Chelsea’s five-star showing and Arsenal frustrated at home – Women’s Football Weekly podcast

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0:48Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. A five-star performance from Chelsea with five different goal scorers. But Manchester United sit bottom. Are they in trouble this early in the season? Crystal Palace aren't making up the numbers. They held Arsenal to a draw. West Ham are up and running. Birmingham almost were, but let a two-goal lead slip. And own goals seem to be the order of the day. We'll go through all the games from the weekend, look at the Ballon d 'Or shortlist, plus we'll take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly.

1:22What a panel we have today. Good morning to you, Susie Rack. Good morning. I'm alive and happy. Yeah, you look it. I like that hat. Oh, that's hiding very, very greasy hair. Oh, right. OK. There's always a reason for a hat. Marva Creel, it's been a while. And of course, we get you on after an Everton win. How are you doing? Very good. Very good after the three points. Yeah. No, nice to be back. Yes, I know you have a lot to say about that game. Three points, but not the most thrilling of games. Chris Powerost, how are you? Your Tottenham match was not that thrilling either, but how are you doing?

2:00I'm really good. I mean, look, when you're a Spurs fan, watching the women at least score a goal is an absolute marvel. Well, there were five goals, and you'll be upset to hear they all came from Chelsea, being a Spurs fan, against Manchester United at Lee Valley. And the early season woes for Manchester United continued. They suffered a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Chelsea. Sonia Bonpastor's side ran rampant in league, putting five past the hosts to no reply. Goals coming from Shuka Nushkin, Kira Walsh, Lauren James, Ellie Carpenter and Lucy Bronze. It was a statement win, Susie, wasn't it?

2:38And compared to last week, reigning goals as well. Was the victory more about their own ruthlessness or Manchester United's inability to handle them or a bit of a combo? A bit of both. I mean, I think we've seen two bad Man United performances in two weeks, But Chelsea were fantastically good. The aggressiveness of the press, the sort of fluidity in the formation I found really interesting. Like playing Lauren James in the Force 9, but having Shokin-Ashkin like almost work interchangeably with her. The wide players come in inside a lot. Lucy Bronze getting forward from the back. It lined up in a back three and then switched to a back four and then at times looked like a back two because so many were pushing forward.

3:21There was just like an air of unpredictability to them that I think made it really, really hard to play against as well. So yeah, really, really strong performance. Obviously, not having an out-and-out number nine, but still scoring five goals is a big kind of statement after a lot of questions last week with Mallard and Ramirez injured and Aggie Biva-Jones not really kind of being at it in the WSL. I don't think she's scored since last September. Yeah, she was dropped to the bench, wasn't she, Agabeeva-Jones, Marva? And Lauren James took up that centre-forward role, as Susie said. What did you make of the decision?

3:59I understood it. And I think obviously it paid off. You can see from the goals. I agree with Susie in terms of the fluid formation. I thought the fact that it was so unpredictable, James was dropping in, but then going wide. And it was so hard for that Man United team that are already struggling with their formation and exactly where they should be. It was kind of different problems to what they found against London City, where with London City, they were having to push up so high to just try and get on the ball and try and do something that runners were in behind. Whereas in this game, they were almost camped out for a lot of it once Chelsea got going because they just couldn't quite figure out who was where and a lot of credit goes to to Lauren James for that but also I think for the two holding midfielders as well because in the last season or so I think that's been a problem with Chelsea of just trying to find that balance of their midfield and especially getting the most out of Kira Walsh and I think you saw the most out of Kira Walsh because there there were enough bodies around her to almost protect her and give her the freedom to pull out what she can pull out which is what we saw for that assist for Lauren James where I was going why are you passing through the middle pass out wide there's so much space oh no okay that's why that's why Kira always does what she does um so yeah I thought it was really really good adaptation from from Sonia because it really left Man United with so many questions this is already a Man United team struggling with their formation and it just perfectly kind of punished them yeah and and a goal as well for for Kira Walsh and she doesn't score many.

5:23So that'll be good for her as well. So Chelsea made lots of improvements, Chris, but Manchester United did not from that first week. They spent long spells in their own half and without the ball. And they just seem to have a lot of frailties out of possession. What do you think that stems from? Before we talk about Manchester United, I just want to say a word about the Lucy Bronze, what feels like a Lucy Bronze renaissance. and I couldn't figure out whether we should call it a bronze naissance or a loo naissance. I like bronze naissance. Yeah. I mean, take your pick. I mean, she was, you know, exactly as you've all said, not only was she everywhere, but actually, you know, that sort of little shift she made to pretend to shoot, to pass to Keira Walsh for her goal and then to show up in the last minute, still absolutely thundering around at 90-whatever minutes to bang it into the back of the net.

6:20I mean, you have to kind of give her her flowers. And I can't stop watching Lauren James just roll over the ball the way that she does. It's just wonderful. But as for Manchester United, I mean, I know it's always hard with a new manager, but they kind of look like they're not sure what they're supposed to be doing. And I appreciate that they've lost some players, but there's the spine of a good team in there somewhere, but you kind of feel like their heads are down as well. You know, like I'm not sure they believe in what's happening. So I think the combination of all of those things makes it quite hard.

6:55The only thing I was thinking, sorry to like, you know, lower the tone slightly. You'll see where the pun was in a minute. Throughout the whole game is, I'm going to age myself now as well, is that I hope the United fans like dug out Tone Lokes' Funky Cold Medina for Andrew and Medina, because that's all I was thinking every time they said Medina. I was like, oh, there's a new song in there somewhere for Funky Cold Medina. But can you imagine, like, that's all I've got, you know, apart from the fact that their heads look like they've gone down, they're not sure what they're doing. I mean, Eva Oled as well, she looks, you know, I kind of feel for her because maybe it's just the way when the cameras catch her, she just kind of looks a little bit like a rabbit in the headlights.

7:34So, you know, look, it's hard, isn't it? Because I genuinely want a woman manager to do well in the WSL. But also, like, I think considering the lack of investment from Manchester United. You kind of want them to be punished for it. Yeah, it is difficult. And by the way, I feel like you know there's a question about music coming up at the end of the pod that somebody has sent in. So Freya has sent in one of our listeners. So, but we'll get to that eventually. I knew you'd love a musical question. Yeah, it doesn't look good at either end, to be honest, Susie, does it for Manchester United? They've just produced two shots on target and they're opening two matches.

8:15two chances on Sunday and they had four touches in Chelsea's box which is worrying and not what we know of Manchester United how concerned do you think Ava Ollid needs to be about their lack of creativity or do we need to give a little bit of patience? A bit of both I think the lack of creativity isn't the only thing to be worried about that's just one of many for them they can't even get the ball at the minute I think is the biggest problem when I was looking at the possession like little pie chart thing I was like oh it looks like a reverse Pac-Man it looks like Chelsea's possession is eating the tiny little bit of 37.2 % possession that Man United had so yeah there's a lot to be worried about I agree with Chris I think like the head's dropping it is a big jump from the SWPL to WSL obviously but there are caveats as well right like there is the fact that she only had three weeks with the players before the start of season whereas everyone else had like proper decent pre-seasons they did only get a couple of their players in the transfer window until very very late on who are now like literally being thrown into WSI action having played very very little football with their team and I feel very sorry for her because I feel like Evola has been given a bit of a poison chalice in that no one would succeed at this job with the way the club is set up and the amount of support they give for the team so I'm kind of like patience but also if there is going to be a lack of patience it should be directed at the club for putting someone who had so much promise I was really excited to see where she went when she left hearts and when I saw it as Man United like my heart dropped for her which is not the feeling you want when you see someone who has done some really really incredible stuff and I'm also really really happy that Chris in the in the week that I turned 40 has made me feel like I'm young again because I was three when that song came out so that was that was good However, you aged yourself by talking about a reverse Pac-Man.

10:09So, you know, you're balancing it out a little bit. I am preparing for an 80s-themed birthday. Right, let's talk about West Ham because, you know, in the preview pod that we did, we were full of praise for their transfer window and they burst London City Lionesses bubble, running out 2-1 winners in Dagenham to earn their first three points of the season. And new signings on the score sheet as well. Kelly Gargo and Vivian Asahi giving the host a 2-0 lead. They had to withstand late pressure, though. Danielle van der Donk scored another backheel finish. Is she going to do that every week? It wasn't enough for them, but it was an important first win on the board for West Ham, Marva.

10:48What did you make of their performance and was their game plan spot on? I think that's exactly it. It was their game plan. It was performed to a T. And actually, if you look at their performances, even last season, even under Ryan Skinner, I thought they were trying similar things they just maybe didn't have quite the players to pull it off because they were very organized and they were last season and had quite a lot of chances in games and then would just concede two or three and that would be over and then that would be the headline is that oh they've conceded two or three they're looking like they're in trouble but actually if you watched how many chances they were creating they could have got something and when I saw this game I thought oh finally this is what they've been trying to do and everyone knows how much I love Kelly Gago obviously gutted to see her go and to a team like West Ham who will probably be competing against us but she is exactly what they need for that type of game plan because you saw it for that first goal one ball through the middle and that's all she needs you can talk about London City Lioness as maybe being a bit naive to that and and having a line so high when you're playing against someone like Kelly Gago just brilliant from her and I think when you look at someone like Asahi as well who that chance that she took she had so many chances like that last season and just wasn't quite finishing them off in the way that she had been in previous seasons but she was just playing with such confidence and I think being able to play alongside Gago and Uweki now whereas before I think maybe her and Martinez were getting into similar positions and kind of getting in the way of each other whereas I think her and Gago really complement each other well so it's exciting for them I think it was a really good game plan a kind of similar game plan to what they pulled off against Spurs, but it just didn't quite work out for them.

12:29And I think this will probably give them some confidence that if they continue to play like that, they can get some good results. Yeah, I said it as if Vivian Asahi was a new signing for West Ham. Of course, you know, she's not. She's been there since 2022. But it feels like it because of the poor season that they had last year. It makes such a difference. I've just had a quick look at her stats and the proof is there. She scored two goals this season. She scored two goals for the whole of last season. So it already feels like a bit of a new signing for West Ham. Important win for them. And we talked previously about how they were busy in the transfer window.

13:05I mentioned Kelly Gargo, but Saki Kumagai, as well as an example, made an immediate impact in her first two starts for Rita Guarino. How much do you think the new additions have improved the team, Chris? They definitely look much better than they did last season. I mean, I think there's no doubt about it. I mean, we went, when I say we, I mean, Spurs went into last game thinking, oh, West Ham, that'll be a, you know, a nice opener to the season. And they, you know, they made it hard work for us. And I think as Marv has just said, they've obviously got a way they want to play. And, you know, in the first game of the season, you're testing things out and it worked for them yesterday.

13:41And, you know, I can't sort of say enough about what Marv has just said about Gago and Asahi together. And if you want to talk about songs, I think you've got or give the Everton fans like their props for the best football chant probably ever for Kelly Gaga to the tune of Radio Gaga. But I think for me, the thing about watching that game is I couldn't find anything funnier than watching Alexia Pateas turn out at the Chigwell Construction Stadium with the corrugated iron roof that leaks on you if it's raining. She had a great opportunity that was skied and you know, like you could sort of see she's literally finding her feet.

14:17so I think that's going to be interesting to see how it pans out for her and how long it's going to take for her to properly settle in but yeah I think I think West Ham looked better than I hoped to be fair it's going to be really interesting to see you know that whole kind of best of the rest thing particularly now that Manchester United look like they're not going to be in amongst it I think there's a really there's going to be some interesting stories outside of the top three this season yeah yeah I agree with you completely you mentioned Puteas there not on the score sheet in the opening game and they were impressive against Manchester United, but just not as much of a cohesive unit this time out.

14:53Did that highlight that despite their big spending, Susie, Ida Maestro still needs significant time to develop them into a proper team? Yeah, I mean, obviously we were waxing lyrical about them last week and I think maybe it shows how bad Manchester United were rather than how good Man City were. And maybe we should all be cautious about Chelsea in that sense as well. But yeah, there was a lack of key stiffness and I think that is what everyone expected sort of from them in the early stages of the season and building consistency is really tough when you've not had players together for such a long time I also thought the um the sort of physicality of West Ham versus Man United is very different Man United have very small players and I when I was watching that game last week I thought that the London City players just look bigger like taller and like physically bigger and stronger than 90 % of the Man United squad.

15:45And here they were matched more evenly, players sort of kind of more similar height and physicality and stuff to them. And they struggled a little bit more with that and put the defence under a lot more pressure. And obviously we've already spoken about how good a say and Gago were in that contest as well. So they're clearly going to struggle when they're up against teams that really believe in themselves and kind of have a more physical presence than Man United do at the moment. And cohesion takes time and consistency takes time. It's going to be interesting to see how much of an up and down start to the season it becomes or whether it settles a little bit for them.

16:27Yeah, similar for Brighton, I think. Birmingham City denied their first win after a 95th minute equaliser from Kiko Seiki sent Brighton home from St Andrews with a valuable draw. We'll talk about Brighton in a second, but there was so much good about Birmingham's performance, Marva. How frustrated is Amy Merrick's going to be that they couldn't get all three points? Massively when you look at just how the last goal was conceded as well. I thought Bagley's been brilliant in both games, but probably let herself down there in the final goal. But it was a weird game in that I think any scoreline could have been predictable and understandable.

17:02It could have been 4-0 either way. 2-2 probably seems about right. But Birmingham were really, really impressive. and just the way that they press, I thought the fact that they didn't always have that much possession, but when they got the ball, the way they attacked in numbers, I thought was so impressive from a newly promoted team because so many newly promoted teams will understandably just try and be a lot more pragmatic. Once they get the ball, kind of wait for a few more players to slowly get up the pitch and assess their options, but they were just absolutely on it. And you saw from their first goal, which was like identical to the goal that they scored against Man City, just completely pressing that back line and making Brighton have to think about what they were doing.

17:40But yeah, really, really impressive from them. I think, yes, they'll be gutted to have dropped two points. I think probably, like I said, in the grand scheme of things, probably a fair result. I think Brighton could have got a penalty as well. But I think this early on in the season, I know it's only a point, but the way that they played against Man City, to just pick up a point, you need to just get some points on the board. And I think they'll be happy to have done that. Yeah, you mentioned teams in transition and getting used to new managers. And Brighton definitely seem as if they're still getting used to life under Arturo Ruiz.

18:15Chris, what did you make of their performance overall? I think they looked OK, as exactly as Marv has just said. I don't think you can get away from the fact that Birmingham's endeavour was the kind of the thing that kind of shone in that game. but you know given the sort of the turmoil in inverted commas that Brighton had sort of not long before the season started I think they're looking okay they had a couple of sort of penalty shouts waved away you know when you've got the likes of Fran Kirby on the pitch you know that there's stuff that can happen and any team that can equalize like that in the final minute they've got to have something about them so this weekend really made me think about that best of the rest thing because, you know, there were flashes from all sorts of teams.

18:57Yeah. Including Brighton. Yeah, I know what you mean. No such flashes from Arsenal's point of view. Sorry, Susie, but Crystal Palace are definitely shaking things up, aren't they? Second surprise of the campaign two weeks in, earning a valuable point at the Emirates. Some brilliant defending, but same old story a little bit for Arsenal, Susie. Six draws essentially cost them the title last season. Frustrating for them and you could see that at the final whistle but how much is Rennie Slagers kind of going to start to be wary earlier on maybe of the same old demons coming back to haunt them? Copy and paste everything we said about Chelsea last week in terms of you know doing everything you can do creatively but not putting the ball in the back of the net.

19:41I think the fault of that has to lie with the players themselves because only so much a manager can do to like set a team up to create and they do that but they can't literally put the ball in the back of the net for you so you know I mean unlucky in that they obviously hit the bar twice Russo missed a sitter and you know she missed a couple of big chances last week as well so that's a little bit of a concern you hope that she clicks into gear at some point but yeah like you can't have that kind of level of dominance their pie chart was pac-man like fully like eating away you know like they had nearly 80 possession they are munching but yeah it was really frustrating to watch a team be so dominant and not put the balling back on it in the same way it was watching Chelsea against Villa last week and that is the difference between them and City is City are just so, so, so clinical.

20:38They don't miss those chances. You've teased the top of part two, funnily enough, Manchester City being clinical, but four points from their first two games for Palace, Marva. What have you seen from Joe Potter's side that's giving them this early success? I mean, it's digging in right until the end. You saw it against Everton as well, frustratingly for me. It was bodies on the line defending and similar in this game as well. To get four points on the board is incredible. and to go to the Emirates and not let the occasion get the better of you is also incredible. But I just thought they were just so organised.

21:10Whenever the ball switched over, they all moved over with it. They know what frustrates Arsenal and they did it perfectly. Bartrip, I thought was brilliant. Swabia as well, brilliant goalkeeping performance. And actually, they could have almost won it at the end, I think. O 'Brien just legs got the better of her and probably should have passed it. And it's understandable. You have to take points like that, of course, because also another game, it could have been about 3-0 to Arsenal. So I wouldn't get ahead of myself and being like, they're a super team, this Crystal Palace team. But of course, they've done everything you could expect from them and more.

21:46And if the team doesn't score against you, if your opposition doesn't score against you, then you have to take that point. But I thought they were really impressive. And I think they can really carry that confidence over into future games too. It's an interesting sort of juxtaposition of the sort of newly promoted teams of the way that like Birmingham come out to sort of attack and move forward and the Palace are sort of much more pragmatic and thinking we're just going to defend defend defend and you'd think against Arsenal that might not work but I mean they were you know the goalkeeper was hugely impressive you know you could sort of see how she wanted to kind of play against her former team you know in an incredible way and as Marv has just said like huge flowers to Molly Bartrip I again I I know I'm biased, but actually she had a terrific game and showed what she's made of.

22:32And I want to see her sort of being first choice on that team sheet. And I think she might be a Spurs fan, so that must have been a lovely occasion as well to go out and manage to keep a clean sheet at the Emirates. So they were impressive. But again, if you look at the stats, the Pac-Man was eating. And I think Arsenal had 30 shots on goal. So you're right, Marva, it could have been 4-0. but I guess the fact that it wasn't, there's all sorts of things to kind of take from that. Was it around Palace's defence or was it just, you know, as you say, like, unless your Russo isn't particularly firing, you're going to hit the post, you know, etc.

23:11So I think it's an interesting one. And the draws, as you say, Faye, might be the thing that Arsenal's comeuppance if they can't find the back of the net in games like this. Yeah, exactly. We'll see how the season progresses. Right, that's it for part one of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly in part two. We'll continue to look back on the action from the weekend.

23:41Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Manchester City earned their second win of the season. It was a comfortable 4-1 away win to Aston Villa on Sunday night. Dominant performance in the end from City, despite facing a few questions from Villa. What did this game show, Susie, about where City are currently at, do you think? It's the clinicalness in front of goal, the quality of that forward line. They're all players that score a lot of goals regularly. They're just so consistently good at getting the ball in the back of the net. When you're looking at Bunny Shaw, Lauren Hemp, Mary Fowler, Fugino sitting behind them, Hasseghal, Blinkielder-Brown, they put those front three in such good positions and they always convert.

24:27You know, you look at the goal they concede and you're like, oh God, that defence can be scored against. That was shaky. You know, there's gaps there. But they will outscore you. They will always outscore you, particularly if you're a mid or lower table team. It's only when they come up against a team that is kind of equally as defensively or stronger defensively, if anything, that they kind of get a real game. But they'll score. I put them to win the league at the start of the season where everyone was saying they think that it's between Arsenal and Chelsea. And my reason was Bunny Shaw. You just could never, ever bet against her as long as she stays fit.

25:03Even if she doesn't stay fit, she still won the golden boot when she had half a season out. Incredible. She is the difference between winning a league or not for me. Yeah, well, Lauren Hemp is pretty important as well. We always focus on Bunny Shaw because she tends to score the goals. But how important is Lauren Hemp, Chris, to this side? She was arguably the player of the match And I just think her ability to just keep running But also for all of that running and all of that endeavour To actually produce something each time Whether it's around the dribble or the pass Like right at the end she's still going And I think that's the thing is like City are sort of relentless I think that's what I kind of came away from that game feeling relentless When you've got Beth Mead and Grace Clinton coming off the bench You can sort of change your shape a little bit as well but while still playing in the same way.

25:54And I thought Lauren Hemp had a really good game. But that link up with Bunny Shore as well is crucial. And yeah, they look good. They look good. I think, you know, you can't look much past them, but we are only two games in. So there'll be a few more twists and turns. Yeah, without a doubt. Look, we've talked about Aston Villa being quite depleted squad-wise, Marva, but they were still competitive, which is encouraging. Does it give them confidence or does the result expose the lack of depth they have? I think it's difficult to judge them on the basis of these first two performances I mean they they're up against the two previous champions that's like you can't get a harder start to the season and I think it's quite hard to even judge how they're going to play this season because you have to play in a more pragmatic way when you come up against teams like this and I actually don't think their performance in this game was that much different to the performance against Chelsea I think the biggest difference was just some mistakes gifted away a few goals whereas you compare it to the Chelsea performance where everyone just pulled out a worldie obviously Akuma particularly whereas was more at fault for the first goal in this game and like we said obviously Man City just particularly clinical as well so I think it did expose some problems in terms of when they did get on the counter-attack when you don't have Hansen in those positions to just be clinical for them and get that one chance that they do have but I thought Chastity Grant was really good.

27:14They were organised so you can see them playing that style and possibly getting a few points here and there against other teams. But like I said, I think it's not even fair to judge them on that style of play because how they play against Everton, for example, might be very different and just a really difficult start for them for the season. So to even get one point out of those two games, I think is more than a lot of people would have expected. I imagine that's what you'd be thinking if you were Villa as well, right? You'd be like, okay now that we've got City and Chelsea out of the way what are we going to look like against the likes of Everton, Spurs, Brighton, West Ham that's where they want to be in and amongst that right?

27:51Well you'd think so although Liverpool and Tottenham were the top two after the first week so you know with all due respect to Villa I don't think that's where they're going to be this season whereas Tottenham maybe and we'll talk about them in a sec Chris you know might be eyeing breaking into the top four potentially. But Liverpool and Spurs played out a one-all draw. This is what Liverpool boss Gareth Taylor had to say after the match. It's positive for us that we're coming off the pitch frustrated that we've not taken all the points. And that's a big step for us. It is a big step mentally, I think, Susie.

28:25And they looked the better team for good spells of the game. What impressed you most about their performance at the weekend? The transformation over the last year. I mean, when you look at how far they've come from Christmas onwards, it's hugely impressive. Like they've got four points from two games and they're really frustrated about it, about not having taken three points against Tottenham. Whereas last season, it took them until I did all this working out for my talking point in the Guardian. It took them until 25th of January to get their first win. and that took them over four points for the first, well, for the only time there would be in a season, not the first time.

29:06They've already got four points, two games in. That is the difference. It's been absolutely transformatory and they just look so well organised, particularly defensively and they've added in the summer really shrewdly to kind of give them a bit of diversity to their attack. So I think when Aurelie Silek comes on at half time, she makes a massive difference in that she completely changes the way they play and just really really really caused Spurs' back line a lot of trouble and that flexibility tactically and kind of really responding to the game I think is is what helped them to a point here and you know left them yeah kind of legitimately frustrated that they didn't come away more from it towards the end when they were really really pushing so yeah like just the transformation is huge yeah I I was really critical of Gareth Taylor when he was at Man City in that, you know, he was given everything and they didn't really win much at all.