The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - One-nil to the Arsenal, Manchester City and United – Women’s Football Weekly podcast

Episode Date: October 1, 2024

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Marva Kreel and Tim Stillman to discuss the weekend’s WSL action

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starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, Guardian Women's Football Weekly crew. Just want to make you aware, this pod might sound slightly different in terms of audio to usual and my introduction sounds better quality than the rest of the pod. That is because we had some technical difficulties. Is that the official term here on Guardian Women's Football Weekly? But the rest of the pod sounds absolutely fine. It just doesn't sound the same quality as the introduction. I can only apologise in advance.

I hope it doesn't affect your listening. Enjoy. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. 1-0 to the Arsenal. Oh, and Manchester City and Manchester United as well. Popular scoreline this weekend. Unless you're Chelsea and you score seven. Plenty of goals to go through this week, as well as the Champions League fixtures.

Speaking of which, who'd be a fixture scheduler, hey? Controversy as Chelsea's sold-out match against United next week is postponed with less than a week's notice. We'll analyse all of that, plus we'll take your questions. And that's today's

Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Susie Rack, happy Tuesday happy Tuesday and we're an hour later so we're fresher I know it feels like we've got more energy doesn't it this morning um Tim Stillman a delight to see you hello new season thank you very much I'm I've just finished my second coffee, so energy should not be an issue for me. Excellent work. I have mine on standby. It's getting colder the longer I take to speak. Marva Creel, listen, I'm just going to put in a couple of apologies because I know you probably will have listened to the pod the last couple of weeks. And I'm afraid the prediction for your team this season is not looking good. And Everton are, you know, really going by the book at the minute. Yeah, I think the exact same thing happened last season where I listened to the preview pod and went, hang on a second.

I need to show my face here. But my team haven't exactly backed my optimism. So for now, you guys are all excused. Yes, thank you. And I hope for your sake that the same outcome is what happened last year as well, that you survived just about. Right, with the Barclays WSL going full steam ahead, there is a full schedule of games

that we need to work our way through. But of course, we first of all have to discuss the big scheduling drama that unfolded over the weekend, which resulted in next Sunday's encounter between Chelsea and Manchester United being postponed. I just need to give you a little bit of context in case you've missed the news. The draw for the group stage of the Champions League

took place on Friday. Three teams involved in that, of course, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. The rules of the draw state that in the case where there are two or more teams from the same nation two of those clubs are paired together to make sure that they play on separate days so in england's case chelsea and arsenal are paired on the same side based on projected broadcast reach one of those teams therefore had to play on the opening matchday of this year's competition, which is Tuesday 8th October. UEFA announced it would be Chelsea

hosting Real Madrid that evening. Big encounter. 48 hours after, though, the Blues were scheduled to play in a sold-out WSL fixture against Manchester United at King's Meadow. To then complicate matters a little bit. That WSL game was also the broadcast pick for that day. Important to note, there probably would have been similar problems if Arsenal had been selected to play on the Tuesday night, but it was Chelsea who were drawn out first. So, you know, it is Chelsea, but Arsenal were due to play Everton at the Emirates on the Sunday, which maybe would have been even more difficult to move. So on Sunday afternoon, the decision was announced that Chelsea-Manchester United would be postponed. Sunday afternoon, that's less than a week before the game was due to be played.

This is the statement from the WPLL, which looks after the league now. Due to the scheduling of Chelsea's first UWCL group stage game, the BWSL game, far too many acronyms, between Chelsea and Manchester United due to take place on Sunday the 6th of October has been postponed. We apologise for any inconvenience to fans. In this instance, we've put player welfare first and we'll announce a new date for the fixture in due course. We thank the clubs and Sky Sports for their understanding as we work on a resolution. Look, there was a hell of a lot of information there. I'll give you my reading of the situation in a second. But Susie, a couple of questions that we've been sent in for you to work your way through.

Jim Henson said, a week before kickoff because of a clash with the Champions League feels a bit amateurish, doesn't it? Not great for fans who've already got tickets and made arrangements to get to the game. Hardly ideal as well for players who'll end up having to fit in an extra game later in the season. How much of a mess is this? Could it have been avoided? And who, if indeed anyone specifically,

is at fault as you read it? Yeah, amateurish is probably the right word for it. I mean, I struggle to put any blame at UEFA's door for this, rarely, for me, purely because we've known that the Champions League fixtures fall the way they do and the rules around more than one team in the competition are what they are for over a year. So it's not like there wasn't, you know,

kind of an opportunity to plan around this. And other countries have done that perfectly fine in the past last season France had three teams in the Champions League with Lyon PSG and Paris FC all in the group stage so it's not like this is like some kind of unheard of scenario and not only did France have to you know all those teams in the competing in the Champions League last season, they also are one of the leagues that sort of manages to coordinate their league fixtures so that there are kind of fixtures around their Champions League games.

So it's clearly doable. I get there's complications in that, you know, we've got a much more competitive league. So a lot more of the fixtures are, you know, less straightforward. You know, in the case of leon and psg they essentially have to just avoid scheduling the games against each other around champions league fixtures to generally be okay but still they they manage to prioritize success of their their league teams in europe uh when they're doing the scheduling so i really really struggle to put any blame at uFA's door for this.

It feels like a pretty amateur mistake from the WPLL, in my opinion. Obviously, we know that the WSL plays on a Sunday every week. If there's games that are going to be scheduled on the Tuesday, you should automatically be thinking that at least one of the three teams that will be competing in Europe needs to not be playing on that day on the Sunday. So, yeah, for me, it feels like a massive scheduling cock-up by the WPLL in this case. It's complicated as well by the fact that, obviously, Man United have their League Cup game against Liverpool tomorrow night.

So even if you moved it onto the Saturday or even onto the Friday, Man United wouldn't be able to necessarily do that or would want to do that. So you've got an additional problem there too. But I just feel like you've had a year with knowledge of this potentially being the case. It's been a fluke really that we've not reached a stage where we've had three English teams in the league in the group stage of the competition till this point so yeah like I feel like this is something they should have been long long long planned for

and it's a real real shame for the fans in particular that have you know arranged travel and stuff too. Yeah that's what I was going to ask you, Marva, because fans are at the heart of this pod. Obviously the players are of utmost importance and player welfare is vital. So I understand why they've come to the conclusion that they've come to, but fans are a massive part of the game and they're the ones that are being

the most affected by this. Yeah, and I think that's probably where you can place some blame on UEFA as, while it's not their fault in terms of the scheduling mess-up, because, like Susie said, we already knew these would be the dates, but we didn't know exactly what games would be these dates. And to only have, what, 10 days for the fans

to know what game they're going to have to go and see also isn't that great. The Champions League was so, so good last year and has been for many years and it's for English fans to be able to see that you know Chelsea Real Madrid I will act like that's a really big game but also we have seen it many many times but still it's still a big game and it's unfair for the fans to not only have to deal with the scheduling mix up and rearrange everything but also to have to deal with all right here's 10 days in advance and now you've got to plan all your travel and and all your logistics and yeah

it's it kind of just feels amateurish it feels sort of I guess teething issues in some ways I think we're starting to see like Susie said you've got the issue of the Emirates and that's a great thing that Arsenal are playing at the Emirates but it's it's a new thing and then you've got the issue of Sky and and the TV broadcast rights and this is a great thing that Arsenal are playing at the Emirates, but it's a new thing. And then you've got the issue of Sky and the TV broadcast rights. And this is a great thing. And it's moving forward. And it's because we're trying to show it more. But as a result, then we get kind of all these issues that we haven't quite considered before.

Well, as I understand it, Sky were actually really amenable and willing to move the fixture if they possibly could. You pointed out on X, Tim, that it does mean Chelsea actually have the week off before they host Real Madrid and then the big London derby with Arsenal the following Saturday. Arsenal, in comparison, host Everton before they have to go for a midweek fixture, travelling all the way to Munich. I just don't really know if there's any other way that this could have been resolved yeah I wonder um so I definitely think it looks amateurish on the part of the WPLL um still haven't got my head around that acronym yet um and I think maybe I'd cut them a little bit of slack because their feet are only just under the table.

I think there have been a few things like this. I don't think it's a great start for them. But I did wonder because I kind of was wondering about this prior to the draw and did spot this, that this could happen. Whether perhaps even though Arsenal and Chelsea have been paired, I wondered whether Arsenal got the early kickoff on Wednesday night in Munich I wondered whether that meant Chelsea could take the eight o'clock on the same evening so they're on the same day but not at the same time I'm not really familiar on whether that was a possibility and in terms of as as much as you know Sky were amenable to moving back to the Saturday I don't understand why that hasn't happened I also kind of don't understand why they picked the Sunday slot in the first place when this was really going to be a possibility.

And Chelsea were the only team who were definitely going to be in the group stage. And actually, this did happen a couple of seasons ago to Arsenal as well when they played Barcelona away first in their group stage game. And initially, they were going to play on the Sunday evening away at Aston Villa, but something got arranged. Sky and Aston Villa agreed to push it back to the Saturday. So I'm not really clear on why that hasn't been able to happen this time because this isn't quite a unique scenario.

So I would like a bit more clarity on why it wasn't possible to move it back to the Saturday who wouldn't agree to that was it Manchester United from what you're saying Faye it doesn't sound like it was Sky so I think fans deserve some clarity on who made that call that this game can't go back to the Saturday because I think they're really the ones that's the real responsible party here I don't think in this scenario we can start pointing fingers at specifics because I think they're really the ones, that's the real responsible party here. I don't think in this scenario we can start pointing fingers at specifics because I think it's a collective. I think the biggest problem is that it's, you know, something has been missed somewhere down the line

from somebody who maybe should not have missed it. Fixture scheduling is a headache, but it is people's jobs to do the fixtures properly and to know them in advance. We had something like this last season with the Arsenal-Everton game as well, where that was put on during the 3pm blackout. And it kind of sounds like no one picked that up until it had already happened. So that couldn't be aired at all, which again,

again, whoever the responsible party is there, don't know. But again, it just feels like these things are being missed. Yeah, and I hear the word or the phrase sorry learning curve quite a lot at some point you know we need to maybe sit there and say well you've had a lot of learning curves now so you know yes they're steep but you know that there has to be something tightened up a little bit and then I do worry a little bit with the modeling when you have a league that ultimately has all the clubs as stakeholders because that gives the clubs a lot of power and I'm not quite sure

whether that's helpful I think you need a strong league making sure that everybody you know does what is right for the game first and foremost. I really hope that that makes sense. Does that make sense, Susie? Yeah, I mean, the one thing I'd add is just that I think we're talking about, you know, TV problems and stuff and the WPL being in charge and things like that. And we talked about that quite a little bit last week. But we also have to remember that they have actually

practically been running the league for a fair bit longer than just the summer you know they sort of were in charge of it around just well just under a year ago so they have had their their seat at the table for a little longer they've you know obviously hiring new positions and things like that I just I don't know for me scheduling is the is the one thing you you don't mess up well producer Sophie's pointing out that it's not just over here that there are issues with with scheduling because you know the NWSL have had scheduling issues of their own you know it's not like this is a unique issue so it's

perhaps something that everybody needs to look at I was I was quite surprised the fixture list comes out so UEFA obviously send out their fixture list for the Champions League a year in advance so everybody should know that first of all but obviously clubs only know their individual schedules rather than other clubs schedules and of course at that point you don't know who's in the Champions League either but the UEFA window is there and you know what the dates are. So the WPLL know what the dates are. They create the fixture list for the season and release it to the clubs end of July, beginning of August. And the clubs have about a week, possibly less than that, to speak to each other and organise which games that they think fit on certain days.

And, you know, it does feel a little bit, well, why didn't they think that actually someone's going to be involved in the Champions League? Someone's going to have to play the Tuesday. But then there's another kind of complication. And I hope this isn't sounding too complicated because I'll tell you what, it is complicated. So I certainly wouldn't want to have the role of a fixture coordinator myself,

as you can probably tell. But UEFA won't let three teams of the same country play on the same day so as I said at the start you have to pair two of them but no one can actually find that regulation I've had a search for it myself I actually can't find that anywhere so I don't know how UEFA have told people that and how they're supposed to know that but what I do know is it is a very complicated situation player welfare is at the heart of it, and that is incredibly important. And that has to be, you know, the most important thing, bearing in mind we talk about player welfare.

We've done full pods on player welfare for a long time now. I think that that has to be the utmost importance. But in terms of the fans, I think you have to give them more notice than less than a week when they've organised travel and plans to come down for a game. That's what I think. Listen, while we're on the subject of the Champions League, we're just going to update you on the groups. Leon Wolfsburg, AS Roma and Galatasaray are in Group A. Chelsea are drawn in Group B. Real Madrid, FC Twente and Celtic. Arsenal are in Group C. They're with Bayern Munich, Juventus and Valerenga.

And Manchester City are in Group D alongside Barcelona, St. Paulton and Hammondby. Quickfire from all three of you. Who has the hardest group, Tim? It's either Arsenal or Man City because Man City got Barcelona and I'm sorry to say that probably means they're going to get zero

points off of who they got in pot one. Whereas Arsenal got a chance of picking up something against Bayern. But from pot three, I think Arsenal have got the harder one with Juventus. So it's somewhere, I think, between Manchester City and Arsenal, maybe Manchester City, because as much as I rate Manchester City, I think that's a zero pointer for them. Which fixture stands out for you Marva? Obviously Barcelona

and Man City will be an interesting one just to see a proper test for Man City on how far they can actually go in this competition. I think for me personally, I think the Group A of Leon, Roma, Wolfsburg. Leon and Wolfsburg slightly above but I think Roma have been pretty exciting in the last few years so group A as well I think in terms of

levels of all three competing um sorry to galatas for I may be you as well but that that group is exciting for me. Lucy what are your thoughts? Yeah I think Arsenal have got the harder group on paper given that they've got Juventus from uh pot. But I really like the look of Group A with Leon Wolfsburg and Roma. Yeah, exciting. Let's move on to the football as in on the grass from this week. Chelsea got off to a flying start on Friday night, racking up the goals against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. It finished Crystal Palace nil.

Chelsea seven. Seven. A brace from Guru Wrighton. Goals from Maggie Beaver-Jones. Lucy Bronze, Lauren James, Natalie Bjorn and Katerina Macario all on the score sheet. Susie, you were there on Friday night. It was an impressive tally.

But what did you make of the match? It was a really interesting game because it's like, you know, without wanting to delve into clichés, it was a game of two halves in that, like, obviously they only got one goal in the first half and that came in the 38th minute. And Crystal Palace were really, really well organised. Low block, five at the back, really impressively resilient,

created chances as well, like, throughout the whole 90. You thought, like, if Chelsea were playing a sort of stronger team they perhaps would have been punished for like a bit of defensive fragility uh had a Hampton had a really poor ball out that was leapt upon early in the first half that really really could have caused some some damage and she was forced to save it and um yeah it ended up being nothing but like yeah I think a stronger team would have would have um would have really caused them some trouble the second half i think it was just it shows the gap in the league right like so dramatically in the you're watching it and it looks like a just

a professional team that have been playing professionally for a long time, players that have been training as full-time elite professionals for a very long time versus players that haven't been, right? Like that's the reality and you can see it. You can like see it in the pace of the game, in the pace of the thought processing, two players running for a ball and the Chelsea player will get there 9.9 times out of 10 because they are just that physically bit fitter and stronger from having been groomed for elite level football for such long time plus then you've got the depth of their bench which obviously um just absolutely will slaughter a team that is you know not as physically or mentally strong as them

in terms of the pace of the game and understanding of the game at the top level. And so, yeah, so then they collapse in the second half. So it's kind of like completely explainable. But I think a better team would have caused Chelsea a few problems. And I think they all come away from the game very satisfied with being more clinical than they were last week but with some concerns about how they were defensively because yeah like I say better team would have punished them. Yeah certainly

Guru Wrighton got herself two goals Tim but she was occupying a more of a central role again under Bonpastor what did you make of her performance? I found it quite interesting, given that Lauren James and Katerina Macario are maybe more natural fits in that position. Yeah, this is one of the more interesting things Sonia Bonpastor has done. I have to say, on one hand, I like it because I think Guru Raitan's a really, really good player,

which is a bit of an understatement. She's one of the best players in the league. And sometimes football can be quite simple in attacking terms where put your best players in central positions um and i also think that it wouldn't attract as much discussion if she were right-footed i think the fact she's left-footed makes taking her off the left wing feel a bit more noticeable but to your point Faye it does kind of feel like there are players who are perhaps more suited to that role centrally and I'm not sure like I think Guru Wrighton playing centrally is absolutely fine for Chelsea particularly with the shot she's got on her as well but I do wonder as well about whether it's a slightly more

awkward fit for some of those players who subsequently go out wide. So I'm really interested to see how that develops over the season. Yeah, she's got high standards, hasn't she? She said there's still room for improvement at both ends of the pitch, Sonia Bambastor. Wow. This is what she had to say. When you are able to be clinical, it kills the game. This is the mentality we have to have. I know my players try so hard and it wasn't on purpose. They didn't score. It's something mental and we need to help them to have that confidence.

Sometimes when you really want to score, you get nervous. Tonight on the defensive part of the game, we have some work to do and there's some progress to be made. Seven goals and a clean sheet. I mean, wow. I see what she means, though, you know, but at the same time, seven goals and a clean sheet. Marva, you would love to have seven goals and a clean sheet, I'm sure. Not against you. Not against us, yeah, yeah. We've been on that side of things a few times.

Against Chelsea, actually, as well, so. Oh, well, you know, now Crystal Palace get to experience that um what can uh Laura Kaminski's side take from this surely some positives especially for their first half performance yeah massively and and like that first half performance going toe-to-toe with the best team in the league um and to defensively put in a performance but also have the bravery to get players up and create those chances annoyingly for them and I think maybe mentally what then got them is the fact that it was having quite a few players up and being done on the break to concede that first goal and I think mentally when you've been you know so strong in defence

and then you're almost like that chance where you actually just commit players and then a team as good as Chelsea to get you just on that break rather than having to like really break you down it just makes you think well now what is our game plan and it did kind of just seem like I'll give grace Chelsea and I think that that third goal really well worked and then I think from the third goal onwards how much we can take in terms of just Chelsea being good compared to Crystal Palace just putting their heads down and and kind of giving up um it was kind of hard to tell and I can understand it um after putting in a performance like that and then having to see Mario Ramirez come off the bench and you're like come on guys what what can we do here but um no I think against uh a team who aren't as world-class as Chelsea um if they put in the kind of performances they did in that first half then then hopefully we won't see this kind of

trajectory that we're seeing Crystal Palace on at the moment given their first two results yeah one of the uh other like really high points for me was the crowd um which was just brilliant like obviously it's their first home game uh Selhurst park in the women's super league and it was around 5 000 fans but not only that it was the the mood of the crowd like it felt like a home men's game there like it was really loud um really supportive and even like as the goals were going in it was still totally with the team and the players got like an ovation and applauded off the pitch at the end of the 7-0 defeat and it just like spoke to me about how much they understand the journey um and understand the sort of yeah the processes that are going on and that this is the kind of result that they're going to have to weather on this on this sort of road that they're

on and I thought that was hugely impressive. And like, yeah, testament to the way the club is bringing the fans on board with the story of the team beyond just the, you know, come and watch some football. The Crystal Palace fans are the Luton Town fans of last season's Premier League. Support to the end, always. Chelsea set out their stall pretty early. So it was over to the challengers, Manchester City, to keep up the pace.

One of the challengers, I'm going to say. City earning their first win of the season against a competitive Brighton side. It finished Manchester City 1, Brighton 0, thanks to a 44th-minute finish from Bunny Shaw. Not plain sailing for City. First WSL goal of the season for the Jamaica International, which was a positive, but otherwise, Marva,

they were pretty wasteful in front of goal. What did you make of it? Yeah, definitely. I think especially in that second half, I think first half Brighton gave them such a good game, not only in terms of defensively, but had some really, really good chances, some really nice intricate play, really impressive them. But a few chances, I think Bunny Shaw had one just before she scored as well and then in that second half Brighton's kind of momentum fell off a bit and it was all Man City for so so long in that

second half and just yeah not clinical enough it it kind of feels like that balance between the midfield their wingers and then that kind of where Miedemaar's playing off of Bunningshore I think there were some really nice moments in link up particularly between Hemp, Shaw and Miedemaar but the balance doesn't quite seem to be there yet or at least the sort of relationships between them all doesn't quite seem to be there yet on the pitch. Miedemaar's great at dropping into those deeper positions we've seen that for Arsenal so many times but then you've also got a midfield behind Jess Park, who's also kind of picking up some of those similar areas.

And then if Hemp's cutting into the central positions, and also Kasperi, they like to do that thing with the full-backs getting into the centre. And it kind of seemed like a lot of the centre was crowded out and they didn't exactly know what they were doing. A lot of kind of just passes in between them. Having said that, they also got a very high XG and did create a lot of chances that they didn't finish off. But it did kind of seem to, it felt a little bit like they were almost there,

but maybe just not quite in terms of their link-up play just yet. Yeah, Alex Greenwood said sometimes you have to win ugly. And we need to remember actually that Brighton was one of the two teams that City lost to last season. Important for them to get over the line, Tim. But what did you make of the way they set up? Marva kind of mentioned it there. Viv Miedema may be playing a little bit deeper

than we're used to, which we mentioned on the pod last week. Is it working? Yeah, I think that's going to take some time to work out, particularly because when they bought Miedema, I wondered whether the relationship would be more, because Bunny Shaw does come short quite a lot, to help out and build up.

And does Miedema run beyond her? I don't think we've seen that so far. And actually, as Marva says, Jess Park and Viv Miedema, it's quite an attacking pair of number eights. And when you consider that Yui Hasegawa, who, to be fair, is probably one of that Yui Hasagawa who to be fair is probably one of the best sixes around used to be an eight as well it's quite attacking and I do wonder I think against Arsenal they left a lot of spaces and I do think it's quite clear that

they're still working that relationship that those relationships out obviously Gilles Rourde comes back in this game as well and there's other things going on they've changed the goalkeeper as well chloe kelly an unused sub in this game again she really seems to be being phased out a little bit so they've brought in a fujino so there's there's some new players and some new pieces so and as marva says they created 3.0 set xg so this should have been a 3-0 win, really. But I do think they're working some things out. To be fair as well, like Arsenal, they had the two-legged qualifier against Paris FC,

albeit the second leg was pretty straightforward. But I don't think it's a coincidence that Man City and Arsenal only won 1-0 this weekend. Brighton caught the eye last week, Susie, didn't they, against Everton? Sorry, Marvava apart from not scoring it felt like they backed it up again with a decent performance they had some joy but was it a good indication

of what we can expect from them this season they're almost there thereabouts but can't quite do it against the big teams but promising signs maybe oh yeah definitely promising signs I really like what they're doing some big opportunities I'd say they made a little bit too easy for Yamashita to deal with. You know, you'd sort of have Frank Kirby nailed on to score some of those in previous seasons. weekend in that like they're they're so much tighter than we're necessarily used to across the board bar the palace score which is obviously the newly promoted team and i think that generally

speaks to like a not closing of the gap but a sort of yeah shrinking of the gap maybe slightly in the in the sort of quality on the pitch and i think we're seeing the quality of the new managers that have come in really have an impact in the play on the pitch it's not necessarily the budgets are significantly going up but I think we're getting managers who really understand the game and know how to build a team and know how to get the best of their players and I think we're seeing that in Brighton obviously they did actually recruit a whole load of players as well to really up their quality but I think Dario you know has done a brilliant job so far and they look really really well organized I thought Sophie Bagley had a brilliant game as well um two weeks on the trot um so yeah I think the signs at Brighton are are really good but I think actually the most interesting battle this season is going to be that sort of best of the rest fight just outside

the top three because it could be any of Brighton, Villa, Spurs, even Leicester have been like impressing. Liverpool obviously did so well last season. For me, that's the more interesting fight. Yeah, when Sonia Bombastor said we could have had more, I was thinking, no, Sonia, we don't want to go back to those days of double figure scores. Thank you very much. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll round up

the rest of the weekend's action. Look at the latest in the championship and prepare to say a couple of farewells. Welcome back to part two of the guardian women's football weekly let's continue with the rest of the weekend's wsl action shall we villa park played host to possibly the match of the weekend as aston villa and tottenham brought the drama it finished aston villa, Tottenham 2. Rachel Daly thought she'd given Villa a welcome first win under Robert de Pau. And by the way, just before I continue this, I need to make sure you all know, last week when I was very upset that my de Pau joke couldn't be used, Rivka, a Dutch women's football reporter, messaged me on Instagram and said,

I was just listening to your podcast and wanted to say, do not worry, Aston Villa manager Robert De Pauw's name is actually pronounced like owl without the L. So you were right. Have a nice evening. I'm going to have a nice week now, Rivka. Thank you so much for that. Robert De Pauw, China in your hand.

Anyway, Rachel Daly scored in the 88th minute and so Villa thought that they were taking away all three points especially when they'd come from a goal down it was pretty impressive but don't ever relax when Bethany England's on the pitch the Spurs captain salvaged a point for her side in the 96th minute when you look at the stats Tim Villa actually had the best of the opportunities what did you make of their performance and how frustrated are they going to be that they couldn't hold out for victory? Yeah, I think they're going to be very

frustrated, particularly having looked like, well, we turned around the 1-0 deficit quite late on. I think what's quite interesting as well, like Susie made the observation about lots of new coaches coming into the league and I think that's making some of these teams a bit of an unknown quantity as well. We'll come on to the Arsenal game.

I think that's true of Leicester. When Villa played Chelsea, I think that was true as well. Chelsea, I don't think quite knew what was coming. But for me, really this game across both teams, it's the depth that really stands out for me. So Villa were able to bring on Katie Robinson, Adriana Leon, who scores the equaliser, Ebony Salmon.

That's a very good collection of attacking substitutes. And then Spurs bring Beth England on. So you're seeing that attacking depth really, really develop. But I think really as well, one of the things I really liked about this game was possibly my favourite ever WSL player Jordan Nobbs really really looking somewhere back to her best I think and really enjoying her football and

having that quite free role in the Villa midfield I think Villa had so many injuries last year that they had to really kind of re-adapt a few players to roles that they weren't used to but I think that kind of Nobbs Daly, Kenza Darley kind of combination looks really good for Villa. I think Villa look really well coached actually as well. I think they're going to cause a lot of teams a lot of problems and you know obviously changing style a little bit but yeah I think the quality of the subs they were able to bring on should have won them this game but the quality of the sub Tottenham were able to bring on, should have won them this game, but the quality of the sub-tottenham were able to bring on and salvage them the point. And I think these are probably two of the teams who are really going for that best of the rest kind of title, if you will.

Yeah, they're knocking on the door, that's for sure. And that's despite Robert Villaham, Susie saying his side actually weren't at their best. But did we see the continuation of their development defensively that's maybe been key over the last six months even though they shipped two goals? Yes and no I thought they were pretty poor for the first goal conceded obviously trying to pan it out from the back which is admirable in and of itself like committed to you know the vision that Robert has for the team but you know you can't give away possession in the way that they did straight to Jordan Nobbs as well, who then plays it back in for Rachel Daly really, really nicely.

She pings out to Leon, the shot is in. So yes, in that they are sticking to plan, and I think that's important that you don't crumble and lose your head completely. But yeah, you can't have errors like that and you can't make mistakes and you will get punished for them. I think they're like, it's interesting that they, you know, were having had Villa dominate the game for so much of it,

have the sort of, you know, better chances, far more shots on target, edging possession. So, you know, if that's Tottenham not at their best, according to Robert, and then they, you know, can be frustrated at two points dropped rather than, you know, kind of walking away with all three, then you've got to be kind of pretty happy with those signs as a Spurs fan. And aside, the last week's pod, I got a message from the Tottenham press officer last week where he had clipped up me going, I love Spurs, and just was playing it to me on repeat via WhatsApp voice note, which was very amusing. But yes.

Doosie is a Spurs fan in disguise um Marva just a quick word on two of the league's most instinctive goal scorers getting up and running for the season I mean they're just going to be vital aren't they yeah massively and and we saw that with with Beth England when she made that move to come on and last second basically get that I thought everyone thought Daly had got the winner such a good header by the way from Daly it's like such a weirdly instinctive goal I don't think anyone else can score a header like that she's almost turning back on herself and sort of headering it backwards it's like a lob whether Expenza has to

come to that I don't know but still still, very, very good header. Very good instinctual finish. And yeah, having strikers like that is what's going to get you points in WSL. I unfortunately know that all too well. Oh God, I still haven't looked. I just can't cope with it. Let's move on to Arsenal, though. Let's not ask Susie,

because she's not an Arsenal fan. She's a Tottenham fan. So we won't ask Susie anything about Arsenal. At the King Power, Arsenal like Manchester City completed a busy fortnight with an edgy win over Leicester City. It finished Leicester City nil, Arsenal

won, thanks to a strike from Frieda Marnham, who's got off to a flying start this campaign. First start for Daphne von Domsler in goal as well. She made some key saves. Tim, it felt like another instance of a team having to work very hard for the three points we mentioned, obviously, in action midweek. But they dominated the ball, didn't create all that much. What did you make of their performance? Yeah, very, very tired, very leggy performance.

It was very, we've played a big game on Thursday night type performance. And again, like I said earlier, Leicester, maybe slightly unknown quantity at the moment. And Leicester were really good at targeting those kind of wide areas. And this was a game that I spoke to Jonas Eidevall about it afterwards. And he was quite philosophical in terms of, you know, sometimes if you want to win the league, sometimes you've just got to not play brilliantly, win 1-0, get on the bus and get out of there. And obviously, you can't do that too many times because it won't always go your way. But I think when you look at some of the games Arsenal lost last season, they can take encouragement from the fact that they got this over the line. But yeah, it was very leggy. They made a lot of changes. They had to make a last minute change because Laura Wienreuther got injured in the warm-up. They had to take Katie McCabe off because she was just so tired and play Caitlin Ford at left-back,

which they don't usually do. So I think I kind of said at the final whistle, I'll forget about this game by about Wednesday. I'll forget it ever happened. But probably some encouragement from Arsenal, given the context. But at the same time, a lot of Arsenal fans will probably say encouragement from Arsenal, given the context. But at the same time, a lot of Arsenal fans will probably say, we have seen these type of performances, even absent

the context of the European Games. And that is something that Arsenal are going to have to deal with now that they're in the group stage. So, you know, some light and shade in this one, I think. Where's your light and shade? What happened? you went viral after your trip to Leicester over a sandwich what on earth yeah so I had I had a cheese and onion cob in a local in Leicester listen I posted a picture of it on Twitter because I thought you know it was quite an unusual kind of thing and it might get some reaction but time of recording 25 million views that is literally unfortunately the most popular content I have ever made by quite a long distance and to answer some questions I did finish this like the whole thing yes I kind of yeah I did I kind of the cheese got

a bit much so in the end I kind of took half the cheese out broke it up and kind of nibbled on it like a like a door mouse um for about half an hour but I did get through the whole thing and I didn't need to eat again for about another 20 hours so it very much did the job this is the kind of content that uh the youth of today are crying out for quite clearly we need to bring some sandwich content into into Guardian Women's Football Weekly um quick word on uh on Leicester Susie obviously they wanted a a different result but what can the new manager Amandine Mikel take from the performance they tested Arsenal even though you know we we've just given a caveat to Arsenal's performance. Yeah, I mean, like, if you look at any of the games that were,

for example, the City game, hugely, hugely dominant in that game and walking away with a 1-0 win. Here, the margins were much finer, you know, like Leicester had nine shots to Arsenal's ten, three shots on targets to Arsenal's four. This was like a really closely contested game. And like you can take a huge, huge heart from that performance, that they created chances, that they were defensively as solid as they are. I completely agree with Tim.

I think, you know, and I've said it earlier, these new managers into the league add this unknown quantity and also like some real tactical now you know to the competition you know they've clubs have recruited their new managers really really well they've gone out looking for talent they've not just kind of gone oh here's a you know a manager that won the champions league with leon stack with talent or whatever and chuck them in they've gone no sorry martha they've gone and actually like done their homework on like the type of person uh like from a tactical point of view that they want in their club um and in their setup um and amandine uh miguel looked like she looks like a really really shrewd appointment she was like really

really well known for her creative recruitment uh when she was in france like she seems to be sort of picking up where she's left off really really rapidly and that's kind of like yeah quite exciting for us as fans and journalists and pundits and commentators on the game like to see some like real tactical battles going on I like that's what I'm really really enjoying about this new season is there's some real chess matches taking place and yeah like if this is what they're able to do sort of two games into the season there's like huge promise moving forward let's head over to Merseyside Manchester United another team to grind out a win it finished Everton nil Manchester United won thanks to an early goal from from Grace Clinton Marva your team going through it again big injury

worry again in Mugabaro this time stretched off in the first half. It feels like there's always something going on at Everton, but it was quite a tenacious performance. Do you feel a little bit heartened by what you saw? I need to apologise to Amarva first because I said on the preview podcast last week that surely, surely Everton

couldn't have an injury crisis like they did last season. And I take full responsibility for my horrific words. I think in the preview part as well I think Tom said something similar of like you know even if we just get half the amount of injuries and then it's two games in and two like possibly you know season ending injuries it's just but in terms of that feeling of there's always something going on at Everton I think we're just used to that that is Everton Football Club over the last eight years so take of that what you will but um

no I was I was actually quite impressed with our performance actually I think when we went one nil down in that manner of just giving the ball away and especially to an ex-player to just go and score it was just like well this is going to be another one of those days isn't it and I don't know if I was almost more angry or less angry that we that that was the goal that decided it because there's an element of like if we just hadn't given them the ball a nil nil against Man United as a great result you know I mean whether they would then sit back as much as they did is another question but still that puts our season in a very different light, or the beginning of our season in a very different light. And given as well that this is what we did last season.

We were so often architects of our own downfall. And it's not a case of just some individual errors and a lack of concentration. It is part of the way that we play because we are trying to build out from the back. We are trying to invite that press that we can then play through the lines. So you know it's going to happen again. But the problem with that is you have to then be clinical. And I think about five minutes after we conceded that goal, Mair Letizia did something similar where she tried to dribble out from the back.

Snowy has pressed her. We're 3-1-1 and we don't take that challenge. And that's the difference between Man United and a team like us. And if we're going to play that way for the rest of the season, which we definitely are, you can't give the ball away

and also not take those chances on the other end. I think we limited Man United pretty well. They probably had the better chances towards the end. But again, often that came from us giving it to them. They didn't particularly play through us um that well and I think actually we really grew into the game and it was nice to see um Hayashi playing in that number six role um did really really well um and so there were some positive signs I think much more than that first game against Brighton but we just we can't keep

making the same mistakes. And it felt scrappy from United, Tim, didn't it? What have you made of their start to the season? And, you know, Elizabeth Turland is a player that we've waxed lyrical about on this pod for a while now, but she struggled to have a real impact after that move. Is it just taking her a little bit of time? Yeah, I think so. I think United are really interested because they've kind of changed their formation a little bit. They played all their pre-season friendlies behind closed doors because they've kind of changed their system where Dominic Janssen's kind of playing this hybrid role where sometimes she goes into a back three and that means Leah Gorton and Jade Riviere can push on. And sometimes she steps into midfield and it's a back four. And then, you know, with the wingbacks pushing on ellatoon and jc can come inside a little bit more so i i kind of i see the vision uh to coin a term uh that someone might much younger

than me might use um but with turlin i think turlin was a really good signing because one of united's problems last season they just didn't have that presence up front they didn't replace russo effectively they brought some forwards in but they didn't bring a forward who could keep the ball and make it stick and Turland probably hasn't done that so far but I think the real positive for United is that one of the big questions was how do they get Toon and Clinton into the same team and I think they're kind of doing that quite nicely so far they've got bigger tests ahead but I actually quite like To of doing that quite nicely so far. They've got bigger tests ahead, but I actually quite like Toon in that slightly wider role coming in and Clinton supporting her.

I think it's quite an elegant solution how they're trying to fit all their pieces together. As it were, they had so little defensive solidity last year, particularly behind the full-backs. So I think having someone like Dominic Jansen who can turn it into a back three is quite a smart move. I actually think United have made some pretty smart moves and once some of that starts to come together,

I think they're going to have a much better season than they did last year. An elegant solution. I really like that turn of phrase. Finally, West Ham came from behind to earn a draw with Liverpool. Big point for West Ham. It finished West Ham 1, Liverpool 1.

Canadian starlet Olivia Smith firing the visitors ahead early on. But Rico Wecky beat the defence to head home with five minutes left on the clock. Matt Beard very frustrated, as you would expect, at his team's inability to put the game to bed. Susie Ruing, another two points dropped. How did you assess Liverpool in this game? And how important is it that this doesn't turn into a habit for them?

Yeah, they need to be scoring. You can't have 17 shots to eight and not be putting away more than one. And particularly, you know, back-to-back draws against teams that you would think that they should be beating fairly comfortably in Leicester and then West Ham. Obviously, we've talked about the sort of improved quality of teams across the board particularly those with new managers coming in who are you know posing this unknown element like but at the same time Liverpool didn't have a huge budget in the summer but the one area of the pitch

they did strengthen was attacking because they were so reliant on Roman Haag last season that they were sort of slightly worried about the lack of goals from elsewhere obviously you know Olivia Smith getting on the score sheet is a huge positive but they have to be doing better than that and yeah like can understandably be frustrated at two points dropped in a game like that they've got the next two fixtures, I think, are Tottenham and Man City, which is going to be a step up. These were the kind of games that they were posing a threat in last season. I think the signs don't look good for them being able

to sort of muster the same level of finish to the season in fourth that they did last year. And I think that is sort of somewhat to be expected, given the budgetary restraints and things and what they're kind of working with as a women's set-up. But at the same time, you can't be dropping points to West Ham and Leicester in the manner that they have. Yeah, West Ham, though, really resilient.

Still on an 18-game winless run at home, which is quite crazy. But how valuable could that point be for them, Marva? Yeah, massively. And I think it's when you score late as well and against a team like Liverpool who had such a good season last season, I think it does give you that confidence

of going forward in future matches that you can get something out of the game even towards the end but I think their distribution out of the back this game was pretty poor and they're not helping themselves there um because they just kept turning over possession um and they had they had a few chances themselves but if you're just inviting that press again and again and again it's going to be a bit of a long season for them but you know if you have a performance like that and still get a point then you can definitely take that yep certainly can who wants to talk goalkeepers hands up everybody of course uh quick word on this we've heard once

again from our friend rafael from switzerland uh he sent us a message, an email. Dear Guardian Women's Football weekly team, you may or most likely may not remember me as the Swiss listener who sent a question about goalkeepers last spring after giving you a bunch

of unnecessary pieces of information about his women's football background. We do remember you, Raphael. Don't be ridiculous. Of course we remember you. And thank you for emailing us again. Here I am again, he says, still looking forward to Euro 2025 at home.

A few game tickets in my pocket, including Brighton Man United, Chelsea Spurs and England Germany in October. Can't wait to visit Wembley for the first time. And I have a question for you. Actually, it's a follow up on what I was asking last season. Thanks again for answering. I really enjoyed listening. About Roebuck, Berger, Mucevic, Ertz and Keating. Except for Keating and Mucevic, they've all switched clubs over the summer, some of them to deal with the situations I was talking about.

You tackled Keating's case and her presence on the bench rather than the pitch in a previous podcast, but I still have questions about Zazira Mucevic. It seems quite clear Sonia Bonpastor has the same plans as Emma Hayes did about her goalkeepers. And it looks like Hannah Hampton is going to be the starter for most games this season and deservedly so. Knowing that, how come Musavich isn't trying to leave the club? I'm sure there's quite a few teams, even in the WSL, in which she could claim a number one spot. Is she OK with being a forever number two and supporting the team from the sidelines most of the time, especially since it's been happening to her with the national team as well

lately. Best regards, Raphael Iberg. P.S. I blame my only, me only asking goalkeeping questions on the Hope Solo Netflix documentary. Thank you for sending that into us, Raphael.

Who wants to take it? Who wants to take that? I'll take that. Tim's hand went up first. Go. Well, I think if I'm not mistaken, Musavich's contract is up at the end of this season. So I think from her point of view,

maybe she thought, okay, there's a new manager, new opportunity. At the same time, she might even make the calculation, do you know what? Maybe I don't play every game, but I'm at Chelsea. When I do play games, there might be finals,

there might be semi-finals, there might be Champions League games. So I don't think she's going to sit on the bench all season. I think she'll get plenty of high-profile games, but it is interesting that you've got some international number one goalies.

Arsenal brought in Daphne van Domselaar this weekend for her debut and she walked away with a Player of the Match award. But it's a really interesting competition between her and Zinsberger I think essentially it's just there are probably more top goalkeepers than top clubs at the moment but then you look at someone like Lisa Kopp who had a brilliant game for Leicester as well she could have gone and sat on Manchester United's bench this summer and I mean it sounds like Leicester as well she could have gone and sat on Manchester United's bench this summer and I mean it sounds like Leicester were the ones who really opposed that move and held on to her

and for Van Domsla that's very interesting as well because that's someone who's competing for the Netherlands number one jersey so I think this happens a little bit in women's football where there's the amount of talent and the amount of really big clubs doesn't quite match up and I think we're seeing that a little bit in the goalkeeping department but I do also think it shows that you know not that we should care about what these people say but it's usually one of the first sticks people have reached for to beat women's football with and I really don't think you can do that anymore not that you could have in the first place or should have, but definitely not now.

Brilliant answer. Thank you, Tim. And thank you, Raphael, for sending in that message. Have a fab time when you visit us here in the UK in October. Right, the wild and wonderful nature

of the championship is back. It was all going a little too smoothly, wasn't it, for the title contenders. But this weekend, threw up some major curveballs. Sunderland had a tough start to the season, but earned their first win against London City. Charlton and Newcastle United remain the only two

unbeaten teams in the league. Charlton stay at the top with a 2-0 win over Blackburn. Newcastle United beat struggling Portsmouth 2-0 as well. Southampton got back to winning ways against Sheffield United, while Durham subjected Birmingham City to their first defeat of the campaign. 21-year-old Lily Crossweight scored her third goal in as many games.

So big shout out to her. An unpredictable league as always, Susie. Yeah, it's brilliant. I love it because, you know, the narrative you would thought, you know, based on the start of the season is that, and you know, they're still right in there that london city and newcastle with this sort of big money coming in um from their their various ownership models would mean

that they would be running away with it but no it's chelton managed by karen hills who guided spurs up through the ranks to the wsl the only team that has yet to drop a point. And then Durham in second, who have no big expensive parent club, like operate on a tiny budget, are really shrewd with the partnerships they make in the area, like real, you know, kind of committed community around their club that are up there

in first and second. And then, you know, third to sixth, like all join on seven points at the moment with Newcastle with game in hand. But like it's always a really, really exciting league. I don't think that's changing, even with the sort of money that's coming in. There are still teams that are able to sort of hold their own on the basis of sort of, you know, long term investment, quality management, like those kind of things are like shining through and that that is really really good for the league at the moment I think and really good for women's football in particular to see teams like Durham doing well if you'd written

that in a whatsapp post I would be using the emoji 100 which I seem to be using quite a lot at the moment I 100% agree finally it's almost time to bid farewell. Let's use a wave, an emoji wave to some legends of the sport. Christine Sinclair, 41 years old, a Canadian trailblazer,

a trailblazer full stop, but obviously a fantastic footballer for Canada and more. She's hanging up her boots for good at the end of this NWSL season. She's still the all-time top goal scorer in international football, 190 goals in 331 appearances for Canada. We will do a proper segment on her career when the time comes in November. I'm just highlighting it to you in case you missed it this week with the announcement and also the

announcement that Germany captain Alexandra Popp is going to be hanging up her international boots. But next month, a bit earlier for her, the 33-year-old striker scored 67 goals in 144 appearances for her country and has been at the heart of the German team since her debut back in 2010. She'll win her 145th and final cap against Australia in Duweezburg. Is that how you pronounce it? Dweezburg? Is that right? In October. I'm not sure. Nobody knows either. Dweezburg. Hopefully I'm right there. This is what Alexandra Pop had to say. And actually, it does mean Pop has popped off.

I can use that. I think I used that in a pod a while ago. I know. I'm so sorry. I can't help myself. I've always stressed that my a pod a while ago. I know, I'm so sorry. I can't help myself. I've always stressed that my gut will make the decision and now it has. After long, tearful deliberations, I've decided with a heavy heart to end my career with the national team. The fire that ignited in me 18 years ago and grew stronger from year to year

has now almost burned out. Oh, that's a sad statement. What an incredible player she's been been anyone want to add some words on Christine Sinclair and Alexandra Popp before we pop off yeah I I would uh if you don't mind I I mean on Christine Sinclair I think the fact that she could have retired after getting the gold medal with Canada and I don't think I fully expected her to do so actually in 2021 Canada win Olympic gold that would have felt like a really nice rounding off of that career. The fact that she carried on for another three years into her 40s,

I think says a lot about what a competitor she is. The fact that she changed position as well, kind of gone back into a midfield role. I think what you see with Christine Sinclair is this is someone who is, as well as being a real big talent, someone who's really, really mega competitive and has literally waited this long until probably her body can't take it anymore

and really pushed herself to the limit. But it's kind of sad, isn't it? Because we're seeing with Alex Morgan as well, you know, that time's probably coming for Marta. A lot of real legends of the women's game who've really built it to where it is now. Good to see them get their flowers, but sad to see them go. Yeah, absolutely.

Time does move on, sadly. And what incredible ambassadors for the game they've been and I'm sure will continue to be as well. Right, great podcast. Thoroughly enjoyed all your company. Marva, a delight. Good luck to Everton going forward. We don't want you to go down.

Thank you. I'll be listening to every pod to see what you guys say. She's making notes every time. We better be careful. We'll send you out a private edit. It'll be much shorter. Tim, lovely to see you as always. My absolute pleasure.

Thanks for having me. Go buy another sandwich. Put it out online. You're going viral constantly Susie see you later alligator you know what

crocodile I haven't done that since I was about 10 oh I do it all the time with Ted he always replies as well love it right

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