The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - The Mary Earps autobiography causes a stir – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Sophie Downey and Emma Sanders to discuss all the reaction to former England goalkeeper Mary Earps’s new book, All In. Plus, the panel discuss the talking points as the WSL returned after the international break

This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faker-Rothers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly, and we've needed to be daily, haven't we, to keep up with the row that's been dominating the news agenda. Mary Earps' new book, All In, has hit the headlines for going not quite All-in on Hannaham. and Serena Veigman. We'll see how that's gone down and what happens next. Elsewhere, the Barclays WSL returned from the international break with the top five all winning and a six-gold fun fest between Aston Villa and Everton. We'll discuss all that plus we'll take your questions and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. What a panel we have today, Susie Wreck, good morning. Good morning. How are you? How is your break? In inverted commas. Good. Worked some of it and then did a lot of half-term activities. So yeah, not very restful. Did you do LaserQuest? No, but we did do pumpkin picking and bowling and climbing. So, you know, plenty of activities.

Oh, I like it. I like it a lot. Laser Quest next time, please. And if you need another adult, you know, just ask. I'll do Laser Quest about the kids. Let's go on a weekday. Yeah, let's do a Guardian Women's Football. Weekly Laser Quest. That right. I'm up for it. Okay, booked. Emma Sanders, how are you? I think you might have had a little bit of a busy week.

Very busy week. I can't wait for the weekend. I've got it booked off. I've got some family coming to stay, so I'm very excited. But I might cancel them now and just go and do laser quest with you guys. Well, that sounds fun. I have to say, you've definitely got into the snowy winter vibe with the white fleece. It's giving me East 17.

vibes, which might be a bit old for many people listening to this right now, but stay another day. Sophie, Downey, how are you? I'm good, thank you. I've also gone for the winter vibes. I've moved over to the woolly hat season. It's finally winter, I think, so I've made the plunge. And also dressed all in white. You could also be part of East 17. Okay, look, there's only one place to start, isn't there? It's the topic that's dominated the news and the airwaves over the weekend. on Friday night extracts from Mary Epps's new autobiography all in were published in The Guardian. And to say that it got some pick up would be an understatement. Story was everywhere over the weekend.

In her book, she describes a breakdown in the relationship between herself and the goalkeeper that is now number one for England. Hannah Hampton, who was Mary Earps' is back up previously. This is some of the quotes. The only negative each group reported back on was her behaviour. behaviour was overwhelmingly considered disruptive and unreliable, with a risk of being destructive, taking energy and time from coaches who needed to work with the rest of the team on set pieces, mentality, and of course, goalkeeping sessions. That's what she wrote about what happened in 2022 when they won the Euros and were at a Teddington base training.

Obviously, the Barclays WSL returned this weekend after the international break, so I'm assuming Emma Sanders that it dominated the chat in the press boxes. Very much did. Very much did. You know, I was down in London on the Saturday. I was doing Chelsea, London City. But by this time, I already knew I was interviewing Mary on Sunday. So it was kind of interesting to see the reaction to the extracts that were first published in The Guardian on the Friday night. Obviously, my job as a BBC journalist is not to pass judgment, not to make opinion. So I sort of had to kind of remind Mary of that on Sunday because I think, you know, it was an overwhelming experience seeing all the reaction. I think she already had interviewed. who's either pre-recorded or planned. And then naturally when you see what's come out from fans and obviously from Sonia Bonpastor, who we were speaking to on the Saturday that was obviously quite an explosive reaction

in defence of Hannah Hampton and Serena Vigman, I do think, you know, it brings out the human side. And I think that's the thing I kind of wanted to say is that, you know, her book is obviously her perspective. There'll be things naturally that people will completely disagree with. But I do think there's people at the heart of this story. and I think it was a hard interview for me to do, to be honest. Mary's clearly being affected by what's happened.

Hannah clearly, no doubt, will have been affected by what's happened. You know, there was one line that Mary said to me, which struck me, which was that this isn't a drama. These are real people's lives and it has consequences. And I am a little bit worried about how this saga unfolds, you know, how it might impact both people. But I think the good thing for Mary is that she was flying back to Paris. She can go play for Paris Engine Man and maybe,

just take herself out of the noise a little bit. But yeah, I just hope that both players have got good support around them. Yeah, that is the most important thing because it's not pleasant being in the eye of a media storm. You feel as if everybody's talking about you and there's no escape from it at all. So, yes, at least she can go to Paris and take herself out of the situation in some ways. What did you make of it also? I, at the end of the day, I'm just really sad. Mary Ops has had a brilliant career for England over the years.

The way that she kind of resurrected her career, came back and became the best goalkeeper in the world for a number of years. I do really think about the advice that she's getting. That's my big thing, because when you're looking at it with a comms hat on, which is my old career, you're going, how are you advising someone this badly in terms of like the publication of it and the timing? And you could just look at the fact that England won the Euros and Serena Vigman and Hannah Hampton. Hannah Hampton is the star, one of the stars of England's Euro's performance. Serena Vigman has won three back-to-back euros. She is like the best manager in the world at this point. And you're going, this isn't not going to go well. It's not going to go down well. It's

just obvious from the outset. I just think it's a sad end to a very, very brilliant international career that this is going to be the focus of it. And in the book, there are some really important stories, as Emma said, that need to be told and that should be told. And Mary should be allowed to tell them, but the focus, unfortunately, will be on this episode. And then I also do completely feel for Hannah as well, because she is in the eye of a storm, not necessarily of her own making in terms of the book. And I think that's what elicited some of the response from Sonia Bon Pasture, is that she had to put together a player to play on Saturday. And she handled it really well on Saturday, but I just think maybe the timing was a bit unnecessary as well.

Yeah, for anyone who's missed what Sonia Bonpastor, the Chelsea boss, said, she said, I just feel like what I read in terms of comments coming from Mary Earps, it's not acceptable, not to show respect to your teammate or your manager. We're talking about Hannah, but I'm also raising my voice for Serena. I just think when you use some words saying something about someone who won the European Championship three times in a row, you should probably think about it before you speak. Hannah's been fine with us and all the club, myself, the staff and the players are all behind her. If you look at what Hannah said in the previous comments about Mary Earps, then what Mary is saying about her now, one of them is class and Hannah is the class one.

I mean, look, I understand managers coming in and weighing in in defence of their players, but I'm also wondering whether or not that was, you know, that's just adding more fuel to a well-lit fire, I would suggest, Sophie. Yeah, I was in that press conference along with Emma and I do understand why they did it and why Sonia did it. and I do kind of respect it as well in a way because I think Hannah's not speaking, obviously I think she's been very well advised probably not to speak. I think Sonia probably felt very clearly that she just needed to back a player

and step up for her and for Serena Vigman, who hasn't yet replied to some of the comments that Mary Earps made about her decision-making around the whole bringing back of Hannah Hampton and around her retirement from England just before the Euros. It was very, very strong

and it was a press conference that I will remember for a while, while. You don't want it to go down this route where you're taking shots at each other. But at the same time, Mary did in her book take a bit of a shot. And so someone has to take a shot back. She quite clearly, Emma, decided that this had to come out and this had to be said. And, you know, we talk a lot. It's very difficult. And you've got two people's perspectives, the truth probably lies somewhere in between what one party is saying and what the other party is saying, because you obviously take it from different angles. In hindsight,

I'm sure if she'd have known how this was going to play out, Mary Oates maybe would have delayed the timing of her book. But I heard an interview that she did yesterday where she was talking about a lot of the fallout and she thinks that many parts of the book have actually been taken out of context a little bit and there's so much other stuff in there that she wanted highlighted. But we go back to the advice.

Is she being given advice in ignoring it or is she not being given the right advice? because it's very difficult not to think she's written the book, therefore she wants what happened in 2022 out there. You know, one of the things that she said to me, which I completely understand, is that she wanted to write a book that was really authentic and sort of, you know, came from her and was the full story.

And, you know, and I really would just take this time to urge you. There's some seriously important topics that she goes through that are just so fascinating. in. So please, please do read those bits. There was a particular bit about fertility and freezing her eggs for future childbirth, which I just found was so fascinating. And the lack of support around the procedure that goes with it, which changes your hormones. And she was sort of like, how do I train? What do I do? What do I don't do? Do I keep diving around as a goalkeeper? That was really fascinating. She comes out publicly. She talks about her sexuality. She talks about restrictive eating

and her issues with body images. So there really is some powerful stuff. So I understand why if you're writing a book that has to be so open and tells the whole story, you can't not talk about Hannah Hampton, right? I think we have to say that. So for me, it comes down to one question, which is, you know, why are you releasing the book now? And she does admit it's very unusual for a current footballer to write a book. And she said that she's learned very quickly and very harshly why that is. And I think ultimately that's probably what she's taken from the last sort of.

of, you know, 48 hours or so of reaction is that the timing is everything. Susie? Yeah. You know, obviously you raised the part where she's talked in interviews about being taken out of context. I think that's really difficult because obviously we published those extracts in The Guardian and serialisation is a very normal part of the PR of book launch. Extracts are chosen and agreed in advance. They're literally her words from her book. So I think the publisher has to take a degree of responsibility for that. And then I also think I saw some other journalists, I think, on a radio show. I can't remember who.

Talking about the role of the ghost writer as well. It was Rory Smith on the Monday Nightclub on Radio 5 Live. Yeah, so Rory Smith basically, that's exact one, said that ghost writers have a duty of care to the person they're ghosting on behalf of. And that's clearly not worked out here, right? Like, if you're a ghost writer and I've ghosted a couple of books, and I think he said similar,

you obviously as a journalist are looking at the juiciest bits and the most interesting bits is the thing that will sell the book and all of that. But also you are advising that individual and helping them relay things in a way that isn't going to bring ridiculous heat on them, right? Like you have a duty of care to protect them to a certain extent. I think that has been missed here. All of those don't lift any heat from her to a certain extent in that obviously she's made mistakes too. She should be alert to this. she's going to have read drafts of that book and, you know, should have been sort of alive

to the fact that that was going to be extremely inflammatory. And this sort of halfway house of I will explain, I can see why she's done it. She wants to explain why she's made the decision she has. And so she's, you know, explained that the situation with Hannah was untenable to a good degree. But then she's not gone further and said why that was the case. And I think that halfway house is a little bit frustrating for a lot of people. Yeah, it's a really tricky one to deal with and I think this is going to unfortunately

for all players involved or all people involved it's going to rumble on somewhat no doubt up until the next international break which I'm sure will be dominated by questions towards Serena Vigman regarding it. Right, listen speaking of the international break it

finished the other day which meant that the Barclays WSL picked up where it left off as did Manchester United who held off a late comeback from Daria Vidazic is Brighton. It finished Brighton, two, Manchester United three in the end. Elizabeth Turland and Jess Park putting United into a two-goal lead. Frank Kirby made it two-one. Lisa Narsund restored the deficit and then Kiko Seke, he struck an injury time. But ultimately, it was Brighton who ran out of time. They're doing brilliantly this season, aren't they at the minute, Susie?

Five wins in seven, keeping up the pace with the league leaders Chelsea. How good were they at the weekend? Oh, superb. Defensively not so great. And I think that's the issue. But like in terms of attacking for it, the link up play between Jess Park and Ellatoon, which they said they've been working on quite heavily in training, is wonderful to watch and exciting for England as well. And the way Jess Parker has slotted in so seamlessly into that team and also is starting every game and has just been given the freedom to do what she does best is a really, really nice thing to watch where many viewed her as sort of. of a make-weight in the deal for City to get Clinton and she's the one who's really shining at the minute obviously albeit Clinton has you know kind of had injury issues and stuff like that and we'll be brilliant I think there's no doubt about that but yeah that relationship's been great and then you've got the defensive issues in this game which I think of where the problem lies and you know obviously there's an uncharacteristic mistake from my letitia for one of the goals and things like that and we know Brighton are a good team we know Frank Kirby if she gets into those

positions sort of one-on-one she's going to score like that's a given but it was an uncharacteristically defensively mixed performance from United, which was interesting, but they still get the job done. And actually, you use the word uncharacteristic. That's what Dario Vidazic used as well. Third defeat in a row for Brighton, and he spoke about uncharacteristic errors. They are in a bit of an injury crisis at the moment, Brighton. Michelle Agamang ruptured her ACL against Australia playing for England. So you'd kind of expect so for that they would be a little bit disjointed going forward. But how does he fix it?

Because obviously she's out for the long term now. Yeah, it does leave them in a bit of a bind because Madison Haley is also injured, which is coming back from injury. So he doesn't have a lot of attacking options. He has Carla Camacho, who is a brilliant young talent, but she is adjusting to life in this league. I think she's also coming back from an ACL herself,

not suffered too long ago. Michelle Ajerman was his number nine for the season. That was the plan. so he's going to have to go back to the drawing board for the winter transfer window I think and try and solve a few problems there and get maybe a bit of cover in we've watched Brighton a lot this season

they are performing pretty well they press well they did improve a lot in the second half against Manchester United I always think also after international break everything is a bit disjointed in the first half particularly so they kind of found a bit more rhythm I don't think they'll be looking at this result Darry was disappointed of course he was

but it's not going to define their season, given the run that Manchester United are on and the ambitions that Manchester United have. Brighton are still very much building themselves to be a top half of the table team and to stay in that top half, I think. And that's going to be the process this season. Quick one on Michelle Adjimang, Emma,

because we recorded the pod last week on Tuesday morning before the Australia Games, so we haven't actually mentioned what happened to her, but obvious to say, gutting for such a young player just coming into, to her own, but we wish her the best, obviously. Yeah, really, really sad, actually. You know, we were all at the game.

We saw it live. We kind of knew instantly what had happened. Unfortunately, I've seen so many of them live now that, you know, I can kind of tell, which I think for itself goes to show just how ripe ACLs are. Serena Begman was visibly a little bit emotional afterwards as well. I think we all knew. I actually walked past Michelle as I was leaving the stadium. She had a smile on the face as she was.

always does. She's so mature. She handles situations so well. And, you know, I sort of just said to her, you know, take care, Michelle. And she was like, thank you. I'll be back and sort of walked off really merrily. Oh, bless her. Yeah, that was a nice kind of memory that I left the stadium with because, you know, I was, I was worried about her as a human because, you know, we've, we've come to love watching her play. She's provided the whole nation with some incredible memories. And she's just in the absolute stardust prime of her career. So wish her all the best. She'll be back. Players do come back, it's not the end of the world and she'll be backfiring soon. And I suppose, you know, the silver lining is, she is so young. It's not like it's happened at the age of 30. So, yeah,

wish for all the best. Emma said that players come back and Sam Kerr has come back for sure on the score sheet again for Chelsea, who are continuing their brilliant start to the season. A two-nil win over London City lionesses on Saturday. Goals from Ellie Carpenter and Sam Kerr in the 94th minute. and Sonia Bonpastor delighted with the result and detailed how tough it was for her team coming in after an international break because so many Chelsea players are international players

but they had a fast start which helped them sof. Yeah they did. Performances for Chelsea, they've been good in a way but they've not been like brilliant in terms of the way that they go about things. So to get off the mark quickly

and to get their early goal was absolutely crucial for them against especially after an international break Sonia Bonpastor talked about. that coming back in and having that flow to themselves early on I think London City came back into the game massively so to get their only goal was key Ellie Carpenter as well her first WSL goal which is brilliant and I think they really exploited the spaces down the sides the wing backs loose bronze came in she

played right centre back Ellie Carpeter was there for a wingback and they had so much space to maraud into down you know the right and left Sandy Baltimore until she came off with a knock was absolutely crucial as well so they will be pleased that they got the job done, you know, they take that off, they've got a big one next week. It's the London Derby, and that's going to be the focus, I think. Yeah, it's going to be massive that game, that's for sure. Special moment for Sam Kerr, Susie. First goal at Stamford Bridge since returning from injury.

Maybe starting to see the old Sam Kerr back again. Yeah, I mean, she obviously was fortunate in the way the ball sort of fell to her after Poppy Patton's, and maybe she'd have done better with it, couldn't control it. But the finish is just sublime, and that's what she does, right? like it's instinctive. You don't necessarily expect to receive the ball in that moment. You expect that the defender is going to get it away. You're not necessarily alert to that.

And then from that angle as well and to, you know, instinctively feel where the keeper is and lift it over the defender into that space. It's just so beautiful. And it's just so nice to see it. It reminds me, and forgive me the men's football reference, right? I was at the game when Tieri-on-Rie return. at the club, the league up game and came off the bench and then scored almost with his first touch to win and put us through. And the feeling I had when Omri touched that ball was, oh, this is

what it's like to feel like whenever a player has a ball, they're going to score. And that's the feeling I get with Samka. I literally feel whenever she picks up the ball, you feel like it's going to be a goal. And that feeling is really nice. I really enjoy that feeling. I enjoy watching a who just exudes that level of class of instinct of competent finishing that you're just guaranteed a goal and it's quite rare but that is the feeling I have with her.

Yeah, unfortunately, you know, with teams eye support you get that feeling briefly and then it's like, oh no, he's skyed it. Oh, no, it's wide. It's a little bit different. But I'll tell you what, Emma, Jocelyn Prasure said that he's finally starting to see his side play as a team,

which he said was the biggest problem at the beginning of the season. But how impressed were you with their performance and do you feel as if they're growing into the league? Very impressed and I do feel like they're growing into the league. I thought it's a really, really strong performance from start to finish. I think each time I see them, you know, every week or every couple of weeks, I really, really do see progression. And I think it's not often actually that we can see that in games.

You know, like the managers will talk about feeling like they're progressing on the training ground or the building squad harmony or an identity. But I really do think London City have been able to translate that every single week in terms of some form of progression. Even if results haven't gone their way, you can see. And I think from the first game, they've had an attacking threat. They've been able to create chances. So I think for any newly promoted side coming up to the league that has a threat at that end,

I think automatically gives them a bit of a head start. I mean, you look at clubs like Liverpool, for example, who are, you know, a seasoned WSL club and they can't create anything. So, you know, for London City to be able to do that, I think that shows the quality that they have in the squad. But to actually get them organised and structured in the way that they did against Chelsea, that for me was far more impressive because that doesn't really come necessarily down to individual quality.

That comes down to management. I think Justin procured deserves a lot of praise because I think the way he's handled the high turnover of recruitment, the way that he's brought a squad together, formed a structure and being able to give people their roles and help them understand it. I think he's done that so well in such a short space of time. There's still a lot of work to do. You know, they're not there yet, but

for an uni-promoted team, yes, they've spent a lot of money, but to be where they are, I think they'll be really pleased. Yeah, I agree. They are comfortably in mid-table in sixth on nine points, three wins out of their last five. I think that is a pretty decent start to their life in the Barclays WSL. Right, that's it for

Part 1. In part 2, we're going to look at what happened elsewhere over the weekend. Welcome back to Part 2 of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. So, what a six-goal thriller we were treated to at Villa Park on Sunday. Everton holding Aston Villa to a three-all draw, thanks to a 90th minute equaliser from Kelly Gargo. It was such an entertaining game, Susie. really good fun to watch. How do you feel the two sides matched up? Are they pretty similar this season?

It was thrilling. I mean, we've always known that Villa have this level in them and the ability to score, their squad's really good. I've done an interview. I think I mentioned it last week. It's not out yet. It will come out at some point. You've been teasing it for three weeks.

I love her. I love her so much. She's great. She was so lovely to speak to. She's such a great football mind to chat to. And, you know, we know that there is the basis of something. Really, really good happening there, particularly with the recruitment of Maggie Murphy, formerly of Lewis, to oversee the women set up. So there's really good things going on there.

And we also know that Everton are doing some great things. You know, playing at Gooderson, Brian Soroson is a good manager. He's been resourced now. Like, these are two clubs, you know, with ambition that are starting to sort of back their teams further. So that's really great. Defensively, less so in this game, but an enjoyable game. And I found it really, really funny afterwards that both managers thought they were the better side and thought they should have won it and should have taken three points,

which is maybe perhaps an indication that a draw was maybe a fair result in that sense. But yeah, they both could have won that game. And it was only sort of really poor defensive organisation that I think let them down. You got back yourself, Susie. If either of them had come out and said, you know, something negative after a game like that, you'd be questioning it. And you've actually been commenting so, haven't you, about the trust that Natalia Arroyo is showing in her youngsters.

It feels like a really fresh villa side this season. Yeah, both Emma and Susie will know how much I enjoy watching young players develop and spend my time with the youth team. I did rather, I think, carcally message Emma after this year Kendall's pair of the match performance against Australia for England and say, I knew she was good. So, yeah, no, it's a delight to see. and I think it was actually a problem that was highlighted

about Assonville, maybe about 18 months ago. The squad was looking very experienced, but maybe time for a recircle in terms of the fact that the players would be retiring soon or maybe not quite at their best because of their age. So they desperately needed a refresh. And I think it's remarkable how quickly it's happened in just a couple of windows.

And the fact that Natalia Orroyo is starting, you know, Lucia Kendall, first season in the WSL, moved up from Southampton over the summer. She's literally played every minute almost, I think, of the last three or four games for them in the league. They've got Rachel Maltby, who is 18 years old, went to the under 17th World Cup with England last year. She's playing pretty much every game now, left back. Missy Bo Cairns as well, she captains the team as well in the absence of Rachel Daly when she's not around. You've got some really good young players there, and the fact that they're getting this experience at the top level in the English game is key not just for Assonville's future and for them building and building this project under Arroyo,

also for England's future as well. We need our young players playing WSL football regularly and this is perfect for them and they're performing well and they're showing what they can do. Oh, mention Georgian Mullet as well. She was with the under 23s this week. 20-year-old had a player of the match for performance in this game. Goal and assist as well, our first league start.

So they are coming good and it shows that if you put faith in them, they do come good. Yeah, without a doubt. Someone somewhere put faith in Kelly Gargo, didn't they, for France. This is what she put on social media. Frustrated with the score for sure, but so proud of the team. Showed what we can do, proud to have scored that brace. We'll focus on the positives and come back even stronger for the next match. Well, they're going to need to be strong because they've got Manchester City on Sunday.

Listen, she had a bit of a stop-start season, Emma, hasn't she, after that concussion that she suffered. But we're seeing the Kelly Gargo that we saw last season and the season before, back to her best a little bit. Yeah, definitely. I think she should be starting every week when she's fully fit. You know, she offers them something that maybe they've lacked in previous seasons. I don't think they've quite had a player like her in the side.

She's, you know, really dynamic, really clever. I also just think she's got a bit of presence about her. And I quite like that she's, I don't really know the way to describe it. She's got personality, which I like. So a bag of tricks really, don't really know what you're going to get, which obviously is where a little bit of inconsistency comes from. But I do think that unpredictability is something which I think. think defenders don't enjoy playing against. So I really like her as a player. I want to see more

from her because I believe that there is more from her. And I think Brian Saurison has sort said the same. But for me, there's just no question. Like when she's fit, I think she has to start every game. Yeah, we saw the flashes of what she could provide last season. So hopefully she can go on a bit of a run now because she is a delight to watch. Liverpool fans not so delighted to watch their team this season. Problems continue to Mount. Spurs came from behind this time to seal a 2-1 winner at Brisbane Road. Sixth straight defeat for Liverpool. They only sit above West Ham on goal difference at the bottom. Both sides really struggling. We'll talk about the hammers in a minute. Gareth Taylor promised his team

would keep fighting. How does he turn it around? And is he going to be allowed to help them keep fighting, Susie? Give him money in January. Let him buy some players. He's has a specific way of playing and a style he wants to play and obviously in Manchester City he was given the players and he inherited the players that play that way that you know he was a Manchester City coaching pathway person and then inherits a team that is built on the basis of that pathway and now he's been given a team that does not have that skill set that level within them and it hasn't been built in them as a team yet and he's trying to build that and then he's also you know got to adapt to the existing players that he has in that setup,

but he also needs to be given the players to build the team in the image that he thinks is most appropriate. And that's what needs to happen. He needs to back in January big time because they're in real, real trouble, only protected by the fact that there is relegation, but it's not really relegation as they expand the league, where bottom will play off against third in the championship. And that would be a game.

You would expect a Liverpool or West Ham to win comfortably and not actually have a WSL side relegated this season. So that is a sort of safety net, but it's not good enough for a team of like a club of Liverpool's status, given the seriousness with which the men's team is taken. It's really, really disappointing to see the level of support that is going their way. But Garif Taylor does have to bear a little bit of responsibility for not doing more to get the best out of the players at his disposal because we know that, you know, this isn't a bad team. Although obviously injuries and stuff don't help. The latest to Mia Enderby, not great. But yeah, he needs personnel, he needs money,

and then I think we can judge it a little bit more fairly. Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. Investment is key, and, you know, when Spurs have invested, it's clearly paying off. They're flying high, currently sitting force. What's really important it feels, Sof, is that they're kind of getting these wins against teams in and around them now, which is where they were inconsistent previously.

I feel like we're seeing so. much potential in this spurs side now. Yeah, that's a crucial part at this stage in Martin Ho's tenure is to beat those teams that you highlight that you need to beat and they're doing it quite consistently and quite confidently. They look to be playing with a lot of freedom and expression and Martin Ho is that kind of tactical manager who wants his team to be out on the front foot and, you know, be able to express themselves.

And you're starting to see that it got a bit scrappy at times against Liverpool. I think just because of the break, the fact that they've been away for three weeks, you know they've had a few injuries as well but I think coming back in they really got into gear in the second half Olivia Holt for me player of the match she is an absolutely stunning player in terms of what she can do

and I asked Martin Ho about her and he was like she has no ceiling she can do whatever she wants in this game so she got the assist for the first the equaliser for them and then played an absolutely perfect ball for their second so yeah she's one to watch she's young

she's coming into it she was bought in January last year if I'm not wrong. So she's had some time to settle in and she's really starting to hit her full flow. I mentioned West Ham. I mean, they'll be pleased that they kept the score line down to just a goal. Manchester City beat them by a goal to nil,

but it's still really worrying times for Rianne Skinner and our side. Andre Jurglets' side, though, you know, pretty decent at the moment. Ioba, Fijina, with a lovely first half goal, pretty much made it herself, didn't she? He's talked about the importance of winning these. games and then talking about winning titles. I think he's very conscious of what's happened to Manchester City over the last couple of years. The biggest problem, I think, for them, maybe Emma, is that they created 18 chances, but only one of them was on target, which was

ultimately the goal that they scored. Is this going to be a problem for them this season if they do start to push for the title? I genuinely think no. I never worry about a team that's creating that many chances, especially not with the quality that they have. By science, like the likelihood of them of them putting one of them away at least is extremely high. So I think it just gives you such a good chance of winning football matches when, you know, you're pretty much guaranteed to be in such high goal scoring positions on multiple occasions in one game. So, no, I'm genuinely not worried. I think I think they'll be absolutely fine. It's obviously, you know, against the Chelsea where you might have only maybe five of those

chances that you have to be a bit more efficient. But I do think Manchester City have so much quality. I think Andre is a good manager. I think he's shown that so far. I've been really pleased by kind of what he's done with Manchester City so far. And I've enjoyed watching them. So I do think they have improved from last season, first and foremost. Lauren Hemp's still to come back. So I do think that will massively help the efficiency in terms of, you know, the goal scoring. So I'm not worried at all. I think they'll be absolutely fine. Yeah, a bit of a worry for Alex Greenwood, though, captain out for the foreseeable after picking up an injury. She just posted Be Back Soon on her social media, no real detail as to how long she's going to be out for.

West Ham, how do you solve a problem like West Ham? We keep trying to big them up saying that that winner's going to come because actually the performances aren't that bad. But I don't know what Rian Skinner needs to do, Susie, to try and solve the problem that they find themselves in at the minute. I don't either. And I think, you know, there has to be a degree of responsibility on the players as well as on the manager. Obviously, the manager is responsible for the response of the players to a certain extent. But the squad is good and they are not playing badly. There's a lack of consistency across 90 minutes. Something just isn't clicking for them in the way that they should be. But I find it really, really hard to pinpoint where they fix what is going wrong because I just,

just can't put my finger on it. Put your finger on it, Sof. It's hard in these games against like the lights of Manchester City and stuff because you're not going to get many chances, but they have some guilt-head opportunities. And it's been a running theme throughout the first half this season. They're not putting their opportunities away. So that's where I think Susie's point comes in.

Like you're getting them in the places to be able to score the goals and the goals are just not going in the back of the net. And that's the real confusing point is how do you get the players confident enough to not, you know, send a ball wide from eight yards out or hit a bar and things like that. That's where I really struggle because I think the tactics are obviously working okay. They are

getting in positions where they can score but they're not taking those opportunities. You know they could have been two net up before Fugino scored and that changes the kind of reflection of the game. So I think that's the big problem for me is that why you can't solve the problem is just because they are making the opportunities

they're just not getting them in the back of the net. Yeah, I have a solution. Why don't we just get all of us to go down to the training ground we stand in goal the players have shots at us and score every single goal and then suddenly they're really confident

I mean listen have you seen how hard they kick those balls there's no way on earth I'm standing in a goal getting pelted by balls the only way I would save it is if it smacks me in the mush

and stays out that's not for me thank you I mean fill your boots I'll go to LaserQuest you can go and stand like a training a training ground dummy, if you like.

Rennie Slegger's has solved the problem that Arsenal have had, Susie, with goals and creating chances. A 4-1 win at Leicester at King Power Stadium and a rare start as well for Stina Blackstenius, which was perhaps the answer they were looking for. Lessia Russo sat in behind her. She scored the two goals, as I said, and this is what Rene Slager said about her. If you talk about Stina and her performance today, I think she did everything that she's good at.

What good did she do? Scored. That always helps put the chance in the back of the net. I know I just, you know, obviously there's been a lot of talk about whether Blackstanias and Rousseau can play together in the same starting 11. It's not always worked out when they've experimented with that. I can't remember which game it was, maybe a Champions League one against Leon or something. I can't remember which, where they both started the match and then it felt like. like the bench was weaker for that

and you didn't have that kind of like out and out number nine fret coming off the bench late on in the same way that had been effective last season. So there's being question also whether this can work. But it's being fine to experiment with, right? Because in theory it should work.

Rousseau can play a number 10. She's really great at dropping deeper and picking up the ball and holding up play and moving the ball around that final third. When she plays the centre forward, she is all over the and she shifts out wide a lot too. And so being able to drop her a little bit deeper and put a player in front of her

that is going to be someone who sits in the box a little bit more, which is sometimes maybe her weakness in a way. It should, in theory, work. And here it did. Obviously it's against Leicester who aren't going to pose, you know, necessarily the challenge that say Chelsea are the next weekend. But to see that relationship start to click a little bit more effectively, I think it's really good.

And I thought Beth Mead was brilliant as well. I think she was really key to the rest of the relationship. relationship between them as well. You know, she was involved in the build-up to Rousseau's opener with Steena. You know, she provides the assist for Steena's first goal. Like, there was some really, really nice play between them over on the right that really, really helped build that

relationship. They're a bit threadbare, actually, weren't they? So, no lot of Uber-Moi, Kyra Cooney Cross, Freedom Manum, Olivia Smith all out. And actually, they really need them for that must-win derby against Chelsea next week otherwise I think if they lose that then title race I mean title race feels kind of over anyway

but lose against Chelsea at the weekend and I can't see how they're going to come back Yeah it's an absolute must-win at the weekend and they will need those kind of players back you know freedom on them I know Russo is performing well in the 10 but she has a really good option and she's had a really bright start to the season

I think Cooney Cross and Wubmore are just illness so hopefully they'll be back very very soon Olivia Smith bruised her hip while on Canada camp so you just don't know how that's going to recover quickly and they need all of those if they're going to you know you look at Chelsea's depth and strength on the bench and what they can bring on and the way that they can change games so they're going to definitely need some of those bodies back I guess

if they are going to have a chance to take it to Chelsea at the weekend quick one on Lester Emma before we wrap up the Barclays WSL weekend disappointing for Rick Passmore but I mean probably predictable you would think in terms of the scoreline they have been hard to break down previously but they've got their own important match next weekend

facing West Ham which again for them bearing in mind what West Ham are going through at the moment is also a must win if they want to make sure that they're not sucked into the relegation battle yeah 100% I think when Rick Passmore came in I think a lot of people were expecting Lester to kind of be bottom of the table, given the transfer window and just where the squad was at. So I actually think, you know, he's done a good job.

You know, he's solidified them a little bit. I think all of the neutrals look at it and go, realistically, that's one to kind of wipe off and not really focus too much on because of the goal in the quality of the squads. But I do think they are progressing well and they have looked more organized. So it's going to be such a fascinating game against West Ham, coming up against a team who, as we've discussed, clearly are playing good football,

creating chances and can't score a goal for the life. So Lester, who have been hard to break down and have looked organised, I think maybe bottom of the highlight show, that one. He'll know them very well because Rick Passmore was Rianne Skinner's number two, so it's going to be an interesting tactical battle that one. In fact, we've got some interesting games next week,

so very much looking forward to dissecting them all on the pod next Tuesday. Just a couple of other bits of news to bring you. We talked about it last week, but the Feef Pro World 11 voted for by 6,000 players was announced yesterday. Six England players have made the cut. So Hannah Hampton, Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Leah Williamson, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo. They join Honour Batcha, Itana Bon Mati, Jelaine Sheback, Alexia Puteus, Barbara Banda. So that is the short list for that. The draw for UEFA's 2027 World Cup qualification takes place.

place after we record the pod today. So England and Republic of Ireland both involved in league A. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are in League B. And UEFA have announced that Warsaw is going to be hosting the 27 Women's Champions League final. And the Republic of Ireland and Wales have both declared an interest to host the 2029 edition in either Dublin or Cardiff, which could be very, very interesting. Right. It has been fascinating to have your thoughts. and insights today, as always. Emma, so lovely to see you. I hope you have a quieter week today.

Thank you. I've got another interview today, so I'm not sleeping until Thursday, but come on. We're almost there. Well, I said a quieter week today rather than a quieter week. And please go and listen to East 17th stay another day.

I do feel like you are wrapped up, just like Brian Harvey as we speak. As are you, so lovely to see you as always. Great to see you. Great to be on again. Take care. Book the laser quest, please, Susie. Set the date. Okay. Let's go. It's our Christmas party. I've decided. Anyway, keep having your say. Send in your questions via X. Email us at women's football weekly at the Guardian.com. And this is a reminder, as always, to sign up for our biweekly women's football newsletter. All you need to do is search moving the goalposts sign up. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Danielle Stevens. Music composition was by Laura Iodale. Our executive producer is Joel Grove.

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