The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Where now for Arsenal’s season after FA Cup exit? – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: February 13, 2024

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Sophie Downey and Tanya Oxtoby round up the FA Cup fifth-round action, including a big win for Manchester City

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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. There was no sprinkling of FA Cup magic for the lower league teams as the WSL sides prevailed in the fifth round. Manchester City made a bad week for Arsenal even worse. They're into the quarterfinals after a controversial game at Meadow Park. Meanwhile, Leicester and Everton are at sixes and sevens, but in a good way. We'll discuss all of that, plus we'll take your questions. You'll get no Super Bowl cliches in this intro.

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, an official mobile phone of Arsenal Football Club, Liverpool Football Club and the England teams. Google Pixel's working with the FA, Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC to close the visibility gap between men's and women's football with the formation of Pixel FC, a collective of next generation creators and presenters dedicated to covering the women's game.

They'll have exclusive access to players, additional resources and content creation opportunities to give women's football the visibility it deserves. Search Google Store to find out more. What a panel we have today, Susie Rack. I thought you might have gone AWOL again like you did just before Christmas. You know, two Arsenal defeats in a row. Yeah, I mean, I've got to face the music sometime, right? Yeah, every week at the moment. Yeah.

Don't worry, the music can be a violin if you would like to choose that. Sophie Downey, an FA Cup field weekend for you. Have you got new shirts behind you? They're looking very impressive. What have you got? They're not new shirts, but I've tried to make a little background for any videos that we do.

But yeah, this one is my 100th cap for England. It's not really a cap, but it's the 100th game we covered. So we were given a shirt by England and England also gave us the other one for when we reached our 1000th game. It two years ago 2021 or maybe last year actually sorry um yeah so yeah all the love for girls on the ball and I love that you've got your Vancouver hat like sandwiched in between two England shirts that's quite entertaining oh and a pod debut

for former Bristol City manager and Chelsea assistant, now Northern Ireland boss, Tanya Oxtoby. How are you? I'm excellent, thanks. How are you? Yes, we're all very good, thank you. Looking forward to having you on. What shirts have you got there behind you that I can spot? Yeah, there's a history on the wall there. So we've got a Bristol City shirt, Chelsea, obviously, my Australian shirt and Northern Ireland is due to go on there very, very soon. Oh, excellent, excellent. We are going to talk about all things

Northern Ireland with you very shortly, but let's get stuck into all the FA Cup fifth round action first. And where else to start but Meadow Park, where it finished Arsenal nil, Manchester City won, Laia Alexandre pouncing on a loose ball from a dangerous Chloe Kelly delivery in the 74th minute was the only goal

of the game and made sure that Gareth Taylor's side progressed to the quarterfinals the headline on your match report for the Guardian Susie said Kiara Keating the hero quite the redemptive afternoon for her really after what happened when these two met in the league back in November. Give us your assessment of the game, though. Yeah, really redemptive. It was quite nice to see after she was, you know, like left the pitch crying and looked pretty inconsolable last time out when they played in the league after those two big errors.

So that was like a really nice narrative. And she just looked so, so happy afterwards as well. But yeah, I mean, it was a really, really scrappy first half, I thought. Like a lot of sloppy passing, very back and forth, very few chances. Second half opened up a little bit more. I thought Arsenal pressed in a little bit more i thought arsenal pressing a little bit higher had more chances arguably but again like this problem of not being able to score and put the ball in the net has been a bit of an issue and you know in contrast to the the league game between them where city really dominated and weren't very clinical here they got like what was a little bit of a scrappy goal in

that you know Steph Cattley probably should have cleared it but yeah they were able to poke it over the line so I mean whoever scores deserves to win right but it was pretty deserved win um in that they you know were the more clinical side when it actually came down to kind of putting the ball in back of net but um I did actually think Arsenal edged it a little bit in the second half until the goal went in. Did Arsenal score? Did they score? Did the ball cross the line?

It's really hard to say, right? Because we've not got the angle. Like no goal line technology, no VAR. The angle of the images is really poor. To me, it looks like it is because her foot is on the line and she is reaching across it to pull the ball back so that sort of implies but like you're guessing right where however it is you're guessing and the problem is is that there's two players stood on

the line blocking on the side that the um assistant is so it's really like it's impossible for the for the linesman or woman to see down the line and see whether it's across or not because there's two bodies in the way it looks it but like you can see why like the referee is in a bit of a difficult position there because it's really difficult to see and there's no like technological support and the linesman's view is completely blocked so a city should have had a penalty in the first half probably i thought arsenal could have had a penalty at one point. Like, these things tend to sort of loosely even themselves out, don't they? Like, so, yeah, I mean, it's annoying. But yeah, I sort of feel like, yeah, it's much of a muchness when there's not that support there technologically.

It all works out in the wash. Sometimes, not always. There was a real edge to this one, Sophie, wasn't there? Lots of feistiness, individual battles out there as well. It was kind of the old cliche of a proper cup tie in many ways. I think especially in that first half, I think there were tackles coming in left, right and centre. Some really, really good ones, but it just put that kind of tone on the game and kind of the edge of two WSL kind of titans going head to head

so yeah there was a few feisty moments so there was the coming together between Lauren Hemp and Katie McCabe I think and then Chloe Kelly and Katie McCabe and then I think obviously there was that penalty shout in the first couple of minutes which I think Lotte Wubbermoy was pretty lucky to get away with she led with her arm on bunny shore and i think uh var would have definitely given that one so i think by halftime manchester city were feeling a bit probably aggrieved by that decision um but yeah as as suzy said like arsenal came out and they they connected their midfield i think a lot better in the second half i think in the first half alessia russo was way too far away from the kind of central midfielders. So she was having to do a lot of running.

But yeah, feisty. That's definitely the word. Yeah, that is the word. It was also a really interesting tactical battle, as Sophie alluded to there, Tanya. How did you see it from a coach's perspective? Yeah, great game. I really, really enjoyed as a neutral for once sitting and watching them battle it out. But I just thought for me, like City'sfields dominated for large parts of the game and I

think that's that's probably you know looking at Arsenal even against West Ham I felt they they lacked those opposite movements and and the ability to break lines and you know we all know City do that really really well I agree with you, Susie. I thought Kim Little, when she struck that bully, I thought that was going in and they miss her. Arsenal miss her greatly. She needs to be on the pitch for longer periods of time, controlling the game, because I just felt like Arsenal didn't have enough numbers in and around Rousseau,

in particular in the first half. She was really isolated and having to drop deeper and deeper. And actually that just played into City's hands, really. Yeah, Phil sent in this question via social media. Shout if you've got an opinion on it. Do you think Arsenal supporters, in inverted commas, vulgar ambience, is it ambience or ambience? It depends, I suppose, spurred on Chiara Keating to make those match winning saves. That, by the way, is how it was described in an article in The Telegraph

after Arsenal fans were shouting and parental guidance on this one. Your shit at Keating. I don't actually mind it at all. Like, you know, it's banter. They weren't rude. Well, I mean, it's rude, but they weren't abusive to her. It was just kind of part of the game. And you kind of want that kind of rivalry.

And I do think it spurred her on. I think what happened the last time she was at Medeo Park spurred her on as well but also hearing those supporters is going to give her that extra edge to somehow make that save off pullover I don't know how she got there yeah what a save that was that was amazing incredible she is amazing though yeah I've watched it again and again and I still don't know how she got to it she just seemed to come out of nowhere so brilliant brilliant save but yeah I do think it's better on but I don't mind it at all yeah I don't mind it either I I like one of the I was saying to someone earlier one of the things I have from when I was a kid and going to watch football with my dad is it felt really special to be a small child in a place where your dad is swearing and you're sort of

allowed to swear because it's in the lyrics of the songs and stuff and you get away with it and it felt like oh this is kind of fun this is a bit of a bonding experience and like i just oh yeah i just don't have a problem with a little bit of stick i think it adds to the atmosphere as long as it's like you know like not overly like abusive or anything like that. You know, there's no place for that. But, you know, a little bit of, you know, booing a goalkeeper when they're going to take a kick or calling them shit, like when it's just generic like that and done at everyone,

the you're just a shit Ellie Roebuck did make me chuckle. You know, you're getting on the players back after they've made two big mistakes in the previous game against you. Like, I think that's a fair game, right, to a certain extent. And she shut them up. And that's the joy of it. A bit like Lauren James celebrating in front of the United fans after they booed her.

And I like that part of the game. I think that adds to it. And a bit of that fan sort of rivalry and fan player rivalry, like, helps build a little bit of a culture as well that that can be good and not just bad it's always all right as long as it doesn't cross the line I think I love the fact that when I take my nephew to Luton he'll swear as age 14 and he'll look at me go it's okay because it's a football anti-fair yeah I'm like I mean no it's not but okay um and yeah it's funny because I know that there are some people who just don't like it full stop. And I think there's an argument for that as well.

Just in the context of Arsenal's season, Susie, how big a blow is this? Obviously, we talked last week about that shock 2-1 defeat by West Ham, which leaves them six points in the WSL behind league leaders Chelsea are you concerned oh yeah it's um league over um as far as I'm concerned I mean out of the FA Cup the gap um at the top of the table is like virtually unassailable like no team has lost three games and won the league and I think it's a little bit of a disaster if they don't get Champions League like there's got to be serious serious questions asked of Jonas Eidevall because the quality of the squad I know players are coming back from injury and that kind of stuff but the quality and the size of that squad they should be doing better you know

it's not even again you know done better against the big teams it's the throwing away points to West Ham and Spurs like it's just that is where it's really criminal and where you have to start going what is it about the side that has switched off in those games to the extent or hasn't been able to find a way through those teams through the deeper blocks and stuff but yeah like it's a disaster and is a con like you know obviously still in the Continental Cup is the League Cup enough to define the season as not a complete disaster. I'm not totally sure it is. Champions League football and the Conte Cup, maybe it's just about okay. Yeah, it's a weird one, isn't it?

I'm going to ask you this as well, actually, and it'd be interesting to know others' thoughts very quickly because Elizabeth got in touch with me on Instagram yesterday saying, I'm from Norway and my local women's team is Bran and it's been so much fun to watch them in the Champions League this winter. I unfortunately also support Arsenal women and my question is,

should Arsenal be looking to sign Bran's manager, Martin Ho? Bran played more entertaining football against Lyon than Arsenal did against West Ham and they have a clear style and way of playing that I think would suit Arsenal and their players. What are your thoughts, panel? No, I think Martin's done a great job in the short space of time that he's been there. But I think everything that goes with managing a club like Arsenal,

I think probably you need a little bit more time in the top job because it's one thing to be a good coach and to be able to bring a group together and have a clear playing style, but Arsenal is a brand and everything that goes with that, I think, probably requires a little bit more experience at this point in time. And, you know, the panel might disagree with me, but, you know, having seen firsthand kind of, you know, the panel might disagree with me, but, you know, having seen firsthand kind of, you know, with Chelsea, whatever goes through on a day-to-day basis, it's not about just being great on the pitch. And look, Martin might have all those attributes we don't know, but I think sort of the time in the job gives you those experiences and gives you that ability to deal with all the things that come with being at such a huge club so my answer is probably not

right now but you know who knows and what's my opinion matter anyway it matters a lot i completely agree i mean he's in his first season right like the wheels can come off very very quickly and like yeah proving yourself over a consistent period of time is sort of needed before maybe a job of that scale particularly when the pressure is so high on it and the demand for results almost immediately is there right it's it's not necessarily a particularly nice place to go into if you've not got that level of experience that's the thing isn't it if you get rid of Jonas Eidewell if he has to go then you have to set your sights on someone who is of the calibre to take them one step further. The reason for getting rid of Jonas would be that they need to take them

in Alper's direction and you can't have an unproven manager, I don't think, in that place yet. Maybe in five years' time, Martin will be in that position, but right now it's not the answer to the problem, I think, for Arsenal. Okay, everybody agreeing on that one. Just to mention, Vivian Miedebar missed out altogether this game because of a slight knee irritation. It's thought that's not serious, but we will keep an eye on it for you. Bunny Shaw also went off injured in the 66th minute

and was icing her leg on the sidelines. But Gareth Taylor said afterwards she'd been nursing a calf problem and they'll obviously want her on top form for Fridayiday night's top of the table clash at chelsea speaking of which chelsea were made to work by championship opponents crystal palace at the weekend relying on an absolutely audacious 81st minute goal from record signing mayra ramirez to make it through to the last eight got to give huge credit for Palace's resolute defending, Sophie, but a moment of class in the end making the difference. Yeah, what a goal to score your first goal for your new club

with a kind of flicked back heel. Absolutely superb. She had her chances as well throughout. I think she hit the bar. She had a goal disallowed for offside. So she was definitely knocking on the door throughout. And I think it would just take a massive weight off her, the fact that she's got that first goal for her club.

Coming in with that kind of transfer fee adds a whole lot of expectation and a lot of pressure. So it was just kind of getting one out of the way and then she can sort of move on. You could sort of tell through Chelsea, they dominated, they created a lot of chances. But you can tell they're still trying to build that relationship between Ramirez and the front three players and then linking that to the midfield so it's not

always it's not as slick as we may be seeing Chelsea in recent you know months when Sam Kerr was fit because she knows that that kind of set up so well so it's going to take a little bit time for them it's just about winning and getting through these games you know the big one is on Friday that's the most important they obviously they wanted to get through to the next round. But yeah, Friday is a big one for them. Yeah, huge. Emma Hayes was full of praise for Palace as well. Tanya saying they gave us a tougher game than some WSL matches.

Surely that's going to give Laura Kaminski and her side a lot of heart going into the push for the championship promotion. Yeah, they've been really impressive in their league. And, you know, I watched the game yesterday and they made it so, so difficult for Chelsea, you know, like all their numbers behind the ball. And I think Emma said something about, you know, these are the type of games

where you have to try and find a way to win because you have to try and create the spaces. You have to try and exploit the spaces. And look, I thought Palace did exceptionally well when Chelsea tried to do that. They adjusted. And that's probably the difference is that, you know, some WSL teams will go and try and sit in at King's Meadow

and try and protect. But then the adjustment to where Chelsea's looking to exploit doesn't necessarily happen quick enough. And I thought Palace did that really, really well. And look, they're certainly favourites at this point, given their position on the table and also that performance to be the next ones to come up. Yeah, it feels that way, doesn't it?

Chelsea did find a way to win without Lauren James as well. She dropped out of the starting 11 after the warm-up. Emma Hayes explaining afterwards that she was a little bit sick yesterday. She did the warm-up, but I decided not to take the risk and told her to go home. She'll be fine in a couple of days. But when your immunity's low, you have to make these decisions as we have a big game coming up on Friday, which we will be previewing in part two of the pod. Down on the south coast, it finished Southampton 1, Manchester

United 3. Super sub Rachel Williams at it again, scoring twice from the bench to make sure United edged past the championship high flyers. Ellertoon had given the visitors the lead before they were pegged back. Lexi Lloyd-Smith's cross trickled past Mary Earp's, but Williams' introduction in the 67th minute saw her bag a quick-fire double. We did kind of earmark this one, Susie, didn't we, as a potential banana skin for Mark Skinner's side so he's going to be pleased that they got the job done eventually yeah I mean what um Marianne Spapis has been doing down there is is hugely impressive and they're a very well

organized team but um I mean it was a very very strong starting uh lineup from United a couple of changes but still a really really strong team and if I'm a United fan I'm slightly worried about the fact that you're relying on two goals from Rachel Williams again off coming off the bench to save the day because you should be getting the job done across the course of the game like far earlier on than they did with the level of players that are on the pitch actually really really even like in terms of shots on target so like actually getting those decent chances created was a little bit of a problem and that I would be a little bit worried about that that said like Rachel Williams is

Rachel Williams and she's like doing that so consistently it's nice to have like almost guaranteed goals off the bench in in that sense but I'd be a little bit worried that you're not doing more with the ball and what should be dominance sooner yeah interesting very interesting uh the closest we came to a shock in the fifth round was at Wolves where the final scoreline certainly didn't tell the whole story it finished Wolves won Brighton four but the National League side were in the contest right until the very end against managerless Brighton Emma Kuhlberg scoring an eight minute hat trick for the visitors in the 88th 92nd and 96th minute which turned the game on its head and in their

favour but Wolves came so close Sophie they did they were so resilient and they had like a good amount of chances as well that they created but I definitely didn't have an Emma Kuhlberg hat-trick on my bingo card for the weekend at all I mean they got the job done but I do think it kind of flattered Brighton that scoreline because Wolves showed everything that we know about them from that play-off that they went through into the FAWNL a couple of years back. And, you know, they've been challenging in that division for quite a while. And they've got a lot of ambition as a club.

And they've got some really good players who, you know, are from WSL and Championship ilk. So, yeah, they really made it a hard, hard job for them. And, yeah, they were unfortunate at the end. I think it was probably just, you know, WSL side, a bit more fitness, a bit less, more experience in those situations that you don't drop off in those final three to eight minutes, you know. But yeah, very good job from them. But yeah, Brighton got through. Yeah, gutted for the Wolves women's pod who they get in touch with us every week here on the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. They want to know, Tanya, how unlucky were Wolves on Sunday?

Does it not demonstrate the need for additional funding for them to go full time? And actually, there's a point there, isn't there, that there really does need to be more funds to strengthen the pyramid? Yeah, look, I think if you look at the time where the goals are conceded, I think Sophie touched on, it's probably more to do with the fact that those players at Brighton are in a high-performing environment seven days a week so imagine how great our game would be if we had more clubs that were doing that and at the end of the day what we want is for the gaps continue to close we want more competitive games we want you know we look we see it in the WSL now that you know we never know who's going to win like let's be honest and we want that throughout the pyramid and that comes with investment and investment in the right areas

at the right times but it's definitely something that you know I'd love to see because I'd love to see you know a few more kind of wild cards if you like going through to the next round of the FA Cup would be amazing. It would be I can't believe that it didn't happen this weekend actually I'll tell you the stats on that in a minute. But while we talk Brighton, Susie, any word on how they're getting on in their search to replace Melissa Phillips? Yeah, I mean, I know discussions are ongoing. I know that they had some people in mind pretty early on in the process. But yeah, like I also think they're willing to take their time over it a little bit.

That's going to be interesting isn't it have they got time the way the season's going Sophie? That's a big question because before they know it they could be pulled into a into a little relegation scrap because I think they're facing Bristol City in on the 3rd of March or 8th of March or something so that's pretty not a long time to go before that one and if Bristol get something out of that game which given their performances in recent weeks you wouldn't probably bet against them then immediately Brighton will be starting to look very closely behind them and start worrying so you would kind of think they need to get someone in I think but then I guess their past history of recruitment last year doesn't really

tell a good tale you know what they went through what four managers last year or three managers last year so maybe maybe taking their time is a good idea actually but yeah they need to get it right that's the main thing I guess. Yeah right that's it for part one in part two we'll round up the rest of the FA Cup action we'll talk Northern Ireland and we'll look ahead to a tantalising weekend of WSL action. I'm Grace Dent and friends, I am back with some more helpings of comfort eating from The Guardian. I'm welcoming a host of fabulous guests from David Baddiel to Katie Price and from Amal Rajan to Kathy Burke and they'll be revealing the tastes they turn to when in need of solace and cheer. Comfort Eating returns on the 13th of February with new episodes released every Tuesday. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Let's take a quick whistle stop through the rest of the FA Cup results. It wasn't to be for Nottingham Forest, ultimately, after Everton picked up a much-needed victory with an emphatic 7-1 win at third-tier Forest on Sunday night. Arsenal low-knee Catherine Call scoring a goal and two assists. She bagged as she started for the Toffees. Quite impressive and definitely what they need at the moment. At Leicester on Saturday, they turned on the style. They fought back after conceding an early own goal to put six past Birmingham in a 6-2 win.

Five different players on the score sheet and a particularly impressive performances from both January signings, Sauri Takarada and Yuka Mamiki as well. Tottenham won Charlton nil, the Caron Hills derby. Spurs only just edging past the championship leaders thanks to a 76-minute goal from substitute Kit Graham. Robert Villaham's side had twice hit the post, but ultimately confirmed safe passage to the last eight. And finally, at Prince's Park, goals in either half

from Sophie-Roman Haag and Melissa Lawley saw Liverpool comfortably overcome managerless London City Lionesses. Managerless, by the way, because they parted company with Carolina Marais at the time that they would have been playing Arsenal in the Conte Cup last Wednesday night if that hadn't been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

Darren Smith is in place as interim head coach. It's been a very dramatic week, really, for London City, Susie. Yeah, and I think they're in a bit of trouble, which, you know, won't necessarily be a very happy start to things for their new ownership structure. With Michelle Kang having bought the club, it's going to be really interesting to see what the level of investment and commitment is that end you know she speaks really really well on

her commitment to women's sport and women's football and has obviously just completed her deal to buy Lyon's women's team and they've got plans to build a new 15 to 20,000 seater stadium and rebuild or build afresh all of the training facilities for the women's team as well. So they've got massive plans there. We've not really heard what their plans are for London City, but I mean, the ambition will be obviously to move them quickly up the table. So if they get relegated, which they are are at risk of doing then there's going to be a big problem so yeah i mean again have they got someone lined up i don't really know um but

they've got a fair few problems luckily they've got someone with a massive checkbook behind them that uh will be able to sort of help them weather the little storm that they have sometimes more money more problems however i'd like more problems then please yeah well yeah yeah that's a very good point um so no uh quarterfinal for london city lionesses and actually it's the first time since the 2016-17 season that no teams outside of the wsl have reached the last eight we were really excited excited, weren't we, when we saw the fixture list with only one all-WSL tie, but actually it's ended up being situation normal, which isn't quite as fun, is it?

But this is the last eight. Leicester, Tottenham, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Brighton. And the draw for the quarterfinals will be made on Monday night, which is after we've recorded. So you'll already know if you're listening to the pod

who's got who, and we'll discuss that coming up as well. Let's round up some of the League Cup action from midweek. Chelsea cruised into the last four with an emphatic 5-0 win over Sunderland. They'll face Manchester City, who booked their place in the semifinals courtesy of a stunning first-half goal from Yui Hasagawa in a narrow 1-0 win at Tottenham. Aston Villa progress thanks to a shootout victory over Brighton. They'll have to wait to see who they face though

because as we just alluded to, London City Lionesses and Arsenal are going to have to play that rearranged quarter-final on Wednesday night after it was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch. Jonas Eidevall not best pleased with the decision to postpone by the way this is what he had to say can we move the game somewhere else do you have a reserve pitch in this case no one knows what happens when you can't play on the pitch now we have to move the game and we'll have different players and have less time in the season can you understand where he's coming from Sophie or does he just need to

realize that this is what happens in football at this time of year? I think it just happens at this time of year. I think, you know, it's just, you know, part and parcel of the game. And I think actually it's been less frequent this season than it has most seasons. But you just have to deal with it. It's not ideal. And you obviously want, you know, it to be better. But especially in, I guess, cup games as well,

you're playing against teams lower down the pyramid. You're not going to be able to control everything. So I just think you'd have to just have to put up with it and deal with it personally. Suck it up, Jonas. Suck it up. Listen, while we've got Tanya with us, it would be really rude not to ask about the new role with the Northern Ireland national team.

Jump in, Sophie and Susie, on this as well. But it was September that you took over, Tanya. How's it been going so far? Yeah, it's going. It's definitely going. Yeah, look, there's a lot to do. I think I'd love a friendly. That would be great.

We've had competitive, obviously competitive fixtures since I went in. But look, I'm loving it. The people are fantastic. There's a real sort of blank slate there really in terms of what we're trying to do. And yeah, the players are great. The staff are always wanting to learn and wanting to get better. And, you know, it's a real start of the journey. And I know that sounds a bit cliche, but it is because there's,

as I said, so much to do. And, you know, I guess the Nations League sort of group stages has given us a really good platform to see our baseline and see where we are. And in particular, that last game, you know, we played at Windsor because I wanted to see what's and all what, you know, where we're at and because we can't improve if we don't know where we're at. And from my point of view, I think we've got some amazing positives

to take forward, but we've got a lot of work to do as well to help close the gap a little bit. How much potential do you think this squad has? I mean, you're back in action in a couple of weeks against Montenegro in your Nations League promotion relegation playoff. As you say, you haven't really had that much kind of friendly on pitch time to assess everyone yeah what what the I guess the bonus we've got at the moment is we've got some some really experienced players that have obviously been to a Euros and understand what tournament football looks like but we've also

got some fantastic younger players coming through and that for me is super exciting you know I was over on the weekend and I watched our 17s play watched our 19s play did some work with our seniors as well so look the future is bright it's just about making sure that we can pull all of that together in short spaces of time because you know the the qualifiers are coming thick and fast and uh we need to yeah pull our socks off and get going how much of a shock to the system is the switch between club management to international management? Because we've seen some really find it difficult

and not bounce back into club football. We saw Andonofsky of the US or Mark Parsons with the Netherlands. Is it a really big difference? Do you notice it? Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. I think that lack of contact time with the players is probably the biggest one and I think if you've been in a club environment for a long time and you're used to that day-to-day contact with people and then you don't have that that can be a little bit of a shock to the system but I think for me you know I chose to do this it was you know we

all know in football you're never going to have work-life balance that's just never going to happen but to have a little bit more equilibrium in terms of being home with my son and being present, but also doing what I love at the highest level, this job was definitely for me. And I think Chelsea really held me in good stead in terms of working in short spaces of time and having to really deliver, you know, the content to players um within one or two sessions and that's what international football is so for me um you know probably

the day-to-day contact is is the bit that I miss the most but in terms of preparing like I've got loads more time to do that but the delivery piece is very similar to I guess my last club role so it's been a a smoother transition maybe than I even anticipated so so far so good no return to club land from me that club role was under Emma Hayes at Chelsea obviously and she's going to be making this transition herself at the end of the season have you talked to her much about the differences I just said you copycat what's going on um no look like um I think from my point of view like we both have young little boys and and that that is a massive part of it it is it's a massive part of it and I know Emma's going to be you know extremely successful for all the reasons

I just mentioned there um she's going into a high pressure situation in terms of the squad she's you know but she does that day in day out her preparation her attention to detail is exceptional and this role will be it'll be difficult but she'll make it look easy as she she always does so but yeah i definitely said copycat for sure go on sophie just gonna ask about maybe the kind of infrastructure in northern Northern Ireland and kind of linking with that domestic game because the league isn't you know it's amateur isn't it so it's

about trying to develop that pool of younger players but within that environment and I know if you look around the rest of the United Kingdom maybe not England because of how I guess far ahead the WSL is but in Wales and Scotland and what they're trying to do, but also down in the Republic and the focus that they put

on developing that domestic football and that domestic league. How important is that as part of your job? Yeah, it's massive. I think we've sort of got a two-strand approach. One is obviously trying to build the league there. And I guess really part of the role across the last three months has been about educating on what a high-performing environment is, what components go into that, you know, how can we support with that.

But that education piece is for the players as well to say, like, at the end of the day, this is the performance gap, you know, where we can talk about educating them maybe a little bit on, like, WSL to international football and then where the championship sits within that and then where other leagues sit within that. And if we're going to close the gap, they need to be in a high performing environment. Part of our role is to help the clubs with that. It's a summer league. So that poses challenges in itself.

You know, our players at the moment, they're in off season. So hands while I was over last week, week you know we've got with trying to supplement some of the training and things like that because that's part of it the the i guess seasons don't marry up but then also as i said educating the players and um around really questioning where you're at personally and where do you need to be to continue to grow because we need our players playing at the highest possible level every single day whilst we're trying to sort of build and support that league because there's some clubs that are doing a fantastic job in that league and that needs to be I think acknowledged but we also need to help sort of bring the rest along as well because the more competitive that league is you

know you've seen it in terms of you know benchmarking as you said Wales, Scotland, the Republic's a great example you know they're probably sort of four or five years ahead of where we want to be and we're going to continue to work hard to try and get to that point. Brilliant one last question for you on this which is from Nag who got in touch on social media they said do you have key players to build a team around you mentioned obviously the the senior players there and some great youngsters coming through. They want to know, is it that or is it all down to who's playing and playing well at the time?

How do you navigate it? I think you can see with the squad changes that we make, it's definitely based on who's in form and what the squad composition needs to be as well. I think that's a massive part of it. But look, if we don't have players fit for selection, and Rachel Furness is a really good example of that, if she's not fit for us to be selecting as a player, we make sure we're supporting her off the pitch. So that dual career piece is important. She goes in with our 19s and coaches within the window there when it

allows. And, you know, that's the path eventually that she wants to go down. So yes, we've got players that we, you know, are really integral to what we do on and off the pitch and we make sure we support them. But there's also got to be an element of competition for places and hence from our point of view, making sure that we're watching as many games as possible and really evaluating where we're at with that.

And no one's, you know, that feeling of like, oh, I'm safe and I'll always be picked is not healthy for a high performing environment. So it's important that we have, you know, some key players and those ones know what a high performing environment is and they're in it and they're doing it every single day. And then, you know, we need to make sure that we're selecting a squad that suits A, the opposition we're playing and B, those that are in form. Brilliant stuff. Really lots of luck in a couple of weeks time against Montenegro in that Nations League playoff you'll have obviously Euro qualifying as well coming up have a listen to this we are trying to get a little bit more information on this but this is just some some reports that we've seen that caught our eye last night and we'll bring you more once

we have it but it's been reported by Swiss news outlet SRF that Switzerland's federal government's cutting finances for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025. The original plan was to spend 15 million francs on the women's tournament but the suggestion is that that's now been cut to just 4 million when you consider that 82 million francs was spent on the men's tournament back in 2008. It just shows what a horrendous disparity there is. But as I say, we're looking into that a little bit more to bring you more information on it. Important, though, to draw your attention, if you've not seen it, to a story that Susie picked up on last week.

You can check out her article from Friday in The Guardian. It's after players at a community-owned football club, Camden and Islington United, decided to boycott their Wembley Cup semi-final on Sunday after horrific examples of misogyny by their opponents named Munter Hunters FC. I am not kidding. The London Football League and the Amateur Football Alliance initially refused to postpone the game while the case was being investigated. They then agreed to a postponement subsequently the players decided to boycott saying there are 80 plus female players at the club they have female coaches and board members as well and it's just not acceptable that they should have to put up with that tell us a little bit more Susie yeah there was also a load of really unsavory posts on their like official club Instagram account and other social media platforms on the official club ones, really nasty stuff.

And it was only, you know, what's quite underhand is that they were registered to the league and to the amateur FA as MHFC. So no one knew what the initials stood for, but they're very, very clear, you know, in the name of all of their social media handles is month hunters fc and yeah so you know camden is in the united played them early in the season without knowing that that was the case and as soon as they became aware of it when they were tagged in a post by them we're coming to get you kind of post with some again very questionable anti-women content misogynistic content. They immediately alerted the league and the amateur FA

and asked the game to postpone, so the players themselves didn't feel comfortable playing it. What's really nice is this is a big example of male allyship because it's the men's team, the Sunday men's team of the club that decided that they did not feel comfortable putting members of their community and their club men's team of the club that decided that they did not feel comfortable putting their you know members of their community and their club um in an environment with people that behave that way towards women um which is a really like impressive stand and they're both they're holders of the cup

they won it last year so they are you know forfeiting essentially or were forfeiting until it eventually got postponed their your participation in the competition that they're holders of and we're not even you know as well we're talking about amateur football we're not talking about like you know people that are going to go on to win loads of stuff and you know do amazing things in their lives necessary these are lads many of them from very disadvantaged north london backgrounds um who find football uh is a bit of an outlet and keeps them away from other activities and things and helps them like sort of carve a path choosing to sacrifice that to take a stand against misogyny is hugely impressive so it's a

like really good story it did really really well like online and on social media and stuff and people really really shocked by it which is a good thing but it's just like mind-blowing that any team would think it's okay to call themselves that or put out the type of content that they were but that's the point they don't think it's okay they want attention on it don't they they know it's not okay absolutely but they want to get their message out there it's disgraceful um we'll keep you updated as to how that investigation goes by the way um but we'd need to look ahead to what could potentially be a defining weekend of WSL action let's go positive shall we look no further than Friday night football under the lights at King's Meadow first versus second as Chelsea host

Manchester City it's just mouth mouthwatering, Sophie. How are you thinking this is going to play out? Well, I think, I mean, there's so much riding on this game, right? If Chelsea win it, I think that they've got one hand on the title. I'm not, I have no qualms in saying that. If Manchester City get a result, then they've got every chance. But I also think it probably brings Arsenal back into the equation as well. A little bit. It gives them a bit of hope so um yeah a lot riding on it Manchester City are in well both teams are in incredible form at the moment you know in terms

of playing style probably Manchester City you say are more fluid at the moment or more like dynamic in terms of the way that they play and the kind of relationships that they've built over the last kind of six months of the season or five months of the season um they play and the kind of relationships that they've built over the last kind of six months of the season or five months of the season. They've really clicked into gear and they have so much confidence. And, you know, that forward line-up of Kelly Hemp and Bunny Shaw are at times unstoppable.

But I guess that's where the worry to Bunny Shaw's potential injury will come in. But Chelsea, you can never count them out. We all know that they find a way, even if they're not at the races or at their very best, they're never going to take something lying down, really, are they? So they're going to be fully in the mix and I wouldn't bet against them. It's just going to be fascinating, I think, to see how they match up. Yeah, and it's going to be even more fascinating, bearing in mind everything comes to a head on

Saturday lunchtime then, as Arsenal and Manchester United face off at the Emirates, Susie. Mark Skinner's side just four points behind your Gunners. Is it going to be me speaking to you next Monday or Tuesday saying it's the wrong kind of treble for Arsenal? I'm having an existential crisis because I'm missing both games because I'm away. And this is the first time I've missed games of this level. And we've got people where they're going to be covered. The Guardian will be OK without me. But it's hurting me.

You need to enjoy your holiday, mate. You really do. I'm very worried for Arsenal, particularly if Lotto-Bamoy gets any like attention for the elbow into the head of Bunny Shaw which wasn't too dissimilar to the elbow that got Rachel Daly a three-match ban retrospectively so I'm a little bit worried that that could happen I mean obviously got players that can come in Amanda Lestead who was sick uh the other day, Kadina as well. Liam Williamson is obviously coming back and played 75-ish minutes the other day.

So it's not like they've not got cover, but given the form that Lott is in, that's a little bit of a worry. And I mean, United are going to be so, so up for it because of how wounded Arsenal are at the moment. So yeah, going to be interesting. The Emirates is pretty much sold out. I don't think you can buy a ticket

unless it's like a little single one up in the gods somewhere. And I am hopeful that the atmosphere might help. But yeah, I'm not feeling too confident as an Arsenal fan. Journalistically, I think it's exciting, right? Like that United could cause a little bit of chaos. We love a bit of chaos in the league, I have to say. No offence, Chelsea fans. I just like it to be made a little bit more interesting going down to the wire.

A huge game down at the bottom as well. Bristol City on the road at Leicester. Bristol City, your former side, of course. Tanya, they're now four points from safety. It feels like this is going to have to be a game, really, that they've probably earmarked as one they need to pick up points in. Yeah, look, and I wouldn't bet against them doing that, to be honest. I think they've been so impressive.

You look at the job that Lauren has done there, Lauren Smith, and she has really maximised the potential of that squad and and when we talk about good coaches that's what they do and the heart the fight the resilience they showed against villa to get something out of that game it was it was exceptional and look i i want them to stay in this league because i i obviously got a soft spot for them but i just think the job that they're doing there the crowd numbers the support that they're getting it's it's it's really inspiring you know to see where they were to where they are now I want them to stay in the league because I think they'll continue to grow and evolve and look it's going to be a massive massive game this

one but I would not put it past them to go up to Leicester and and yeah you get something out of the game and put pressure on those above them. It's also just so, so good to have a team that isn't backed by a Premier League club in the top flight, right? It's good for just the narrative of what the league should look like and what it could be. And I think it's really important

that you have representatives outside the Premier League within the top flight of women's football because so many teams have played such a historic role in the game. So I'd love to see to see them stay up yeah we've given a lot of love to Bristol City haven't we on this on this pod this season and obviously friend of the show Anita Asante comes and gives us her opinions of what's going on behind the scenes and they have been really close with all their games they just need some points on the board elsewhere Brighton host Liverpool it's Everton West Ham and then Tottenham Aston Villa and we'll of course react to all of those games in next week's pod. Panel,

it's been a pleasure. Sophie, see you soon. See you very soon. Thank you. Tanya, it's been so lovely having you on and hearing about all the amazing work you're doing at Northern Ireland. Come back soon. I will do. Thank you for having me. Susie Rack, go and enjoy that holiday. Stop working. I'm going away on Wednesday. I'll be in a hot tub. Excellent. Excellent. You enjoy that. I'm very jealous. As ever, if you'd like to be involved in the pod, make sure you drop us an email at womensfootballweeklyattheguardian.com. Keep your questions coming in as well via X and sign up for our free women's football newsletter, which is now twice weekly. All you need to do is search moving the goalposts sign up.

In Tuesday's edition, Osasu Obiwana is taking a deep dive into the post-World Cup state of Nigeria. Africa's most successful football team has missed out on the past three Olympics, but is fighting to end a 16-year wait by qualifying for Paris 2024 and on Thursday our very own Sophie Downey is going to be previewing the small matter of Chelsea Manchester City we can't wait for that one the Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Lucy Oliver music composition was by Laura Iredale. Our executive producer is Salah 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.

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