season last year and then the new manager coming in and it not necessarily, you know, kind of kicking on in the way that they would perhaps hope, it not necessarily being that clean slate, then sort of setting in a little bit of footballing depression for want of a better way of putting it yes I'm quite worried about them this season that said they scored twice you know that's a positive you know they pushed it really hard would have legitimately earned a draw had Rachel Daly not struck the most incredible goal

so there's signs there that they can make things happen and can get points. But, you know, when you look at the table and the teams involved, you know, they're at risk. They've got Arsenal on Sunday as well, which I'm sure Rhian Skinner could really do without, to be honest. That's it for part one.

In part two, we'll get you up to speed with the rest of the WSL Talk Cup competitions, the championship and the latest Lionesses squad. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Just a couple of other WSL ties for us to round up. To Walton Hall Park we go, first and foremost, where Amelie Thestrup's 82nd-minute strike

saw Bristol City twice fight back from behind to earn a point in a two-all draw against Everton, who'd taken an early lead through summer signing Martina Piemonte, who got her first WSL goal for the club by the way Everton's first goal from open play all season which is quite incredible Lauren Smith's side though showed massive character fighting back through Amy Rogers and Thestrup either side of Megan Finnegan's strike talk us through the game Anita you must be delighted with the tenacity that the players showed coming away with a point.

Absolutely. I think I've been there, you know, when you're at the bottom of the table and you're looking at where you're sitting and how that can psychologically affect the group, you know, especially off the back of the loss to Villa and seeing the girls just digging deep and show that resilience and show that fight and none of them stopped working hard until the whistle blew, is what it's about when you're fighting for those results when there's such hard-fought contests as well with a side like Everton who were also looking to try and bounce back off the back of a defeat. And I thought, you know, at the beginning of the the game we didn't play to our strengths as such I thought you know we allowed them to get into areas where they could deliver crosses into the

box and look dangerous and we had a couple warning shots you know Sorensen had that early chance as well where she makes a blindside run and gets a shot across that fortunately goes wide but the fact that the girls found a way and they kept pushing and they kept believing in what what we're trying to you know trying to do was really important and I think having Thestrup has been a really good key threat for us she's scored many of our goals this season and she's constantly threatening the back line constantly working tirelessly to create those opportunities will definitely boost the confidence in the team and hopefully gives us sort of the platform to build on for the next fixture as well.

Yeah, it does. We'll talk Sorensen in a second as well. But let's just focus on Everton briefly, Moyo, because they've already conceded five goals in the final 15 minutes of games so far this season. Unsurprisingly, that's the most in in the league and it feels as if we keep mentioning these same concerns they're still there yeah I don't think the concentration levels is quite where it needs like I'm sure Brian Somerson isn't happy with the concentration levels in the team when it comes to conceding late goals because it seems as well as though teams will constantly think that they're still in it with Everton because of those final 15 minutes like it seems as though opposition players know that this is the time to capitalise that this is where Everton

switch off and you don't want to be known as that team that switches off in the final 15 minutes I do think that sometimes I don't know if it's about personnel gelling because obviously there has been a lot of movement with Everton over the last season or two and obviously they lost a big defensive player in Gabby George in the summer as well. But at the same time, I feel like people need to take responsibility within the team, whether that be the centre-backs.

I think Megan Finnegan's been taking responsibility, but it's just a case of like corralling the rest of the team and making sure that everyone's on the same page when it comes to their defensive duties. Yeah, it's really key, isn't it? Some news which reached us on Sunday came as a pretty big surprise as well. Everton and Denmark forward Nicolene Sorensen announced that she's

going to leave the club and retire from playing next month. Here's her explanation on Instagram. My promise to myself has always been to play as long as I enjoyed it and that time has now come to an end. I mean, she's just 26 years old. She'd signed a new one year deal with the Toffees in July. Here's what the chief executive, Alan McTavish, said. After careful consideration, we've reluctantly decided to release her from her contract. She'll remain part of the women's senior squad for our game with Manchester City on 17th of December up until then this kind of came out of the blue and and just goes to show actually that sometimes you just have to take control in life and say this doesn't um what is it that Marie Kondo says doesn't spark joy anymore and it feels as if maybe she feels like that Susie yeah I like it was very much out of the blue and you know it makes you wonder whether there's something more to it whether you know it's not her going out on her own terms you know is there something

underlying it I don't know I'm speculating and it's probably wrong to speculate when you know someone's made the decision that they have and they don't want to necessarily give full details on why maybe maybe it's not maybe it is her going completely out on her own terms and she's got something else lined up that she's really excited about we just don't know but yeah it's not. Maybe it is her going completely out on her own terms and she's got something else lined up that she's really excited about. We just don't know. But yeah, it's obviously a huge blow for Everton. I hope she is fine and really happy and content with the decision to sort of walk away in the new year.

But yeah, for Everton, a massive blow because they're really, really struggling and losing players is the last thing they need. But yeah, like I say, you just hope that it's on her own terms and that she's happy with it. Yeah, I think it's such a shame. I know Nicolina Sorensen from my time at Rosengård and she was a young player coming into the team then. And she showed so much promise and seen her develop over the years into a really good quality forward. You know, works so hard, can stretch back lines, is powerful, aggressive.

We saw some glimpses of her threat on the weekend as well. And sometimes, you know, we're obviously speculating. You kind of feel like, is it a case of she's disillusioned as well, you know, like by the project at Everton. I know as a player, when you go to a club and you have big ideas and big ambitions and there's so many turnovers in management, for example, that we've seen at the club, you see players that you expect hopefully

to build this project with, leave the club, big figures, as you mentioned, like Gabby George, and suddenly you're thinking, where is my place here? And where is my place in this team? And I wonder if some of that has happened for her and maybe also another reason why, you know, she's lost that spark perhaps with football.

I really hope that's not the case. And it's just the case of her moving into a new chapter. She's a super intelligent girl and I'm sure there's lots of things that she's excited to do. But yeah, I hope that's not the case is really all I want to say because I think she's a top, top talent.

And as you say, still so young. Yeah, she is. She'll be a big miss in the WSL and we of course wish her all the best in whatever she decides to do next. Finally, to the King Power we go. Leicester and Tottenham played out a one-all draw. Celine Bizet scoring a second half equaliser

for the visitors after Janice Kamen had given Leicester the lead early on. Janina Leipzig yet again massive between the sticks making a string of key saves to prevent Robert Willeham's side coming away with all three points. Here's what the Spurs boss said. We had so many chances. It's too bad we didn't win. Too bad. Too bad we didn't win but it was a great performance. Is that the problem, Moyo? They just haven't quite been clinical enough, despite some of the heroics from Leipzig to deny them. 11 attempts on target, but just the one goal to show for their efforts.

Yeah, I think it is a case of that. I think obviously they started off the season really hot in terms of it. It felt as though every chance they were getting, they were scoring. I don't actually think that the scoring rate they showed in the beginning of the season, though, was sustainable. Like, even at the best of teams, I don't think the scoring rate was sustainable. I think for them, it might be a case of just finding new ways to score. Obviously, they're still getting the chances because they're still getting shots off. And Leipzig did make a lot of saves.

But I think, yeah, just a case of adding more versatility to their game. Because they've got good players. They've got good forwards. We've seen Martha Thomas already has started the season really well. I think Grace Clinton has added a lot as well to the attack. Celine Bizet as well. But yeah, I think maybe just a bit more versatility and maybe adding more goals from midfield as well and wide. Because I think right now it's from wide that they're struggling to get goals in.

Because you don't want all the onus to be on Martha Thomas. Yeah, it was a fast start from leicester as well but ultimately i think willie kirk would admit they were maybe lucky to come away with a point still an important one on the board after those three straight defeats and the collapse against arsenal last week after a good start to the season three draws on the bounce for tottenham their fifth in the table level on points for manchester united leicester drop down to seventh. They've picked up eight points from their opening seven games. Matchday two in the Champions League this week.

On Wednesday, it's Benfica against Rosengard. On track, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Branslavia, Prague and Lyon versus St. Paulton. Then on Thursday, a big one as PSG host Bayern Munich. Roma face Ajax. Haken will go up against Real Madrid. And Chelsea will go up against those previous giant killers, Paris FC. Emma Hayes' side looking to respond after what was, I think it's fair to say, one of the worst officiating performances we've seen in a very long time out in the Spanish capital last week.

And you know here on the Guardian Women's Football Weekly that we're very supportive of referees. But that was just an absolute shocker, wasn't it? Finished 2-2 between Chelsea and Real Madrid. It was madness that game, Susie. But they go again against a Paris FC side who have beaten 2-1 by Haken. Yeah, and there was obviously a huge amount of frustration at the performance of the the referee in that game legitimately so I mean it just shouldn't be happening at that level. I mean they'll get back on track against Paris FC probably with little problem. I mean the fact

that they came out of that Real Madrid game and then played the early kickoff on the Saturday and performed the way they did I think surprised a lot of people. You know, I think it's a real evidence that they are built to manage these like tight turnarounds in games and free games a week in a way that I don't think we've necessarily seen before. You know, they've always had strong squads, but in terms of sort of the depth across the park and the ability of those players to step in at a game's notice kind of thing, it has been really impressive.

Obviously, yeah. I mean, as an Arsenal fan, it's slightly embarrassing to see Paris FC knock out us, knock out Wolfsburg, and then lose to Haken. But yeah, it shows that Chelsea should be able to take their example from Haken rather than the two of the top sides in Europe as a way past Paris FC. Obviously, sharing the spores with Madrid isn't ideal, but it's a point away from home in the Champions League

against the biggest rivals in the group, and I can't see Chelsea struggling hugely in this group to be honest. Let's move on to the internationals shall we? Serena Wiegmann announced her Lionesses squad for the Crunch Nations League ties against the Netherlands and Scotland in December. The big headline Beth Mead returns for the first time in a year following that ACL injury she sustained last November. Susie is doing a hands up jigging weird dance. Don't even know how to describe that. Don't want to embarrass you any further,

but what was that? Delight. Delight that Beth Mead is back. Not just for her, but for England as well. I mean, these games are so, so important, right? And been struggling to make the most of dominance and chances created and things like that. And who better to have come back into the fold

to add some clinicalness. That's not a word, but I'm going to make it a word. You're a journalist. Yeah, I know, right? A fuzzy brain early morning. To add some clinicalness to the England attack when you really, really need goals. And yeah, we really have to win these two games

and then hope that Belgium drop points to be able to progress. So yeah, I mean, I think it's great that she's back because she offers something a little bit different. And, you know, it's good that she got a first start for Arsenal, like, you know, just ahead of this break as well. An important player to have in the fold. I like the idea of her and Lauren James playing in the same team as well that excites me the way her and Alessia Russo

linked up when she came off the bench against Aston Villa was exciting I just think she could re-inject a little bit of life into an England side that hasn't lost its way that's wrong because they're still performing really really strongly creating loads of chances look really good but has just maybe been slightly knocked by a few defeats that have taken the sort of air of invincibility off them a little bit yeah that's an interesting way to look at it by the way I am also a journalist but I still had to google the word clinicality. Clinicality. Never heard of it before.

No, you just don't use it in general parlance. Clinicalness is much better. It does. It makes more sense. There are also call-ups, again, for Grace Clinton and Kiara Keating, who were both involved in October's squad for the first time and had brilliant starts to the season. Lucy Parker's out with an ankle injury. Jess Park, Ebony Salmon, Laura Coombs, Nikita Paris and Ellie Roebuck among those to miss out on selection.

Vigman was asked about Aggie Beaver-Jones as well who's been brilliant for Chelsea this season and how close she was to being selected. Here's what she had to say. She's in our conversations. I think it's a little bit too early. We see good things. She's in the under 23s and it's good she can get the minutes there and keep developing. I hope she keeps improving and gives us headaches with our selection. I mean, it's obviously great to see Beth back in particular, Anita. She could be just the spark they need, as Susie says. But what did you make of the squad as a whole? Yeah, no, I think it's a really good squad selection, good balance through the team in terms of the relationships already there for a lot of, you know, club partnerships as well

in the team and having Beth back in who offers something different, a ball carrier, which I like, breaks up play, has a bit of ingenuity about her as well, allows Serena the flexibility to maybe adjust those relationships in the front line or maybe tinker with the system slightly yeah I think it's what you need when you really need to go after results for these next two fixtures and a lot of the emphasis is going to be on them not just dominating the games but actually you know finding the final outcomes from their attacking solutions so for me yeah I think it's a really good squad I was happy to see Grace Clinton back in there she's having a great season she's a great

kid I'm obviously gonna big her up because I think she's just a brilliant top young talent and a really exciting one to look out for as well Frank Kirby being in there as well I think we've lacked some of the link up between that front line and midfield progression so having someone like that as well but again we've got a lot of players who are in form at the minute at club so if they can just transfer that into the national team in these next two fixtures I think we'll be fine. Yeah I do wonder if we've just been so spoilt for so long that actually when a little bit of rhythm is lost we all start to panic and worry a little bit. And actually, we don't really need to. Kind of feel like that with the England men's team.

I've just got back from North Macedonia and it's very much the same kind of reaction. And yet they qualified really comfortably for Euro 2024. But, you know, we have high standards, quite clearly. In the championship, it's as tight as ever. Honours even in the top of the table clash between Charlton and Sunderland. It ended in a one-all draw at the Valley, meaning they're tied at the top. It was a seven-goal thriller as well between Crystal Palace and Southampton

in front of a record crowd of 4,453 at Selhurst Park. It was the Saints triumphing 4-3 in that one. Birmingham continue to motor up the table. They recorded their fifth straight victory with a 3-1 win over Durham. It means that just two points separate the top five, which is absolutely incredible. And Anita can give testament to how difficult the championship is. But it's, I mean, I've not seen it as tight as this for a long, long while. Two huge wins down the bottom as well. Lewis move off the foot of the table.

Big 2-1 victory over London City Lionesses at the dripping pan and Isabel Goodwin scored twice in two minutes as Sheffield United move six points clear of the relegation place with a 3-1 win over rivals Watford at Vicarage Road. Blackburn Reading, by the

way, postponed because of a waterlogged pitch. We'll always keep you updated with the championship. It's such a fascinating season in particular this time round. Midweek League Cup action happening. I've mentioned a couple of the fixtures already, but 10 of them across Wednesday and Thursday.

Liverpool, Manchester United, Brighton West Ham and Southampton Arsenal, just some of them. Anita, you guys are going to Tottenham. How is Bristol City treating the competition this season? Do you see it as a good opportunity to keep building the team cohesion and take the momentum into the league? Yeah, absolutely.

I think every game you're prepping and you're looking ahead to your league fixtures as well. You try and give players the opportunity to play as well and get some of that exposure against a top-tier side as well. You try and give players the opportunity to play as well and get some of that exposure against a top tier side as well. And I think, you know, we'll know that Tottenham are a team in form at the moment and have been dominating a lot of their games and creating a lot of goal chances. So we're going to have to be really diligent in how we nullify that and how we make it difficult for them, but notwithstanding you know trying to create our own level the tax as well yeah it's the second round of the women's fa cup this weekend as

well we're biased of course we do wish our very own salon andy hickman the best of luck her hamlet side are on the road at billericay town on sunday afternoon and she's going to be on next week's pod to tell us all about it hopefully from her point of view sorry billericay Town on Sunday afternoon and she's going to be on next week's pod to tell us all about it, hopefully from her point of view. Sorry, Billericay Town fans. Victorious for her. Some of the other standout ties include Nottingham Forest against Sporting Cowsa.

Chorley Ladies play Newcastle Women and Swindon Town Ladies will play Bournemouth Ladies. This is good news. Winning clubs take home £8,000. Losing teams collect £2,000. Key money for those teams lower down the league talking of money just finally we're going to discuss an exclusive report by Asasu Obayuana for the Guardian who's found out that players from several teams at this year's Women's World Cup finals have seen their match fees heavily

impacted by tax deductions. So basically, this sounds like a really boring subject, but it really isn't. It's utterly ridiculous. All players whose teams were based in Australia for the duration of the tournament, that includes the Lionesses, they're receiving just over two thirds of the match fees, with the Australian tax office imposing a 32.5% withholding tax. So just to give you some context to this, in contrast, any teams that played their group and knockout matches in New Zealand, so that was Spain, I believe, had no deductions from their match fees at all. They were given tax-free status by New Zealand's Internal Revenue Department. And the teams who played in both countries were

taxed on a pro rata basis of the amount of games played in Australia. So here's a little bit of an example for you. Nigeria's players who reached the last 16 earned $60,000, which is just under £50,000 per player. But they actually only got $40,500 of that. That's 32 grand after the ATO's deductions. I mean, that's huge. That's almost 15 grand that they've lost. Shockingly, players from South Africa are facing double taxation from the South African Revenue Service as well as the ATO. Here's what a FIFA spokesman had to say to The Guardian. organisation understood how the reduction in match fees will upset the players but that the deductions were made in accordance with Australian law and the hosting agreement and there was

nothing the organisation could do about it. I mean I totally understand all of that. There's never a dull moment in women's football Susie and there's never a you're never far away from a controversial moment either. No and it's I mean it's ridiculous because it's pretty common for organizers and host countries to agree tax exemptions that cover the players earnings during a tournament so why didn't they have one in place for this like why has it gone down to the local taxation laws of the country why wasn't it agreed ahead of the tournament that players were exempt from paying tax on their earnings from the tournament on their prize money picked up? Is FIFA Pro responsible for that? I think FIFA Pro wouldn't probably be across it prior to the tournament.

They're kind of the global players representative, aren't they? They're like a union. So only after the fact can they now go in and probably make complaints to FIFA. But it's shocking that there wasn't those exemptions made prior to the tournament. And again, it just highlights another factor that they just don't respect the women's game enough, in my opinion. Still, because you just know that this wouldn't happen in the men's game, the men's tournament, that all of these things would have been checked out thoroughly prior to the competition most likely

and the players who really need support are the ones let down once again. You've got the crazy situation as well with the fact that, you know, because of the difference between the New Zealand and Australia tax rules that you've got some of the players walking away with significantly more than others which is obviously ridiculously unfair I mean at least if you're going to have these rules in place at least have them leveled across the competition you know so that everyone walks away with the same amount of money they've earned for doing the same thing that said there's you know it should be the case that their prize money that they were

rewarded for competing in the tournament isn't affected yeah it's a really interesting article anyway if you want to go and read it in the guardian and get a little bit more context than what we can bring you then please do um right it's been a pleasure as always moyo see you soon thanks for having me see you soon I hope that next time we speak, it's after a United win and I don't have to ask you horrible questions about the Derby. Good luck for the weekend, Anita.

Thank you, Faye. Appreciate that. See you soon. Susie Rack, I'm going to have to think about what you can cut me in Lino. I know that we thought about it during the World Cup, but I'm going to think of something completely random. It's going to have to be L what you can cut me in lino i know that we thought about it during the world cup but i'm going to think of something completely random it's going to have to be luton town related though oh i will so do your luton town related lino cut i did like someone's

suggestion that i do when um sam kerr bodied that pitch invader so i might do that as well at some point i was quite pleased with that suggestion but i'm working my way through some of the suggestions not all of them will be made but i will definitely do your Luton Town one. Yay the multi-talented Susie Rack she doesn't just write books she doesn't just come on podcasts she's not just a women's football writer she is an artiste and a wonderful one at that as well. Right we'll be back next week to round up all the action ahead of the international break including Manchester City against Tottenham and Aston Villa Everton as ever you can be part of the conversation by emailing us at

womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com or you can tweet us your questions and we will read them out and make sure you also subscribe to the Guardian's Moving the Goalposts newsletter. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Lucy Oliver music composition was by Laura Iredale our executive producer is Salah Ahmad.

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