The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - West Ham stun Arsenal to shake things up in WSL – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: February 6, 2024

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Anita Asante and Tim Stillman to examine another busy weekend of WSL action

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starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected, be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Comebacks, controversial penalties and a shock WSL sacking. It's been one of those weeks. Arsenal slip up in the title race while West Ham give themselves a survival boost. We'll round up all the action from the weekend. Plus, we'll discuss power dynamics and whether the lack of female coaches in the game is a massive issue. All that while we also take your questions

and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Women's Football Weekly is supported by Google Pixel, the only phone engineered by Google and official mobile phone of Arsenal Football Club, Liverpool Football Club and the England teams. Google Pixel is helping fans get closer to the game they love with access to fresh content and never before seen footage of their favourite players and teams. The new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are fast and secure with the most advanced pixel cameras yet. And Google AI powers amazing features for photos and video so you can get even closer to the game. Search Google Store to find out more. What a panel we have today.zy rack listen producer lucy said right at the top i didn't

mean to do double arsenal but nobody was happy with the result that we're going to talk about in a minute on the panel uh but suzy arsenal let you down this weekend i mean it means we share the pain right like distributing the pain is always a good thing how pain distributed do you feel tim is it still ouch a little bit yeah the the good thing about um suzy being there covering the game as well is when we huddle in the mix zone she knows i don't want to talk either so we kind of just have that kind of solemn look because i always get that thing where people are like so what went wrong tim and i'm a bit like still a bit raw at the moment you need to give me 20 minutes and Susie understands that so yeah misery loves company and all that. Tim still is a man who is raw. Yay me I'm very proud of myself for that one.

I wouldn't be very proud. Oh come on give me some credit. Anita Asante, I mean, with your Bristol City hat on, also not a great result for you. But how otherwise was your weekend? I had a very good weekend aside from, yeah, those results. Obviously, that was a bit of a shock result as well. But yeah, I'm still confident in Bristol City. So hopefully they can also turn a corner. Absolutely we shall talk about Bristol City in a second but there is only one place to start it would be rude wouldn't it not to begin in East London yet another twist in the title race and the relegation battle as West Ham came from behind to beat Arsenal in the WSL for the first time in their history it finished West Ham 2 Arsenal 1 Alessia Russo heading the Gunners ahead just before half-time after a comfortable first half for them. But the game really turned on its head in the second half

with Vivian Asai equalising from the penalty spot before Hauas Sissoko capitalised on an error from Manuela Zinsberger with a lovely first-time finish to give West Ham all three points. Leo Williamson back in the starting X 11 for the first time since last April. Probably the best thing from an Arsenal perspective, Susie. But where did it all go wrong? I mean, where did it go right? Okay, it went right possession-wise, shots-wise,

but in terms of actually putting the ball in the back of the net, that's the issue. Tim talked about it in the post-match presser with Jonas about it sort of parking back to the sort of start of the season where Arsenal were just creating a lot of chances but not kind of necessarily making the most of them and that was very much the narrative a 23 shots five on target and you've got one goal to show for it West Ham meanwhile four shots two on, two on target, two goals, like, you know, really stark lesson in making the most of your moments in the game. And I mean, when Arsenal went in at 1-0 at half-time, you just thought slightly that, you know,

they could be punished here for not making more of those opportunities early on. West Ham were excellent as well, I thought. I thought they were a really, really well-organised side, like defensively, you know, obviously they limited those chances significantly. Yeah, you were obviously there, Tim, as well. It's going to hurt, but heaps of love on West Ham. Did they deserve it? I mean, Jonas Eidevall said before the game he was pointing out that West Ham were fifth on a XG,

expected goals going into this game. So he was kind of, his message was very much West Ham have not been rewarded for their performances this season and that they're actually the team that have been missing chances. So, you know, from their perspective, they perhaps earned the slice of luck they got in this game. From Arsenal's perspective, they had 10 sloppy minutes at the beginning

of the second half and were punished to the maximum for it. But I think you can see with West Ham. Some of the signings they made in January have made a huge difference. So bringing Shalina Zdorsky in as the left-sided centre-half. Means they've been able to move Sissoko to the right. So not only have they got another very good defender. I think they've got Sissoko in a position where she's more comfortable. And Katrina Gorey in midfield as well.

You can just see that she's that step up in quality compared to what West Ham have had earlier in the season. And incidentally, I think I'd point people to Katrina Gorey's Instagram, where she talks very frankly about, obviously, she has a young child, and she only just made the warm-up because her child was ill, and she was talking in glowing terms about West Ham, about how they allowed her to deal with that as a mum and as a player. And I think it's really great that she brought that story out as well. But yeah, I think, look, most of the time Arsenal would win that game. But then again, Arsenal, you know, they've lost to Liverpool and Tottenham this season. So maybe they wouldn't have. But yeah, West Ham, very, very organised. And I think they've always had quality in attack,

but maybe not quite had the service. And bringing players like Gorry in has really just upped the level for them. I've just noticed as well that you're wearing your Arsenal jumper, which is bold on a day like today. Yeah, yeah. One of my house hoodies, yeah.

Your house hoodies. I love that. The men's team helped alleviate the pain. Oh, yeah. But we're not talking about that. Anita, a question from Fred, actually, which kind of goes off the back of what Tim just said. Is this kind of surprise defeat for Arsenal a sign of developing depth in the league or just one of those things do you think? No I think it's definitely a sign of the added quality that's coming into the league you saw the business they did in this transfer window a number of clubs have done that Tim also mentioned obviously that they haven't been rewarded for their performances so results haven't necessarily

reflected the performances they have put out and And that's great, obviously, for the league. But no, I felt that actually Arsenal were limited to difficult chances as well in the game. They weren't easy chances. They were, you know, they put numbers behind in the box. I thought Katrina Gorey was outstanding and showed her quality, you know, bringing in an experienced Australian international made a difference.

She was a stopper, disrupted play, helped them in transition. Hayashi, Ueki, there's a number of players and then they've added that depth on their bench. So, yeah, I really do think that's probably the truth. Yeah, another question from Adam via social media. Susie, this one's going to you. If you were a teacher at a parents parents evening and you had to report on Jonas Eideveld's progress this season as Arsenal manager, what would you grade and review this season so

far be for him? Oh, that's brutal. I mean, maybe a must do better. I don't know. I mean, they played really well. There was just, yeah, a lack of goals. I mean, it's hard to grade isn't it like midway at the midway point but yeah i am worried that they'll finish a little too far down the table

for my liking and potentially without a trophy and then it will be interesting to see how we assess the season because you know the talent of the squad the depth of it now the players returning from injury like you want to be seeing some kind of return for for that level of investment in the squad um so yeah they've got to do better they've got to be scoring goals for the amount of chances they're creating but hopefully this is a blip and not a complete return to the start of the season. But Susie you know realistically did they do very well because I you know when I watched the game the first half West Ham had an extremely high line and they struggled to exploit it aside from the one that Miedema you know was likely on side and it wasn't given their goal has come from a set

piece which really West Ham should have done better in. And, you know, throughout the game, it just seems that even since they played, you know, Liverpool in the opening part of the season, they struggle with teams that get into that compact, organised, aggressive kind of press and just work opposite movements. And it just felt a bit predictable,

in my opinion, watching at times, quite, you know, rigid in their movement, keep holding their positions maybe too much at times and they need a deeper run from midfield and that kind of thing. And then second half, Jonas brings in Kyra Cooney-Cross, who's obviously a talent, but you've got two defensive midfielders on the pitch and you need to score goals.

I didn't really understand it. So that would be my question mark as well, is being able to flip to a plan B a little bit I agree with you I would I like the only thing I'd add is that obviously there were the two possible penalty shouts the late one on uh from Katrina Gorry and the early sort of handball juggling that just went on in the box which you know both could have been given, which maybe would have swung the game a little bit. But, you know, they balance out over the course of the season as well,

don't they, generally, those decisions. So, I mean, yeah, I don't think Arsenal have too many complaints necessarily. Yeah, I think Anita's exactly right. This has been a season-long issue for Arsenal. And I went back and watched the game yesterday, and there were so many occasions and I've seen this a lot from Arsenal this season where a ball in behind is on and they don't play it and if you go back and watch West Ham's equaliser pull over and she did this a few times

in the game there's a ball in behind on to Beth Mead and she checks and doesn't play it Gorry takes the ball off her and then Gorry goes and plays a brave ball between the lines and there just seems to be a real hesitance in that final action and Arsenal perhaps not trying to take the risk with the final pass. And I think also, I'm not going to grade Jonas because I've got to speak to him in two hours. So that's slightly awkward. But, you know, Arsenal have brought in a striker like Russo who

likes to drop deep and connect play and she's brilliant at that but Arsenal haven't figured out the other part which is if you can have a striker that does that you've got to have runners in behind and they don't do enough of that the midfield double pivot does stay pretty pretty much where it is and they just haven't quite got that sense of movement and fluidity in the final third. And it has been a problem all season long. This was not a one-off. Well, I don't have to see Jona Seidevall later.

And I feel like I need to answer Adam's question, which you all skirted around. A should be for Arsenal, but I'm thinking on the balance of what the panel has said, it's looking like a C. And bearing in mind they're third, I think that kind of works doesn't it C maybe C plus by the way no team who's lost three games in a single season has ever won the WSL sorry to impart that piece of knowledge on you while we're talking Arsenal as well quick one because it was announced on Friday that Jen Beattie's left the club to join NWSL side Bay FC.

She's been a long-serving gooner, hasn't she, across two spells at the club, winning the WSL title, two FA Cups and three League Cups and making 166 appearances. So we wish the very best of luck to her. Right, Chelsea made sure they took full advantage of Arsenal's slip-up and kept their grip on the title with a 3-0 win over Everton at Kings Meadow. It came courtesy of a pair of penalties, coolly slotted home by Guru Wrighton and a superb late-team goal finished off by Aaron Cuthbert. Poor Claire Wheeler, though, guilty for giving away both spot kicks for challenges on Johanna Ritten-Canyard and Mayra Ramirez. And it's fair to say there's been some debate around both of them

Susie but especially the first one oh yeah I mean neither uh penalties for me obviously you can argue the second one is a bit of a more stronger case for a penalty in my mind but the first one I just don't see what what we look and do in that situation she's cleared the ball she's well she's won the ball first then she's cleared it and in the follow-through she stepped on writing canyons foot and i just can't see where else she can put her foot at that point like you can't sort of spot writing canyons foot coming in and then whip yours out the way and land it somewhere else in sort of that high speed scenario you know so it's a nasty step on her foot but I don't think it is a penalty because she's already cleared the ball it's gone obviously you know the referee is getting absolutely slaughtered for the

two decisions everywhere and with my having sat with the pgmol on their training day hat on like for me it's one of those things where like i know we when we you know see the way var is implemented in the men's game you know you can long for the past but for me these are moments where you know the benefits of our shine through and being able to re-look at those decisions would be a big help as long as it, you know, kind of was implemented the right way. But yeah, I sort of feel like you can't really, you know, necessarily, obviously two big mistakes, but that's where we need technology to help us out a little bit, maybe. Yeah, it feels like that for sure obviously both controversial Tim but at the same time Chelsea were just the better team Everton didn't even manage a single shot on target. Yeah I think Everton's complaint would probably be that they look reasonably comfortable at the

point that the first penalty is given I agree in the grand scheme of things I probably think Chelsea go on to win this game anyway. However, that first penalty, I think Everton look pretty comfortable in their back three. Obviously, Chelsea have brought in a new striker and that's maybe going to take a few weeks to properly gel. The other thing about it is I think usually with a referee, particularly when you don't have VAR, usually a referee might look at the second one and think, do you know what? I gave a really harsh first penalty. That's not really clear.

Maybe I just don't give that one. And there are two borderline penalties and I've given one and in the balance of play, that kind of seems all right. But to give both seemed really, really harsh. I don't think either of them were. And then to kind of cap it off by sending Brian Sorensen off and you can just see here I'm not much of a lip reader but I'm sure he mouths I'm talking to my

players and nobody really seems to be able to work out why he was sent off as well I mean if I were an Everton fan I'd feel extremely harshly done by by this game yeah he did look utterly bemused on the touchline didn't he and it means that they're likely look utterly bemused on the touchline, didn't he? And it means that they're likely to be without him on the sidelines against relegation rivals West Ham in a fortnight's time. So, you know, that could have consequences for sure.

It is, though, a record-extending 22nd successive WSL home win for Chelsea, but a fourth successive defeat for Everton, meaning that they're just five points clear of danger in 10th place let's move on to the joy stadium shall we Manchester City had to wait patiently and rely on two superb strikes in the space of three minutes from Lauren

Hemp in the 82nd and Chloe Kelly in the 85th to break down a really resolute Leicester City Anita they defended for their lives but two moments of magic ultimately unlocked things for the hosts. And you can't say they didn't deserve it after they were denied by the woodwork, the offside flag, and some pretty inspired goalkeeping as well. Yeah, I mean, it's heartbreak for Leicester

when you put in that kind of level of concentration, you're defending a really top side with, you know know dynamic attacking players and obviously Chloe Kelly and Hemp and then you've got Shaw and her physical presence and ability to hold up play but I was really impressed with the fact that Man City are always true to the way they play and they always believe that they will come good if that makes sense and were able to bring in substitutions as well you know I thought Jess Park came in and added some impact as well. You know, her link-up play with Hemp for that second one.

And we know the quality of Chloe Kelly to score directly, you know, from a corner as well is just pure class. But they're the kind of team that just fly under the radar a little bit, even though you've got Shaw in the top goal-scoring charts as well. And I think they're really showing that they are here to be real title contenders. Yeah, they certainly are. Poor Willie Kirk, though.

He's got a miserable record against Manchester City. Listen to this. He's lost each of his 14 WSL matches against them, losing those by an aggregate score of 42 to 4. That's the longest ever losing run by a manager against a WSL rival. Sorry if you're listening to this, Willie, and you didn't know those stats. It is, though, a seventh successive WSL win for Manchester City. They showed why they're Chelsea's main title rivals,

looking to win the competition for the first time since 2016, which sets us up tantalisingly for the next set of league fixtures there on the 16th of February where City make the trip to King's Meadow to face Chelsea Friday night under the lights I'm excited about that one already let's get to Lee Valley Sports Village Nikita Paris continued her sensational goal scoring form bagging another brace in a 2-0 win over managerless Brighton we'll talk more about that in a second. But Paris fired home first-time efforts past Seagulls keeper Sophie Bagley in each half. Jayser bagged a pair of assists to make sure that Mark Skinner's side capitalised on Arsenal's defeat

and stay within reach of the top three. Let's give some love to Nikita, Tim, shall we? Her seventh and eighth goals of the season. She's really flying at the minute. Yeah, I'm really happy for her for her because you know she went to Lyon where she was a bit of a backup came to Arsenal it didn't really work even her first season at Manchester United was a little bit hot and cold but they've really found a position for her here you know we're talking about particularly the title race and really I think what's defining it is the teams that are settled so City have gone into this season very settled same front line Arsenal have changed their front line they're

not adjusting to it Chelsea are Chelsea at the moment it's taken United a few months to find this formula but where they've moved Jay-Z out wide put Paris up front both of the goals in this game are exactly the same Jay-Z taking on the full-back. We know she's a brilliant, brilliant dribbler out there and pulling the ball back to Nikita Parris. It really looks like United have found their formula now. It took them a little while to get that and it took a little while for Jay-Z to settle in as well. And Nikita Parris is really, really benefiting from that.

In terms of her England chances, I'm not sure Russo or Daly has completely and utterly got the centre forward position on lock at the moment. And someone like Nikita Paris, who actually those were quite Ellen White goals, weren't they?

And I do feel like England still have a little bit of an Ellen White shaped hole up front. And I do wonder whether Keats could get back into the squad. It's a really good question, actually, because her manager, Mark Skinner, was asked whether or not she deserved an England recall. And he said it's got to be hard to ignore.

She's in a real good space and hopefully she gets rewarded for that if Serena Wiegmann and her team thinks that's right at the moment. This is what Alex wanted to ask us, Anita. With Nikita Paris' fire flame emoji form, do you think there's any chance of an England recall? Yeah, definitely. I think she was left out, obviously, of the World Cup squad

and she seems inspired this season, which is great because she's showing that character to want to prove herself to some degree. And as Tim mentioned, the thing about the goals because she's showing that character to want to, you know, prove herself to some degree. And as Tim mentioned, the thing about the goals that she's scoring, she's scoring like proper forwards goals. You know, that desire to just be in and around the box and anticipate things and then have the quality and composure to finish. That's what England is kind of missing a little bit is someone who just is there for the ugly situations as well. And having played against Nikita, she is a bit of a harasser. She's the kind of forward you don't always want to meet

because she just doesn't stop. And actually is very good in a pressing game as well because she is dynamic. So yeah, I think she absolutely has the opportunity. And Serena will be looking at that because I also agree. I don't think that number nine position is fully decided upon yet. Yeah, it's going to be fascinating that for sure. The squad announced on the 13th of February for the friendlies out in Spain. Manchester United, by the way, now just four points behind

Arsenal, who funnily enough enough they host next time out it's like the WSL fixture gods are aligning in two weeks time now Mikey Harris was in the Brighton dugout for this one after Thursday's shock news that the club had sacked head coach Melissa Phillips after just nine months in charge technical director David Weir said it wasn't a decision that's been taken lightly, but we feel it's vital for the progress we want to see. While managing director Zoe Johnson added the immediate priority is upcoming WSL, Conti Cup and FA Cup matches against Manchester United, Aston Villa and Wolves the following week,

while also beginning the search for a permanent head coach. The news kind of just came out of nowhere first and foremost Susie didn't it? It shocked us all. Any word on who might be being lined up to replace her and what did you make of the announcement? I've not heard any word obviously Mark Parsons has been seen at various games but you know all across the league so you know we know he's interested in a WSL job potentially and you know it would be a good signing for any any club to take on whether Brighton have actually got someone lined up or not or had someone in mind when they got rid of Melissa Phillips I don't know yeah real real shock but I also just I just you know wonder if this like sort of short-term thinking is like creeping in a little bit to the WSL I mean I get the results

and performances aren't necessarily matching the investment line like I understand it but how quickly do you expect to like turn things around and gel together a team you know obviously we saw Willie Kirk at the extreme end of that uh when he was at Everton. But it just feels like not much time to be able to bring together a huge, huge incoming of players. It was 11 players in the summer coming in. I think 10 went out. And that's a big ask to be able to bring those together. And then, again, I get the talk of investment.

I get they've spent money on players to bring those together. And then, again, I get the talk of investment. I get they've spent money on players to bring those in, but it's not exactly like they were players that were necessarily going to be real, proven, top-quality players that would walk into any of the top four sides or anything. Maria Forest-Ottier joined from United, having not had the best time there, not necessarily done particularly well at Chelsea.

Obviously, Sophie Bagley is a net and keeper but her derived from United having been back up to Mary Earps not been playing regularly Vicky Lozada it's got a lot of pedigree but is you know 32 nearing the end of her career Pauline Bremer obviously her city time was stunted by injury not made a huge number of appearances for Wolfsburg before joining Brighton. So, yes, all good players on paper. Yes, all decent players that have played at World Cups and blah, blah. But not necessarily going to slot together perfectly in an instant.

And that, too soon. That's all I'm going to say. I guess from Brighton's point of view the underlying data for Brighton is is even worse than the results and I think the other thing that might be concerning him is how much the team is chopping and changing as well I still wouldn't have I'd have waited till the end of the season I don't think they're going to get relegated but it also does seem like there must have been a flashpoint because she did her press conference on Thursday morning. So what happened that four hours later that she was sacked,

there must have been some kind of conversation, argument. I don't know what the conversations have been like prior to that in the season, but it does feel like there must have been some kind of flashpoint on Thursday. I'm told there was nothing. I'm told there was nothing. I'm told there was no smoking gun, that it was like, and I was like, how? How can it, how can there not have been? It was on men's transfer deadline day as well. You know, it's a busy, busy day.

She's done the press conference and then she's gone. So I feel like, I agree that I feel something, something has gone on there for them to pull the trigger at that point. And I agree the stats aren't great, but there for them to pull the trigger at that point. And I agree the stats aren't great, but how do you improve the stats? You start bringing together the team and getting them playing well. And I sort of feel like the stats tell the now, right? But they don't necessarily tell what the future is going to look like once you've actually built. Well, I've played in a team where it's been almost completely new.

You know, when I signed for Villa, that takes time to build a cohesive team and to get your imprint, your ideology across and to make everyone feel comfortable in their transition, wherever they're coming from in the world. I don't think we take enough care in understanding that part, aside from the football, you know, before people really come into confidence and start playing well and gelling. But also, I think they were one win away from potentially being in seventh. Like we say, they're not in danger, in my opinion, of being in the relegation battle. They had two games upcoming, home to Liverpool and away to Bristol.

Potentials, you know, potential games they could pick up points in. So it just felt like for a club that always seems to have such clarity, and I know they are very data driven and algorithms and all that, it still feels quite a shock that they wouldn't give her a bit more grace and time to at least build upon all the changes and transition that have happened within a team that was relatively unstable last season. Yeah, it certainly does feel as if there's something more to it, which may come to light in the fullness of time. But it's raised another question, actually, Anita. Obviously, Emma Hayes has spoken this week on the lack of female coaches in English football being a massive issue. She wants there to be minimum standards for professional clubs around the

hiring of female coaches and more support offered to women as well in terms of funding to gain their coaching badges. What's your take on that? Yeah, she's absolutely right. I mean, if you look around the league, there are to get to that level as well that probably deters a lot more females from getting into coaching because it is such a grind I mean Emma you know when she started her career in coaching in the US she would I think there was something like twelve thousand dollars or something she was making in one season sixteen thousand which shows you she wasn't doing it necessarily for the money it's her passion and her drive and her commitment to the sport.

But that's a challenge for a lot of women who got to juggle families and other responsibilities and other pressures because coaching is such a demanding responsibility and role as well. And so we have to find ways to encourage and support the needs of those, I think, that want to come through the game and also make it feel inclusive in those environments, in those learning environments, where so much of it is centred towards still men's football. So, yeah, I totally agree with her. Yeah, it's about £10,000 to do a pro licence, by the way,

and obviously the wages in the women's game are insignificant compared to the men's game. There's just Emma Hayes, Carla Ward, Rhiann Skinner and Lauren Smith the only female head coaches left in the WSL six female bosses by the way in the women's championship though and Emma Hayes wanted more creative ways to entice women into the game Susie what can be done? It's a great question I mean it's a really difficult one obviously Obviously, you can target retiring players, you can target players that, you know, don't necessarily make out of academies or, you know, and into professional football. You know, why not grab some of those players who, you know, kind of think they're going to have to go out into the world in all different kind of areas and say, no, stay within the game, do your coaching badges or refereeing badges or whatever it may be you know let's get onto one of those other areas of the game if if that's what you fancy doing and then I think there needs to be a creativity of mind around getting new people completely into

the game on coaching courses you know there's been various schemes I remember the London FA did one that I signed up to and so did Amy Lawrence as well when she was a guardian we both did it to get a hundred women doing the level one coaching course in London and that was a great scheme and they've covered the cost of it and they partnered you with a club local to you and you went and did like some coach like I went and did some stuff with late and orient in various schools around wolfenstone and i thought the scheme was brilliant but it lasted one year and that was it and i think there needs to be more consistent work like that being done you know to actively encourage people parents as well you know what are we going to some of these youth games and like looking at parents that might be interested in being involved you know if they're

going to the games every week why not kind of take a more active interest and like participate in what's going on on the pitch as well like I just think there's you know so many things that could be done that aren't done but the problem is it requires quite a significant investment and bodies on the ground for want of a better words to go and find them um but you've got to be a bit of an activist about it not just sort of a little advert here and there oh we need to get more women into coaching it needs to be like a real proactive like project suzy you you mentioned retiring players there i know something arsenal do on the men's side is in the academy they've started doing coaching badges with their academy

players because the reality is most of them aren't going to make it so it's like do your coaching badges on the side so if we release you when you're 20 you can do that and like surely you can do that with the women's academies championship players who maybe are part-time looking to supplement their incomes for example I know that's not perfect, but I think you're right. I think there's more that can be done at that kind of level. Yep, for definite. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll discuss the rest of the WSL action,

plus take a closer look at the Champions League, League and FA Cup. welcome back to part two of the guardian women's football weekly two more wsl ties to look back on let's start at the best got shall we where carrie jones's 75th minute long range stunner earned bottom side bristol city a point as they twice fought back from behind to draw with Aston Villa. Oh, Anita, what a shift from the girls yet again. Villa had 72% possession, 36 shots. Bristol with just four, but there was some really superb defending in this game. And new goalkeeper Shea Yanez made some brilliant stops as well. Yeah, I was really proud of the performance, actually.

I think they dug in deep. They were resilient. They kept the belief. They worked really hard together, even though they were withstanding a lot of pressure from Aston Villa, who dominated the ball, especially in the first half. Yanez was really exceptional as well

in finding the right transition moments as well to just relieve some pressure for the team and I think Testrip has been you know a revelation at Bristol you know she's in the I think top four of the goal scoring charts as well even though Bristol are in a relegation battle and it's a young team you know this is a young team that's continually looking to develop and the way they fought back twice to just give themselves a chance is what you need this stage of the season. Is to have players that have the mental capacity to keep believing, to keep going, to keep trying. And they really showed that. And in the end, what a wonderful finish from Carrie Jones.

You know, it was really one of those stand up applaud moments because it was just pure class. It was an absolute beaut, wasn't it? And it feels like a real season defining couple of weeks for you, actually, if you're going to survive. Next two games in the league, as if I need to remind you, are against Leicester City and Brighton. How's the mood? I usually hate it when I'm asked this question. What's the mood like in the camp? To be honest, this is a team and a club that is so well integrated. And the support has been incredible throughout the season from the supporters who are showing up at Ashton Gate and cheering. And you've seen the numbers have been brilliant in terms of that kind of support in the West Country. But I think actually the morale is good. You know, there's a sense of belief. There's think actually the morale is good. You know,

there's a sense of belief. There's a sense we'll keep trying, you know, and the players' commitment to the task every single game, they give their all, you know, and this is a tough league and that's the exposure that a lot of the young players are getting now. But ultimately, yeah, everybody is aware of the challenge ahead. Lauren Smith has mentioned this in the press conferences as well, was really disappointed with the previous result. But ultimately, everybody is just is up for the challenge and they're trying to give everything they can. Yeah. Another hugely frustrating afternoon for Carla Ward and her Aston Villa side, though, unable to capitalise on their dominance, really lacking that final product as well. Add to that the deadline day sale of Laura Blinkhilder-Brown to Manchester City and the news that fellow midfielder Lucy Staniforce

has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. It feels like there's just more setbacks for this Villa side. Their next WSL game is away at Tottenham on the 18th of February right last but not least late drama at Prenton Park as Marie Hobinger scored an injury time equaliser to rescue a point for Liverpool

Celine Bizet looked to have won it for the visitors in the 71st minute in what had been quite a scrappy game to be fair but it was the home side who had the last laugh Hobinger's late strike ensuring that the side shared the spoils and remain level on points in the table the gap Tim to Manchester United stands at five points but it looks like these two are kind of fighting it out for the battle to be the best of the rest yeah definitely and in this gap I think what you can see with Spurs now as well they've got goals and a bit of creativity in the team. Actually, Beth England is yet to score this season

coming off the back of an injury, but they've got Martha Thomas, they've got Bizet who's scoring goals as well, Grace Clinton. It's been a really,

really good addition for them. You can see, I think, that Tottenham have taken a step forward because they were a very defensive,

disciplined team, but they've got a little bit more about them, I think, at the moment whereas Liverpool I think are that kind of very obdurate quite stubborn quite direct team but they've got a number of threats as well they can play Van der Sanden up front they've got

Hoag as well who's a great kind of target player so this does look to me like definitely the two teams that are kind of battling out to be the best of the rest but to be honest I don't see either of them challenging that top four kind of anytime soon but I think Spurs will kick themselves about this game because even after they scored they had several chances to go two nil up that that they didn't take and it was quite an even game until it went to one nil and it really looked like Spurs to kill it off and they didn't. Yeah, in the Championship, a bit of a wild weekend results-wise. Shocks all over the place.

Crystal Palace, the big winners in terms of the race for promotion. They took advantage of tabletopping Charlton's surprise one-all draw with bottom of the table Lewis and Sunderland's 1-0 defeat at Strugglers Reading. Palace beat fellow promotion chasers Southampton 2-1 thanks to goals from Izzy Atkinson and Elise Hughes. There was a big upset as well at Grosvenor Vale. Arsenal loanee Michelle Aguimang scoring two late goals for Watford

as they beat high-flying Birmingham 2-0 to end a run of seven straight wins for the visitors. That moves Watford level on 12 points with London City Lionesses just inside the relegation zone but on goal difference Lewis sit bottom of the pile with 10 points but very much still in touching distance and at the top Charlton sit on 30 points Sunderland have 28 while Palace Southampton and Birmingham queuing up just behind Anita Bristol City won the league by just a point last season, pipping Birmingham to the post, but it feels even tighter this season. It's crazy.

Yeah, definitely. But it's super exciting and it just shows you just how far the championship has come along in terms of, you know, clubs investing more. Southampton, you know, in and around the pack, Birmingham as well. well you know those teams have recruited well they've got players some who have come from obviously the WSL now in the championship with experience you know my good friend Roosha Littlejohn is there at London City as well so yeah I think it's made for a really competitive season and it's great you know that hopefully it comes down to the wire in the final games of the season as well yeah it's just such a competitive league isn't it and none more so than this season

let's look at the Champions League we have our quarter finalists the drama in Group C didn't disappoint as we previewed for you the other week Ajax reached the last eight for the first time in their history with a late 2-1 win over Roma. Bayern Munich crashed out though following their two-all draw with PSG. Heartbreak for Georgia Stanway. An-up Benfica, Bran, Ajax and Haken. By the time you listen to this, you're going to know who's facing who because the draw takes place this lunchtime in Lyon. That's Tuesday. This year's final will be held at San Mames

in Bilbao on the 25th of May. The question is can Chelsea go all the way for Emma Hayes in her final season in charge. Whatever happens, there's been great drama in these group stages, hasn't there? And it's brilliant to see Ajax, Benfica and Brand doing so well. The three of them reaching the last eight for the first time, Susie.

Oh, yeah, it's been great. And I think there's a lot of naysayers about the quality of the teams that got into the group stage and questions around the qualifying routes and whether they were good enough with Arsenal and Wolfsburg going out and then Man United as well. So it was really, really satisfying, I think, for many to see some of these teams that someone maybe considers to be on the fringe of the elite of Europe doing really well and getting through.

I mean, Real Madrid finishing bottom of Group D. I don't think anyone would have predicted that with Haken and Paris fighting it out for the second place behind Chelsea. Ajax getting in ahead of Bayern. Like, just really, really great games, great fixtures. I mean, that PSG-Bayern game was just absolutely brilliant. Like, heart-in-the-mouth stuff right till the end. Absolutely glued to it. But yeah, really, really, I'm worried about next season.

I think that getting rid of the group stage is a mistake. And copying, you know, I'm not convinced the format change in the men's side is going to work. So why are we immediately, why aren't we giving it a couple of seasons and seeing how that goes before we you know think about adopting something new on the women's side when we've only just got our heads around this new setup and have started to really enjoy it that's what is frustrating for me I'll tell you why because they've all just woken up to the fact that women's football's great and they're like right okay now we're on board all right cheers for that Anita yeah but I think what's so exciting is the development that's happening in the rest of the women's game across Europe you know to see teams like Ajax coming up Benfica shows that there's probably better support and investment into those teams and a real belief

that they can go on and and do something and build a foundation for their legacy moving forward and I know Hecken was formerly my former team Gothenburg, Copperburg and obviously that went under a men's club and I know the investment there is a serious one where they really want to develop the women's team and now they're getting some sort of reward for that as well. And that really encourages other reward for that as well and that's that really encourages other teams throughout Europe as well and that's the strong thing about the Women's Champions League setup is clubs will look at be able to look at Ajax and Bran and clubs like that and say ah if we do that that could be us and I think that's that's really positive and and I think that's a

real shame that we're getting rid of that and I also think it's worth saying first time ever that there's no German team in the quarterfinals. Wow that's quite incredible isn't it oh god I've really felt for for Georgia Stanway in that moment nobody wants that to be to be on them does it um quick turnaround in the Conte Cup this week after the conclusion of the group stages the quarterfinals are upon us already all four ties taking place on Wednesday night. Just a reminder, Brighton Aston Villa, Chelsea Sunderland, London City Lionesses Arsenal and Tottenham against Manchester City. And the Cup football keeps coming because it's FA Cup fifth round weekend as well.

Leicester against Birmingham kicks things off on Saturday lunchtime. In the evening, it's Tottenham against Charlton. And on Sunday, this is your rundown. Arsenal Man City, Wolves Brighton, Chelsea Crystal Palace, London City Lionesses against Liverpool, Southampton Man United and Nottingham Forest Everton. And I have to say, in terms of WSL, we can't really look much further than that Arsenal-Manchester City tie, Anita.

Bearing in mind what's happened in the league this weekend, it's almost a must win for the Gunners, isn't it? Most definitely. I think, you know, they're in a cup competition. The title mathematically is still on, but it's going to be challenging. They still have to meet them in the league and Chelsea, obviously they will play as well in the league. So this is the one they really have to go for but I feel the momentum and the form is sort of with Man City so yeah it

will be a really interesting and competitive contest. Yeah it's going to be brilliant isn't it as will be the other teams lower down the leagues getting themselves involved I'm thinking Wolves and Nottingham Forest and you've all been messaging us excited about these fixtures going ahead Nolly said what do you make of Forest and Wolves chances against Everton and Brighton at home this weekend both teams hosting at their regular home ground is that going to work in their favour Tim? Yeah very well could do and they're kind of teams who aren't entirely out of the relegation picture in the WSL. So what kind of teams are they going to pick? What kind of focus will they have on these games?

I think that's probably a smart idea from both of them to play at their regular home grounds. I think one of those is possible. Also, Southampton United. Arsenal went to Southampton in the Conte Cup and they were brilliant. And they were really, really unfortunate to lose in the last minute. So I think that's another one to keep an eye on. I think Marianne Space is building something really, really good, really, really strong

and solid at Southampton. So listen, we talk about it every year and it very, very rarely happens, but I wouldn't be surprised if we got one shock in this round. Yeah, I think you're right. And I know we have a lot of Wolves fans that listen to this podcast

who would be desperately hoping that it's them. Just to mark your cards, it's been announced that England are going to begin preparations for Euro qualifying with friendlies against Austria and Italy and Spain

at the end of the month. Official qualifying for the 2025 championship begins in April with the draw taking place on the 5th of March. I mean, it's pretty crazy. It's that time again. But two good tests for the holders, Anita.

And it's going to be interesting to see how Serena and the team regroup after that Nations League and Olympic disappointment. Yeah, definitely. I think it's good to go get games against good opposition again and start to sort of figure out, take some learnings from the tournament and then the Nations League and how they can sort of improve in those areas where they sort of fell short as well. But also an opportunity to maybe have a look at new players and maybe new dynamics and relationships and obviously the return of big hitters, Beth Mead, you know, Williamson is back as well. So them coming back into the fold could also be really invigorating, I think, for the whole group to have them back. Yeah, it certainly has.

And Susie Rack's locked out. She's spending a week in Marbella with the Lionesses. I know, unbelievable. With the under-23s as well, which I think is really good. They've joined the camps together. And I think that's a sign of how Serena wants to use this to look beyond the existing squad as well which I think is really good they've joined the camps together and I think that's a sign of like how Serena wants to use this to look beyond the existing squad as well that they're

bringing those together and playing two games too Yeah I think we're going to see much more of that going forward. Right really serious topic to end the pod on. There's a conversation that we you know will need to go more in depth with at some point regarding player coach relationships in women's football.

But Sheffield United have sacked head coach Jonathan Morgan after new information came to light about his conduct before he joined the club. His former management agency also ended their relationship with him, saying in a statement, it had learnt new information regarding Jonathan Morgan and a relationship with a player. It's understood United's sacking of Morgan isn't linked to any investigations surrounding the death of Maddy

Cusack. Luke Turner is going to be taking over as interim boss. But Jonathan Morgan himself has admitted to The Athletic that he did have a relationship while he was head coach at Leicester City, but he denies that he abused his power in that role and insists that the player was 18 not 17 as she and her mother allege and it was also before June 2022 when the FA formalized a law prohibiting figures in positions of trust including managers from having a sexual relationship with anyone they look after under the age of 18. What more do we know, Susie? Not a huge amount more. I mean, the unfortunate thing is, like you say,

the time and the frame at which the FA actually brought in legislation on this is fairly recent. And before that, this was a bit of a grey area that sort of just, you know, particularly in the amateur game, sort of was just sort of semi-accepted. Where the reality is, is that the power dynamic between a player and a coach is never one that you should be messing with relationship wise because you know there's so many different nuances to that that dynamic between a player and a coach and the rest of the team and things the problem is is it's not the first and it won't be the last and I think it's you know particularly if you look before that rule

and into the like back into the history of the game there's probably plenty of skeletons in closets that will eventually come to light but you know when they fall in that sort of grey area of time and grey area of what is right and wrong in the context of the amateur game there's problems there but it's you know obviously completely right that he's gone. It's never okay to have a relationship, in my mind, between a player and a coach. And regardless of age, regardless of team, regardless of level of development of the club,

for me, that's a line that just shouldn't be crossed. Yeah, before the 2022 law, the FA had outlined its position on player-coach relationships in the wake of Mark Sampson losing his job as England head coach. If you remember, it was revealed that he'd had inappropriate and unacceptable relationships with players in his previous role at Bristol Academy, stressing in general coach and adult player relationships are not advised because of the potential for power imbalance and the impact on team culture and dynamics and the FA's director of women's football Sue Campbell had previously said in 2018 that she regarded player-coach personal relationships as a concern. How concerning and how prevalent is it Anita? I couldn't tell you how prevalent it is currently but of course it's a concern because

as a coach you know I'll be away with the England under 23s myself this month and we have a duty of care to our players and a responsibility and the trust of of you know parents as well that allow release them to go on these camps and things like that so I agree with Susie in the terms of there is a power dynamic or you know a responsibility that should never be crossed in my opinion and I've always maintained that opinion even as a player throughout my career that that was something that really shouldn't happen and so yeah it's it's good that this legislation is finally obviously here in in recent times but um it obviously was long overdue

yeah a big bit of work needs to be done on due diligence in the league as a whole not just around these issues but just generally I don't think enough is is done to look into the background of coaches both as individuals and like you know kind of things like that but also just as coaches, you know, and the quality of their coaching. I don't think any, like, really, really good due diligence is done in so many different areas around, like, incoming coaches, partly because the pool is so small. And we saw, you know, a year or two ago in the NWSL, there was a real culture of, you know, I'll say this type of thing very, very broadly. And it does make me wonder,

again, I don't know, and I hope this isn't the case, but it does make me wonder if there's going to be a lifting the rock kind of moment and whether more of these types of incidents are going to come to light as they did in the NWSL quite recently. I think it would have been very naive to believe that somehow that culture was just isolated to the NWSL as well yeah I think you're absolutely right and I think it's something that we'll be speaking about again right it's been an absolute pleasure to have you all on thank you for all your insights as always I'd forgotten Anita that you would also be out in mobs with Susie I've got massive amounts of FOMO now,

but it's lovely to see you as always. Yeah, likewise. I got the sunscreen ready to go and packed. Well done. Well done. I literally have to slather on the Factor 50. I can't be doing with sunshine, so I'll just stay in cold, gloomy England instead.

Tim, lovely to see you. Well done you for not taking off that Gunners hoodie. My pleasure as always. Thank you. Susie Rack, I shall see you soon. See you soon, but not in Spain. Oh, don't. Stop it. Stop it. We will be back next week with a review of all the league and FA Cup action

and a closer look at the biggest news across the women's game. Remember, you can email us at womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com. Tweet us your questions as well and make sure you sign up for our free women's football newsletter, which is now bi-weekly, by the way. All you need to do is search Moving the Goalposts, sign up. And actually, in today's edition, our very own Anita Asante writes, there's a lot of talk about players' mental health, but what about coaches?

It's a really important read, especially bearing in mind some of the topics that we were discussing on the pod today. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Lucy Oliver. Music composition was by Laura Iredale. Our executive producer is Sal Ahmed. Producer Issal Ahmad. Women's Football Weekly is supported by Google Pixel, the only phone engineered by Google and official mobile phone of Arsenal Football Club, Liverpool Football Club and the England teams. Engineered by Google, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro

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