So, Ethan: What are your expectations for ManU this season? I thought they were going to sign--or obtain--Oshoala from Barca but it didn't happen. The forward position looks a little thin, no? Russo has potential to be good.
Russo yes she the potential, hopefully overcoming from that injury and hasn't hurt her ability in terms of pace. I think the squad is good but me thinks it could be in the mid table standings based on how other teams have been signing.
Tickets and prices for all the FA WSL teams. Season tickets for Chelsea is sold out. https://womenscompetitions.thefa.com/en/Article/20210810-SeasonTickets
No doubt that the forward line is a bit lacking in depth. Russo looked great in her limited time last season, and if Hanson can consistently play like she did at times last season and during the Liverpool preseason match last weekend, a Galton-Russo-Hanson front three would be pretty decent. However, Russo still seems to be working her way back to match fitness and didn't feature at all in that Liverpool preseason match; I really hope she can stay fit/healthy for most of this upcoming season. The current depth in Thomas and Fuso is a question mark, but we'll see how they get on. I'm honestly pretty happy about the midfield. Before the Press and Heath acquisitions last season, I thought the midfield was the strongest area of the team then as well, and while I'm not the biggest fan of Zelem and Staniforth, I thought a contingent of the fans was finding too much fault with the midfield and letting the front line and defense off the hook when they claimed the midfield was the weakest link/biggest problem area for United. I just didn't and still don't understand that viewpoint, but oh well. Toone, Groenen, Ladd, Boe Risa, Zelem, and Staniforth; that's pretty good for me. Blundell wasn't exactly great vs Liverpool, but I'm optimistic about her acquisition. Hope she can provide that direct chance creation from full back that the team very much needs. If she can do that, then that Batlle being her quality self at defending and ball progression on the other flank should work well. I've never felt consistently secure with M. Turner at CB. However, she's got the ability to be a top defender; she just needs to be more consistent and have better decision making as the last line of defense at times. I do like her short progressive passing game; she's much better there than A. Turner was. I don't know much about Mannion, but she was highly rated at Birmingham. Hope she can put together a good season returning from a serious injury layoff. I thought Thorisdottir had a rough/very rough 1st half season with United; I don't expect her to be a regular starter, but I do think she's much better than how she's played so far for United. I don't rate Earps and Baggaley as elite, top class keepers, but they're both capable of making a lot of good saves. Earps seems like the better shot stopper to me while Baggaley seems to maybe be more better at ball distribution and have a quicker/more urgent playing style based on her 2nd half vs Liverpool. I know people are high on Everton, and Brighton had a pretty good end to last season to finish 6th. However, I still expect United to finish 4th, especially if Russo can get and remain fit/healthy. I don't expect them to only be one point off 3rd place, but my prediction is that they'll be closer than what they were in their 1st FA WSL season. Maybe wishful thinking, but they've got a good/great starting XI in my opinion. Add in the fact that I still don't think FA WSL teams have to deal with that much fixture congestion, and I think United will still do fairly well. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Skinner tries to get United to play this upcoming season.
FA Women's Cup qualifying round 1 and 2 draw made. There are 76 games in Round 1 and 120 in Round 2. VITALITY WOMEN’S FA CUP SEASON 2021-22: 12 CLUBS EXEMPT TO FOURTH ROUND PROPER (FAWSL) 12 CLUBS EXEMPT TO THIRD ROUND PROPER (FAWC) Full schedule First Round Qualifying Sunday 12 September 2021 Second Round Qualifying Sunday 3 October 2021 Third Round Qualifying Sunday 24 October 2021 First Round Proper Sunday 14 November 2021 Second Round Proper Sunday 28 November 2021 Third Round Proper Sunday 12 December 2021 Fourth Round Proper Sunday 30 January 2022 Fifth Round Proper Sunday 27 February 2022 Quarter Final Sunday 20 March 2022 Semi Final Sunday 17 April 2022 Final Sunday 15 May 2022
https://www.givemesport.com/1737460...unny-shaw-the-10-best-wsl-signings-for-202122 Lauren James, Nikita Parris, Bunny Shaw: The 10 best WSL signings for 2021/22
I have a complaint and a request. Complaint RE ability to watch in the US: Two years ago, I was able to watch all of the FAWSL games for free on the FA Player that I downloaded to my ipad, I even figured out how to cast from there to my TV. Last year ATA Football ate into that, but most of the games were on FA Player. On atafootball.com, I could watch some live and some on delay there for free. This year BBC and Sky Sports are taking huge bites. The FA Player appears to have been superseded for FAWSL games; they list the games and show that they are being streamed somewhere else. Request: How can I watch the games being played on BBC and/or Sky Sports in the US? Thanks. -CJ
All signings and transfers so far. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-2021-all-deals-from-europes-top-five-leagues
The Championship starts this week, the FA have a team by team preview on their website: On team up and one team down. Sunderland and Watford are back in the second tier after being demoted to the third tier due to financial means being insufficient. Sunderland going down two divisions and Watford down one. There are probably six or seven teams fighting for promotion: Charlton, Coventry, Palace, Durham, Lewes, London City and Sheffield. Many teams are turning "professional" in the Championship as in training on daily basis during the day, rather than in the evening. Others are still on three times a week in the evening with a day job. Durham v Watford Blackburn v Sheffield Coventry v Sunderland Crystal Palace v Bristol Lewes v Charlton Liverpool v London City
This was the news announcement from last season: it looks like NBC Sport and DAZN. Also Fixtures not shown through one of the new broadcast partners will be streamed live through The FA Player.
And a good start of the Championship season with Charlton v Lewes postponed due to many Covid-19 cases at Charlton.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/football/2021/08/27/alanna-kennedy-manchester-city/ Alana Kennedy signed with Man City for 2 years.
Mmm, they signed a disaster on legs who assisted two goals for the opponent team in the 3rd-place match at the Olympics. Well, I suppose she's anyway worth for the occasional header goal from CK.
Surprised they didn’t go for someone younger. Figure there be some other players in the English league able to play well in defender.
Yeah, I'm also struggling to understand this signing. I just don't see the value in Kennedy, but we'll see how things go.
Full-time in the #FAWC 👀Wins for @RoversLadies, @SAFCLadies, @cpfc_w and @LC_Lionesses! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/1CTrqCySBb— Barclays Women’s Championship (@BarclaysWC) August 29, 2021 table Opening weekend ✅Bring on the rest of the 2021-22 #FAWC season! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/qN0Yk2R9pS— Barclays Women’s Championship (@BarclaysWC) August 29, 2021
And speaking about the third tier and below the FA Women National League, there is a bit of backlash as the relegation promotion rules have been set. The winners of the two Tier 3 divisions have a play off game and the winner goes up in the championship pending licensing results. The relegation matter is the big talking point. Due to last year's and the previous year's seasons being stopped by Covid-19 at amateur level, the FA put teams up a League on merit rather than on the pitch as no league was completed. Next season , league size will revert to normal with 12 teams while this season they have the folliwng numbers: FA WVNL Northern 13 FA WNL Southern 14 FA WNL D1 Midlands 13 FA WNL D1 North 12 FA WNL D1 South-East 13 FA WNL D1 South West 11 And the rule: CONFIRMED: #FAWNL RELEGATIONTier 3:Teams finishing in 11th place or below will be relegated.Tier 4:Teams finishing in 10th place or below will be relegated.Team(s) may be spared relegation in the event that one or fewer teams are relegated into their division from T3. pic.twitter.com/opsWamOQ5l— Talking WoSo (@TalkingWoSo) August 23, 2021 A lot of players and fans are angry, the relegation battles will be spicy in the third and fourth divisions.
Indeed, especially as many teams are now full time, so no longer a huge competitive advantage like United had when they first started in the Championship. Last year was ultra competitive too, it is a League where nearly all the teams can beat each other.
Kim Little has retired from international football. Quite funny that her last tournament was with Team GB and not Scotland. 140 caps.59 goals.A true legend.After 15 years, Kim Little has brought her international career to a close.— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) September 1, 2021
Schedule with UK tv channels The #BarclaysFAWSL is 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞!Bring on the opening weekend 🤩 pic.twitter.com/SB3bswI5Wk— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) September 2, 2021 Note only two games on Sunday. Traditional women's football Sunday gone out of the window with the tv agreements with Sky/BBC.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.te...et-credit-criticism-tv-analysis-improves/amp/ WSL stars will get more credit - and criticism - as TV analysis improves New TV deal takes game to prime-time slots and players will face more scrutiny than ever - now we need to find own Neville and Carragher