I guess France can be considered a case study in that sense: Juvisy Essonne (now Paris FC) had been for long a winning club in Division 1 Féminine (6 natonal titles) and also a sort of role-model-club for all those who were against full professionalism: it was not just a strong women's club, it was also a sort of flag-bearer of a certain ideal of what women's football had been since then and many people kept wanting it to be, i.e. a sort of romantic "niche-sport" remaining as far as possible from the "temptations" of professionalism and money (à la De Coubertin, if you want to refer to another French benchmark: for how much long Olympic Games refused professionalism in the name of the "purity" of sport?). Juvisy won their last title in 2006. After that title the Olympique Lyonnais' era started, and it's not yet finished (13 consecutive titles so far). Mind, I am not necessarily saying it's fair: it's just how things go these days.
I'd like to see Arsenal be more aggressive in attack--do more counter-attacking. They are too possession-oriented at times, in my view. Against ManCity the other day, they would win the ball in midfield and instead of the mids breaking forward in attack to draw and catch ManCity with a counter, the mids would pass back to initiate possession. I didn't like this about Roord in this match. Almost every time the ball came to her around the halfway line, it was a back pass to a centerback, fullback or Walti. I only saw her once or twice turn and make one good run forward. She played a decent game, did more defensive work than I've ever seen from her, but you can't take full advantage of Miedema and Mead's attacking skills if you are constantly knocking the ball around and therefore giving the opponent time to get back. Now, if you are controlling the ball you are controlling the game, and Arsenal did, but they didn't really create many good scoring chances at all. And I was interested to hear Montemurro say afterward that he didn't think the team played all that well. Miedema's classy goal came from a bad turnover by ManCity deep in their half; it was one pass from Mead to Miedema, who then beat Haughton and then the ManCity keeper with her shot. Quick. That is where Miedema is lethal, when she has got a bit of room on a counter. True, Arsenal are very good at breaking opponents down with their passing and movement, but it's axiomatic in soccer that it is tough to get good chances when the opponent is back and you are in a buildup mode. It's much easier to score on a quick counter---and I think the Gunners would be well-served to push forward more aggressively at times.
This week-end games: Six pointers at the bottom of the League: Liverpool v Birmingham City At the top of the League as the looser is unlikely to win it: Man City v Arsenal Tottenham v Bristol Reading v Man U ( fighting for 4th place behind the big 3) Chelsea v West Ham Brighton v Everton
It’s more than coincidence that 6 of Arsenal’s starters played previously at Bayern Munich, with their rather plotting/possession style instead of the so called, direct approach of foregoing the midfield with long balls to up front. Even though we play that more in the states, it’s not a US thing as plenty of English coaches used that more direct attack aka Ellis, Sampson, Herdman to go along with Wiegman & the previous French NT.l coach. In the last game vs Chelsea, Miedema got an accurate, long ball at the halfway line, but all the way from the wide side. She blew right past her immediate defender, but by the time she turned the corner & headed toward the goal, the rest of Chelsea’s caught up with her & got stuck taking a wide shot. That’s why don’t think fast beaks is Miedema’s forte(remembering; she was always best when trailing Martens & VDS at the 2017 Euors) Roord seems to be starting every game now, but as a utility player as she was an DM this time, an CAM the previous game. So it can be a thankless job getting switched around so often.
I kinda hope that City v Arsenal ends as a draw and Chelsea wins so we have a tight race to the finish (especially if Kerr score the winning goal in that scenario for today to take the team to the top) X-D
Should City and Arsenal draw and Chelsea win. Chelsea 35 with a game in hand, Arsenal and City 34, Chelsea will be close to being champions...
Kerr & Ji should be right now in Australia, preparing for Asian qualifiers(they’ll probably miss next week as well). Chelsea’s opponent today, West Ham, will be missing Leon(who’s plays for Canada). Despite a host of popular, international players, West Ham been an disappointment(8th place), so Chelsea should. still be overwhelming favorites. Guess I’ll watch again the Arsenal/Man City match coming up today, just hope it’s a bit more exciting than the last one(but that game had Ann possibility of going into o.t. thus the somewhat slow pace it was played in)
Some of you might not like all the ref complaints, and earlier in the season, they weren’t exactly fair. However, the refs for Man Utd Women vs Reading absolutely have to answer for their decisions today. A clearly onside goal disallowed, and a penalty for Reading given for Zelem clearing the ball with her head. It wasn’t a great performance for Man Utd Women, but any team would likely struggle against an unfair two goal swing from the refs. Two postponed matches and at least one very poor officiating performance don’t put the FA WSL in a good light.
Katie Zelem now leads the team in combined stats; 5 goals, 3 assists & of course very easy on the eyes! Was wondering what her chances in making England’s NT?(especially for the Sheba Cup). I notice too; it’s the none WC squad members that dominating the league this season; Hemp, Roebuck, Beth E., James, Galton & the two Turner’s). What you think of their chance? Certainly be nice to see some new faces at SBC as Vlatko is turning into a little, Jill Ellis mini me(with his selections)
Brighton aside, I haven’t been crazy about Zelem from open play, but she is dangerous and clinical from dead ball situations. Not sure about her long-term prospects, but I think she’ll likely get a look in at some point. Earlier in the season, the Turners were good, but I think both have had quite a few shaky moments over the last several games. The potential is there for M. Turner though. Your first three names are already in the mix, James will surely be in there soon enough, and Galton will likely be in there once she’s decided she’s ready for the international level.
Crazy how Chelsea destroyed West Ham. Don’t think any team in WSL can compete against them. What is the current situation in the standings? Will Chelsea win the championship?
From now until the end of the season, Chelsea will play one more match than City and Arsenal. Edit: We're still several games away from the end of the season, but I think the title will likely go to the last weekend.
Chelsea visit City on the 23rd. Short of either team tripping up some other time down the line, I'd say the title would be effectively decided on the 23rd. Chelsea's game in hand will be two weekends before the last weekend (there are currently no games the weekend before) so, if no one slips up, the title would more likely be decided on May 3rd than on May 16th.
The week-end of the 9th is the FA Women's Cup final at Wembley Stadium. But the Fa might end up having to get games played that week-end, as there are 8 postponed games and only 2 planned so far.
here's the standings; the big 3 are way out in front & what helps them out even more that late in the season, injuries will continue to mount for all teams, unlike the lesser ones, the big 3 will have the sufficient backup players but a couple of interesting areas; Beth England is catching up to Miedema in the goal scoring column. Man U is 2nd top among predominant, English players, lineups(Arsenal & Chelsea only start 2-3 English) Summary - Women's Super League - England - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Women Soccerway
10am in England. All Championship games are cancelled and three of the six FA WSL games are also cancelled. Storm Ciara is not football friendly.
At 845 am ET in the US, I went to the FA Player and none of today’s games were listed. They were there yesterday. I guess at this point, not just 3 games were cancelled, but they all were. I thought something went wrong, but before I re downloaded the app, I checked here. Thanks for the news update.
Follow up. There was nothing on TheFA.com or on womenscompetitions.thefa.com, but via twitter I found this article about all the cancellations: https://fawslfulltime.co.uk/2020/02...-chelsea-off-on-disastrous-day-for-the-fawsl/ "Manchester United’s fixture against Chelsea in the FA Women’s Super League has become the final women’s game to the postponed, meaning that this afternoon’s scheduled action is now a complete wash out." Suddenly I have180 minutes of un-allocated time this morning.
It is very windy and rainy up to 80 mph. And yes all games are cancelled now. Many flughts cancelled from Heathrow airport as well.