The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Manchester United blow WSL title race wide open – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: November 22, 2022

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Ceylon Andi Hickman and Marva Kreel talk through the latest round of WSL action

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. Manchester United ruin Arsenal's big night out with a late comeback win at the Emirates. Chelsea make light work of Tottenham at a sold-out Stamford Bridge. Meanwhile, stop the press, we have our first draw of the season in the WSL. Rachel Daly bags a hat-trick, not so rare.

And Manchester City continue their good run. We'll round up the rest of the week's news, take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Susie Rack, are you OK? No. I thought that might be the answer yeah I mean not a great weekend for the Arsenal fan is it like I think Chelsea are the biggest winners out of the Man United Arsenal game but yeah not that fun to cover as a journalist or as a fan because of the changing nature of the

scoreline meant I had to rewrite my intro three times as well as it being negative too. Oh dear, like a triple whammy, a triple whammy of pain. Marva Creel, are you okay? Yeah, not the best weekend for an Everton fan either, but I'm used to that, so probably more so than Susie. Solon Hickman, no game for Dulwich this weekend. So that pretty much makes you the happiest person on the pod, I'm presuming. I think so. No, we actually played our reserves in a behind closed doors friendly in the morning. So we did play, but it wasn't publicised with our pepper army involved either. But did you win? That is the question.

We did win. Okay, fine. So you are the happiest person on the pod. Now, if Arsenal were looking for a statement match to play at the Emirates, they certainly got it. But unfortunately for them, that result did not come with it. Arsenal 2, Manchester United 3. Ella Toon's first half lead for United

cancelled out by goals from Frida Marnham and Laura Wienrother before Millie Turner and Alessia Russo turned it back around and ended Arsenal's unbeaten WSL run late in the game. Susie, I'm not going to talk to you about Arsenal just yet, but after that Chelsea result a couple of weeks ago, we kind of wrote United's title chances off,

which looks to have been a little bit premature on our behalf. Has this one result thrown them right back into contention? Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, technically it has, in that their level on points with Arsenal and Chelsea, half has this one result thrown them right back into contention yeah well i mean yeah technically it has in that their level on points with arsenal and chelsea oh well no chelsea now three ahead but haven't played a game more but put it this way i don't think arsenal are hard to beat either at the moment which yes united brilliant and it spoke to a new resilience to them that i think we've not really seen before you know these are games that they would often like sort of tail off in fall away in the second half significantly not having made the most of their chances in the first half after dominating

feels like a very very familiar pattern so it speaks to a sort of like renewed resilience around that and i thought the away crowd really really played a part in that as well but at at the same time, I still think we need to see them do it against Chelsea. I still think the biggest winners, like I said, out of this weekend are Chelsea because I think it's a lot easier to do that against Arsenal, who are not as dogged and resilient as, say, a Chelsea back line is. I mean, obviously missing a lot of players. I think Kim Little was a huge huge miss in the middle like I mean having United dominate possession when you're at home at the

Emirates is not not ideal um I think she's a big big big big miss like the one miss too many almost and yeah some criminal defending too but they're in the title race because they're up there but until they do it against Chelsea I think it's not quite as clear cut yeah we'll talk about that defense in a minute but I mean Manchester United's lead salon was was deserved at half time and Arsenal didn't show up but Manchester United did absolutely I thought from the first whistle they had a bite about them I think that that resilient spirit that Sus mentioned, but also they just look so aggressive and on the front foot for everything. I think when you play in a game like that and you realise you're not that team, you think, oh Jesus, this is going to be a bit of an uphill battle. And I think you felt that from the Arsenal players maybe in that first half. It didn't feel like things were going right for them. It didn't feel like they could create much or open up United very much. I was quite surprised. I think I actually missed the equaliser because I was still inside at that point, but I heard the roars and I was like, okay, cool. We've got a game on our hands now. And I wasn't expecting the turnaround

from Arsenal so quickly, but it was a bit of a fluky goal I think and but you need those right when you're in games like that you need you need a goal like that but yeah I was I was disappointed with Arsenal even when they were leading in the second half I still felt like this United team are not done and you knew as soon as that equalizer went in that United were like this is our game to go and win now and I don't think I felt that from Arsenal at any point. Interesting. Marva, that Manuela Zinsberger error for that first United goal. You could also blame lots of Uwe Moy as well, caught ball watching.

Susie mentioned there the terrible defending, but Arsenal have had to kind of muddle through without Leah Williamson and Raffaele in the last couple of games. But the uncertainty in their defence was very, very obvious in this game. Yeah, completely. I think all three goals could have been dealt with better. And this is a team that I think had conceded once before coming into this game and also hadn't conceded any set pieces. So then to concede two set pieces just goes to show you what they're missing. But I did think that United's tactics

did play up to that perfectly as well. And not only kind of taking advantage of the centre-backs, but the way they overloaded the wings massively stood out. I thought Paris had an incredible first half. She maybe drifted off a little bit in the second half, possibly after that yellow card, but I thought she did incredibly. And then I think having think having Russo as well who just is able to drop back and allow for the overload in front of her as well just meant that they the wing backs you know you

often see Arsenal wing backs getting forward in that first half they just couldn't because they were so overloaded and then yeah two bad bits of defending from set pieces and then obviously a really bad goalkeeping error to begin with as well although she did kind of make up for it with two incredible saves in the second half to be fair to her yeah and like the thing that is most criminal for me is that that was the third time that Katie Zellum and Lesley Russo have combined to score against Arsenal from a set piece in a row um and so to have her completely uncontested is mad. Jonas at least owned that in his post-match presser. He said, it's two uncontested headers

and we know they have good service and good target players. There's no way somebody should be heading a ball uncontested in our penalty area. We can't accept that. I'm disappointed with that. We need to look at that separately and do better next time blah blah but yeah i mean that sort of says it all doesn't it like three times in a row three times in a row we know the threat from katie zelem we

know the threat from alessia russo how can she go unmarked in the box is just beyond me uh for set pieces back to back uh for both the goals is criminal absolutely criminal oh wow oh dear no team talk from uh suzy rack that's for sure i mean they were better in the second half salon weren't they this is the question from adam though because you mentioned katie'sum and fantastic set pieces. What more does Katie Zellum have to do to start a game for England, Adam wonders? She's been the best central midfielder in the WSL for well over a year now and is the most creative one by far. I challenge you, Salon Hickman, to put a case forward for Katie Zellum to Serena Vigman. Oh, yes, that's unfair because I go with Serena. In Serena we trust, you know. If she doesn't

believe Katie Zellum's ready, then who am I to tell her that she is? I'm not, you know. But I could see Susie saying, when it was read out that Katie Zellum is apparently the best central midfielder in the WSL, there was a look of disgust on Susie's face. So maybe we should ask her. Yeah, no. I like Katie Zellum a lot. Her set-piece delivery is brilliant. But she's not the best central midfielder in WSL.

And there's no way she's shifting Walsh or Toon or Stanway or um Fran Kirby like for me she's a tier below those players um you know she's a great asset for United she does a job for them um but she's like she's not the star in their midfield you know for me it was Ella Toon and Hayley Ladd that really ran that show she's critical in terms of her set piece delivery for United but that's not necessarily what England need and they've got other people that can take those pieces too. A player who's been critical for both England and Arsenal in the past is Beth Mead came off injured right at the end of the game it looked really bad as well Marva. Arsenal yet to confirm what the prognosis is firstly what are you hearing and and secondly

how concerned should we be that Arsenal are picking up so many injuries this early in the season yeah it doesn't look good at all especially Mead who's obviously been you know their talisman through this she's just been such an important player for them um rumors of an ACL which obviously is going to be the worst thing for them but it's also just how they line up I don't know how the the sort of center backs you thought okay they can get through one or two games and maybe make it through and they sort of did that as well including sort of Champions League and mixing about with BT and Wubbamoy but to lose Beth Mead I don't know how you really replace that.

Obviously, Miedema has been starting off. So maybe you can then, you know, put her on instead and kind of replace those goals if you can. But their lack of attacking depth as well off the bench, I think, showed in the United game. United were able to bring on Garcia,

who had a really strong end to the game. Of course, Iwabuchi was sitting on the bench. I don't know how Arsenal fans feel about that. I thought Iwabuchi had an incredible game in Champions League against Zurich and hasn't been given the chance since. But even so, other than her, their attacking depth right now isn't there on top of a load of injuries as well. So it's not looking too good for them. I thought they could kind of push through those injuries, but those are too many important players now. Yeah, it's going to be really interesting

end to the season in terms of squad depth, isn't it? And how that's going to play a part because we are kind of, albeit Chelsea have played an extra game,

even Stephens at the top, all the top three having lost one game each this season. Chelsea top of the table and beat Tottenham 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Goals from Sam Kerr, Aaron Cusper and Guru Wrighton. Susie, in some ways, the Arsenal defeat was probably the best thing that could happen to the league, but also to Chelsea, as you have said. But from a neutrals point of view, it makes it much more exciting. And it is going to be a particularly exciting end to the season because of it. Yeah, people keep saying it's really exciting for the league. Probably is. Although I also think Chelsea having a three-point lead at the top of the table,

regardless of whether they have that extra game played or not, they are not going to let that go. You look at their past three or four seasons the second the second they move top they sort of put a vice like grip on their position and really like knuckle down and don't let go um it's like extremely rare for them to give up their league from a leading position position so whilst yes 18 18 21 points with an extra game played is tasty for you know statistically in the neutral like for me it's completely Chelsea's to lose now they are just so ruthlessly consistent I mean even against Spurs I didn't think they played the best game um I didn't think it was the the most thrilling

chelsea performance we've seen but it was just completely efficient capitalized on the mistakes and they've been doing that for weeks like i don't think we're seeing the like free-flowing wonderfully technical chelsea that we saw sort of last season and the season before and then they're almost sort of searching for that form the lack of Frank Kirby for much of this season for injury and illness and stuff has impacted that and a few other injuries at the back and things like that have also impacted that they're not quite got the rhythm that they had obviously they're bringing in Lauren James and Jesse Fleming is starting more and and all of those kind of things are all contributing to them

not quite clicking in exactly the way that we saw become accustomed to. But they're still getting the job done every single week and comfortably. And that, for me, is a sign of a team that just is, yeah, not going to relinquish a little stranglehold on the top there. And Emma Hayes back on the touchline as well. That's going to galvanise the team going forward, isn't it? I'm sure. Ashley Neville-Salon, pretty unfortunate maybe to concede a penalty.

It looked like Lauren James had just tripped over her own feet. But to be fair, Spurs kind of fell out of the game after the first goal anyway. I think, yeah, Spurs completely capitulated. They couldn't string passes together they couldn't move through the thirds they a midfielder would get the ball turn look up and just pass it to a Chelsea player and then they'd be like no arms in the air in frustration but that just felt like their game the whole way through but um yeah I think if I was Ashley Neville I'd be absolutely fuming with that but like you said it wouldn't have made much difference to the end result Lauren James is I called it in the group chat as soon as it happened

I said it was a dive but I do retract that because she's obviously kicked herself so she's going down like but I think it was the way when she slides you know when you do the classic I'm gonna put my hands out and grab the ball to show you know ref what the hell when I'm on the floor but yeah Ashley Neville doesn't touch her um it's just unfortunate it happens in the box and she trips herself and if there was VAR that would have been overturned 100% but it didn't matter in the grand scheme of the games and I think to the point around Chelsea Arsenal United in this title race when you look at Chelsea you just think winners and they've done a lot of work to build that reputation. If it's obviously the record that they have, but also the way that they talk, the way that they speak, the characters that they have. Emma Hayes as a manager, you kind of look at them and you expect them to win. Arsenal need to have an incredible performance and an incredible season to feel like they're going to win again you don't think that they have bubbles in the journey or go a few down and then they're going to come back from it because you think oh do they have that

resilience to win and that's obviously influenced by the injuries and also the fact that they feel like they're chasing something all the time as well now and they had this once reputation and they have to try and win but then united for me and like this very exciting like no one's really looking at us well no one's really looking at us. Well, no one's really expecting us to win. So we're going to go out there and be the plucky sort of underdog and just absolutely relentlessly go for the win. So I think it's a really exciting title race. But I did predict Arsenal to win the league, and I'm probably regretting that now.

I don't think that's going to be true. I think it's going to be Chelsea United, which is super exciting for the league, I think it's going to be Chelsea United which is super exciting for the league I think and it doesn't actually seem that long ago Marva that we were talking about Tottenham as potential Champions League candidates but not so really they're kind of getting caught up to by the likes of Aston Villa et al yeah definitely I've got a Spurs fan and friend and she she feels the same she's looking around being like well Aston Villa are getting a lot better. Everton are getting a lot better. There are a lot of teams here that are sort of taking our place now. And also United have run away compared to last season in comparison to Spurs.

So I thought actually they weren't as bad as I've seen them in bigger games. Maybe that's a very low bar, but I've seen them at the Emirates a few times now and that's been a real capitulation where they just don't even get in the game at all I thought they started the game okay where they were they were getting into the final third they were making some decent passes they were sort of not controlling possession but they had some possession which I haven't seen them do against like Arsenal, for example. And in all fairness to them as well, they were missing this sort of two number nines really, and having to play Naz as a kind of, as a number nine, but obviously she's just more of a false nine really. So I think that did, especially against a team like Chelsea, where you do need

someone to just at least hold the ball up for a bit, bring other people in, be a kind of target woman for people to just lob balls into if you need to. And they didn't have that. And it just kind of caught up with them. And then, of course, as I was saying, just their kind of wayward passing, especially from the back. Capella almost gave the ball away, I think, about five times in the area. And so it's kind of, in the end, their own mistakes that cost them, really.

Great point on lack of striker. I mean, you look at that Tottenham team and that Chelsea team and you're looking at the gap up top for Spurs and then Beth England sat on the bench for Chelsea or coming off the bench for Chelsea. You're just like, why? Why are we in a situation where a player like that, of that quality, who would be playing week in week

out like rachel daly is and like smashing in the goals and refining their rhythm ahead of a world cup sat on the bench at chelsea with like little chance of getting in that starting 11 and then you've got a team like spurs crying out for a player like that and it's just I just it just I find it so sad that Beth hasn't decided to up sticks and go for match football somewhere I was gonna say do you think we'll see a lone move potentially soon because you know we talk about how important the squad depth is across the league and and this is always where there's going to be this big gap isn't there but there are some fantastic players who are going to have short careers and they they want to make the most of it that's the problem isn't it because like for me at the moment it looks like Beth

England is choosing not to make the most of it and I get it like Chelsea is an incredible environment and the the level in training is really really high higher than you're going to get anywhere else and you know the people that you're around is going to improve you as a player and all of that but ultimately you're a footballer and you need to be playing football and she's just not playing enough to fight for a place in the world cup squad a lone move i'd love to see it i would love to see it i don't think we will but that's just purely based on the record of like sticking it out there to date when there's so many players in front of you and when you've come on she's not shown the best form but that's the I don't think it's not because she's still not good it's because I think she's very much a confidence player

and needs a run of games to sort of find that and you're not going to get that in bit part no well she might get an opportunity because chelsea released a statement confirming panilla hard has had an operation on her hamstring so she's going to be out for the foreseeable future so that does perhaps open open a little bit of a door right that's all for part one in part two we're going to look at the rest of the WSL and the Women's Championship. 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. welcome back to part two of the guardian women's football weekly uh brighton three liverpool three the new look free scoring brighton taking a 3-1 lead against liverpool before late goals

from shanice van der sanden and rachel furnace ensured that we got our first draw of the season i mean how excited are you all about the first draw of the season. I mean, how excited are you all about the first draw of the season? It's become a bit of a theme in this pod. I don't know why. I have no idea. But we've been clamouring for a draw. We've got one. Let's talk Brighton, Susie, because they're all about the entertainment right now. It was a bit of a thrilling draw, wasn't it? Like, it wasn't a nil-nil boar fest. So, you know, the draw delivered. Yeah, Brighton, I mean, it's not a new manager bounce because they've not got a new manager.

You know, they've had Amy Romeric step up to take charge. But I don't know, maybe there was a little bit of a sort of like, I don't know how to say it, but, you, but not a step back from the players under hope, but just a bit of a weariness. And with a change, there's a bit of a new lease of life there maybe. It was an exciting game. and really, really shouldn't be kind of giving up a 2-1, was it, lead by the sort of, you know, kind of 75th minute or something. That is a big error. But the fact that they're scoring goals is nice.

So we still don't really know what the managerial situation latest is. We've got Zoe Johnson in charge as managing director and Amy Merrick still in interim charge. So we're not entirely sure whether there's a recruitment process going on for a permanent head coach or whether it's going to be given to Amy Merrick. Brighton, exciting but disappointed to concede, you know, two late goals, really. But Liverpool had been relying on Katie Stengel penalties so far this season. So quite pleased for them and for Matt Beard to finally see some goals from open play. Can we just talk about the last minute equaliser?

I just love long ball football in a game like that. And you're just thinking, just get the ball at the other end of the pitch. And it's just one long ball run onto it cross header you would be heartbroken if you were Brighton and a defender in that back line at that point to watch those two points slip away but if you are Liverpool that is one of the best moments of your season so far definitely and it comes from such a simple get the ball up the other end of the pitch, cross it and stick it in the net. Perfect. And we've seen Van der Sanden do that so many times for Lyon. I remember the Champions League final, I want to say 2018,

it might have been 2019, I think it was 2018, where she came off the bench and in extra time just pinged in three balls from the right. And Lyon scored each time and like absolutely bossed it and then the following year she started the game and did the same and they were three nil up within the first half an hour like it's literally vintage Shanice Van Der Sanden so yeah like again another like slightly criminal thing not to prepare like against but also she's so so good at it and has been doing it for such a long time and is so fast and it's just so accurate that yeah wonderful

finish but yeah I felt like I was watching Leon in the Champions League final I mean and those kind of points down the bottom of the table are going to be vital come the end of the season Marva yeah completely um you know when they were sort. When it looked like they were slipping away, he thought, do we have a bit of a relegation battle on our hands here, which I kind of wanted anyway. But I think that point does help them massively. But I think also, as Susie was saying, Van der Sanden being back is going to be huge for them. Because I think Liverpool have had that structure in place. We know Matt Beard's an incredible manager. They've just sort of struggled with that bit of quality at the end. And she's someone who can bring that to come on at 3-1

and get a goal and an assist. That's just, they haven't had that in their team yet. As you said, it's just been penalties really. So I think that's going to play a huge part in the rest of their season and ultimately be what helps them survive really. So much as that will have hurt you, Merva, let's talk about your team, which hurt even more. Everton won Manchester City 2, goals from Julie Blackstead and Bunny Shaw giving Manchester City that 2-1 victory despite Rika Zaveka's headed equaliser in the first half.

Look, I know you're an Everton fan, Mervva, but it kind of was a game on the balance of it that Manchester City deserve to win. But do you feel your team are moving in the right direction under Brian Sorensen at the moment? Definitely. I mean, again, it might come across as a very low bar to just say at least we didn't get battered. But if you look at our previous results against Man City, we played them, I think, four times last season and lost by a margin of four goals every single time I think there were three four nils and a 5-1 loss so 2-1 I know it's a low bar but it is definitely an improvement and I think even in the way that we were still in the game as much as Man City dominated us I can admit that but to still be within only one goal come 80 minutes

85 minutes you've still got a chance if you're if you're doing that against a team you never know what can happen and actually at the end Beaver Jones had a really good chance Gio had a pretty good chance and that was just when we kind of gave up trying to build from the back and play down the wings and actually just two foot forward as Solan said about Liverpool so when you're in the game mathematically then you're always still in the game even if you haven't been sort of possession wise and quality wise and I think that's where we stepped up this season um there was a 3-0 loss against you know United of course and it's not that we're we're not getting battered but the manner in which we're getting battered is improving slightly and yeah

to only kind of be 2-1 against Man City and the way we played I was I was still quite happy and sort of proud of how they they yeah put some things together in that game. I really felt for Ramsey on that bunny shore goal I think that's a very unlucky situation to find yourself in as a keeper you've gone the right way. You've dived, you've stretched out, the ball's hit the post, and then it's hit you and then landed to the feet of the worst person you could possibly want it to land to. And yeah, I thought Everton were, I don't know, not hard done by,

but it was quite gutting for them to not have got something out of that game. And I think they were probably really hamstrung by the fact they couldn't have Jess Park play against Man City, which is her parent club and she's on loan from. So I think that was, if you'd have had Jess Park in that game, would there have been a moment of brilliance

or a late equaliser from Everton? I think that is a problem that we're going to face in the sense of while we can look be positive about this team building and we are building something which is incredible but we've got three actually four players on loan um from bigger clubs who are going to want to go back and not that we're building a whole game around them but of course they're big players for us and so you might get to a stage where you're building something in this team and then next season they all go back and unless you unless the transfers are on point and we really replace them then we kind of I don't know might just sort

of stagnate again so we'll see but for now I'm still positive. Yeah and for Bunny Shaw she's positive as well because she got the extra goal but Rachel Daly scored three in Aston Villa's 3-1 win over Reading. We'll discuss that in a second. But first, Susie, who's winning the golden boot, Bunny Shaw or Rachel Daly? Sam Kerr. I did not give you Sam Kerr as an option. Oh, well, between them, I'm going Bunny Shaw, but I think it will end up in Sam Kerr's pocket because she's inevitable.

Anyone else want to jump in on that? Rachel Daly. I'll go Shaw. All right. Well, this is good for the end of the season because somebody's going to win. And I'm probably going to lose, which is great for Arsenal, not even thinking about it because my predictions are so rubbish. So 3-1 Aston Villa beat Reading.

A hat-trick from Rachel Daly. They had to come from behind, though. Lauren Wade giving Reading an early lead, but they were kind of architects of their own downfall, really. Jacqueline Burns sent off for a foul on Kirsty Hansen. So easy points in the end for Aston Villa. Question from another Adam actually how many goals do you think Rachel Daly would have so far this season if she'd have signed for Chelsea or Arsenal? I think it might be a Beth England situation to

be honest she'd probably be sat on the bench and not getting any minutes so I think she's doing the right thing of playing for Villa and getting the goals that she has. And now, as a result, starting for England up front. Whether that will happen in the World Cup, I don't know. But I think, I don't know if Serena's going to play her left back anymore. So she's done what she needs to do. Absolutely. Right, West Ham 1, Leicester 0, the final WSL game.

We're going to talk about this weekend. Not a classic. I don't think Leicester have been involved WSL game we're going to talk about this weekend not a classic I don't think Leicester have been involved in very many classics this season sorry a late Izzy Atkinson goal

gave West Ham that win Leicester had stayed in the game for so long so positives to take for sure but Salon they obviously made

the managerial change bringing in Willie Kirk who had been appointed Director of Football he obviously was at Everton previously They obviously made the managerial change, bringing in Willie Kirk, who had been appointed director of football. He obviously was at Everton previously. Can he do enough to keep Leicester up this season? You don't want to say it's gone at this point in the season.

You want to have a bit of hope. But by the fact that there aren't huge amounts of teams in the league, that once you've had a few drubbings and you think you know who who's it really going to be between at the bottom of the table for me they've played eight they've lost all of them they've run zero points reading are a slight ahead of them with three points but i've played seven i just i'm not. I guess that's only one win, right? And that's Reading to lose and one weekend and Leicester to win.

But I do just think they haven't really looked like scoring many to overturn any of these games. And I think they're going to be on a pretty difficult fixture run, I think. And I think, yeah, at this point, I think we all predicted them

to go down at the beginning of the season and Willy Kirk, fair play to him, have a good go at it. But I think we all predicted them to go down at the beginning of the season. Willy Kirk, fair play to him. Have a good go at it. But I think it's probably going to be a season in the Championship next year for them. Yeah, a big weekend in the Women's Championship as well. A record crowd of over 11,000 watching Sheffield United. But London City Lionesses spoiled the fun, winning 2-0 to go top of the table. That was because Birmingham City ended Bristol City's unbeaten start with a Jade Pennant goal, giving them a 1-0 win at Ashton Gate.

Breaking up the party seemed to be the order of the day, really. Charlton winning 2-1 in their match against Crystal Palace, which was at Selhurst Park. Blackburn and Southampton drew 1-1, while Lewis FC beat Sunderland 1-0 and Durham thrashed Coventry 5-1. Marva, the Women's Championship currently averaging higher attendances than the French top division, which kind of just shows the depth of women's football in this country. Yeah, and of course, you know, that Euros win definitely feeds into that, which is amazing

to see. And it's so important for the whole structure of English women's football to have the lower leagues being a strong pathway into the WSL I think where we're looking to hopefully you know in the next few years as I think it's been talked about on this pod as well is having you know more than one team get relegated I think at the moment it's kind of hard to do that because the gap is so big between the WSL and the Championship.

But I think, you know, the more people that come and watch, the more money that goes into it, you're going to see that improvement and that will help the WSL, that will help the leagues below it

and hopefully it will just keep continuing. Yeah, fingers crossed. Let's look ahead to this week, shall we? A couple of big Champions League fixtures coming up for Chelsea and Arsenal. Susie, are your team going's look ahead to this week, shall we? A couple of big Champions League fixtures coming up for Chelsea and Arsenal.

Susie, are your team going to be able to bounce back from their WSL loss? They have Juventus away on Thursday, who themselves have been struggling. Yeah, the Joe Montemuro derby, who is always the loveliest human being and so nice and always nice to see. It's going to be a really, really difficult game.

Really, really difficult. I think the injuries are taking their toll. I think the loss to Kim Little is big. I think the confidence of the centre-back pairing might not be the strongest after the dismantling of Man Utd. Yes, Juventus are not on the best run themselves, but I am a little worried for Arsenal that they are, like last season,

heading into a bad patch around this kind of time of the year. Salon Real Madrid are the visitors to King's Meadow on Wednesday. Caroline Weir has three WSL goals against Chelsea. Is it going to be her night I hope so I'm loving her uh revival uh Real Madrid it's wonderful to see yeah really enjoying the football that she's playing I think yeah they've they're coming off the back of the dropping

against Barcelona that's in recent history for them and I think they'll have a big point to prove and feel like they can really do something over Chelsea. Why is it being played at Kings Meadow? Why, why, why is it being played at Kings Meadow? I just don't understand it. Emma Hayes said in a press conference, oh yeah, like singing about the Stamford Bridge crowd and how good it is and how the players want to play there and that there's a potential, the audience is there,

not for every game, but certainly for maybe 8 or a potential the audience is there not not for every game but certainly for maybe eight or twelve games a year is what she said and then she said we have to be more ambitious for ourselves and then your next game against Real Madrid is back at Kings Meadow when there are no men's fixtures I don't understand why every single team is not playing in their men's stadiums during the World cup i just don't understand why that is not happening and the fact that shepherd united who you know are not they're on a terrible run of form they've lost four in a row like they were it's not like it was then putting on their show piece fixture although it was against a team you know kind of fighting for the top of the table

it's not a showpiece fixture they're not a showpiece side to watch. And they get an 11,000 and break the league record. Like, there's a real demand there for people to go and watch these games. And with the Nobel Cup, why, why, why, why are we not playing them in the big stadiums, every single one, especially Chelsea v Madrid? That's just baffling to me. Especially in a week where Arsenal have come out and said, the aim is for every women's game to be played at the Emirates and we're working towards that point.

And then the same week where Emma Hayes came out post-match and said, what are we doing? Are we moving from small stadiums? We're going to outgrow those a little bit, get a slightly bigger stadium, do a medium stadium and then go to a large stadium. It makes more sense to do the jump from small stadiums right to big stadiums play in the men's ground you've got the infrastructure already there we just need to get better technology from a grounds person

perspective that's the main issue here is and obviously it costs i'm speaking from experience playing at a very small stadium in south london every week where we share it with our men's team and the main issues are the pitch quality and ensuring that the pitch is good enough for the men to trot all over it on Saturday and then us to play on it Sunday and then secondly it's the cost that it incurs to open up the stadium for that amount of time I know at Dulwich you know it's it's about three or five grand or something just to open it for our game. So if we're not making that on the gate, then the clubs that are lost to have us play there on a Sunday, fortunately, we have a men's team that gets 3,000 down and we can get three to 500 down on a Sunday and that'd be okay, but it's still not great business sense. So you have to generate the

demand, which I think we're getting to a point in doing, but in order to generate the demand, you have to open up the doors and say,'re hosting the game here come and play is that where you could potentially have a double header for Dulwich for example because then you know would that be possible we did have one scheduled but it was um as exactly that reason to get more of the men's fans to watch us afterwards it was a three o'clock for the men on the saturday and i was kicking off around six ish and the reason it got cancelled was just i think it was logistical though the fact that there was the changing rooms like there was nowhere for the women to come and change i was like i'll get changed in squash court like it does not matter to me as long as we can get a shower afterwards we're fine but it was like

the turnaround time of getting the men in out and then us in and out to play but I think that's I think there are other reasons as well but that was the one that I was informed of and I do think you can overcome those things particularly in a massive stadium like if you're doing a double header I just imagine grounds people tend to be the people that put their foot down and I like my job is to make this pitch the best pitch you could possibly play on having two games back to back on it will not do that and there's no amount of technology or nurture that I can do to it to make it better and I imagine respect to a grounds person they would be like it's one of the hardest things to be able to do it definitely is

looking at though because it seems as if there's a lot of talk and not always the the action which gets very frustrating um we've had all the talk and all the action, though. That's everything from us this week. Salon, FA Cup weekend for you. You're playing Gillingham women. Good luck. Nervous? Thank you. Nerves haven't settled in yet. I think I'll be quite nervous on Saturday night, but more excited. When in your life do you get to go on an FA Cup run and play in the second round proper against the tier three team at home in front of our fans? So come down, 2pm kickoff on the 27th at Champion Hill. This time in your life.

I'm buzzing. That's when you get to do it, this time. Exactly. We're so lucky. We're very lucky to be able to do that. So I'm going to enjoy every moment. Marva, any Champions League fixtures you're excited about? Ooh, I mean, yeah, Arsenal-Juventus is one for me

because just given their injuries right now, I think this will be a big test for them and see if they can go forward with it. Susie, what are you working on? What am I not working on? But the Champions League is going to dominate the week for me. That's what I'll be working on. But I'm missing the Chelsea game for a gig, so that's good. Wait, what are you going to sing?

I mean, not good, but, you know, it's good in terms of my own mental health. Fontaine's DC. It's a birthday present for my husband. Oh, have a lovely time. Lovely to see you all, as always.

Lovely to have you all with us as well. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Lucy Oliver and Jessie Parker-Humphrey. His music composition was by Laura Iredale. Our executive producer

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