A feast of WSL drama

0:28Welcome to Upfront, I'm Chloe Morgan. a huge implication for the title race already so we'll be discussing all of that and so much more plus FIFA unveiled another one not another one the Women's Champions Cup are we excited yes are we slightly concerned it's only a few months away yes and also when are we going to fit the games in who knows right Rach you were at the big big big big games this weekend it felt like a really juicy week no sorry not that one yeah that that one that really spicy fixture that everyone's talking about um it felt like we were kind of treated to a bit of a feast a buffet of wsl drama goals glory title race contention it felt like we had two pure days really of like what the fuck is going to happen next yeah but before we get stuck into the big games moments of the weekend i mean there's so many to choose from you've yeah we had to have little discussion about this I have gone for Sandberg's goal United a lot for you know what she's been through you know this year losing her mum it was her first goal for United like you could see what it meant to her when she scored it the passion the joy you know tapping the badge the rest of the team getting around her and what a bloody goal it was as well like the technique to get your foot over that for a defender I rate it it was it was yeah it was a unexpected a lovely moment i'd say maybe inspired yeah the previous weekend the mia zauer's absolute banger it was a bit of a replica yeah and i just think she's having a brilliant season so far she's been a bit of a revelation so i want to hat tip her really love that she's also quite like quiet like very like understated character and i feel like that really put her on the map this weekend yeah hello welcome i would have to say chloe kelly i mean my god the the roar around the joy stadium when she came on and that was from man city and arsenal fans was it because i heard plenty of booze she was getting there were quite a few booze oh yeah i don't know whether they were playing that fake noise that we had at kovid no i had was like there were there was a lot of there was also a lot of positivity around her coming on not for long though um scoring that i thought that was an absolute world you could the power on that shot it took a small deflection which took it just past the keeper but at the same time i mean it was just everything that arsenal needed to get back into the game and of course you had a controversial little bad little bad little bad to the crowd it's not like giving it drama but like when you think about like she's spoken about it where she almost gave up football like something to do with the fans it was what happened at that particular club almost gave up football you know was considering it in a really difficult place changed clubs in order to hopefully make the Euros won the Champions League at that club made the England squad won the Euros scoring the winning goal so you can understand like the contrast of where she was when she was there versus where she is now.

3:18And also, like, we love that. We love a bit of, like, Kirsten Kaspari has gotten some great celebrations. LJ always does it against Manchester United. Don't get me wrong. I love a bit of personality. Love a bit of personality. Also, I feel like for Chloe Kelly, when there is a script to write, she would write that script. If it's like, I'm coming back to Manchester City, we're currently losing, I'm coming on, obviously going to score a goal. Yeah, all fucking day. Not going to win it, though. Weirdly enough, I actually played with Chloe Kelly at Arsenal when she was about 16. in like the young the young group and even then like it was like why were you in the young group?

3:53she was part of the young group she was part of the young group but I was also part of like the Arsenal it was like B team type thing it was a bit weird I can understand that because you could have like three older players as part of like the youth set up in the B team but even then my god I mean obviously our careers took completely different trajectories I didn't win the Euros twice which is weird and I don't score bangers like that I never have never will save them though don't you barely but yeah I just thought that was an iconic moment. All you share with her is the name. Yeah, like a brief spell.

4:21We had a couple of months together and I'll take that. You know that footballer? You know, name Chloe? Yeah. You used to play for Arsenal? Two Chloes. You'd never know who you were talking about. Two Chloes we were at Arsenal. Very well known. Very well known that day. Anyway, moving swiftly on from that embarrassing little moment. Let's get stuck into Man City. Leaving it very, very late against Arsenal. Iman Beny scored in the 88th minute to seal a 3-2 victory for City against Arsenal. This is a big fixture that keeps on delivering huge, huge things. The last five matches between these two teams have delivered just the 22 goals.

4:55It's insane. Like this is such a fun fixture to watch. I think I was checking the head to heads and it's something like they've played each other perhaps in all competitions 34 times. Well, before this game, 33 times and both teams had won 15 each and drawn three now now it's swung a little bit into City's favor they've won 16 and Arsenal won 15 so you know you're gonna get like a high intensity like full-on drama filled fixture and you're gonna get goals for definite um and it absolutely delivered I think Arsenal probably coming into this with more pressure because of their recent amount of form yeah or lack thereof um whereas conversely city were coming in like i felt like each game they've improved and improved and they're clicking and things are gelling and you know i think bunny shaw unbelievable game everywhere um you know whether she's fancy footwork in and around the box whether she's close control taking the ball down on her i think maybe not quite her chest but it was a ball that kind of bounced high and she had to control it close and just all those little moments you know yes you know the skill the strength but also those little techniques and just everything seemed to be clicking together for her i'm glad she got a goal from open play and of course then you know setting up that last winning goal for benny and i just want to shout her out for giving me an unbelievable celebration right in front of me i was gonna say we have been a little bit critical of her form in recent weeks critical not critical but like there's an expectation that we wanted more and that she should have converted more chances there were you know shots fired at the post but we also understood keepers i understand yeah it's very it's still very very early days in the league but it kind of felt like she had that oh we knew this was coming the bogeyman type thing but like this goal felt like a release of like almost like the shackles of like pressure from like the striker shackles but yeah i think this is important for her um she'll feel really like g'd up coming off that out of that game um and i think we knew that that performance was coming at some point definitely and i think it was good like i mean she obviously got the opener it's about 35 minutes in the casparai assist absolutely a thing of beauty and we'll talk about Kasper and her impact on the game in a little bit but it kind of just felt like the game was very end to end it felt like both of them had good chance in the first sort of 30 or so minutes we had great saves from Daphne van Dompsala we had great saves from Yamashita and then obviously Bonnie Shaw opens it up and then the game really heats up and it's like Arsenal then kind of like going hell for leather trying to get that equaliser but again it's another example of Arsenal waiting to be under pressure and I just don't understand it they don't capitalise on momentum they started well the press was good but it was almost like City knew they just had to wait wait out this high intensity for them to then just back off a little bit which is kind of what happened um they got the opening goal very easily could have had a second that move I touched on I think it was Rose who threw a ball over the top and I'm I'm enjoying this like moment of moments of directness from City it's very effective um going from back to front so quickly when I think the City of the past often recycled the ball and played around the back and waited to pull teams out of position but what Arsenal were doing was essentially they've been in that kind of high press period obviously decided to that they weren't going to you know the way it happens they ebb and flow and you step off a little bit they didn't really step off they stayed in the high press position it felt like anyway if you watch it back it felt a bit like they were occupying the high press space but choosing not to actually engage in a press which meant there was loads of space down the back for Rose to find that ball and that whole passage of play was really really good and deserved a goal out of it but Kasper I was offside but yeah it's just it feels like Arsenal need to feel their back up against the wall in order to play with any kind of you know passion and intensity and when you see that Aston Villa game too late to show that once Villa scored so late so and again similarly Chloe Kelly scoring that equaliser late on and City getting the goal of the depth it's then almost too late to then go oh we really need to do ourselves and they had chances Zina, Beth Mead I think Caitlin Ford had that opportunity as well and it's just like I don't know you're getting into the positions it's on the players then to actually put them in the goal isn't it?

9:03100%. We spoke about this in the last pod she can't keep on like she can't hand hold these strikers into scoring a goal It sounds like we're talking about West Ham as well by the way they have a very similar issue When you look at the Cena chance that could have been an absolute game changer and at least scraping a point out of this game but it was like she got into this great position one on one with the keeper and I think it was obviously a great save Yamashita spread herself made sure that she was super super big but at the same time you only got to put that ball left or right and it's out of reach like the keeper's not going to save it from that range but yeah it kind of just felt like it was another frustrating element and it kind of felt Arsenal I love the passion and dedication to get back into the game like they came from behind a couple of times and I love that but it didn't ever feel like they were gonna they were gonna win even when Chloe Kelly scored that absolute friggin worldie I actually thought Man City are gonna reach this one out all day yeah what I liked was what we saw from Man City what it felt like was that and Jäglers has touched on this a number of times he's been so impressed with the team's belief and I think they could be forgiven or perhaps in the past if Arsenal had scored that equaliser late on they would maybe try and sit on that 2-1 lead or think let's get this draw out of it you never had that even when you had Arsenal coming down with chances Friedemann missed a header on the back post Laxenius opportunity Bethmead opportunity while yes they were defending those they were still like we need to get up the other end and score the winner there was a real like belief that they were going to get up there and score it and you could see that with the with the goal that they did ultimately end up scoring and I think that drive the directness the dynamism we're seeing from them now and the belief in the squad was really evident like you just it never felt like they were gonna ever sit back and think okay if we end up with a draw against Arsenal like that's still a good point that was that was not it like they were like we can win this game we can absolutely win this game even though Arsenal were throwing the kitchen sink down the other end they knew they had it in it to win it um and i really rate that passion actually within the squad you could the the goal meant so much for him and benny to score it the celebrations were unreal um and yeah just made for a life it was just such an enjoyable game to watch i think it's 100 it was a tenacity and i think um izzy christensen um who think was on comms on the uh on the day was saying sort of and it was it was exactly the the two-one moment and i thought this in another season man city would have just like let you said sat back kind of like just tried to get the game out to a 2-1 like just just seen it off essentially kind of like yeah like dropped off and just kind of played like quite defensively but this is a completely different era of Man City under Jäglers and I absolutely love the fact that I feel like he's given the players the freedom and the reign to go forwards and I think one of those players definitely we've got to shout out Kirsten Kasperi I mean when we say like she's got license I have never seen someone being given pretty much any error of the pitch to kind of roll into but like I love the fact that she's able to kind of push forward and kind of create these goal scoring chances and score goals herself a goal and an assist and a third player of the match in a row not freaking bad which is why maybe neil on instagram has said do you think casper has been the best fullback in the wsl this season i mean she's certainly she's yeah certainly up there um you know they are conceding but that's not solely down to her the fact that she's she's got so much more as you say license to go forward confidence to go forward the style of play they're playing allows her to get forward there is a passage of play that like sticks out in my mind because I had her in the second half coming towards me and I think it was Benny she was maybe linking up with and you know sent a ball into up to Benny who was on the wing understandably and she continued that run at serious fucking pace breakneck speed pointing where she wants the ball Benny immediately sending it up ahead to her and her whipping in a pass and just that confidence to know like A, she's going to be able to retain possession so is Benny B, the pass is going to be perfect and C, there's going to be someone in the box to receive it and he said he's given her more license to go forward yes but also more responsibility as a player and I think she's thriving on that and I think when you're a player like that and week in, week out you're performing in the setup that the manager has put you in you're going to be more confident each week you're getting player of the match you're getting goals you're getting assists you're like okay this is working for me it just builds and builds week on week and I mean we do a team of the week every week I think I don't think Sophie's taken her out yet like I think she put her in the first time and Liz was like well we'll leave her in there because she's having another storm Is she in your fantasy team?

13:19Oh god I don't know Chloe I can't remember bloody hell Me! Might be a good chance I make it one week week one deadly week whatever 22 oh yeah forgot about that Yeah well it's a bit late in the day for that now you can't jump on the Kasparai bandwagon can't you? No too late Yeah but I've got to agree I think she's one of those players that I feel like she was definitely making an impact in Man City last season but at the same time like I feel like this is kind of like her rise to like the top and I think even if you take away like how she is on the pitch off the pitch she provides the best commentary like she provides the best like post-match analysis like she's funny as hell like she's got a great personality she advocates in the space she's super open and honest with her partner Ruth about like all the things that happen like she's at one with the trans community like she is yeah she's becoming a kind of like a brand in her own right a figurehead in the WSL and I absolutely love that for her.

14:09So yeah, if there's anyone deserving of like respect, reputation, like awareness right now, it's Casper I for me. And also I want to shout out the partnership they did with Tinder. Oh, iconic. Like that was, if you're going to do a good partnership, that is an example. If you're going into an interview for marketing and they ask you, can you give me a good example of like partnership marketing or like, you know, working with a brand where it's authentic. That's the example you use. Go look at it, go find it, write that down and tell people why it's a very good example of partnerships and I just thought yeah she's finding her feet both on and off the pitch and it's really nice to see 100 % our producer Finn has dropped in your actual football fantasy team I really appreciate that can I just see who's in it because I can't remember yeah 100 % some of them I think you've got absolutely bang on Mallard yeah I mean Mallard get me one point but you know Hanson yeah Emily Fox Alex Greenwood not bad Rach where's Kasperi though mate well I'm playing three at the back so she doesn't work in that system is my argument but she's so versatile now she is could be on the bench Finn has not included my bench she's not on the bench but thanks for I haven't seen that since week one so and what position are you no let's move on I don't know 360 something out of 360 something right okay brilliant where are you doesn't matter what's your team I ask the questions is she in your team I ask the questions around here there we go I mean talking of Man City I think we've got to talk about just how well they are performing this side of Christmas.

15:40I mean, like when you look at sort of like the title contenders and how the title race is kind of heating up. I mean, it kind of feels like it's either Man City or Man United, who are the only ones who are going to give Chelsea a run for their money. The best thing is, and we're going to talk about the Chelsea. Look at them. Do you genuinely believe that Spurs are title contenders this year? I didn't believe Spurs were going to be top three now. I appreciate where they are. I'm just saying. No, think of the longevity of it. I think you're better than this. No. Right, good. Better from you. But no, I do think, and what's interesting about City, and it's a little bit like Chelsea at the moment, but Chelsea remain unbeaten, is that they're still, and this is one of my favourite analogies, they're still building the plane while they're flying it.

16:19And they're not dropping many points, right? So obviously City lost the opening game. They've not maybe had the best performances every single week. Seems like a lifetime ago. I know, doesn't it? But they're winning. And I think that's the important thing. And if you're going to try and keep pace with Chelsea, you literally cannot drop points. So I think the fact that they're, you know, improving week on week, you know, they're still defensively can be a little bit shaky. They did concede two, could have conceded more had Arsenal actually put their shooting boots on. But I think there are areas they need to work on.

16:47But the fact is they're improving each week. They're still figuring stuff out and they're still winning. And that's the most important thing for them, I think. Yeah, I think it's really interesting to see where we are in sort of the first month of WSL life again. Like Man City 12, Tottenham 12, Chelsea 13. obviously what I love about this weekend is that Chelsea effectively I wouldn't even say dropped points they they are just they were points that they didn't pick up um and that has made it so much more interesting because what I want what I didn't want to see was Chelsea run the entire rampant side of this Christmas and then just get to like January and February and improve fucking hell like they've brought in another multi-million pound sign in um a bionic AI generated player um oh my god what would you call your AI generated bot player shooting Max Shooterson I sound like Boat face yeah that's why I went for it oh fucking hell score Max scores a lot you had such a nice moment of brand awareness and marketing I know yeah that Tinder thing I need more time to think of funny stuff sorry clearly coming up after this we are going to discuss the Chelsea fixture against Man United and of course the weather

18:06Oh, what a game this was. What a game this was. One of my two favourite teams playing against Chelsea this weekend. Man United ended Chelsea's 100 % start to the season. You were just riling up the listeners. Honest to God. I'm not actually, I'm not being provocative in the slightest. A 1-1 draw on a very, very stormy night at the Progress with Unity Stadium. Prizes for the worst name of the stadium. that's such a mouthful no there's another really fucking there's a worse name stadium in the WSL is it the Poundland Stadium no who in the WSL yeah there's a really bad wait I'm gonna have to chat emeryx joy no king power no copper box how would you how would you Chigwell Construction Stadium stop talking Crawley it's Broadfield Stadium no Villa Park no I feel like it's like a stadium name that people don't know that it's a stadium name for like...

19:02Totally Wicked. Oh, there it is. That is the Totally Wicked. Totally fucking Wicked Stadium. Sorry, that is still better than the Progress Unity something or other. Like, this is a Totally Wicked Stadium. Like, you know, you get away with it more than... I've never felt more millennial, saying the Totally Wicked Stadium. What Progress with Unity. That's a woke name, isn't it? Yeah, that does sound quite woke. And surprisingly, at one of the least woke teams in the league, it's also still a pain in the arse to get to. So it doesn't matter what you change the name of the stadium it's still maybe the worst stadium to actually get to physically nightmare traffic roadworks parking getting out honest to jay industrial estate lovely and there's a Morrison's and there is a hotel if you get stuck in the car park lovely gosh it's everything you need a real draw Man United's record against Chelsea in the WSL is atrocious one draw in 11 previous encounters Mark Skinner described it as the most brave performance from his players that he'd seen I think that is a fair assessment it was the word I used actually I think 60, 70 80 minutes in I messaged Sophie and I was like Man United are being so brave in this performance and you know I think when you're coming up against a Chelsea with the quality they have and how dominant they've been with the experience they have they know how to win games the depth this is like I mean every game you play until the final whistle but Chelsea are a team that you're like they've got some they've got a goal in them they've always got a goal in them and you can never switch off until the ref literally blows that final whistle and then for them to be able to make the changes they make compared to say United squad depth for example the fact that 60-70 minutes in they were still pushing pushing pushing for a winner I really rated that performance and I said it when they played Bran they went out 100 % all guns blazing pardon the pun knowing they had the gunners on the on the weekend they did the same this week they went out all guns blazing knowing they have Champions League fixture on Wednesday.

20:55So I really rated that because, you know, it was a real, like you could see both teams just swinging and taking lumps out of each other, almost both like absolutely pressing for the winner. And it was just such, again, a really enjoyable game of football in spite of the fact that I nearly drowned. I am fussed about that, to be honest. I am not a cagoule wearing peasant and I won't be this season either. I wasn't last year and I won't be. So I watched this game on the sofa. Where was I? Man City. A load of the fans had ponchos. Yeah nice And I actually I fucking hate a poncho I would have worn a poncho I would have worn a poncho That's how bad it was I was indoors The wind was a-blowing And I had a large glass of Merlot Actually Do you know what?

21:35Don't like a Merlot So now I don't feel so jealous Followed by What? What do you like? Now it doesn't work now does it? If you don't know my preferred red You can't slag me Oh it's gonna be like a Beaujolais Or something like that It's gonna be something like Really like No Merlot No said that. Rioja. Is that all you know? I know two wines. Dammit. It's either the red berries or the white berries. You're right though in Rioja. That's my preferred. No, I think this was a game. They were taking chunks out of each other, but it felt like they were trying to get that last minute winner from the start of the game.

22:07Oh my God. Man United taking the game to Chelsea early doors. That great effort from Turlam within like, what was it, two minutes on the pitch? Set the kind of expectations for where I think Man United's intensity was going to be. And I think the nicest thing about that was seeing a vulnerability in Chelsea. Picking the ball up in midfield, no one was there. No one was there. Chelsea had left so much space in midfield. Which is weird. Which is weird to get the ball. And then there was four players, four defenders and Turland. And Turland still being able to get that shot off. What's happened? It was something Mark Skinner picked up on post-match.

22:42He said they put in two controllers in the midfield, Chelsea. They want to try and limit the space. It just didn't work. Park and Toon. did an incredible job. Park especially. Her ability to find space in the tightest of areas is incredible. And I thought she absolutely stood out for me. I thought there was a lot of good performances across both teams. Like, I thought Ziggy Oti massively. There was an element of a calmness that the likes of Rolfo and Ziggy Oti brought in big moments, in like key moments. You could just see they didn't have to take the extra touch. They, you know, were comfortable in possession under pressure, for example.

23:24And there was a moment where, this seems really small to pick out. But when I think about the differences in the two teams and where those fine lines and fine margins are, United had a period in the second half. They started the second half really well. I thought Chelsea kind of dominated the opening, dominated the end, and Manchester United were good in the middle for both halves. So the momentum kind of shifted. But there was a corner that United won. they'd put a whole load of pressure on Chelsea and they got a corner out of it and Frida Lina Rolfo came in and she was like, you know, really G-ing up.

23:58She was, you know, slapping on the chest, slapping on the back, you know, like as in like this, right, come on, we've got this, right? Let's go. The momentum's here, this is it, this is it. And Mark Skinner goes, are we going to make a substitute now? And I was like, what? First of all, substituting before a corner, unusual time to do it. But there was a real like feeling of, right, come on, we're going to turn this into something. And then I was like, oh, okay, now, I need to wait for the sub. and I just thought in that moment I was like that was such an interesting decision so rather than capitalising on that momentum and that feeling of right come on we're gonna we've done really well here we're gonna get something out of it and reading the room it just kind of went a bit flat while everyone had to wait for the board to go up and the player to come off and the player to come on and to come into their position and then it was like the moment was gone and it's such a small thing to pick out that's not why they didn't win the game but I just think like those little small fine margins those little decisions where you're just like I personally and you know maybe she was injured maybe it had to happen there was probably some plan in place you think you would have capitalized on that feeling within the squad where they were like right we've got them on the back foot we've got them on the ropes for sure let's let's do something about it and it just didn't happen I think it's like reading the it's like an emotional intelligence players and it kind of reading the momentum of like the vibe of how that the team are feeling in those moments but I definitely want to touch on the midfield because I think we talked about it in Man United's game last week and how well Toon Park um yeah Jess Park I mean Jess Park and Toon like it just feels like this symbiosis that's happening between these two that I absolutely love and then the link up with Turland as well I mean it kind of feels like the midfielders where Man United are finding the most success because they're unlocking this kind of space they're playing as if they've known each other for years at a time and then they're kind of there are times where Toon is creating space but also times where like Toon is sort of like almost driving into kind of congestion to kind of create more space on the wings for like Turland to do the overlap or for Jess Park to find further space and like that's how some of these chances have happened but there's this beautiful kind of like connection that's happening that I'm loving seeing develop yeah and Mark Skinner was asked about Jess Park Sophie asked him you spoke of the fact that she felt she was electric that night and he agreed and he but he also said that he feels like Ella Toon has really improved playing with Jess Park in that their relationship really works for each other they can really read each other well so not only have you gotten in this weapon of a player in Jess Park but now you know the relationship she has with Ella Toon you've now suddenly got this like really powerful duo and then you've got Ziggy Otte backing them up with that kind of calm confidence but also doggedness and she really drives the play forward as well so knowing you've got her backing you up as well I think has really given them that confidence I think look we've touched on it nearly every pod about the depth of the squad and you know it's not something that's going to change before January so there's no point hammering home but I just think and I said it I really rated that performance where they were like this is the most important performance right now yes we've got Champions League coming up but right now this is the only thing we care about it's how long you can play like that when you've got midweek matches with Champions League and how long you can have that mindset of as Mark Skinner calls it go out and be absolute kind of monsters and and run your legs off and that's a hard thing to do but I really that the funny thing is in spite of that maybe being the best performance we've seen from United against Chelsea, still only came away with a draw.

27:13And that's Chelsea. And Mark said at post-match, he said, yeah, we can improve, we can get closer, but Chelsea just keep moving. And that's the difficulty. It's that quality and improvement. And even maybe when Chelsea aren't at their best, they're still winning against a team that are playing their best against them. Do you know that kind of way? One of the really nice moments the codes come out of the Man United camp was the fact that the player of match award was lasted. It went to Park, which is really nice for you. because I think that was a bone of contention, I think. How the player of the match awards are kind of being handed out to players who come off, you know.

27:44Or no, it's being voted for on the 50th minute. Like, what are you doing? Yeah, why are we voting for this? This was a fair one, I think. But yeah, let's definitely get stuck into Chelsea and that incredible goal. I mean, it was a moment of pure brilliance, that ridiculous backheel. Yeah, I mean, Rach, you were there. Talk me through just how it looked in real life because it was glorious. It was a lovely little team goal and I think you can see Ella Toon head in her hands because while she'd tracked the runner she was the wrong side of her so that allowed the ball to go out to Macario, the back heel, it's just kind of sumptuous little, that's the kind of spiciness you get from a Chelsea.

28:24That's the kind of quality they have. Yes, they can score bangers from outside the box as we saw from last week against West Ham with that sumptuous, again, free kick lots of ways that they can score goals but that was just a lovely little yeah spicy little goal that I enjoyed and it felt like it was coming I think Chelsea as I said had for me the better of the opening 20 minutes or so and that was something Skinner touched on pre-match he was like you need to win there's two games in this game you need to win the 60 you need to win the final 30 because as I said Chelsea never take their foot off the gas and if anything when they make their substitutions they're able to just take it up a level yeah and that's what's so impressive and they did make a number of substitutions I was a little bit surprised at how early Kapton came off you know 51 minutes I think it was and you're like what have you seen in that 5 minutes that couldn't have been changed at like you know I don't think she put a foot wrong to be honest I think though Manchester United started the second half really well and I rate that from Bon Pastor like she doesn't kind of dwell on things and in the past we've seen I'm trying to think back to what game it was where Chelsea fans have been saying why is Hayes not making the substitutions what's taking so long I don't think that Bonpastor has that I think she's willing to kind of make those changes quickly I think not having Beaver Jones in the centre was an interesting choice given how informed she's been and how many goals she's been scoring but then look Like Macario and Kaptajn showed just what they can do in the box together, that they can score a goal like that.

30:06And like they could have had more. I thought Ritten Caner had got in a number of times, was given a lot of space down that side and there could have been more from it. But it was just, yeah, like I said, it was like two teams just taking swings at each other. Well, maybe some frustration creeping in from Sonia Bonpasta, which is quite rare. We normally see her being very cool, calm and composed. That's normally because she's watching a game that she's winning. got a yellow card for shouting in the fourth official's ear Bonfasa said I was a bit frustrated with the referee as you can see I got a yellow card for no reason I think she made the wrong call okay she did get it for a reason the ref made the wrong the ref made the wrong call on the pitch I think I think she gave a free against Macario I think it should have been the other way around but to then turn around and shout that's crazy I mean it seems soft but the refs are cracking down on dissent so she didn't get the yellow card for no reason she got the yellow card for a reason but the decision original decision i think was probably wrong on the pitch and that that was what meg you know made her annoyed i think i totally get that and i think there was frustration creeping in like they had so many chances to kind of put the game to bed but it just didn't seem to be one of those games it was really going to work out and then there were so many moments of kind of tearing i think that was the first time maybe that she felt stressed that this wasn't going to go to plan and i could understand that she's had so much fucking success it was really enjoyable and she said it when she came in as well so did mark like Like for the neutral, it was such an enjoyable, wasn't it?

31:27Just high quality game of football. You always think that the result 1-1, like a draw is always going to, it feels like it should be a bit boring. But like, honestly, it was just like end to end from like the first few minutes. And I think that's what made it so exciting for me. Because I was like, I don't know which way this game is going to go. Both had these clear cut chances. Both were creating these amazing opportunities. But just a bit of a shout out as well to Frustrated Bonpasta. This was her 100th league game as a manager. she's won 90 of them and lost just two still obviously unbeaten in the WSL I mean what what a reign no wonder she was a bit miffed off she was like there's a chance here that all of this on my 100th game as well it's an incredible stat an incredible run and it's hard to see where the first loss is going to come it could be someone really random God I hope it is what are the next matches Spurs Spurs I mean you literally slated Spurs at the beginning of this episode no I said they're not going to win the league Yeah, but what?

32:22You think you're going to beat Chelsea? Well, you were giving it big beans that they might be title contenders. I was just giving them a little hat-tick that they're still up there. I have a short memory, you, all of a sudden. So do you. Support two teams, shut up. Three, actually, including London City line asses. So get that right. Coming up after this, the Champions League returns.

32:46The Champions League returns tonight. tonight the champions no no that's the champions league song for the women do you not go to the matches no this is why you shouldn't be watching on your bleeding couch sing the wrong song have you got a short memory it's a coat de rhone is it coat de rhone you already got my wine earlier right fine it took you that long to think of a third option moving swiftly on white arsenal host leon at meadow park tonight. Chelsea travel to Twente on Wednesday. Man United host Valeringa in their first ever game in the main draw of the Champions League. So much action.

33:24So much action. Where are you heading? What are you doing? Arsenal at Meadow Park. Twente is in Enschkede, I think, which is not easy to get to in the Netherlands and get back from as well. And we were going to go to Manchester for the fourth time in two weeks. Oh, lovely. but I need to be back early the next morning so can't do Man United so I'm going to do the Subway League Cup on Wednesday and Sophie's doing Champions League from the catch lovely are they serving Subway at the League Cups? I've never been given one maybe the final I think they did we had options oh lovely yeah okay nice interesting news ahead of these fixtures is that some Champions League games are going to be broadcast on the BBC wow not behind a paywall yes well ish we were spoken about this a couple of weeks ago how DAZN's previous paywall model hadn't really paid off and it actually kind of harmed access and accessibility to the games.

34:19Seven matches will now be live on BBC TV and online, including the final. The first game is going to be Man United versus PSG on November the 12th. But Disney Plus is broadcasting all 75 games. So like the BBC and Disney Plus are basically doing the Champions League coverage this year. Yeah, I mean, seven from 75 games. the BBC are doing a very small amount but hopefully some key games I think helpful for viewers because I think the majority of those games are like the teams that people in the UK would want to watch your Man United's, your Chelsea's, your Arsenal's again it kind of brings back this like okay well we're moving to a model and rightly so because the product is so good that people should be paying for it 100 % but at the same time when you're kind of moving to this model of like so many different types of paywalls being applied to different parts of the game one I think it becomes confusing in terms of people knowing where to watch the games at whatever point.

35:13And then two, also you're asking people to pay multiple subscription fees for the games that are happening. You think that it should be behind people should pay because it's high quality? Is that what you mean? Yeah. Why should they? I mean, I think that's a stretch given how it didn't land very well for DAZN. What'll be interesting is to see the quality of the broadcast because I think what frustrated people with DAZN was the broadcast quality didn't necessarily improve when you paid for it no i agree so in terms of analysis pre-match half time that kind of stuff um it is going to be that's only going to come with investment you're only going to get a you know yeah the pre-game totally agree like the studio setup the additional cameras you're only going to get that if people start paying for games so do you think the game is there for majority of it to be behind the paywall Well, I think it depends on what the game is.

36:03Like you pay for a quality product. Like I would pay for that Man United Chelsea fixture all day. It's on Sky Sports. So I do. So is there an option for limited match payments or is it like a set fee for the whole? You just have to pay for Disney. I think you pay for Disney Plus subscription. Yeah, it's essentially the same as Sky Sports where, I mean, I pay, I think it's about 36 quid a month for the Now TV Sky Sports package, which includes all these random games like Premier League. What's that? I've got no idea. Is that men? rider something whatever um so yeah i do i do think i do think we need to move to a model where i mean it's like going to the games in the stadium it's like i think you should be paying for good quality football but i do think if we go to multiple paywalls too soon it's going to become confusing that's where i'm potentially too expensive at this point in time so that's where i'm coming from yeah uh finna's helped me put in that it's 5.99 with ads oh 9.99 without ads um We're not sponsored by Disney+.

36:58Disney +, if you want to sponsor this podcast, you absolutely can. Well, let's have a discussion about that. They're not doing great things over in America. We retract that offer. We enjoy freedom of speech. We do. We actually do. And we say a lot of things that are very close to the wire. Actually, cancelable things, really. Yeah, and I'm not the biggest fan of every single Disney character, so I'm not going to say... Which ones don't you like? I don't know. I'd need to think about it. Very bold statement to make without any evidence. I want to be allowed to say that I don't like certain Disney characters without feeling like I might get punished, you know, pulled off air.

37:28I feel like I've hit a really weird nerve and I don't really want to explore it, in other words. In other tournament news, FIFA have unveiled details of the brand new Women's Champions Cup next year. Not another one. We love a new tournament because we were thinking after last year, you've got the Euros, you've got the Sevens, you've got, you know, the Champions League, you've got the FA Cup, you've got the Subway League Cup. And we're just thinking, Christ, there's just not enough. not enough football there's not enough fixtures being wedged into the calendar especially kind of in the January April window we just don't have enough 100 % for those who don't pick up on it so this tournament brings together the winners of each continental club competition with four games in total two semi-finals a third and fourth place playoff and the final Arsenal will face the winner of a playoff the winners of Asia and Oceania play this month and they will then face the winners of the African Champions League in December Gotham FC will be representing North America and play the winners of the Copa Libertadores.

38:28Beautiful. Thank you. I've been practicing that for 10 seconds. These four matches will be hosted in London, but no venue has been confirmed. These matches will take place between January the 28th and February the 1st, which isn't very far off at all, Rach. So what we were having a look at was how this sits within the WSL fixtures. And just to provide some additional context here. So in and around the time... Small games, aren't they? Not big. Not important. Big WSL contenders will be fighting off world battles. You've got Man United facing Villa on the 25th. Chelsea and Arsenal, just a little fixture, on the 25th of Jan too.

39:04And then Arsenal face Leicester on the 31st of Jan. Man United, Liverpool on the 1st of Feb. And Man City, Chelsea on the 1st of Feb. So where the fuck they think they're going to be fitting those fixtures in... Well, they're wedded in there. Still remains to be seen. Then we have, don't forget the Asia Cup coming up in March. And then Wafcon. And the Subway League Cup isn't the final for that in March. It's end of March for that one as well. Sometime around then. Yeah. So we've just got a little sprinkling of extra fixtures. I think I'm not against there being a new type of tournament. I'm all for the women's game.

39:38Obviously, we've seen the men's do the Champions Cup in summer with Chelsea walking away with the trophy. I would say that there was a lot of kind of quite negative narratives around the men's club World Cup. It wasn't very well attended. it wasn't something that you know fans had particularly wanted they didn't feel like it was particularly helpful for the clubs in trying to prepare for the start of the season um or have a break after the other season or have a break i think how many times do we have discussions about you know the injury crisis and the fixture scheduling and overloading um and this just doesn't feel like we're heading in the right direction or that we're having the same conversation over and over again but yeah what do you think of a new a new competition being wedged into into the calendar your face says it all i'll take that you can explain that face it's kind of a grimace a smirk uh concern i think it's interesting they'll be playing different opposition we haven't seen before which is cool um but yeah you know i think if more was being done to try and address congestion in the calendar um you could maybe appreciate or look forward to a new competition i think the frustration is it feels like not much is being done to address then it's just add more and when players are continually speaking out about fixture congestion and loading and just not really being listened to um i think medium i was the latest in the telegraph um it can just be yeah a bit frustrating but at the end of the day we're probably all gonna watch it we're probably all gonna go so i actually probably will as well yeah yeah that's the worst thing if i don't want to support it you're like no i'm gonna i'm gonna abstain it's it's against it's against everything i believe in player welfare um overloading but also it's going to be bloody good games.

41:17I think I'll just appeal again for everyone in the respective federations and organisations to all get in a room with a big spreadsheet and try and figure it out because, you know, the league didn't need to come back bang on six weeks to the day, the minimum amount of time required. It didn't. We don't have a major tournament in the summer. It could have even been an extra week. So I just think everyone needs to get in a room and put player welfare at the top of the priority list. I think it is mad, especially when you think about like when the world sevens is going to be played this year so that's going to take place in um america in december uh obviously we had the tournament back in um just before the euros wasn't it that was good in um in portugal just before the champions e final yeah great great timing again um landed really well with fans everyone's super excited very fast pacey punchy football everyone really loved like this new concept and the personality of the players coming out but at the same time you're going very quickly into i mean that's two two i know it's a different season yeah two of those tournaments in the year yeah and i think it's meant to kind of work with other nations calendars so depending where it is and who's in it it should work for them but then if some of those teams are involved in this world champions whatever whatever um it could be tricky but yeah just seems like more football more football more football is the answer well before we get into that brand new spanking tournament obviously we've got champions league tonight which we're super super excited at uh arsenal um host leon and meadow park which you're going to be super super exciting the eight-time european champions welcome to meadow park yeah good exactly where you want them played 100 i've played against arsenal in that stadium and stadium yeah well like ground yeah like grassroots park um and having those fans behind you they're so near so when you're in goal you've got like about five foot of space before you hit fans and those fans will give you absolute shit it's exactly like in the Emirates you're too far away you want that real connection between like Arsenal fans and the Lyon back line that's where you really want the advantage to happen Rachel will be back on Thursday for a very special episode with Spurs vice captain Molly Bartrip looking forward to it mate really looking forward to it she speaks really well and has a really interesting story to tell as well I can't wait to hear all about it I'm so glad to be missing that one but yeah looking forward to it too mate catch that on Thursday and remember to hit subscribe so that you don't miss it in the meantime you can find us on Instagram and x slash Twitter I'm at morgy underscore 89 Rach is at girls on the ball and we are at upfront underscore pod you can also find us on YouTube at upfront pod I'll see you next week

44:07Upfront is a Stack production and part of the ACAST Creator Network.