Arsenal’s scoring woes continue, Liverpool put up a fight against Man City and we preview the UWCL with Ameé Ruszkai

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1:43Welcome to Upfront. I'm Chloe Morgan. And I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. 30 ,000 fans turned out at the Emirates on Saturday, but that couldn't help Arsenal work out their goal-scoring problems as they drew with a much improved Man United. One team who have no problem scoring is Manchester City, who maintained their 100 % winning record after a great game against Liverpool. Plus, the Champions League is back today. We look ahead to what could either be a welcome distraction or a pain in the arse for the English teams competing.

2:17Right, we're obviously, it's very early in the morning. I've barely spoken all morning. I've got a bit of a raspy voice. I was out late last night. But before we get stuck into the drama of the weekend and trying to unpack Man United and this possible resurgence and all the other weird and wonderful things that have gone on, what's your moment of the weekend? I'm going to give it to Jodie Hutton and that absolute worldly goal. She scored an unbelievable strike. One of those ones. Even if you lose, you're just like, got to celebrate that because that was an absolutely unbelievable goal. and I think we've had a couple of potential goals of the season already and that one is definitely being added into the pile, I think.

2:58Where do you think it sits with the two DVD backheelers? I feel like DVD can have one backheel. Like, second one, you're like, oh, I've seen that before. Boring. Same old. Yeah, but so definitely, like, I don't know, I'd put that up top. Like, that was unbelievable, the way it just dipped the last second. Maybe I'll give it, I don't know, but then DVD is, like, first goal of the season, tied at the moment. Okay, maybe first one DVD, second one Jodie Hutton, and then third one DVD. That's how it stands so far in the up front studio. Yeah, my moment of the weekend, like I said, I was out late last night.

3:33I was very, very sober last night. But it was a massive one. You were driving. Well, I was, yeah. There's also that. I was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a friend of the pod and also a long-standing friend of mine, Jenna Scalacci. um my captain at spurs who was being inducted into the spurs hall of fame she's the first woman to actually achieve that milestone i think it was 44 plaques on the wall they kind of done this massive unveiling big curtain um and she's the first woman to have ever made it to uh to the wall of fame so um yeah it was amazing kind of you know she was talking a little bit in her interview on stage with ben haynes about you know some of the moments that we'd all gone through and kind of the sacrifices that were made with that team.

4:17And yeah, it was a real throwback to kind of just, yeah, to be there for her and just to celebrate, you know, what she's done for the club. I think over 300, 350 appearances for Spurs. So yeah, it was amazing to kind of see her alongside like Glenn Hoddle and like Pat Jennings and Ledley King. So yeah, big, big shout out. And then I've got a small footballing one as well. I was co-commentating at the Chelsea Birmingham game at the Stamford Bridge. and obviously it didn't go to plan for Birmingham City but I do want to give a bit of a shout out to Niamh Heron and Sophie Bagley obviously the game ended 2-0 but it wasn't for Birmingham City's absolutely defensive prowess that kind of kept that scoreline from going up and up and up and Niamh was absolutely run ragged on the left and right hand side and Sophie Bagley putting out some amazing stops so just a little shout out to them too oh gosh well we kind of thought we'd put to bed kind of Man United maybe for this season.

5:13Maybe that was temporary. Maybe that was a little bit too early. But I think given Man United's run of salt, not picking up any points and kind of just, well, one point, but it kind of just felt like there was this, I don't know, depression that was kind of setting into Man United, languishing in the relegation zone. And then all of a sudden, it feels like this game at the weekend, I think at a time where we thought that Arsenal would be able to capitalise maybe on a weakened United squad, then went 1-1 and it kind of felt like it was just okay, maybe we all got a little bit ahead of ourselves.

5:49Man United actually do care and do want to show up in the competition this year but Rach, what were you kind of what have you made of this result in total? Well, I think originally people were like oh god, tough time for Man United to play Arsenal this could be ideal for Arsenal to play United, to get their shooting boots on you know they thought a difficult opening few games for United it could really kind of punish them but then you know they were coming up against an Arsenal that they couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat do you know that kind of way like they're literally you know thought this could be the game where they found form but alas it was not no I also think like when you get a hammering like you did against Chelsea it's a bit fight or flight like it's a bit kind of you know you're either going to buck up your ideas kind of get confronted, really confronted and go, hang on a second.

6:42We do actually know how to play football. We are good football players. We can defend. We can, you know, get our ideas together. I do think Eva Oled also very much said, you know, we need to focus on being good defensively this week. And I want to credit her again. I think she speaks very well in the media. I think she's really quite open with the media. She doesn't kind of dance around things. I think she's quite straightforward, which is really appreciated. But yeah, I just feel it was a bit like fight or flight. And they were like, OK, this can't happen again. And there was a real grit and fight and determined performance from United.

7:19And it was really nice to see that level of not just defensiveness, but just that kind of fight. That's the best word I can use to describe it at the stadium. You see every player was absolutely putting bodies on the line and fighting for every single ball. And it was nice to see. Because you're like, OK, it is in there. We knew it was in there. You just needed to find it. I think, I mean, a lot of people, there was a lot of expectation on Eva Olin coming into this role at a time where there's so much turbulence in the team. And I think, you know, she talked really openly in the press conferences about this kind of bravery, this kind of fighting, attacking spirit that she wanted Man United to really see through.

7:54And then the first two games kind of felt like, well, that's just, it's just non-existent. And I don't know whether it's just kind of a matter of time or whether actually it's just a squad that's languishing at the moment and kind of lacking confidence and just doesn't know what direction it wants to take. But it felt like the inherent structure of United felt better. It felt more solid. It felt more secure. Obviously, they're still fighting for that first win, but it felt like this was progress into kind of that stepping stone into getting that three points eventually. But maybe that solidness actually came from midfield because you see Simia Woju, absolutely incredible.

8:28And then also you've got Andrea Medina as well. And it kind of felt like they were working their absolute socks off to keep kind of some of the attacking threat, especially from Olivia Smith at bay. Do you feel like there was a solidity that was kind of built maybe from the sort of the stomach of the team, the tummy of the team? Yeah, I mean, I thought they both played super well. I thought Ziggy Yachty had a really good game. They were finding her much better. You know, she's important at triggering the press. She comes back for the ball to be played out. And they were finding her much more. I thought Anna Sandberg really handled that battle between Sandberg and Smith in the first half because that was the side I was shooting on I just got so many shots the two of them coming towards me and you know I did wonder how many times Sandberg could could body Olivia off the ball as she came to the end line it was such a physical battle at one point Olivia Smith disappeared down the the end of the pitch into the the hoarding and and Sophie because she was on the sideline between the dugouts and all she saw was her because the pitch goes down you just kind of disappeared off and like her head popped up you know there's a real battle between them and I think the longer they prevented Arsenal from scoring which at this rate isn't that difficult no I'm joking it is you know the more they grew in confidence they had some early chances as well like they'd pull some really good saves out of Arsenal and defending from Arsenal as well so that kind of grew in confidence and it just seemed like the players almost grew in stature as the game went on Definitely I think also we've got to give a bit of a shout out to Turland as well I thought especially you know first 15 minutes we're talking about the solidity of the midfield.

9:57Also, Fallon Tullis-Joy is pulling out a couple of really incredible point-blank reactions. That point, this Stina header. Literally that, I mean, that ball's coming straight over the top of the back line. It's landed on Blacks-Sinus' head, like completely, I mean, it was pinpoint perfect, this thing. And then she had, what, all of half a second, a quarter of a second to react to it, to kind of tip it over the bar, like super acrobatic save. But I mean, in the first 15 minutes, it kind of felt like this was a new wave of United because we had those two big chances from Turland. Great saves again for Misa Rodriguez.

10:28But it felt like actually this was a side who believed, I think. And especially where they've maybe seen last week's results with Arsenal kind of not finding their attacking form just yet. Maybe them thinking this is actually a time that we can capitalise on Arsenal's weakness just in terms of Arsenal thinking they can capitalise on Man United's weakness. I think everyone looks at Arsenal and says, you know I'm not suggesting everyone's going to bank up defensively but they know if they can you know prevent Arsenal from scoring the first half Arsenal are going to get less confident in their ability to score you know what I mean like there's a there's a real weakness they've they've kind of exposed a weakness that everyone I feel like can can go for um so it's something they need to Arsenal need to address and you know producer Finn was talking to us beforehand and was like we can't make this sound too similar to previous episodes which are like we do our best to vary I'm trying, I'll tell Arsenal that.

11:24No, you know, I would say they are, they've changed their front line around, I think, every game, you know, and tweaking those positions. And it's, part of me is like, how much do you need to give a team time to settle in those moments? And, you know, you look at a Russo who's, she's not going to be banging in 22, 24 goals a season for you. But it's certainly going to be harder if you're like, actually this week, play the 10. Like, if you're constantly tweaking, I appreciate you're trying to address an issue, but how much of it is getting consistency and how much of it is going there's a problem we have to change something and that's it look that's the life of a manager but it does feel a bit like is it listening to the outside noise and going something needs to change or is it you know I don't know I think that's not it doesn't help I think the same thing happened last season there was a lot of tweaking and I just I'm not sure that that's necessarily the answer I wonder part of me is like do you need to shut out the noise and just give your team consistent time to settle and find their feet.

12:20Needless, I will say, I know they have a big squad and that's another thing that they're having to rotate players and stuff like that. I thought Churchill looked really good when she came on. I appreciate she came off the bench. Maybe she could see the areas that she could exploit. Maybe she didn't feel the same pressure that some of the players have had for the last couple of seasons with their inability to score. But she looked like she gave Arsenal a bit of life. So she's quite an exciting prospect. No, definitely. I think it was, you know, it's one of those situations where you've got this incredible attacking lineup and not a lot has changed in the upfront position.

12:52It's not like she's brought in six new strikers and she's having to try and figure out what the best combinations are. I mean, a lot of these strikers have been playing with each other for quite a long period of time. So it doesn't make sense that, you know, she doesn't know how to get the best from some of the variations or combinations of players that she's choosing. But, you know, when you're relying on a player like Smilla Homburg, one of your defenders, to be the hero of the day and save you in the final minute for this gorgeous... In fact, two of your defenders. You've got Leo Williamson whipping in this ball, Smilla Homburg going, well, Christ, if none of the attackers are going to do it, I will.

13:22Making sure that the Emirates wasn't completely disappointed and deflated by the end of the day. But, I mean, we've got a really interesting question in from Shalvey, who's asked us, even with all their new signings, why does it still feel like Arsenal are missing something? And it feels like, well, I think the piece that they're missing, I don't necessarily think it's the defensive piece. I think it is that attacking piece. But it feels like a problem. Like we said, we're trying not to say the same things over and over again. But how is it when there's not been a massive, massive shake-up in your attackers?

13:49You've got players that have played together for a fair period of time now. And you've still got, even though you've got your starting 11 there, you've got your Smith, Russo, Baum, you've got Blacksiniers. And then on the bench, you've still got Chloe Kelly, obviously Churchy, you've got Caitlin Ford, possibly Michelle Adjumang, Freedom Arnhem stepping up. And it just, why isn't it working? I can't, I honestly, I've been trying to think about this question since probably the start of the season. And I just can't put my finger on it because you've even got the coach sort of saying, you know, well, she's trying to be as positive as she can about these results.

14:23But she's saying, you know, we believe in the quality of the squad and their ideas. We can create variety. We can create in a variety of ways. When that starts clicking, it will be really good. It really is about details in the final third, which actually doesn't tell us anything. It feels like a lot of words, but not a lot of substance, to be honest. Yeah, but also this isn't like a Renee specific problem. And I know people are like, that's it. Get her out. that's the problem oh no I'm not doing the manager merry-go-round with an ace legers behave this is a problem Arsenal have had under multiple managers so there's something else going on and you know whether it's a mindset if it's a mental thing and it does feel like Arsenal played with some great intensity after they went one nil down and you're like where was that like where was that speed where were those quick balls where were that like everyone takes an extra touch it seems like the ball gets slowed down a lot by the time you do this great from back to front you know transition up the pitch and then you're slowing the ball down you're passing around the box the other team have settled and set back and they've got all the players back behind the ball and now there's you know no space for anyone to receive it and do anything with it and it's like suddenly they go one nil down and you're like oh holy jesus here they come like flying along quick balls quick passes firing shots and you're like well where was that for 90 minutes so i don't know yeah I don't know if it's a mental look I'm not a coach and you know I know you have a question ask asking us is there any new solutions I'm like I'm not sure we're not the ones with the golden ticket Renee have you tried a different pair of boots like I don't know what to suggest I think it's that when you kind of look at the stats and I still appreciate his early doors but they've scored two goals from 60 shots in the WSL this season and I was just looking at the WSL table and kind of had the look at you know obviously Arsenal now sixth place um 1-1 drawn two goals for two up from them are Everton on also two goals and then below them you've got can I just make one point Everton have those two goals they didn't even score them so that's even more impressive they're doing better than Arsenal they actually haven't physically scored a goal with one of their own players so carry on but I think as you start to go down the table then so you've got Liverpool in seventh place who have scored seven goals and then Crystal Palace bearing in mind one goal and then you go further down the table to West Ham who are ninth and they've scored three goals Brighton have scored three goals Aston Villa scored three goals Birmingham City have scored three goals they've not won a game yet and it feels like okay well like this is going to start to become problematic very very quickly this is not the way that you set out your stall to to win a title but yeah I think I think it's that Shelby I'm really really sorry um maybe ask us next week or maybe next month and we'll do another review of whether we've come up with anything or can our listeners please come up with any solutions that we can put forward to Renee because and I also don't want anyone to blame Renee because I don't think it's her fault weirdly enough ideas on a post-it note of the next press conference excuse me can I just pass these along here so we're going to put some ideas together Like a Euros 2022 kind of Russo post-it note would be absolutely great.

17:27But yeah, I do. I don't know. But they just don't know. What I do know is that they don't have a lot of time to fix it, to be honest. Now coming up in their games, they've got Chelsea and then Man City in the league. They've got their Champions League tie coming up first against HB Kouya. There's not a lot of time to kind of rectify this issue, especially when you bring in European football into the mix. I just there's a nervousness that's starting to creep in. And I don't want that because, as you know, Arsenal are one of my top 13 teams. So, yeah. Anyway, coming up after this, a team who have no trouble scoring goals.

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18:46Right, let's discuss Man City Liverpool. two late goals preserved Man City's 100 % winning start to the season but it was a hairy one in this game Liverpool doing the absolute most this year to try and disrupt the title winners and try and take them to a loss or at least a draw massive massive shout out to Lauren Hemph who scored two of the goals taking her to 100 WSL goal involvements she's only the 7th player in history to reach that milestone nobody has created more open play chances in WSL history than her um we had a former teammate Laura Coombs commenting on Hemp's Instagram Ballon d 'Or 2027 now calling um she's in she's just so good and I think because she's so young and kind of broke onto the scene so young you almost don't appreciate how good she is and she's still so young um yeah she's she's in some form at the moment and there's just like a confidence about obviously she knows how quickly she is but with the ball at her feet the speed she moves and those goals yeah deserve them but she's yeah she's in unbelievable form at the moment and I understand we you know we talk a lot about when he's sure of if you have me to know when she's fit but my god Hempel's on fire 100 % she's now joint third with uh enderman polova and urtra um and goodwin and lauren james and mary fowler and kirstie hansen and daniela i can just go down the list there's about joint nine top goal scorers yeah so far so i was gonna say that's really amazing that i was like joint joint there's 10 there's actually 10 people more than i started uh to get combined she's she scored the total amount of goals that Arsenal scored this season just by herself so that's something to be said or actually is it the bar's quite low um but yeah it did kind of feel like this was uh an important game for Liverpool to kind of show their worth I know the result didn't effectively go their way but it felt like they really stepped up into this um into this kind of I don't know disruptor mentality that we're starting to see some of these kind of the lower place WSL teams and the WSL 2 newbies start to really put forward.

21:04I mean, Rach, were you a little bit scared for Man City in this game? Or did you think that actually it was a bit of a shaky start, but they'll come through and they're, you know, the form that they're on, the confidence they're on, they're always going to dominate and eventually get the win. I didn't necessarily think they were going to dominate. I was really looking forward to this. What a game for a Friday night to watch. I thought that this was kind of the first potential banana skin for Manchester City. I do think they have that champions mentality that they can get a game over the line so like it's never done and you can see that from the lateness of the two goals they scored but I did think this was going to be a real test for them and the fact that they were able to stand up to that test and win the game what looks like they won comfortably but then you look at it and see that those late goals but yeah I think it's a marker of where they are at as a team you know they've got some injuries to key players at the moment um obviously they've got some great I mean we said we worried about their squad depth they do have great quality across the team and I think players are really stepping up in the absence of um those key players so yeah a real marker I think for them to say yeah we were 2-2 and we were ticking along very closely to injury time and we've still come out with the three points so it's not I didn't think they were going to necessarily come in and walk it I thought this was going to be a tough game I thought Liverpool especially the way Liverpool have been playing some really lovely attacking football you know Gareth Taylor obviously knows Manchester City quite well if anyone could maybe try and challenge them I remember being at the game last season the same fixture Man City Liverpool and this was for Man City it was like if they lost that game I think that the title would have suddenly the door would have opened a little bit definitely and they scored that that late that late goal to break Liverpool hearts so they know they have they know they have in their locker they know they can it they know Liverpool are going to be a challenge and it did deliver as a fixture 100 % I think um you know Gareth Taylor's got to be walking away from that game thinking actually it was you know this is a Liverpool team that is really starting to form and find confidence I mean you look at you know Vivian Enderman Natalia Ramos so so good and kind of it felt like it was um the press I thought was really really impressive because this could have been a kind of you know maybe like last year I suppose you know City on this kind of upward ascendancy Liverpool kind of struggling and languishing that relegation zone maybe this would have been a Liverpool team that would play a little bit more defensively and kind of sat back and kind of tried to just weather the storm but it felt like they took the game to City and it also felt like actually it the pressure that they were putting on City was kind of forcing them to make these kind of quite um uncharacteristic errors it kind of felt a little bit calamitous at the back I mean both of Liverpool's goals came from this kind of disappointing defending and it kind of but that that only happened because Liverpool were able to kind of take the game to them.

23:48I mean, it's not often that you see kind of, you know, some of these big, big players making mistakes like this and also them ending up in goals. I mean, what did you think about that with City? It was odd to see them kind of make mistakes. To a degree. Like I do, I think this season we've said it, like that back line can be got at. Obviously, Rebecca Canac is unavailable at the moment. That's one thing to consider because their defensive line of Rose and Canac, that duo were so good last season. But I always thought that Liverpool would score. City have conceded in, I think, every game this season, haven't they?

24:23They can be got at, but they're just so good going forward that they're able to make up for that. So it wasn't a huge surprise for me that Liverpool could get at that. Gareth Taylor would have looked at that and said, we need to put pressure on that back line, absolutely. And it paid off. But at the end of the day, when you've got the likes of Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp and players like that up front, It's just about, I mean, it sounds super cliche, but they're just like, we'll just outscore the opponent. But it is an area that needs to be tightened up for City, I think. Yeah, definitely. And I think likewise, just to balance that off, I think.

24:56Obviously, there were a couple of errors also from Liverpool. I think sort of Keating spilling the ball a little bit and then obviously Grace Fisk turning the ball into a road net at the near post. I think it was one of those, it was a bit of a head in hands moment because it kind of felt like it didn't deserve those kind of things to happen. And that's just a case of tightening things up and it's just also bad luck at the end of the day. But it didn't feel like it detracted away from, you know, what they've been able to achieve in this game. And, you know, it's one of those annoying ones where you look at the scoreline and you think, oh, well, that was, you know, a classic City game.

25:26They kind of, they must have dominated, you know, they must have had all of the possession and the chances were their way. And maybe, you know, Liverpool were able to capitalise on a couple of missed opportunities. But actually, like, when you look at the stats, I mean, you've got BBC saying that Man City had a 57.9 % of possession, with Liverpool taking 42.1%. and then shots wise you've got Manchester City taking 18 shots 8 of those on target and then Liverpool having 11 shots with 4 of those on target this wasn't a team where you know Man City were storming away and dominating the performance it did feel it felt very evenly matched to be fair it was an enjoyable game it's always a little bit frustrating I think that Man City didn't drop points because it feels like because they're 3 out of 3 and they're the only team to do so in the WSL so far well they're the only team to do it it I can't help but think you know if they continue this run of wins then it becomes a little bit uncompetitive it just I'm just waiting for that banana skin moment I felt like this Liverpool game could have been it and it wasn't and I think there's something I don't know maybe I'm waiting for like bad fortune but it kind of feels like it just opens up I don't know just being a bit more um we're three games in let's not start talking about things being uncompetitive yes no but I just I want I want that now you know we've seen it with all the other teams all the other top four teams have kind of come unstuck a little bit but Man City have just got that kind of very smooth very kind of considered like it's that mentality monster thing that I suppose we've seen Chelsea kind of do yeah so I don't know whether it's a bit of that for me also just to end off this section there was a really really nice tribute in the stadium for former Liverpool manager Matt Beard on the anniversary of his passing I think it's been really lovely to to kind of see some of the tributes and all the acknowledgement of you know what matt did for the game um i actually can't believe it's been a year since we first talked about it it's um you know the legacy that he's left with you know a number of clubs in in the wsl and and it was really lovely just to kind of you know bring back to life is his memory and and um yeah how amazing he was as a person because i know he he definitely impacted me and you as well especially with all the media days that we did and um he was a really incredible incredible guy yeah yeah and maddie cusack as well three years crazy that's the same day but um that was also nicely observed by a number of clubs as well it's a star reminder definitely i think um i mean also there's been a lot of kind of um um i mean we still don't have the the results of the investigation uh into into maddie cusack which i think is is really really disappointing um but a lot of people calling for that and making sure that this is the moment to kind of try and push progress forward and get answers that I think a lot of people have been waiting for.

28:06So yeah, a really emotional weekend for a lot of people across women's sport. And yeah, sending love and thoughts to everyone who's been impacted by the events. The Champions League is back. 18 teams will play six games in the league phase, including three English clubs, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea, who came through qualifying. joining us to review all of the European action is Football Co's lead women's football writer and certified a friend of the pod Amy Ruskai thank you so much for joining us it's so lovely to have you back on as we dissect what's going to happen in European football this season um how have you been since the last time we we we had you on yeah good we had the summer rest and then thrown right back into it like there's been no rest at all yeah I'm already tired it's 20 second of september how about you i was gonna say did you feel rested at all like it feels like we had this kind of very short break and then everyone's gone back into it and now we've got this like wild roller coaster that we just can't get off until probably around august 2027 no i do feel like yeah i do feel like when it starts to get like dark on the night as well you're like oh this is when like you really have to start working hard and stuff it's like you know late dark nights and working hard it's not what you're after is it we're complaining about the job and people are listening like I can't believe you're complaining about the job sorry no no not at all I think you know Amy you're completely right to say you know Rachel was the one who dragged us all up at 8 o 'clock in the morning to do this pod so when you're talking about the date you know the late nights it's also the very early mornings because you just you know your co-workers just you know they make life difficult for you sorry hang on whoa where are you going tonight Chloe to bed it doesn't matter anyway man city frown bundesliga champions bayern munich uh bayern have won all of their five league games so far and scored 18 goals already but they've conceded a fair few as well so it could be a high scoring one city then have to play real madrid and psg um i mean amy kick us off the first of the kind of you know we've got man city back in european football they've obviously come off the back of an incredible season, have started this season so well, it feels like they're, whilst, you know, Liverpool, you know, took them to task a little bit, still produced the results at the end of the day.

30:34Do we feel like this kind of like run of form that City have been having kind of leads to us feeling like this could be a very good year for them to be in the Champions League and take it quite far? Yeah, I mean, it's a funny one with the league phase, because I guess you kind of have a bit of grace so I think we'd all be quite stunned if they didn't you know get into the knockout stage um they've obviously got um like you just ran through a couple of tricky games but um I think the one thing with Man City is nobody doubts the quality that's going to be in that starting 11 but we've already seen a few injuries already and I think we were quite a few questions about squad depth already coming into the season with them going back in the Champions League to just how they manage that like do they get a bit depleted and and that starts to impact results whether that's in the league, Champions League or both.

31:23I don't think anybody doubts the quality that's in that squad though. They've got game changers and world-class players that can decide games of the biggest magnitude like by and away. So I think they're a really fun re-addition to the Champions League with all that quality. It feels right that Bunny Shaw gets to play on this stage for the first time in a while as well. Yeah, absolutely. So hopefully they've got her passport sorted. but they do have they do have like a couple of you know tough fixtures as well which this format does throw up which makes it all the more tasty because you get to see you know these three English teams playing some top opposition which would be really fun and that was kind of the point of the of the format change right?

32:03Yeah I suppose as well like if you're Man City slash a Man City fan like if you look at their fixtures they kind of start really hard and then it kind of wanes in difficulty you'd say like slowly but surely it gets a bit easier each week like do you want that do you want to go straight in and be like here about his Bayern Munich away like there's no like illusions and I guess these are the games they wanted right this is why they want to qualify for the Champions League so you can't be like oh well I can't believe we've got Bayern Munich that's the game that you want so I think they'll relish it I think they'll be I think they'll be itching to prove yeah that they can there's a lot of doubts and questions around squad and can they do like both competitions I I think they'll be itching to get there and be like, no, we want to make a statement back with a bang in the Champions League main competition.

32:49Do you feel like you've got to really counter the squad rotation? And it is really, really difficult, I think, especially with the WSL, the quality of the WSL has really stepped up. And last year, obviously, they didn't have to compete in the Champions League. But this year, it does feel like a massive competition that does impact the games, the recovery, how well the players are able to recover for the next games. and sometimes the fixtures are so condensed and congested, it makes that very, very tough. Do you feel like when teams are coming back into the Champions League, you've really got to try and prioritise what's the most important or a couple of important competitions for you?

33:24Or do you actually try and go hell for leather in trying to just win as much as you can? What would you think Man City's approach will be to try and druggle all these competitions now? I think having this game early might actually be a blessing as well in the sense of, I know they've got some injuries, but everybody's still quite fresh. It's so early in the season that maybe you don't have to rotate as much this early. Whereas when the rotation actually needs to come, like if you look at their later fixtures, they've got Austria-Vienne as their last fixture. They've got Hecken, who I know won the Europa Cup, but are obviously like a lesser team than Bayern Munich, for God's sake.

34:00So, you know, they think maybe the fixture thing actually quite aligns with Man City in that when the rotation really needs to start coming and players get a little bit tired and the international breaks come and so on and so on, their fixtures are a little bit not as tough. Whereas early doors, they can kind of go straight in because the players haven't got that sort of minutes in the legs yet. So it might work out quite nicely for them. I think, yeah, it'd be interesting to see how they cope with it later on in the league phase. But I'd be surprised if they didn't go, you know, hell for leather to start with, for sure.

34:30And we forget as well that the other WSL teams will be in the Players' Cup this week. and they'll feel a bit more up for trying to win silverware without these three teams being in it. So everyone will be tired come the weekend. To be fair, it's probably about the same amount of travel going into Germany that is to Durham for a lot of these squads. Yeah, exactly. Worse. It's the same vibe. Yeah, everyone's not leaving playing field. I was going to say Arsenal obviously then are facing Danish side HB Kuya who made it through the qualifiers to reach the Champions League. but for Arsenal, speaking of good timings for fixtures perhaps, potentially, could this be where they find their shooting boots?

35:12Yeah, I suppose it's a bit of a weird one because they've kind of struggled the last couple of games to a team that sits in and kind of defends and they've not found a lot of joy in that so you do look at this game and think if you could win that 3-4-0, that'd be great for your morale, for getting players off the mark and so on but Kogor are going to do that too they're going to sit in and be like come on then break us down and they're going to probably look at Arsenal's last two games and feel pretty good about that game plan I'm really interested it's it's a much more interesting fixture now we've come to it than it probably looks like when the draw threw it up like when the draw threw it up you're probably looking at this slate of games and thinking like I'm not that interested in the Arsenal game if I'm having to pick one of the 8 pms or two of the 8 pms to watch but actually when it comes to it it's actually really interesting game even for yeah I guess everybody because of the way that Arsenal come into it.

36:02We've had some really interesting questions mainly to do with the league in the early bit of the part around you know what is it that Arsenal need to do they've got all these amazing attackers you know they've got a really good manager who I think the fans are mostly behind what is it that they need to do to kind of become more free-flowing in their shooting because it doesn't feel like we're we're sort of maybe talking about Arsenal the same way that we talked about them a little bit last season is that they don't seem to be finding the back of the net despite throwing the kitchen sink in it do we feel like this could be a good chance to like Ray said kind of get them into finding this way but I mean I'd love to hear your take on what you think is is going wrong and why we haven't seen more goals out of out of Arsenal this this year so far I wonder if it's just I mean you look at the performances they're creating the chances of not putting the ball in the back of the net like you watch the games you can see that you look at the stats you look at like the xg and things like that you can see that i wonder if it is literally just you know break the duck and then the kind of floodgates open sort of thing i guess we won't know until it happens but it does have a feeling of that just sort of like and i think we've seen it quite a lot if you know in any realm of football where you've seen teams sort of banging on the door and the ball just does not go in the back of the net uh like there are so many examples that come to mind they're all from Boring lower division EFL So I'm not going to bring them all onto this pod But I can think of so many examples of teams Where I'm like, how has that team not scored?

37:30And then all of a sudden they kind of hit their stride And it's like, oh, this is exactly what we expected I think with Arsenal, we expect them to do that It's just whether the early drop points in the WSL Whether that comes back to haunt them If they were to drop points tonight against Kerber Does that come back to haunt them? Do they end up with, you know, we'd still be surprised If they didn't progress But do they end up with a worse draw When they go into the knockouts? things like that so it's they they want to break this look as soon as possible because the longer it goes on it can linger further into the season like I don't think there's that many people that doubt that it will come it's just if it doesn't come soon then it has after effects I think it is crazy I think we kind of came to the same conclusion is that you can't delay this kind of floodgates opening moment and when will it happen but all three of us I mean we we know women's sport we know women's football fairly well can't seem to understand why it is that these chances are being created but the back of the net never seems to ripple it's just I don't know what Rene is supposed to do other than get on the pitch herself and walk the ball into the into the back of the net but I mean like you said Rachel it could be quite a nice sort of welcome distraction I suppose for Arsenal stepping into European football and facing you know different types of teams and maybe that's where it's going to go but let's talk a little bit about Chelsea they've got Austria Vien Chelsea made the semi-finals in the six of the last eight competitions what do we think success would look like for them this year given that last year wasn't a season that really went to plan for the Blues I think they'd want to get to the final I think success would be to go one further I don't think for a team like Chelsea with standards that high for a manager who has very high standards herself I don't think they'd be happy with anything short of at least reaching the final they probably wouldn't be happy with anything short of winning it I don't think they'd be happy if they lost the final um whether they get there is yeah I guess another question um Chelsea are always a strange one because I've especially like this season last season they're such a strange kind of like Jekyll and Hyde team and you just sort of like you watch them and you you see all the quality and sometimes they just they don't put it all together and then you have games like you know the man united game the other week and you're just like well this is what you expect but when you look at the team that chelsea can put out this is kind of what you expect every week them to just like batter teams um so yeah i think um i'd be surprised if they had any trouble um against austria bain um but it's that leon game that next week game that's the one that um and you think about the big weeks that they've obviously got so they've got arsenal and then they've got to go into Lyon like um it's a pretty interesting week and then this Osheria being fixture was sort of just like like kind of it's kind of like a an underwhelming appetizer in a way isn't it you sort of like you know I hope I hope Osheria being made me eat my words when I say that but you kind of look at you like that Arsenal game will be so good and then that Lyon game will be so good I think they'll be itching to kind of kick off with a bang tonight yeah with those two big games coming and just kind of yeah feel really good obviously off the back of a a win at the weekend as well would be really good momentum.

40:45I think though as well, you know, setting us up for the Arsenal game, how both of Arsenal and Chelsea do in these fixtures, that they're both expected to win and they're both probably expected to win comfortably, could really set the stall out for the weekend in terms of confidence. And what teams they put out as well. Because it's kind of a thing, it was MS Sanders asked Rene yesterday, like is there a temptation when you go into this Koga game to put out like, you're basically the 11 from the weekend but you want Alessio Russo to get three goals tonight realistically if you're Arsenal but are you going to play it because you've got Chelsea on the weekend so it's quite an interesting thing to see what 11's both teams put out if you put out a full strength 11 because you want to get you know be quite yeah make a bit of a statement can you then take players off because you're 4-0 up or something like I think there's a lot of interesting wrinkles to like I said two games on paper do not actually look that interesting in a way, which is always good.

41:42What would your starting line-up be then for Chelsea trying to go into this game and trying to sort of look at all the fixtures they've got coming up? Who would you go with, especially attacking line? Yeah, I think, well, obviously, I know Lauren James has been nursing a little bit of a knock, hasn't she? So I think, you know, maybe there's a way that you could get, I suppose you don't know the detail of her sort of, like, situation in depth. Is there a way that you can stick her on for 20 minutes and maybe that would be good for her? Or is it a case of no, like she'll actually be fine to go full 90 at the weekend if you don't play her in midweek?

42:15So I think that's quite an interesting thing. I think it's probably getting minutes into players like a Mallard and players like that who haven't really featured early on because of injury. And just trying to find that balance of, it's always hard with Chelsea, trying to find that balance of, I guess, players that you want. I wonder if she has in her mind an 11 for the weekend. who do you want to top up minutes-wise and who needs resting. It's quite a hard thing to do. I know everybody's like, oh, to have a big squad, you can't complain about managing it. But there are a lot of intricacies that are quite difficult to balance.

42:50Let's talk about, we've talked obviously about the English teams that are going to be competing in the competition this year. But we do have to address the fact that you've got a massive, massive team in Barcelona who are obviously the favourites to retain their crown. but they've lost several players from last season's team. Puteas, obviously, on a batch, you've got Mappy Lyon, Salma Paraluelo. That said, they obviously still have incredible, you know, they've got an incredible six players who are up for the Ballon d 'Or this year and have been in seven of the last eight Champions League finals.

43:21I mean, they're a team that is, well, historically very, very strong, maybe weakened a little bit this year and maybe teams can start to see a little bit of light opening up at the back end of the competition with a few big losses? The thing is, it's deja vu from last year, isn't it? Like, they lost players last year. They didn't really bring anybody in apart from Leia Alexandre, who then didn't even see up the season because she did a knee, bless her. And everybody was like, oh, you know, they haven't got a lot of squad depth. And then they just, boom, won every... Like, they lost one game in all competitions and it was just a random league game that didn't really matter.

43:59Like, it's absolutely mental. I actually did a piece on this yesterday morning. Well, it went out yesterday morning on Barcelona. You just mentioned the six Ballon d 'Or nominees you've got. So they've kind of formed the core of what is still one of the best 11s in the world, if not the best 11 in the world. Then you've got rising players like Vicky Lopez and Sidney Scherden-Lieber and Kika and players like this that basically the impetus is on them to kind of go up another step and become, like, while, say, Claudia Pina becomes, like, a really core, top-level member of this team now, you have, like, a Vicky Lopez that becomes kind of what Claudia Pina was last season somewhere.

44:38Then you've got the academy that brings through all this next talent and they're going to be, like, you look at Clara Sarajordi who started the Champions League final last year. Like, nobody would have even known who she was, like, outside of Barcelona when this season started last season. So they're in such an easy position to be like, oh they look weak but that's what everybody said last year so it's like well it's like they do look weaker they do but they still manage to find a way because they have world-class talent they have pieces that rise up to become better and then they have this amazing pipeline of young talent and it's just like i think when you breathe that winning yeah weak weak is such a funny word to use around Barcelona i was even trying to go for weaker yeah it's like oh no i've broken it's like that's the damage that's been done oh no what are we gonna do it's like it's all relative isn't it it's like watching the world's strongest man you're like look at that one who finished fifth he's weak but he's weak relative whereas realistically he could probably lift all three of us up at once sort of thing like that's the kind of thing like yeah it's like it's all relative isn't it and technically yes they should be weaker but like they just they're not yeah they just seem to churn out the you know and it's a credit to the club it's credit to the scouting it's a credit to the youth development it's a credit to all of that that even when and you know we can just like people can like select the club for the financial situation but the fact they still manage to make it work is a credit to everybody that's there doing that to put out the product that they do it's crazy so basically don't think there's any change in business in barcelona is essentially what you're saying yeah because then you don't look like a fool yeah fair enough and then if you look like a fool if at the end they don't do it then I'd rather that than look like a fool I think that's very very fair last question just to put you flagpole in the sand who's winning the Champions League final here we go I feel like Leon have to win it again at some point I feel like Melchie Damone is too good the way that she can change games and I think last season's final was a lot closer than the scoreline looked I mean, you know, it's 4-0 in the end, but there was some gloss put on that at the end.

46:50I thought Lyon would win it last season, having watched him a few times in person at the start of it, and thought, like, wow, incredible. And if Barcelona are weak, you know, fifth strongest man in the world week, then maybe this is Lyon's year, another year under Geraldes. But, I mean, I could say Barcelona, but I guess that's boring because they won it last time. So I'll say Lyon. I look like a fool. I just said I look like a fool and now I'm just being like okay I look like a fool no thanks for that Amy we've finally got three English teams in the Champions League and you choose a French team and a Spanish team really appreciate that on that lovely I think if Barcelona would get to the final I'm not going to tell you anything else I've just said to pick against Barcelona would make you look foolish and then I've come onto an online internet live forever podcast and said that Lyon would win instead because you got me up too early my brain's not working no no I rate it We'll click this up at the very end and see whether you were right.

47:47Put it out when they finish 18th in the league first. And we all profess to be experts. Thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate you giving us a bit of a lowdown on the teams that are in the Champions League this year. We'll definitely catch up with you later on in the season as we see the teams progress. But thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Amy. No problem. Thanks for having me. thanks so much for listening to this episode of up front 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 up front underscore pod you can also find us on youtube at up front pod see you next week

48:42Upfront is a Stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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