The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Miedema and Mead in the mix on WSL opening weekend – Women’s Football Weekly podcast

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Robyn Cowen and Sophie Downey to discuss all of the games on the opening weekend of the WSL

Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today,

starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. The opening weekend of the Barclays WSL did not disappoint with stunning strikes, dream debuts and a few dodgy decisions. Miedema and Mead were in the mix, making Arsenal City a thriller. Brighton's new signings shone for the South Coast side and Spurs gave Crystal Palace a warm welcome to the top flight.

We'll analyse all of that, plus we'll take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Susie Rack, good morning to you. How are you? Good morning. Survived the weekend, so that's always good. Yes, I was going to say, I did feel for you. We all knew that um viv medamar was gonna get on the score sheet but i thought oh poor suzy it's like breaking her heart into a million different pieces the first thing that katherine batty from the daily mail said when

when she came into the press room at arsenal was like what seat number are you and then looked very relieved when she realized she was six seats away from me. Robin Cowan, I heard your dulcets across the weekend. Did you enjoy that little ding dong and how are you? Oh, yeah, all good, thank you. Really enjoyed Friday night. Thought that was a really good start to the season, which I'm sure we'll get into. But yeah, it was really super fun.

Yes, it was indeed. Sophie Downey, producer Sophie, also known as, but also contributor extraordinaire. How are you? I'm good, thank you. Yeah, survived the first weekend. After a long, long break, it was a bit of a shock to the system, but I'm glad to be back. Listen, we can't use the word survival on the first week. You do know that we've got quite a few months to go. It's very early to be using those times of times. Right, it was a blockbuster weekend though, wasn't it? It was absolutely fabulous. From King's Meadow, where Robin kicked us all off, to the Emirates, Old Trafford and everything in between.

The Barclays WSL came back with a bang. And yes, we can now officially call it that again after the biggest sponsorship deal in women's domestic football history has finally been confirmed. We've seen everything over the last few days. But first, let's head to the Emirates for the meeting of two WSL titans in Arsenal and Manchester City, where it ended Arsenal 2, Manchester City 2. Frieda Marnham opening up the scoring in front of over 41,000 before Vivian Miedema had to be heard, didn't it? It was always going to be equalised just before the break. Jess Park opened her WSL account before Beth Mead equalised at the death.

Susie, it was a game that kind of highlighted the best of the league, it felt. What did you make of the game? And even as an Arsenal fan would you admit that the draw was actually a fair result oh yeah I think it definitely was I mean I think Arsenal could be a little bit more aggrieved because they probably had the better of the chances across the course of the game but um didn't make the most of them if you don't make the most of your chances then you don't deserve to have scored them so and I think the decision sort of balanced themselves out a little bit as well um you know the offside and then the potential foul in the build up for the final goal and stuff so i think yeah fair result overall

and just like you say absolutely thrilling game a real sort of chess match tactical battle um ebbing and flowing in sort of you you know, kind of who was on top. If I was a neutral, I would have really enjoyed that game. As a, you know, non-neutral sitting on one shoulder, it was agony. And listen, actually, Sue Klesnick has sent us in a message on X asking you how you feel about Stina Blexenius and Alessia Russo's poor finishing she says same old story uh and what did you make of Chiara Keating not starting? It's the same old story isn't it I mean it's a familiar pattern for Arsenal they create a lot

but they don't necessarily put them away and like that's gonna prove costly across the course of the season to not walk away with three points having had the chances that they had is is going to feel like it two points dropped it was interesting to see the different attitude of the managers post-match Jonas was very much frustrated with the result you know like accepted it you know accepted the you know the game was what it was but felt they should have won it whereas Gareth Taylor was happy with the point you know he was he said we can be satisfied with that so I think that's that says a lot and I mean you can forgive them it's the first game of the season or the league campaign anyway so you know maybe not having the best finishing from the off is you know can be slightly forgiven but it is a pattern and that is what is worrying so you know it's not like it wasn't similar last season so hopefully things click into place but

also I wouldn't be totally surprised if it if they do keep needing 30 chances to score one um Kiara Keating not starting um yeah I was a little bit surprised by it but I thought Yamashita did really really well um particularly uh for the second big Black Stenius chance, where she just read what she was doing really well, came out, got big, blocked it. I don't know if Keaton would have done the same. I thought maybe she had not started because she had quite an emotional rollercoaster against Arsenal in last season, obviously having made the big error in the game at Boreham Wood and then done really really well at the academy stadium against them like I thought

that was uh like a really really interesting move um also she's still so young so like I think that um not necessarily relying on her week in week out as your number one is is not necessarily like it's good to have that balance to your goalkeeping department, I think. Yeah, that's a really good point, actually. You do forget how young she is and what a quick rise she's had. And you do need to protect these players a lot of the time. It did feel like it was written in the stars, didn't it,

for Viv Miedema to score her immediate return to the club where she spent the last years. I don't know whether she'd have eye-rolled when the fixture list come out or rubbed her hands with glee. This is what she had to say, though, when asked about scoring her first goal for her new club and why she hadn't celebrated. I didn't think any of us probably thought she would celebrate, to be honest. She said, it was pretty special.

Coming back for the first time is a difficult thing to do anyway. I'm really happy with the reception I got from the fans, from all the other girls and my teammates who helped me through it today. Obviously, I'm not a big celebrator, but at the same time, it means a lot to me. I wanted to be respectful to the fans who stood by me for the last seven years and are still standing by me. Good words. Robin, what did you make of her performance and the reception she received?

Oh, it was lovely lovely wasn't it i mean yeah when it's kind of in in stark contrast to um you know the the men's fixture later which is just full of immaturity and pettiness people throwing balls at people's heads you know this was kind of come on uh so it was classy yeah um no it was i i wouldn't expect anything less she's loved by arsenal you know it's not it it wasn't like she was sort of a judas it's just it's the circumstances were that she felt she had to leave and actually you know it was a i think i mean i still think it's a really really short-sighted move from arsenal but you know it's it's done now um and i mean we would have been quite funny for someone who don't doesn't celebrate at all to go full sort of shirt off knee slide again i mean like what was going on here but it was inevitable um i actually i slightly disagree

with suzy in terms of i don't think it was a fair result i think I slightly disagree with Susie in terms of, I don't think it was a fair result. I think, again, I'm going to be harder on Arsenal now. They've got to score more goals because it's now, as you rightly pointed out, Susie, it's a pattern. And I'm pleased that Jonas didn't say that kind of managerial line, oh, we're creating them, so I'm not worried. Because that doesn't fly anymore.

It's been years. It's just, they need to, I don't know what it is, but they had clear-cut chances. Yes, the goalkeeper had a great game. But, you know, it's not... Oh, they 100% should have buried those, 100%. Like, I was raging, like, internally. It's not the first time, is it?

Or the second, or the third? Listen, I'm also going to use the next cliche that managers tend to throw out. It's early days. First game of the season. You know, it's almost still like pre-season. Sophie Arsenal did have some real joy, even though they didn't always bury them on the counter-attack,

particularly in the first half. City adjusted to it pretty well, particularly after half-time when they've reorganised themselves a bit. But what did you make of the way that both sides kind of approached the match? Yeah, so I think it was very clear from Jonas Eideveld's starting XI what he was trying to do. You know, sitting in a black tennis hasn't started a game in a little while. Certainly didn't start over pre-season.

Always came off, you know, well, she was injured for a bit, but came off the bench after that. And that's kind of been her kind of role in recent games. But I think he really wanted to, you know, attack that City back line. And also, he knew that their kind of wide players

would come up so high that if they broke that crest from City they would have so much space to run into or play the long ball like the long lots of women

always said they weren't long balls they were long passes but the long ball what's the difference? I think the long ball is more like a clearance

more yeah more like there's more a question there's more a question over it, whether a long pass is more accurate, I think is what she was trying to get at. Whatever it is, long ball, long pass, whatever it is, they did it to great effect. I mean, you saw that Katie McKay pass completely broke the City midfield

to find Stina Max Blacksenius. She should have scored that. And there was the same one with Lotte Wibbermoy and Mariona in the first half where she picked her out with a peach dribble and she volleyed it over the bar. So I think that was very clear

from what Arsenal were doing is they were trying to, they weren't sitting low, they were sort of sitting mid and then trying to break that City press and get over the top of it, which I think we haven't seen

a lot of from Arsenal, I must say. You know, they do a lot of short passes, they like to play it around, you know, try and find their way through the middle. And they were quite willing to adapt a bit to City's pressure.

I think City really struggled in that sense, you know, with their midfielder, midfielder Miedema, Just Park and Yui Hasegawa. They're quite attacking-minded players. And so when they're being hit in the transition, they didn't really have that kind of defensive capabilities, maybe to track back as much as someone else might have in those positions so maybe something something to watch I think they did adjust quite well in the second half they made Bunny Shaw go a bit higher so I think in the first half she was coming so deep that she was

basically in a line with Miedema and Park and they just had no outlet up front to try and get, they were just trying to beat them at pace. So yeah, they adjusted well, but it was really kind of like, yes, Susie described it as a chess match. Lotto also described it as a chess match. For me, in post-match, it's kind of like these moves and the counter moves

and seeing who can fight on top. And unfortunately, no one did. No, no checkmate. Gareth Taylor was a little bit happy with the decisions of the referee suzy particularly uh for what he perceived to be a foul in the lead up to beth mead's equalizer do you think he had a point take your arsenal hat off for a moment i mean like yes and no i've seen it given i've seen it not given like you played to the whistle right um and i think caitlin Caitlin Ford's goal was on side so I mean in the grand scheme of things those two decisions in and of themselves I know it doesn't work like

this but they do balance themselves out relatively speaking but I'm not even that convinced it was a foul um like it was a little bit um yeah a little bit nothing I thought everyone's shaking their heads I don't think it was a foul either and it also led to the best piece of play in the game of Katie McKibb Chloe Kelly and Kim Little who were in a heap on the floor and she just stinked the ball open and jumped over

and set up the pass to Kohapadi so it gave us that winning moment That was very Crufts wasn't it Play to the whistle you play to the whistle. You play to the whistle, don't you? Just a quick one, Robin.

The match was kind of sandwiched between two important Champions League fixtures for both these sides. We mentioned it last week. Man City look to have already booked their place in the group stage. They beat Paris FC 5-0.

Bearing in mind what Paris FC did last season, that's a pretty good and convincing win, I would say. Arsenal, though, have got a bit of work to do. They lost away to BK Haken. I mean, how much confidence will this game have given Arsenal ahead of Thursday's match? Yeah, I think they'll be confident because they're at home and hopefully they'll convert a few more chances.

It's not ideal because really you'd want to do what City did and basically be able to rest players and not have to worry too much about it. So yeah, it's not been the most convincing of starts, I'd say. But again, in that game they created loads and they didn't convert. So they just need to maybe just shake off that ring rust a little bit and they should be fine. But it's Thursday, Sunday they're playing, isn't it?

So it's a tough start for them. Oh, I just need to cycle back one second and just give some love to Jess Park's goal. Because, my God, was it like a beautifully hit piece of artwork I mean I think maybe Zinsberger should have like been covering the corner just in case but like it was just stunningly good and I feel like we have to show it a little bit of love sorry no you don't do not apologize for that you know what it's like Vivian Miedema takes all the headlines because of the narrative around it and poor Jess Park scores a screamer and uh and doesn't get the love so well done that her manager doesn't even see yeah I love that Gareth didn't even see it because he was

coming down from the stands where he sits and he just completely missed the goal that was hilarious I'd forgotten about that unbelievable and by the way I didn't mean to sound so patronising to Jess Park I meant it for us for mentioning it is what I meant right over to the champions now Chelsea kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 win

over a new look Aston Villa two new managers to the league going head to head as well it finished Chelsea 1 Aston Villa 0 Sweden international Johanna Ritting-Kanyard

scoring her first goal of the WSL season with a superb left-footed take. But Chelsea had to withstand some late pressure to hold on to the three points. Sophie, it was Chelsea's first competitive match under Sonia Bombastor. How do you think they performed and how do you think they managed the occasion? I think they came out really strong. I think they kind of bombarded Aston Villa in that first 10 minutes, but couldn't quite get their goal in that time.

And, you know, as is often the case, the opposition find their feet a bit and they can come back into the game. It becomes a bit more of an even affair. I do think they deserve their lead in the first half. I think Aston Villa were a bit lopsided in the way that they were playing and I think Chelsea capitalised that. It was a superb strike from

Johanna Wright and Kenna Red. But I do think it showed maybe that where they are at at the moment under their new manager, it came in waves, the kind of pressure that they had. They weren't consistently fluid with it in terms of what they were trying to do. They sort of had 10-minute periods here and there of really strong pressure

and then would drop off a bit. And I think she still needs to work out what she wants to do in that midfield area. I'm not entirely convinced that Guru Wrighton worked in the central position. For me, I think she's much, much more effective as a wide player. So I think there's definitely things to work on. But also, if I was a Chelsea fan, I wouldn't be too worried about, you know, they get the three points, they held off the pressure, and they got the job done in the first game of the season.

It's something to build on. Yeah, they certainly did. Rit in Canyard opening her account. She was an outlet for Chelsea all night, actually, Susie, and said after the game that she'd been practising with her left foot how much do you think she's developed over the last year? Yeah I mean Sonia Bonpastor said in her press conference that they had been encouraging her to use her left more

and said that it made her a much more unpredictable player and it does add a level of unpredictability to her game if defenders don't know which way she's going to go and you know to get it to see the result of that work on the training pitch instantly um is going to be a huge confidence boost going into the season like you know I mean even to strike it and you know kind of take it on the way she did I thought was um was impressive in and of itself. When there'd been a lot of passes, I thought, and not a huge amount of shots on goal

and not a huge amount on, well, not barely anything on target, a lot pulled wide. I think three, Guru Raita went wide three times, I think. So, yeah, really, really nicely taken efforts on her left foot which isn't her you know stronger foot great start and yeah like I think we'll see her really kick on in that department if she is you know kind of able to accurately harness this like new unpredictability um Bonpastor wasn't the only new manager, Robin. And I have to say, I'm so upset with producer Sophie

and, you know, just the fact that this is not how his name is pronounced because I've been calling him Robert DePauw. And that's not how his name's pronounced. It's Robert DePauw. And that just ruins my DePauw joke. Chris Poweros sent me a message last week when everybody looked at me blankly when I talked about China being in his hand and said, I remember Tapao. I loved it. Wonderful friend of the show.

Just the one message you got. Yeah, that was it. That was it, genuinely. But anyway, it was his debut in charge of Villa. They took the game to Chelsea in that second half and they could have got an equaliser from an unlikely source goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo in the final minutes it was it was impressive but too little too late it felt yeah I you know it's difficult because of the game state obviously they were one just one nil down they were pushing and it's a very very small sample size but I've got to say if this is how Villa approach the season I'm all for it I thought they were really great very brave new signings looked very good particularly Chastity Grant thought she looked really like strong and positive the only thing is I'd say is just again Hannah Hampton is an elite goalkeeper she is so good because she's her distribution's ridiculous.

And then she can also, she's probably one of the best shot stoppers. So, you know, I'm a proper Mary Earps truther, but I think she's coming for her, really. She's just in a fantastic run of form. Particularly, you know, she was dropped for the last few games of last season after the Liverpool debacle. And clearly Sonia Bonpastor believes in her and rightly so. Because actually, if she made a great save from Daly and then from D'Angelo,

and if she hadn't made those, they'd be in big trouble. So that was my big takeaway. But yeah, loving Aston Villa. If that's, as I say, let's hope that continues. Yeah, they're looking really good, aren't they uh they play Tottenham next so if you've got a you've decided to to rename this this game it's a derby as far as you're concerned what is it Bobby Ball Derby Bobby Ball Derby because of both the Roberts I love that okay uh we'll trademark it for the Guardian Women's Football Weekly.

And I tell you what, speaking of signings, as we did just there, there was a statement performance from Brighton as they start a new era under their new boss, Dario Vidicic. They stunned Everton in Crawley on Saturday, putting four goals to no reply. It finished Brighton 4, Everton 0. One clear star of the show as well, Susie. Kiko Seika became the first player to score a hat-trick on her Barclays WSL debut. Laurie's Fair Blue asks us on X,

How is Kiko Seiki? 28 when she's been, where has she been hiding? How did scouts miss out on such a talent or is she just a late bloomer? How excited should Brighton fans be about their new signing? A very, I mean, like phenomenal player, as we all saw. I mean, I think that's a little harsh to assume that if you're not playing in the WSL, that, you know, you've not been seen or heard of or don't like, you know, your career doesn't really matter because, you know, I think a lot of the Japanese players in the league this season are showing that there's huge, huge talent in the Japanese league and the national team.

I mean, when you look through it, like I was doing earlier, Yamashita, Shimizu, Hasagawa, Mirazawa, Nagano, Fujino, Hayashi, Ueki, Hamano, Chelsea. Like there are now loads of Japanese national team players playing in the Women's Super League. And I don't think any of those are doing particularly poorly. They're all doing really well. And that style of football is clearly really, really suited to the way teams are wanting to play in the Women's Super League. So, you know, whilst I think we were all surprised by a player

that none of us had really heard of because she's come from a team in Japan, you know, maybe if we'd paid a bit more attention to the Japanese league, which, you know, I'm as guilty of as anyone, then we would have not been as surprised as we perhaps were. But yeah, phenomenal, phenomenal performance. Even just the sort of like harrying to to win the ball ahead of the first goal that kind of energy like that's what we need to see from teams early on in games wanting to put pressure on forcing mistakes out of players like I don't

think we see enough of that generally speaking in the women's super league so yeah like that is quite exciting as well yeah it really is and there are not enough hours in the Women's Super League. So, yeah, like that is quite exciting as well. Yeah, it really is. And there are not enough hours in the day for the amount of football that we all cover, by the way. What did you make of the way that Brighton set up under their new manager, Robin? I mean, they look like they were having fun out there,

which is, you know, the key. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, a bit like Villa, just kind of fresh and on the front foot, committing numbers forward. I mean, I'm doing their game at Man City this weekend so it'll be really interesting to see if he goes you know employs that approach again you know Everton Brian Sorensen even said after the after the game they weren't ready they weren't very sharp so you know obviously it weren't great opposition but I mean

the finishings were ridiculous and you know what really nice. I just think clearly all women's football teams, you know, from their male counterparts can do better. But I do feel like Brighton, I was at the Amex on Sunday to do the men's game. And you walk towards the press room and they had these banners welcoming all the new signings, male and female. And actually I saw it had Kiko Seiko and it said Japan, her stronger foot. And then it said deadly finisher.

And I was like, well, yeah, yeah, they've got that bang right, haven't they? So, yeah, it just, that's the kind of culture they're trying to foster, you know, at Brighton. And you just feel like finally, please, this is a team that has more than most, it feels like they have so much turnover of managers and players.

Let's see a very good season. And hopefully, you know, there were seven debutants. Let's just hope that they can continue this. You know, obviously it's not going to be an easy ride, you know, up against the sort of elite teams, but I really hope, I hope this is their season where they kind of show that, you know, what they really can do as a club in the women's game. Yeah, and that will just immediately signify what investment does, won't it?

If they can do that. Frank Kirby on the score sheet as well. Another new signing with a penalty. But Sophie, it was a pretty miserable start for Brian Sorensen's Everton side. Doesn't get much easier either. Manchester United up next for them. They have their chances, just not clinical enough. Salon Andy Hickman slid into the group WhatsApp chat.

She was delighted with her prediction that Everton were going down this season. How worried should they be? I think a little worried. I actually think they played pretty well in parts. I know they got out stuttered by Brighton,

but they did have their chances. And actually, apart from Kikoseki's goal in the first half, they had the best chance of the game. And they also thought they should have had a penalty

for a handball. So Brian Sorensen, when I spoke to him afterwards, was a bit morose, maybe, about that situation. So Brian Sorensen, when I spoke to him afterwards, was a bit morose maybe about that situation. He thought that the referee had given the Frank Kirby penalty too easily. He had given that one and

not the first one. He didn't really understand the decision making. But I think there is a worry. I know very, very much stick to his style of play and the way that they have his identity but I think they need to be able to adapt more and I think you saw that in the lead up to the first goal when Elise Senevic got robbed off the ball because they just insist on playing out and I know Brian Sorensen wants that style of

football but when you're in trouble you have to learn how to deal with those situations and sometimes you just have to put the ball out and when someone's on your back so I think it's a bit of naivety in that respect or very much being so coached that you're sticking to the structure so much I think they're going to be a problem with injuries again this season, I think it's kind of the same old story

Aurora Gali going down so it's a problem for Bryan, it doesn't get much easier either with Manchester United coming up next. Yeah, exactly. Looked like a knee injury in the closing stages for Aurora Galley. Yet to be confirmed, but this is what Bryan Sorensen had to say. Could be one of the bad ones.

We all know what that means, don't we? I don't want to pre-empt the diagnosis, Susie, but there has been a really concerning spate of ACL injuries in the last few weeks, don't we? Don't want to pre-empt the diagnosis, Susie, but there has been a really concerning spate of ACL injuries in the last few weeks, hasn't there? Yeah, I think there has been, but I also think there always is at the moment. I think that all the things combining, the volume of games, the types of pitches

and the change in surfaces, all the things we've talked about that contribute to this really, really multifaceted injury the types of pitches and the change in surfaces all the things we've talked about that contribute to this like really really multi-faceted injury that doesn't really have a clear-cut answer to it like they're all still there they're not going away so I think we're just going to see it you know sort of be the case for the foreseeable future I don't like I don't think there's a huge amount we can do about it at the moment, unfortunately, until the work is done sort of the week before and you know one of the things that they're really keen to highlight is you know the fact that this is you know an injury that's been

happening for years it's just perhaps the fact that you know we're all watching games a little more closely we're all a little bit more aware because of social media and because of the news cycle that that they're here but they've always been there and people have always had them quite extensively so you know you could say oh epidemic or whatever but it's kind of if it is it's one that's been going on for like 20 years plus so I think consistently asking the questions about you know how this can practically be dealt with, I think is really important. Yeah, that formed part of our Thief Pro special pod,

didn't it, as well, where we said, actually, it's more not recency bias. That's the wrong phrase for it. But you know what I mean? We're more aware of it, for sure. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll round up the rest of the weekend's action and we'll look ahead to some big midweek ties in Europe, plus discuss the new sponsorship deal for the WSL.

Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Let's continue with the rest of the weekend's WSL action. Manchester United earned a comfortable 3-0 win over West Ham at Old Trafford on Saturday. JC opened the scoring for Mark Skinner's side before Leah Galton and Grace Clinton were also on the score sheet. And it was a real promising start for Manchester United, Robin, it felt. They certainly controlled proceedings. How do you think they looked? score sheet and it was a real promising start for Manchester United Robin it felt they certainly controlled uh proceedings how do you think they looked yeah no they look they look really good um again with with respect to West Ham United they they didn't put up a massive fight I'd say

I'm quite worried about them but no really positive start exactly what was required following you know the summer um I thought jc was was good and i've really been a bit disappointed with her since she's arrived i think maybe that's a bit harsh because she you know it's you know it's a big move for her but um i think if she can deliver she is one of the most exciting players honestly on the on the planet so i think mark skinner kind of made reference to whether she's smiling she's happy so she could have an amazing season um i just feel a bit sorry for mark skinner because he's a bit in the 10 hog zone isn't he because if they have a poor result he's going to be asked about it you know it's it's like it's kind of this never-ending circle because he is

under pressure isn't he so it's kind of like both the both the sort of senior team managers uh it's they're kind of waiting for the next poor result and then they it's kind of like both the both the sort of senior team managers uh it's they're kind of waiting for the next poor result and then they have to kind of talk about it a bit but um obviously this is staved off for another week i understand it was a bit of a disappointing crowd there i think because even though it was you know they're playing west ham and who haven't got the biggest fan base i think the last time they played west Ham Old Trafford it was double that so just sort of question marks yeah so question marks over that yeah that's uh that's not good I mean that look there has been a lot of of change over the summer behind the scenes as well as on the pitch

Mark Skinner's opted to start two of his new signings Dominic Jansen and Elizabeth Turland Grace Clinton also made her debut. Who impressed you the most out of those, Sophie? I'm going to say Grace Clinton, just because I thought she was superb and she provided the energy, you know, kind of the impetus going forward. Elizabeth Turland had chances and I think in a few weeks she'll be putting those away. No bother.

I think it was just that kind of first game of the season, out of the way kind of vibes. And then I think Jansen was interesting because I think we've seen her play in defence more recently for Wolfsburg, but she was moved into that central defensive midfield role. And I'm interested to see how that progresses. We know she can play there. She played there for Arsenal at times, but I am very interested to see how that progresses and how she develops in that position.

To Robin's point about the crowd, I do think it's maybe a topic that we need to discuss at some point. I do feel a bit underwhelmed at the start. The hype around the start of the WSL this season, which seems weird because we had three, four months to build up to it. But I don't think until the last two weeks there's been that much. And I think in terms of crowds around the league, not just at Old Trafford, but elsewhere, I do question whether there was as much impetus in terms of the promotion of marketing as it could have been.

I think the difference maybe this year will be the fact that the Lionesses didn't play in the summer. There wasn't a major tournament. And we've been going off the coattails of that somewhat for the last couple of years. Whereas actually this summer required the clubs to really step up. And I'm not entirely sure that they did. That's a really interesting point because I raised this the other week. We've just got friendlies for the Lionesses coming up, leading into a big summer in terms of the euros. And there is a worry. I use that word loosely. There is a slight concern that actually, if everybody isn't pulling their weight, we could actually take a couple of

steps back rather than continue the progression that we've had. I don't think it's alarming, though. I think we can expect it a little bit. Like it's never always going to be a straight line up, right? Like and a summer without the Lionesses playing in a major tournament, more games played at big stadiums. So fans won't necessarily go to them all necessarily,

but might pick and choose a little bit more. Like I think we won't necessarily see those sort of one-off big blockbusters. I think the onus is hugely on the clubs to ramp up in response to that and that's a big test I think that's maybe what saw a man united but for example I thought the turnout the emirates I know that's been the sort of highlight generally like whether the 41 000 was good or bad I actually thought given that it you know we hadn't had a Lionesses tournament in the summer and that we had got the men's teams playing later in the day, regardless of the fact that it was in Manchester,

it's such a huge fixture, will dominate a Premier League football fan's entire day. I actually thought it was hugely impressive that they managed to get even that, to be honest. So I think we may see attendances look a little down on where they've been I think it's like a step backwards two step forwards kind of thing I don't think it's necessarily like not everything is always going to go in a straight line and I think there's enough factors here but the clubs really do need to step up to at least show willing to try and plug the holes that are left when it does take a little dip this is an aside because i don't work in the commercial department but i wonder whether arsenal could have made a little bit more of that maybe you know how um at tottenham a lot

of the fans stay afterwards around the bars and things like that they could have probably kept people there to then put the big screen up they They should have put a big screen on the pitch. Yeah. And watch the men's match afterwards. Yeah, I thought that. I thought they could have sold loads of food and drink, have everyone in the ground. Exactly.

I thought it was a bit of a missed ball, but maybe they'd inquired about it and it wasn't logistically possible. Who knows? Yeah. Absolutely. Listen, let's rewind ever so slightly and focus on West Ham because Robin said she wasn't, that Robin said she was concerned, but Rhiann Skinner wasn't at all.

She was quite pragmatic in defeat. She said, I think if you actually look at the game itself, you can see how competitive we were throughout. Where we are when everybody is available for the whole duration of games then that puts us with more depth in the squad and I think we'll be in a better position moving forward uh Susie is she right I mean they did they did fashion some chances I think she's not totally wrong in that like I I think the score line flattered United a little bit or flattered is unfair, they perform really, really well, but in terms of like, I don't think West Ham were as bad

as a 3-0 scoreline sort of suggests, and had some really good moments in that game that sort of defied pre-season perceptions about how their season might go a little bit. That said, they made two massive errors for two of those goals, I thought. So, like, there were more of those goals I thought so like there were more positives there than I thought there would be for them against a team like United at any stage of the season to be honest like I really you know I think I said that I thought

they might go down and in our preview pods and you know I still think that they're going to be one of the favourites for relegation but like I thought there were like signs here that they're going to be one of the favourites for relegation. But I thought there were signs here that they might do a little bit better than perhaps everyone is thinking. Yeah, I just want to give a bit of a nod to Ella Toon and her family, actually, because there was a really special moment when Leah Galton scored her goal. The whole Manchester United team gathered to lift a heart symbol up to the sky in honour of Ella's dad, Nick, who passed away recently, sending all of our

love and thoughts to Ella Toon and her family. Let's see whether or not Crystal Palace were as bad as a 4-0 scoreline shall we because Tottenham got their season off and running with a bang an emphatic performance at home to Palace thebies, thanks to goals from Hayley Rasso, Jess Naz, Drew Spence and Olga Artanen. I mean, it was nothing short of dominant from Robert Villaham's side. Robin Spurs created 26 shots, just a mere 17 of those on target. Probably should have scored more in that case. How impressed were you with them?

Yeah, again, you know, I think we've all said it. Crystal Pius are going to have a difficult season just have to see see how you know if they can sort of maybe build into it a bit more you know Spurs they scored on the

19th minute with Hayley Rass so it did take them until the second half to kind of really open up Crystal Palace yeah it's it's tricky I think for

Spurs Spurs is interesting because you know, they've lost Grace Clinton and Celine Bizet BFFs. So it'll be interesting to see if they can kick on because they had a really positive season last time out. And that's the kind of thing that people demand, isn't it? That they want to see improvement, but it's really hard as we've seen when you're having a really good season to improve. So from a Palace perspective, it's just going to be difficult and I just hope

I hope unlike Bristol City they maybe they can kind of build into the season and find a style that helps them and maybe harder to beat you know and just see what happens Yeah exciting times for Tottenham though when you look at that scoreline

and the goal scorers on it but Palace's Laura Kaminski Sophie said she was proud of her team's effort but it was a tough day at the office and I think they're going to have quite a few of those throughout the course of the season no shots on target Brooke Aspin got a second yellow card in injury time and was sent off and it doesn't get very much easier for them either because they need to regroup ahead of Chelsea at Selhurst Park on Friday night yeah it's a pretty a pretty tough

tough start for them, I would say, in the WSL. Boyan, Spurs team, we all know what they did last season and then Chelsea, the champions. I think there are worries there for sure. I do, they need to try and figure out. She said before the season

that she would need to learn how to adapt her squad. In what she said as well, last season she got to play the same style throughout. So all of her players could fit the system. And she has acknowledged the fact that she's going to need to be quite adaptable in that respect because there's going to be better opposition and different opposition who set up differently to the way they did in the championship. And I guess that's all part of the learning process.

But you need that learning process to happen sharpish and not wait till Christmas for it to happen I think because it could be too too high a mountain to climb by that point I think there were positives in that Shalya Nez played really well you know she made some huge saves kept the scoreline to 4-0 rather than it being much heavier than that so I think there was a positive in the goalkeeper and I need to check this out but I think Brooke Aspen even though she's sent off and it will be a one game suspension, she can't play against Chelsea anyway because that's her parent club.

Oh, that's genius. That's tactical genius. Yeah, I know. I'm not sure the FA rules account for the fact that the loan system, if you know what I mean. So I think it might be they may have got away with one there a little bit.

Wow. If that is the case, that is smart forward planning without smart forward planning. Finally, Liverpool played out a one-all draw with Leicester at their new home, St. Helens Stadium. The hosts started well, got their goal just before the break through Sophie Roman-Horgue, but Leicester were always in the game and Jutta Rantala continued where she left off last season with the equaliser. When you look at the stats, Susie, Liverpool controlled possession created more chances. So Matt Beard, understandably,

probably going to be a little bit disappointed that they couldn't take away all three points. Oh yeah, he was really annoyed. I mean, he said afterwards, I grabbed some of the quotes out, we should have been out of sight first half. We missed some really clear-cut chances. We could have put the game to bed.

And he said it like, you know, four or five times, like it's two points dropped. We're in complete control. So, yeah, he's not happy. And, you know, yeah, they do need to do more with what they've got. You know, there's, I think, you know, if anything, they exceeded expectations last season, overperformed to a certain extent

beyond sort of the money they've got and stuff so i think this season if they're gonna be sort of up there challenging again to the level that they were they really need to be you know taking points off teams at the bottom of the table and it is it's a big big big two points dropped, I think. He always seems quite annoyed, doesn't he? I don't know. It's kind of his demeanour. He always seems world weary. Yes.

He's got high expectations. And why shouldn't he after what they did last season? I think it's to be expected. It was Leicester's first showing under their new manager, Omundin Mikel. Robin, how do you rate her WSL debut in the dugout? Have we kind of been sleeping on what Leicester City have done this summer, maybe?

I think a bit, yeah. I like what they've done. And also they've kept, well, Rantala, who is a really good finisher, an underrated, fantastic finisher, top scorer from last season, another really confident finish from her. So yeah, I mean, I'm not going to kind of pretend to know,

say I know loads about this coach. I like what I've heard from her and I'm quite interested to see what they can do because I think they've done some really good business. And so, yeah, I mean, probably, yeah yeah a better point for them on the opening day yeah looking forward to seeing what they can what they can offer yeah very much so and Liverpool need to get themselves back to winning ways if they want to try and replicate what they did finishing the top four last season right the championship continued full steam ahead this weekend. Charlton sit top with a 2-1 win over Durham.

A game, by the way, that contained one of the most dubious penalty decisions you'll ever see. Possibly not for the first time this season, perhaps. We will have some more, no doubt. Birmingham City, London City both maintained their unbeaten start to the season. Amy Merrick's Blues beat Portsmouth 4-0. Sophia Jakobsen scored on her London City debut, earning a 2-1 win over Bristol City.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United earned their first win at Kingston Park, beating Sheffield United 2-0 and Blackburn Rovers shocked Southampton thanks to Farrah Crompton's goal. Overall, it was a very exciting weekend. Another one, Sophie?

It was, for sure. I think you've seen the frontrunners so far. You've seen Charlton go full steam ahead with their ambitions. We know their ambitions to get to the WSL. They're beaten and the top of the league at the moment. Getting one over on Durham, who are also having a good start to the season, is a pretty good effort. I think in terms of

the front runners, you've got Birmingham City and London City. All eyes are on them. Birmingham City, I went to see them play at Ashton Gate last week and they were very,

very frustrated by the fact that they didn't manage to get any goals against Bristol, which I actually thought coming away from there with a point was really

beneficial to their chances. You don't want to lose those games, but bear in mind, Bristol City have just come down from the WSL. They're not an easy opposition. And I think London City are settling in a big... For Sofia Jakobsen to score on her debut as well is huge. There's been lots of eyes on what's happening at that club. They have big ambitions, we all know that, of getting to the WSL.

So it's going to be yeah Also Boy Lorker scored from the halfway line in that game Absolute cracker of a goal

like if anyone goes and sees a goal that's an absolute stunner so I think that's probably my goal of the weekend and there was quite a few

So you saw the stunning goal but did anybody see the Charlton penalty decision John Middleton has asked us on X. Can you please have a look at it?

I have. It is probably one of the poorest decisions I've ever seen. I mean, the keeper so clearly gets the ball and then gets the player, but the keeper has to come for the ball. It's not a penalty. Yes, she hurts the player and you really want them to be okay, but that doesn't make it a penalty decision. She comes for the punch,

she connects with the ball and I just can't see how that's given. Unfortunate, I'm afraid. The Champions League continues this week. The round two second legs get underway. Arsenal host Swedish outfit BK Haken looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit. As we mentioned earlier, Man City

have one foot in the group stage after beating Paris FC, while Celtic have a narrow lead over Ukrainian side Vosklar. What do you make of all their chances, Robin? Well, I think we can pretty much say City are through. I'm not going to be bold enough to predict that they're going to be overturned. Arsenal, I'm pretty confident. As I said before, I think being at home and they should be all right, but you never know. I'm not like 100% sure. And yeah, it'll be great if they all go through, wouldn't it? Because that's what we want. we want to see as many British clubs in the Champions League as possible in the group stages more work for Susie and for Sophie

well let's hope Susie's not upset in the pod next week that's for sure another early exit will not go down very well the FA Women's National League also continued this weekend

our very own salon Andy Hickman's Dulwich Hamlet earned a big win away to Cambridge United. Nottingham Forest still lead the way in the Northern Premier, while Hashtag United have gone top in the Southern Premier. Susie, there was a concerning story I saw you write about coming out of Division One outfits, Solihull Moors on Friday. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

Yeah, a group of the players released a statement calling out the club for sort of neglect, broken promises, lack of respect, basically saying that they had been ignored by the club and had been forced to sort of take this action, that they'd had to forfeit a game because they couldn't get a pitch, really struggling for pitch availability um it's like really you know kind of disappointing to see um and then the club released a statement which was from the solihormels foundation which sort of said you know oh we're going to look into this these are going to be addressed we're really you know they don't align with the ethos of the

foundation which is responsible for the women's team but i thought it's a little bit a little bit of a cop-out to distance the club and like from the foundation like they're two completely separate entities i mean i know if you speak to a foundation you know the charity arm of any club um they have a relationship with the club right like they are part of the club so i thought that was a little bit of an interesting line to for the club to sort of go down but i think i mean we're going to see more of this like it's not going away it you know we've seen examples in the past of um clubs further down the pyramids like basically at the point at which that they can start to take their women's team seriously and back it, at least, you know, if not entirely financially to the same level they do their men's, but in terms of access and things like that, and equipment and stuff, like short term finances will

be put above the long term gain they could get from a thriving women's team. So like, unfortunately, it's the case, but at least it got a really, really good backlash online and has led to talks. And hopefully there's something positive that comes out of it. But we'll see. Yeah, fingers crossed. One acronym for that, FFS. Finally, big news from the WPLL, another acronym, which we covered a little bit last week. They announced that they've signed a new three-year sponsorship deal with Barclays, £45 million. I think that's going to end up being £15 million a season. Obviously, I can do maths. Look at me. I'm so clever. Reportedly doubled the value of the previous

sponsorship for the WSL and Championship, said to be the biggest deal in women's domestic football. What was everyone's thoughts when we saw this? Good news. Yeah, it's great news. And I think it's exactly what the league needs i think it's a really good statement from barclays of their desire to see the wpl be successful and that they feel like that they have a role to play in that um in making it a success because yeah i think you know they could easily just say well the product's not hugely changed we're not going to invest a significant amount more but they are wanting to drive that change which i think is hugely impressive um as i understand it it's going to be about um nine to ten million per season uh for the title sponsorship fee and then it's the marketing

commitments that take it over the the 45 million mark in total. So like really positive that there's that marketing injection as well that is quite substantial. Yeah, like a good thing. I think that's like it needs good, strong partners. Where there's a good thing, there tends to be a question mark following and Nag has sent us a message on X.

With the increased sponsorship of the WSL and Women's Championship, is there a risk of the FA Women's National League clubs being left behind? What should the FA clubs and the media do to help bridge this gap and grow the game? Noting that many clubs in the FA Women's National League are not associated with a big men's team. It's something we talk about a lot and it's really important that they don't get left behind. It's kind of this chicken and egg thing, isn't it? So I think the problem is that Barclays can only sponsor who...

They can't sponsor the whole of the football pyramid, unfortunately. And at the moment, all of the eyes are on the WSL and the championship to a lesser degree, but the WSL more so. And that's where you're getting your viewership and your numbers. And that's just the way it is. Or you know it's just the nature the nature of things I think nature of football um they do do a lot of stuff around like school kids and grassroots and stuff as well and I know they have the schools program but there is that gap in the middle for the FAWNL and I don't really know the answer to it but those needs needs to kind of get their own sponsor I think that's separate to the WSL and the championship because

I don't see Garkley sponsoring the whole football pyramid it's just not feasible so how you bring the National League which is a really good not just league but breeder of talent as well and where we hope that in the future, the future Lionesses come from is through that process. And you've seen some really good examples of players that have come through from those leagues. You know, Ash Neville, you know, has made it at Tottenham, but she's come all the way through the pyramid.

Beatrice Kisaro as well, through the pyramid. Someone like Bex Rayner as well. So I think it's important that we don't forget about it but I don't think in this kind of sponsorship deal it's tied up in that but I may be wrong I think it's uh it's it's really difficult to see an alternative in the framing of uh the way things are done currently and how it's done in the men's game in my mind though you would like take all investment into women's football and flip it on its head and invest the majority into the lower leagues and the minority like 25% into the women's super league 20% even

and the rest into the thing but you need more money to do that as well but there should be more money and I think like the FA has to be putting pressure on clubs to properly invest in the women's team as well you can only enter the FA cup if you have a properly invested in women's team things like that like I think you like the the answer is to be quite radical but I think the way the game is going is that you know that is not the way it's looking and that for me is disappointing they're sacrificing like the short-term like success of their sort of star piece in the WSL in the hope that there's this trickle down but trickle down economics is not necessarily a successful way of doing things and yeah like I think that you know it would have to be a complete rethink of the way you you finance the entirety of women's football of the commitment of the FA towards it and clubs towards it and

yeah I would love to see that change like those kind of radical changes happen and things to be done very very differently but like yeah the reality is in the way that football running is framed um that's just not going to happen annoyingly then you also have to sacrifice the vast speed of the professional nature of the game in that case and that's the problem isn't it it's the question we isn't it? It's the question. We've had so much success in the WSL and with the Lionesses because of the investment that has eventually come into that league. And I do completely agree, Susie, that there should be a way of flipping on its head,

but I just think that it's not kind of possible in today's climate in the fact that we want eyes on women's football. And if we're going to get the eyes on women's football, we need the money. And we need the money on the best players in the top league. It's just the way it, yeah, as you say, the system works. The risk is though, is you're building a sandcastle with no foundations.

That's the risk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that is always a big, a big problem, but I don't think we're going to solve it right now at the end of the podcast, but it definitely needs looking into more. And we're not ignoring you, is what I'm trying to say.

How have we done in the Fantasy Football League? I haven't dared look. I don't think I can look. Oh God, I'm so bad. I'm like 180 something. I'm unfortunately too competitive to partake oh I don't want to look Robin have you joined yet no because it's gonna you know it's too stressful 189th I'm 189th out out of oh I don't know because there's like uh there's there's so many on there it's hard to find people oh so it could be 189th out of a million which would be really good let's assume that, my son is

8th though so he's having a great time, oh wow 483 producer Silas tells us, that's not bad we need to get over 500 in our fantasy league, I know it's the first year that we've done it but sign up if you haven't done already

and also if you haven't done already. And also, if you can vote for us, we'd be very, very grateful. I don't like plugging out for votes. I feel really icky doing it. But at the same time, we have been nominated. Thank you for anybody who put us forward, by the way, for the Football Content Awards, Best in Women's Football Organisation. Guardian Women's Football Weekly is in there. So if you can go and give us a vote, content awards uh best in women's football organization guardian women's football weekly is in there so if you can go and give us a vote we would be very very grateful uh thank you very much and thank you all for being with us uh soph it is always a delight to actually see you not just tippy tapping away on your on your computer on your laptop but actually seeing you in the flesh uh have a lovely week.

I will do. It's great to be back. Robin, it is so lovely to have you back. So good to see you. Yeah, and you. Thank you. Always a pleasure. Susie, laters, gators. See you later. Thank you, all of you.

Keep having your say. Send in your questions via X or email us at womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com. As ever, this is a reminder to sign up for our bi-weekly women's football newsletter as well. All you need to do is search Moving the Goalposts sign up. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray. Music composition was by Laura Iredale.

Our executive producer is Salah Ahmad. This is The Guardian. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen.