The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - WSL pitch farce leaves more questions than answers – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: January 24, 2023

Faye Carruthers wraps up a weather-affected weekend of WSL action with the help of Suzanne Wrack, Sophie Downey and James Lewis

This is The Guardian. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Hands up if you actually saw some football this weekend. Don't worry, who needs football when Chelsea are opening a new ice rink at King's Meadow. On a serious note, postponements are top of the agenda, Manchester United are top of the table, Villa take more points from City

and Everton's youngsters run the show. All that to come, plus we'll discuss the dwindling number of female coaches in the game. That's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Susie Rack, you were to blame for us all being up and recording at 7.45 in the morning. What can you say for yourself? Yeah, I'm mean, but I also didn't want to walk off the pods midway through and pull a, you know, Chelsea. Sophie Downey, it's always lovely to see you, but even more exciting is that you have the most amazing Canadian hat on your head and I'm very jealous in my cold house.

Yeah, it's like a constant in my life at the moment every morning every day canada hat is on and people can recognize me so that's great i love it i'm going to come over and steal it i think james lewis a pod debut how are you i'm excited to make my first cap you you know. Done all my stretches, done all my burpees, ready to go. Burpees as a warm-up. Wow, OK. We were expecting something special from you in that case. I'll try my best. There's only one place to start, really.

The Women's Super League fell foul of the weather, but really bizarre circumstances this time. Tottenham Leicester was called off the day before the game was due to be played. Chelsea-Liverpool survived a morning pitch inspection, but then was abandoned after six minutes. Later that day, Brighton and Arsenal called off two hours before kick-off, so a little bit more notice. But we will start with the Chelsea game because I think everybody who was at Kingsmeadow said it was the most bizarre thing that they've ever seen, a football match. I think everybody who was at Kings Meadow said it was the most bizarre thing that they've ever seen a football match I think possibly the big opening question is how on earth did this game ever go ahead Susie yeah I mean it's mad I mean I suppose it's the you know the complete

unpredictability of the British weather I mean it's so rare that it gets that cold here that we couldn't possibly have ever predicted this scenario. It's mad, isn't it? It's like absolutely insane that we're in a situation where games in the top women's league are having to be postponed. So, you know, you've got a situation where the referee says that the pitch is unplayable at 9.30am. There's no sign that the weather is improving between then and kick-off. There's these desperate attempts to rush this tent over the pitch,

get blowers on it, heaters on it, and then it's deemed playable for the warm-up. But you've got the managers saying that it wasn't playable in the warm-up. I think Chelsea even moved where their warm-up was being done to try and find a better patch of pitch. And then the game kicks off and it's deemed okay to kick off. I mean, that for me, whoever's fault it is, I know the decision is ultimately the referees,

but the fact that the referee is ignoring the managers who desperately want this game to happen, let's remember, they've both got packed schedules, they both need this game to take place. They're both saying it's unplay need this game to take place they're both saying it's unplayable they're both saying they don't want to play you've got patches of the pitch that are defrosted by those little heaters but huge stretches that aren't it's just madness that it reached that that stage absolute madness you're nodding Sophie yeah I mean I've calmed down just a little bit I was absolutely furious, I think, when I saw what was happening on Sunday

because, you know, we all work really hard for the best for this league and it's a professional league and stuff like that that happens makes it amateurish a bit. It shouldn't be happening six minutes into... You can't tell me that six minutes into a game, the pitch is frozen over. It's a bit crazy. And also, you know, we saw all sorts of clips of the players sliding around the place.

There was no way that pitch should have been deemed anywhere fit for purpose. And, you know, we're only really lucky that there was no injuries involved in that six minutes because they could have been. I think Niamh Charles fell on her face like three times and then you saw the scrape on Erin Cuthbert. So we were just very lucky that in those six minutes, no one got injured. But these players deserve the best stadia.

They deserve the best facilities. You know, maybe it's time for the bold move of saying you have to play in the big stadia, you know, in the home stadium. Yes, you might not fill it immediately, but you've got the facilities there that will ensure that games get played. You know, when do you ever hear that Stamford Bridge gets called off, really? And you know you've got the best facilities involved

and the crowds will come. It might take a bit of time, but just take that sort of punt on it to allow that to happen and the game to grow and the game to be played in a professional manner. Yeah I think there's definitely lessons to be learned going forward and we'll discuss the options in a minute but what were your thoughts James when were you at Kings Meadow or did you see it play out elsewhere? Oh yeah I was watching the carnage from home but I feel like it always feels like the fans are kind of the last thought when it comes to games that are televised. And I think in this kind of scenario, all those Liverpool fans that left at like five in the morning to then watch six minutes of football, very slippy football.

It just felt like when are the fans going to get considered? Player safety has to come first, obviously, but it's like, it always feels like when there's a televised game, like it's either a really super early kickoff or it's just not feasible for fans to get there. And like, they're not getting warned. I think the game should have got called off at 9.30, if that's the case, to save so many people making that journey and then having to go home. And I think a lot of the time fans aren't considered and they're the most important part of women's football. So I think they need to get included a lot of the time fans aren't considered and they're the most important part of women's football. So I think they need to get included a lot more in decisions. I'm going to read you Women's Super League spokesperson's statement.

And then I'm going to tell you, last night I spoke to Viviana Steinhaus-Webb from the PGMOL, actually, who had some really interesting comments on how this all played out. But this is what the WSL spokesperson said. We worked hard with the clubs and the match officials to safely play the Barclays Women's Super League fixture between Chelsea and Liverpool as scheduled. Following inspections before the match, the pitch was deemed to be playable by the matchday referee.

However, shortly after kick-off, the referee made the decision to abandon the match in order to protect the safety of the players, which is paramount. We sincerely apologise to all fans who travelled to the match. The fixture will be rescheduled in due course. When I spoke to Bibby last night, she said that when Neil Hare, the referee, checked on the pitch, he deemed it unplayable, as the statement says, at half past nine.

The ground staff at Kings Meadow put blowers on and did what they needed to do with the tents and everything else. And they left those on until about 11.30, which was the earliest that they could take them off. And within six minutes, she said there was a layer of humidity across the pitch because the temperature was at zero minus one degrees you know close to around there you could say well that's predictable obviously and why did it go ahead we asked her actually whether television scheduling had anything to do with it because you wonder whether or not there's different pressures from different stakeholders but she said that's not the case at all it's the same protocol but she did concede that maybe a better thing to have done bearing

in mind they were actually in London the day before is do a match day minus one pitch inspection and let fans know that it's a possibility so I definitely think there are there are lessons learned within this for sure there's no way that game should have gone ahead but I think all the right processes were taken and the decision made that it might possibly go ahead after what the ground staff had informed the referee they were trying to do. What was really interesting as well, as she said, the FA tend to get blamed in these kind of circumstances straight away. They've spent about 40 grand on heating pitches over this weekend alone

just to make sure that games games go ahead which is an insane amount of money and I kind of wonder what you all think about the fact that the clubs have got to step up with some of this now and it not always just be the authorities to blame the clubs themselves have to start investing better totally I thought Emma Hayes was you know she's brilliant 99.999% of the time but I thought she missed the mark on this in you know kind of saying that it's the fault of well not not the fault of anyone but like that we oh we need to it's time our game has undersoil heating and you know we need to step it up the game deserves it I mean Chelsea is one of the richest clubs in the world right it can afford to put under soil heating at Kingsmeadow there's no restriction on clubs having under soil

heating you know it's not like it's a league rule that they can't have it and that needs to change or something like that every club if they wanted to could put it in and Chelsea is a club that can afford to put under soil heating at Kingsmeadow they refurbished the ground they could have done it then when they did the little refurb of the stands and stuff so I just find I'm all for a bit of FA bashing right like I'm the first to to say if that governing body is doing something wrong but in this case I mean the most they can do is bring in something in the licensing that says that grounds have to have undersaw heating but there's no reason why they shouldn't anyway the owner should be on clubs to want these games to go ahead for their own benefit and they should be investing to make that happen that's what

for me is frustrating is that yes we'll invest yes oh we really care about our players and blah blah and we're going to spend all this money on players and then we're going to run the risk of them playing on unsuitable pitches that could injure them and prove quite costly for us in the future. It just doesn't really add up anymore. That's just the most ridiculous logic to any argument. And I mean, it's telling, right? The games that were played in the big stadiums went ahead. The games that were played in a lot of the big stadiums, I suppose you could argue that Brisbane Road not going ahead is an argument for actually

there needs like undersore heating in England across the men's leagues as well is also necessary um you know we get a similar situation lower down the pyramid in the men's game and should it just be blanket that most pitches of a certain level of a certain size have undersore heating full stop not just a women's game yes it's a no-brainer global warming's only getting worse and making more um extreme weather conditions uh like if we want to not have players with massively backed up calendars which is a risk to health and safety as much as the hard ground is then you've got to be like investing in this properly yeah actually um my producer is just letting me know that all but three league two games in the men's

game were called off as well and it's something you know you said it at the top of the pod suzy we live in a country where it gets cold it gets cold in jan this is something that we see PP and we have done for the last month or so next to games on a regular basis and I understand the argument something has to be done for sure I know that a lot of clubs are cash strapped at the moment but when you're talking about your athletes and your brand and your athletes are your assets and your brand is your asset if you want to look at it from a business point of view if that's the way you have entered football as an owner then why would you not want to protect those assets I don't quite understand it Sophie's point James about having to play in the big stadia and that this is now vital going forward what do you think? I see why there is the push for the big stadium but I

also kind of wish if there's a way to kind of develop their own stadiums kind of like I like what Man City have with the academy stadium I think it's quite for like the attendances are decent for them and I think it gives them more time to grow I think it might be a bit disheartening for the teams to kind of play in a 60,000 CEO and consistently get maybe 9k so I think if there's a way to make more stadiums and look to make more stadiums I think that will be more appropriate for the teams at this moment in time because a team like Reading they've recently had over 5,000 come to their game I think if they were consistently in that stadium week in week out they might feel a bit disheartened by not getting the best audiences I think for me the problem is that when I look at Chelsea and Arsenal at the moment they've outgrown Kings Meadow and they've

outgrown Boreham they consistently sell it. And there's a consistent demand for more seats available at these games. In this country, we have a problem in that we don't have very many 10,000-seater stadiums or, you know, middle-range stadiums. So I'm looking at it in the long term, I guess, long-term thinking, and going, if we put it there, people know it's at Stamford Bridge or the Emirates or whatever. Yes. And for the first six months, you might get 10,000 a week or 8,000 a week. But then actually, if I'm being optimistic and I'm thinking you put the marketing plans in place, then in a year's time, you'll be selling out 20,000, 25,000 regularly. And I think we've seen it with Arsenal and the way that they've done it this season.

They put, what, eight games at the Emirates and they've got consistently high figures every time. But for me, just ensuring that the games are going on and having the players in the best facilities, that's crucial to me. And I think Willie Kirk said it to me when he was talking about Leicester playing at the King Power. And he was like, it's brilliant

because they decorate it with all of the pictures of the women as we go down the tunnel it feels like our home it feels like we belong in the dressing room we belong in the stadium when we play we're used to playing there now um yes I know the results haven't been great this season but they're starting to come to fruition but his point is that we feel like we belong at the centre of the club and it's not really seen as the men's stadium anymore it's Leicester's stadium and I think that's really crucial as we develop this game. I agree I think it's like a real big statement to have your like you're saying that this product is as good as the product you're putting out on the men's side right

this team you value this team as much as you value the men's team and then you put it in like an inferior smaller stadium that doesn't have the right conditions. I think that sends a bit of a statement out to like match going fans that you will expect less at this game. And I think it's a bit of a psychological thing there as well. But also, like we're constantly saying that we need to move towards a point where we have VAR in the Women's Super League. It's extremely expensive. A lot of these little grounds can't afford to have it in. All of the big grounds have it already.

So you immediately move into a significantly better position from a refereeing point of view. If you're playing in those grounds, then you're just talking about the logistics of having it turned on and having the VAR person sat in the booth looking at it or the few looking at those games and then suddenly the cost is very different because you're not having to pay a load to install the facilities install the equipment required to bring the facilities up to VAR standards so like little things like that just accelerate the growth of the game significantly because that then brings VAR and WSL down from being you know five to ten years away to being two to three years away. You look at what UEFA have done in the Champions League right after the group stages and they've enforced VAR which means

every single team in the quarterfinals onwards has to play in the big stadia whether they did that by kind of luck or you know on purpose it's kind of sort of underhandedly forced these games to be in the biggest stages possible and I think it might be something the FA should probably look at at some stage about you know if we want every part of our game to to improve then the big stadia is is probably where it's at. It's interesting you say that about VAR, actually. It's a whole different conversation, really, but kind of part of the same conversation.

But the men's FA Cup, it always astounds and irritates me that they have VAR at Premier League grounds for those teams, but not at others throughout the competition, which to me just ruins the integrity of the competition you either don't have it at all or you have it everywhere it's um I don't think you can you can part use it in the same competition because then people are playing against different standards but you know going forward there's so many different things that can do and I think it's really important to say these things take time they take time and they take money and we're in a situation at the moment where there are you know there are the haves and the have-nots of the football world that's for sure and so it is going to take a little bit of time

but in terms of the impact we've looked at what we can potentially do to improve things going forward. What impact, James, do you think that these abandonments and postponements have on the league as a whole to the outsider who's not necessarily involved in women's football, the passive watcher, if you like? I think it comes across as really disrespectful to the players. I think it kind of makes it look like, are the players not good enough to have their games on? Why is not everything being done so that these games can go ahead? And I think it kind of makes the WSL look like players aren't the first four and that things are kind of not thought ahead. Because it's like, we live in England, the weather's not great a lot of the time so it's

like we need to make sure that these things aren't happening and if you hear a league is like this you're going to say how serious is this league and how serious is this league in protecting its players so I think it just came across as embarrassing and also it made you question like the WSL's thoughts towards the players. Yeah I'm sure this is a conversation that's going to run on run, particularly on this pod. We will talk about it. I'm sure this is not going to be the last match postponed, but hopefully it will be the last match postponed

that kicks off and plays six minutes. That's it for part one. In part two, we'll talk about some of the actual football that did take place over the weekend. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen.

Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. So with the football that was played, we've got a bit of an upset, perhaps, at the Academy Stadium as Aston Villa picked up a point against Manchester City. There was a first goal for Dania Castellanos, but only three minutes later, Kirsty Hansen eventually equalised. Susie, big disappointment for Manchester City to drop points at home to Villa, but they just didn't really look as if they were on the pace. No, really didn't. I think the main theme afterwards in Gareth Taylor's comments and players' comments that it was a flat performance, and it really, really was. They're just lacking a bit of fight.

I know they're on an amazing unbeaten run since September, but they've not really been properly tested in that time to the extent that I think Villa did you know really kind of put them under pressure had the desire and fight that you sort of needed to see from City I thought it was very telling that Gareth Taylor said afterwards that he was happy with the point it was a point well won because I think if you're if you're a team chasing for the title, you are incredibly irritated and angry at that performance. And I don't think you'd see an Emma Hayes or a Jonas Eidevall

or a Mark Skinner coming away from a game like that and saying that that was a good point to win. They would be frustrated at having dropped two. And I thought that just spoke to the, I suppose the flatness at City, that that is considered a good point. This City side, we're used to seeing the fight, as Susie says, James, and we're just not seeing it. I think the City team is very interesting.

I think because they've lost so many big names that were essentially the core of Man City, I think this is a new team that's kind of looking for their identity. And it's kind of like they're not really getting that time to really gel together. I think it's just try get Champions League football. Don't know how you're going to get there. Just get there. New pieces of coming in, especially in that defence.

The defence does change up quite a bit. So you're not really seeing like a spine throughout the team thankfully Khadija Shaw she's doing great things this season getting lots of goals but it's like at the same time Chloe Kelly's not been at her best Lauren Hemp's not been at her best so it's like that front three isn't charging together it's kind of like Khadija's doing great but it's like we're still seeing I don't know I feel like the players might be tied from Euros so it's kind of like Khadija's doing great, but it's like we're still seeing, I don't know, I feel like the players might be tired from Euros. So it's kind of like they haven't really got enough time off to kind of come back fresh. So I think that's a big part of why City don't seem to be hitting the heights that they should be.

Yeah, I agree with you. One team, though, that that doesn't seem to be affecting is Aston Villa. I mean, the team spirit within that team looks incredible. And Carla Ward, Sophie, signed a contract extension this week. How much has she really helped this team? I mean, I don't think you can put that into words. I think the progress that they've had under her over the last couple of seasons is really clear to see. You know, the business that she's been doing in the summer in terms of bringing in Ken Zadali, Rachel Daly, and this winter as well, Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth. She's brought experience into this team that was really needing experience. And I think she speaks about it every pre-match press conference about, you know, Aston Villa have a really good wealth of young players.

And now she has the people around them to really help them and develop them and provide them with experience. She said she said to I think it was Laura Brown, go and sit next to Jordan Nobbs and just be a sponge and just learn whatever she learned and ask her questions and do all of that, you know, because that's how you develop. And Jordan Nobbs is a serial winner. And for Aston Villa, I think this season you could see it on Saturday they dominated that midfield area for me you know City ran out of ideas eventually yes the goal came through that threaded pass from Bunny Shaw to Kestajanos but they ran out of ideas because Villa were having so much space in that middle and Lucy Staniforth she's barely played a minute this season and she was bossing the shows to be honest honest. She was completely everywhere, putting in the tackles, running forward, setting up attacks.

I think the job that Carla's done, she knows what she wants. She knows the brand of football that she wants them to play. She wants them to be on the front foot. She wants them pressing high, but she also knows they have a resilience to them when their backs are up against the wall and they can defend. Their life depends on it. So it's a really, yeah, lots of development there. We've said it before, but like those signings, when their backs are up against the wall and they can defend like their life depends on it so um

it's a really yeah lots of development there we've said it before but like those signings i mean just the shrewdness to go for players that are so desperate to get in the world cup squad that you know you have a lucy stanford like sophie said who has barely played a minute of football this season coming in and bossing midfield because she needs to like she's got a hunger and a desire to play well for Villa because there's real consequence to her having a good second half of this season same with Jordan Nobbs there's real real consequence to them performing and the intelligence to target those players go for them and build an attractive enough environment and squad that makes them want to come and see, wait a minute, yes, we can get some minutes here

and we've got a real chance at doing something special here too, is just really clever. And I think that's the difference between, I know Everton above them at the moment are two points, but I think the difference between Everton and Villa is that Villa are really building for the future, whereas Everton are very, very reliant on a crop of young players that are on loan from big clubs. And that is only going to last so long. You know, those players are going to go back to those big parent clubs unless, you know, we see a bit of a situation where it's not looking like they're going to get first team action or even fringe squad action at those clubs. I think that's the only way we're going to see them moving away. But they've got a crop of young players performing really well

that are going to go. Whereas Aston Villa have got their own crop of young players that are signed to contracts, that are part of their team. And they've brought in this cluster of incredibly experienced, hugely talented internationals that A, have a desire and B, have the experience to rub off onto their young players. And you can see that there's the shape of a squad that is going to go on for a few seasons there. And actually one of those players, she's not so young I suppose in football terms now,

I think she's 24. But you felt, James, as if Maz Pacheco really stood out in this game. I love watching Maz Pacheco play. I think she really does go under the radar. I just love her ability to attack and defend. I think it's really important for a fullback. And I think what she can add, especially when she's attacking and then defenders have to figure out, are they going to go for her? That frees up Kirsty Hansen to go and do what she wants to do.

You need players like that. I think she's such a glue player. She loves to get a nutmeg. I love watching attractive football. So that's always going to get me. And I think her ability to just always go in for a challenge. Every time I've been at the Besscott Stadium, she's always given everything. And I really think Serena should start keeping tabs because she's going to be looking at that Villa team

because there's a lot of hopefuls that are trying to get to that World Cup squad. I think Maz Pacheco, who knows? I'd love to see her on the plane. I'm sure she will be asking Rachel Daly's opinion. That's for sure. I love that phrase, by the way, a glue player. Brilliant.

I don't know why I've never heard that before or used it before it's genius uh Reading nil Manchester United won Kelly Chambers 150th match for Reading it looked as if she might have got a great point in front of a record crowd at the Medeski until Rachel Williams popped up in the 87th minute to give United the win how important is this win from United's point of view in the context of the title race Susie? Oh huge and I actually asked Mark Skinner about it afterwards like where this game ranks in terms of like what it will do for the confidence and belief of the team you know last

minute winner in a really really tight game that Reading could have won and he said it was as significant as the comeback against Arsenal at the Emirates because it's a different experience a different like type of experience and a different test of his team and yeah you can't beat the feeling of a last minute winner you know it's electric and if they want to win the title they're going to have to be grinding out results like that when they're not necessarily at their best. They didn't play poorly, but Reading were just very, very well organised and had a really good game. And yeah, you need to be getting points off of those games.

It's a sign of champions, is the cliche, isn't it? That when you don't play your best, you still pick up points. But, you know, it was just a very disjointed attacking performance that needed someone like Rachel Williams, who I think she was saying that she was sat on the bench going, just shoot, just shoot. And then I thought it was quite funny that she comes on and she didn't just shoot.

She sort of waited and she like waited for the opening and then shot. But then obviously, you know know kind of scores the winner and yeah like speaks to the depth of the squad speaks to the balance of the squad and yeah absolutely huge three points Susie makes a really good point James because after the game Mark Skinner said that goal showed why he'd brought Rachel Williams to the club in the first place. Three goals in 77 minutes of WSL football, which as Susie says, kind of shows United's squad is starting to come good. Yeah, I think so. And I think I put my hands up and I didn't understand why she made the move. I thought I couldn't see her starting, but then now I'm starting to realise and hence why Mark Skinner's the I thought I couldn't see her starting, but then now I'm starting to realise

and hence why Mark Skinner's the coach and I'm not. But like, it's not always about who starts the game. It's always about who can contribute. And I think Rachel Williams has so much experience. She has so much composure

to understand that when she gets called upon, she will make the right decisions. And that's exactly what she did. Zidane missed the penalty. Nikita Paris had chances. So it was like, is this going to be a game where United don't get the three points?

But it's like, if you have someone that's on the bench that says, I know when I come on, I'm going to make that difference, which she did. It's like, I'm scared because I do feel like United look better than they ever have before, especially when they're kind of

grinding out these kind of wins. These are the wins that maybe they would have drawn last season so I am starting to see a different kind of United and it's because of players like Rachel Williams on the team. Quick word on Mary Earp Sophie 50 WSL clean sheets the first goalkeeper to reach that milestone where does she rank in terms of goalkeepers worldwide right now, bearing in mind we have a World Cup coming up soon? I think she's right at the top of it, to be honest. And Mark Skinner did say that to us post-match. He said, there's no other goalkeeper in the world that I'd want in my team right now.

You know, she came up with that huge save in the 90th minute. It bounced really awkwardly in front of her to keep the the three points for United it was absolutely crucial at that time and I think Marriott's of her younger years maybe not would have not been switched on enough to make that save but yeah now she's developed so much in both of her experience her skill set but also her mentality that I think that she's up very much at the top of the goalkeeping pack in world football at the moment. Susie, we've spoken on many occasions about Kelly Chambers and her importance for Reading and what she does with so little money,

you know, with this club. 150 matches is an incredible achievement. And she said post-match, she was super proud of herself and proud of that achievement, but mentioned that the only thing she was disappointed in, in the whole time she's been involved in women's football is the lack of female coaches. And it's something that Jonas Eidevall brought up as well in his pre-match press conference last week. It's something that needs to be looked at there's only four female coaches in the WSL now um it feels as if we're going backwards rather than forwards would

that be fair yeah I mean we literally have there were more a few years ago I think Kelly Chambers said it gone down from like 66 to 33 or something like that within the spaces of a few years and that's not really good enough because the talent is there um you know we've seen managers like vicky jepson have to move down into an assistant coach role or tanya oxtoby yes or tanya oxtoby taking uh the number two job at um chelsea alongside emma hayes and it's falling on some of the the top female managers in England to pick up the slack and give opportunities to some of the the other female managers in the league and I'm not sure you know that's a good thing that's good solidarity and stuff but should there be more being done from the top to make sure that these managers

are getting the opportunities that they should be getting and then also is enough being done from the top to make sure that these managers are getting the opportunities that they should be getting and then also is enough being done to encourage diversity in coaching amongst women as well and men it's a huge issue like how do you actually get women into coaching and how do you actually get more diversity into coaching as well and I like I don't think anyone is actually tackling those issues at grassroots are we really really targeting some of these players for those roles in the sort of blanket way we should be um or is it just picking out the ones and twos are we going big for parents at grassroots level to sort of come on board are we targeting PE teachers up and down the country to have a look at doing their coaching badges and schemes that can help like basically it's such a deep-rooted problem

that there needs to be a pretty deep-rooted solution that really really throws a lot of resources at this because you need people who have never ever ever considered coaching going into it because if you're looking at a sort of pre-existing bubble of people who have thought at some point oh I'd quite like to do coaching that's a small group right like we need to be looking well outside that and how do you get people turned in thinking yeah hang on a second that's something I could be involved in that's something I could do that for for me is the big question. And once you are starting to try and solve that, that's when you're starting to shift the balance. And the only way we shift the balance at the top

is if we shift the balance at the bottom as well. Yeah, it's a really good point. I suppose it's the same with match officials as well, isn't it? But then quite a number of years ago, it was maybe the same with players and making sure that we're finding talent all around the country. Everton 3, West Ham 0. Two goals from corners in 12 minutes for Everton.

Karen Homeguard and Megan Finnegan both scoring headers before Aggie Beaver-Jones wrapped it up in the second half, certainly in style. Sophie Everton up to fifth now. Obviously, aside from losing this reverse fixture on the opening day, they've actually only dropped points against the top four this season. So Brian Sorensen doesn't get too much credit, does he? But seems to be settling in nicely.

Yeah, I think so. I think you're starting to see the real formation of the Sorensen project at Everton. He's got in players that he knows that he wants. Obviously, he's recruited some Danes. He brought in Claire Wheeler as well, who he's worked with before and just signed on a permanent contract. So I think it was always going to take a few months for him to settle things down. But you can really see the clear identity that Everton are playing with at the moment,

the possession-based football that they want to play. Gabby George, I mean, she is on fire at the moment. She's having the season of her life and I'm so pleased for her because I remember seeing her at 17 you know she came on for the FA Cup final against Arsenal and you always thought she was going to be the next big thing and then injuries hampered her progress so to see her back to her best and playing regularly and scoring I know she didn't score this weekend she scored last weekend but she looks right back to her prime I think West Ham will

be annoyed at the way they conceded those two goals the first two because they were both what aerial and they have aerial ability in that penalty box and they should be doing better than that but yeah I think the progress from Everton is very very clear to see. Yeah first WSL goal for Aggie Beaver Jones James Chelsea Loney of, but a number of clubs seem to be interested in signing her on a permanent basis. Should she hold out for game time from Emma Hayes or make a move? What do you think? I personally think she's good enough to really make it at Chelsea.

I think it's very difficult. They have an array of amazing attacking talent, but I think there's something special about her, especially as a forward. I think she's gone on loan to Bristol City and she was able to look really good at Bristol City. I think that kind of helped her learn her game a lot more and what position she wants to play. She looked really good at the under 19 Euros. I think her and Grace Clinton linked up very well. I think there's something about her. She can sniff out a goal. And I think if you're a young forward that can sniff out a goal,

the coach will see it, the teammates will see it, and you'll get fed. And I think that's exactly what's starting to happen at Everton. She's starting to get more minutes now, and she's showing what she can do with it. And now she's going to have Brian thinking, you know what, maybe I might have to give her a start if she keeps on playing like this and training hard. So I think stay at Chelsea because you can learn from Sam Kerr and

the likes of Frank Kirby. So I would never want her to leave there. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I think it's going to be really interesting, the summer transfer window, isn't it, with so many loan deals, particularly at Everton. And you mentioned Bristol City there. Let's do a roundup of what happened in the Championship. Also not immune to the frost. That highly anticipated match at the top of the table between Bristol City and London City Lionesses was called off. Charlton Lewis also didn't go ahead. That delay for London City Lionesses could have a big impact though

with manager Melissa Phillips actually leaving the club despite them being top of the table to go and become the assistant first team coach at Angel City how much of a surprise was that announcement Susie? Incredibly I think it was a big a big shock for everyone I understand it like you know if Angel City come calling you're very unlikely to turn that job down regardless of where you are in the championship I think it I don't know how it's happened but if I'm Angel City I'm not I'm not demanding a manager steps away from a title challenge to come just to be ready for the start of the season I'm letting them finish that

season and win a trophy and then come to me with the level of experience of having just won a trophy um I know you know the level of the championship is very different to the NWSL and the WSL but for me like there's always going to be a little what if for her isn't there like there's always going to be a little what if I had stayed and done that and where would I have been next um and it's a big stamp on your CV isn't it to have won a trophy a league title across the course of a season a huge huge bow for London City no idea who they're getting in I've not explored it but it really shakes things up at the top of the table doesn't it because it really really opens the door for Bristol to get a little bit of a wind behind them um in the knowledge that there's disruption in London.

And another female coach going stateside. Another one gone from the top two leagues. Coventry got their first points of the season. Seems so crazy in January saying that. They got close last week, but they finally got three points, beating Crystal Palace 3-2. Durham drew 0-0 with Southampton. Sheffield United played out a one-all draw with Blackburn and Sunderland, beat Birmingham by three goals to one.

Right, we've got a little bit of a break from the WSL FA Cup action coming up, but it's been an absolute pleasure. Susie, thank you for getting us all out of bed a little bit earlier I feel like I can get loads of admin done now with that extra half an hour thank you for that Exactly we can all go and do our tax returns and like important stuff like that. No no no no

that's not the kind of admin I was thinking of no one needs to be sitting there on a Tuesday morning doing their tax return Do you mean the kind of admin that's sitting in front of the sofa with some chocolate and watching Love Island on catch up? Oh, gosh. I mean, no, because I won't watch Love Island. I flat refuse. Chocolate, though, that's now in my head. So thanks for that. Soph, I'm off to the Canada shop to buy myself a replica hat. Do it. It's the best country on earth, so need to represent.

I shall see you soon. James, that was an absolutely brilliant pod debut. Thank you so much. What are you up to this week? I have no idea. More Love Island catch up. That sounds like the plan. No!

Right, that's it. Both banned. It's just me and Sophie on the pod from now on. Right, we will see you in a fortnight's time when the WSL returns. guardian women's football weekly is produced by lucy oliver and jesse parker humphries music composition was by laura iredale our executive producer is sal ahmed this is the guardian This is The Guardian. is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19

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