Friday Ramble: A Busy Week
UWCL draw, Continental Cup semi-finals, big transfers and plenty of other stuff. It's been a busy week in the women's football world.
I like to think in the future the ‘Friday Ramble’ will be brought to you from all around the world, but for its first week its coming to you from…my living room, immediately after the UEFA Champions League draw.
It didn’t go particularly well for the English teams, did it? Chelsea in particular, who will have to overcome champions Lyon around a domestic schedule which includes games against Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Well before that, it’s been a busy week. Preparing, planning and launching WFC and to see so many subscribing already has been touching, though it will take many more to make it a sustainable project.
The ‘Friday Ramble’ is basically an area for me to do just that at the end of every week. Have a good ‘diary style’ ramble about my week, things that caught my eye and answer some of the questions you guys sent me yesterday.
Football moves quick, so quick that on Monday I received confirmation I’ve been accredited for the 2024 Olympics. Yep. 2024, before accreditation for this summer’s World Cup has even opened.
The Olympics is done so far in advance due to the sheer number of people accredited from every corner of the world, although for Team GB women’s football writers, our accreditation is conditional pending them actually qualifying. No pressure, Sarina!
It’s been a week of squad announcements with the international break looming, and at WFC I’ll be bringing you live coverage, reaction and analysis from all six matches, plus there will be a few cool features coming up around the crucial World Cup play-offs too.
I was pleased to see Laura Coombs make the England squad - as I was today to see Aoife Mannion called up for Ireland - it’s well deserved for both, for different reasons.
One family member of another player messaged me the morning of the announcement to ask if I thought said player would be included, it’s amazing who values your insight despite us having no prior knowledge. We get the squad 30 minutes before it goes public at best, sometimes it might be five minutes.
Then there was the Continental Cup semi-finals, and not really any shocks. Arsenal were probably just about favourites against Manchester City given they had home advantage, while the only surprise about Chelsea’s win was perhaps the magnitude of the score line.
I won’t lie, two teams in the final who only entered at the quarter-final stage and have only played two games each doesn’t really sit right with me. I don’t know what the answer is, but something needs to change, and that’s nothing against either Arsenal or Chelsea, it’s not their fault.
Beyond all that I’ve been planning and plotting the next few weeks of content and had a great chat with Belgium’s Kassandra Missipo on Wednesday. She has a fascinating story, keep an eye out for that next week.
I also spoke to two national team head coaches. Wales’ Gemma Grainger and Bosnia’s Samira Hurem. Bosnia will be another one of my ‘In Focus’ features in the near future, their improvement has been interesting to watch from afar and I’m hoping it turns into a really good piece.
A few other bits which caught my eye this week, and yes I’m ignoring the FIFA Best lists because I’ve had enough hassle with lists, though I was pleased to see Mary Earps there.
Two clubs I find really fascinating right now both made interesting moves this week. I said on Twitter I think Kansas City Current are possibly the most fascinating anywhere in the world right now. Their facilities are top drawer, their recruitment isn’t far behind and the signing of Hanna Glas this week was another real eye-catcher.
Then there’s Palmeiras who have started to take over in Brazil a bit. They signed Yamila Rodriguez, a superb Argentinian international last month, and now Lorena Benitez too. I don’t get to watch much Brazilian football, but they seem like a club to keep an eye on.
Answering Your Questions
Marty F - How do we get "Visit Saudi" to NOT be involved in the WWC? I see their involvement as an affront to women in general and it seems that FIFA is doing their utmost to denigrate women by allowing this agreement to happen.
I think if there’s enough pressure from big players and big national teams - and we’ve already heard from Alex Morgan on it - then it will put FIFA under increasing pressure. The FAs in Australia and New Zealand aren’t happy either, which is an important sign, so it will be interesting to see what happens.
My Name Goes Here - Given some of the performances at the weekend, is goalkeeping in the WSL better than it's ever been?
I don’t want to disrespect goalkeepers of the past, because there’s been some fantastic goalkeepers over the years, but possibly. It should be really, and it should be again next season and the season after as the game becomes more professional and more players get regular full-time training from goalkeeper coaches. I thought Sandy MacIver was superb against Arsenal in the cup on Wednesday too.
Adam Bateman - 1) why does it seem that certain players like Hemp, Kelly & Bright can have poor seasons, yet can get free passes & call ups to the national team, yet others like Blundell, Millie Turner, Gabby George, can be playing well, yet get no call ups?
Sarina wants consistency and has a winning team with England, so there’s no need to change things. I actually don’t think any of the three have had poor seasons, Kelly and Hemp are right at the very top for chances created this season. I think George in particular is unlucky, but there’s a lot of competition, particularly in defence. Don’t break a winning formula.
2) What is most important for a manager of any club, to win games, or to make sure that as many players as possible play as often as possible??
There’s a balance, but a manager’s job is to win games. If he has a happy squad, it makes life easier, but any manager will be judged on where they are come the final day of the season.
3) As a follow up, if a team is doing well, & players have formed good partnerships together, should those partnerships be broken up??
Not in key areas, which is what I’ve alluded to in my answer to question one, the differences between club and country aren’t that different. Sarina has a winning team, as for the most part does Marc Skinner. I think some parts of the team shouldn’t be messed with. Your goalkeeper, your centre-back duo and arguably your holding midfielder. They are the backbone of your team.
4) If hypothetically speaking, Manchester United finish in the top 3, would that be enough to put Marc Skinner up for the Manager of the Season award, or would he have to win the league for him to be up for that award??
I think generally the top 3/4 managers usually end up nominated, but the winner is usually the manager who wins the league.
5) Along similar lines, would Ona Batlle only be in line to win the Players Player award if we were to win the league, or would she be in line to win it, if we finish in the top 3??
I think defenders are generally treated harsher in awards because they don’t score the goals and get the regular accolades, but I’m sure if United won the league a few more of their players would be in the reckoning.
Grumpy Dad - I realise this may fall under ‘conflict of interest’ given current league table, but do you think Coventry can pull off another great escape?
Ha…I’m sure they can, they recruited well in January. There’s a long way to go though, 10 games, which is nearly half a season, so let’s see how it all plays out.
Michael Scoates - I recently saw Leah Williamson's elbow-check on Hemp and am struggling to give an unbiased opinion of it, what's yours?
I thought it should have been a red, and I’ll be surprised if the FA haven’t looked at it. But Arsenal will be travelling to Manchester today, so they’ll need a decision.
Are you still embedded with SUFC as Media Officer? How do you make that time for that and this?
I am. It’s a challenge, but I enjoy being busy. We have just hired a Marketing Director specifically for the women which has allowed me to step back slightly and delegate a bit more work between the two of us, but I love the club.
I read recently about the money flowing into women's football is ending up in wage increases and transfer fees at the top rather than developing the grassroots side of the game, any solutions?
It’s no surprise. It’s like any sport, the sponsors, brands, TV companies etc are more attracted to the big teams and the big players. But it’s super important the FA and other companies ensure grassroots and the lower leagues aren’t left behind.
ross - it's not too soon! hypothetically, the WC final is tomorrow. starting XI as of today:
Earps
Bronze-Bright-Williamson-Greenwood
Walsh-Stanway
Kirby
Kelly-Russo-Hemp
I refuse to believe Daly will be starting as an outside back again and also think Sarina will use James first off the bench rather from the start. Greenwood, Kirby and Kelly the starting spots i don't feel 100% confident about. think the others are pretty locked in. who you got?
If it started tomorrow, I’d probably just about go with that, but I do think Daly will remain at left-back. Again, why change a winning team? Kirby’s injury will be one to keep an eye on, and I think come the end of the season James will be very much in the reckoning for a starting spot.
Other bits
I recorded a few podcasts this week. The Offside Rule asked me to go on their show on Wednesday for what may be the last time now they’ve had their funding pulled.
Kait, Lynsey and Hayley gave me my first opportunity in the industry 10 years ago and it was nice to go and reminisce as well as hear from some people who were my colleagues for a long period of time there.
I was also back on the 3Lions podcast this week to preview the Arnold Clark Cup, so feel free to have a listen to that too when it’s out. I’ll add the link in here when it is.
Looking ahead
Next week and the week after there will be a big focus on the international break, while I’ll also be at Manchester City vs Arsenal in the WSL tomorrow.
The fact I can go to all six games around the country is already thanks to the generosity of the subscribers here.
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