Chelsea's unbeaten run comes to an end and Arsenal bounce back

0:28Welcome to Upfront, I'm Chloe Morgan. Leah Williamson and a huge game tonight to save them in the Champions League before we get underway Rach just a little reminder that we still have our very special competition open to all upfront listeners right now Rachel's actual response was for fuck's sake give them the fucking shirt already don't know where it's being stored so I can't even find that for you it's in a locker somewhere uplish backlish whenever you open the door it goes that would be quite cool wouldn't it budget's gone up this year we are giving away a framed England shirt signed by Lucy Bronze.

1:01That's right, an England shirt with Lucy Bronze's actual in-real-life signature and it could be yours, minus the noise. All you have to do is click the link in the show notes and complete a very short survey. It's really simple and it will take you no time at all to complete it. Once you've submitted, you'll be automatically entered into the prize pot. So go ahead, click the link in the show notes and put your name in the hat. So Rach, it has been a very, very dramatic weekend. But before we get stuck into this quite unforeseen game result, what's your moment of the weekend? So I have gone with the winning goal for Tottenham that Olivia Holt scored.

1:40Nice. Drew Spence's assist for that. It was in the 95th minute. This game came alive at the death. And it was a beautiful kind of reverse pass from Drew Spence kind of looking over her shoulder, sent in a lovely ball. My favourite bit though was that as soon as the ball fell to Olivia Holt's feet. Drew Spence put her hands up in the air. She knew it was going to be a goal. And she, there was a lot of work for Olivia Holt to do to then take the ball, take a touch, pick out her spot, tight angle. Now, Drew Spence knew as soon as that ball met her feet, it was going in. And she celebrated before, it was a good like three seconds, four seconds before the ball actually went in the back of the net.

2:16But Drew Spence knew. And I just, I love that. I love when players celebrate early when you can, you know, like a shot from behind. And you can see like the midfielders being like, it's in, I know it's in. so that was my moment of the weekend I love that that's really lovely mate really really lovely mine is a personal moment of the weekend actually I got a very special message from a friend of the pod Maggie Murphy who listens every day on her commute in on the car every day over and over again the same episode 100 % like she says she loves it so much and that's why our numbers have been so high this season she offered me a hospitality director's box suite at the Aston Villa Man United game in January.

2:56Wow, thanks Maggie. Really appreciate that offer to me too. She obviously just listens to your voice on the pod. She said, like Chloe, I've listened to you. I know you've been hard done by this year. You haven't had a lot of hospitality experiences. It's getting very cold. It's very rainy and chilly outside. And she said, there's a director's box going. She said, there's champagne involved too. If you want to drive your car down there in January, you're more than welcome to. And I said, yes, yes, Mags, I would love to. So massive, massive thank you to Maggie Murphy. That's a really highlight of my weekend.

3:25Thanks, Maggie. Really appreciate it. Yeah. There was some good football as well. Let's talk about it. Chelsea beaten this weekend by Everton. The result that no one saw coming. Come on. I would say... Don't even. Maybe not Everton, but I would say I felt like a loss was coming. Yes. I think that's fair to say. I think they're not invincible. And I was at this home game last year when Chelsea played Everton, and it took a injury time winner from LJ for them to beat Everton. So for me, while I watched the game until that final whistle blew, I still thought Chelsea were going to get an equaliser.

4:04Me too. I'm still not like massively surprised. I'm surprised, but I'm massively surprised. I was surprised that it was this weekend, if I'm being honest. I know there's a few changes, obviously with LJ, Macario, Cuthbert's off in the concussion as well at the weekend. And then it just felt like the game was I didn't know there was a tension in the air a real big tension in the air against the crowd it was these kind of Everton kind of not coming into the game underdogs complete underdogs to this situation they'd had one win so far this season it's that and then you've got Chelsea who have been consistent who have been you know firing on all cylinders I mean the squad depth is crazy they just look like a team ready to go out there and try and get and try and topple Man City off of that top spot and it felt like one way traffic it felt like Everton were just going to have to weather the storm and it was going to be a case of Chelsea getting that first goal and then all of a sudden the floodgates would open and it'd just be like 5-6-0.

4:58Silly me. So naive. How silly. 12th minute, obviously against the run of play. Down that right-hand side. She streams down, Payne does. Great delivery on the floor. Missed by Kelly Gargo on the near pose. And then Hayashi at the near... I just... It was just... I think that was my actual response. That was my actual response to that goal going into the back of the net. And I just, it was the shock, not only on the Chelsea players' faces, but it was a shock of the stands as well. It was just like... And this is it. Teams like your Everton's will create chances against Chelsea. And what we've seen in the past is there won't be many and they don't take them.

5:39And I think we are seeing a bit of a shift in that, is that with the players that they have in now, the quality they have at Everton. And I think it's really important to say that this, I think what Brian said afterwards was the second time they were able to start the same 11. and I feel quite vindicated because when we spoke about Everton previously and what their struggles were I said that they were really struggling for consistency because they've had so many changes to their back line they've had players in and out up front they've not had consistency of squad and while they had squad depth they just didn't have consistency of players playing together and developing those relationships so the fact that you know you're starting to see a little bit more of that belief those relationships building things clicking and they've got quality in and to be honest I'd have thought it would be Gago that would have got the goal because she scored against Chelsea a cheeky little back hill flick oh yeah kind of round the yeah so yeah I just thought great to see them actually taking those opportunities that will give them huge confidence against other teams that where they'll potentially create more opportunities to know that they can take them so yeah it was a shock for Chelsea against the run of play I wouldn't say Chelsea have been hugely consistent this season in terms of performance I think when you look back at say the way they played against Barcelona arguably could have won that game one of the best performances I think I've seen from Chelsea and then they go and drop points to Liverpool and then they lose against Everton I don't know what it is about Merseyside teams but you know and it's that kind of maybe lack of consistency in performances that has been what has made me think it was coming and I think given they'd already dropped points previously it was almost like this block where they started to really struggle to create quality chances and you you look at some of the numbers when you go back through some of the games I think it was started maybe back at the Tottenham game where they started to create kind of like 17 sorry Tottenham I think was 27 shots they created 4 on target and then you look at London City 17 shots created 3 on target you know and I think that was what you're starting to see from them against Liverpool 9 shots 1 on target this game 30 shots 6 on target and it's the quality of opportunities seems to be lacking and that's the thing that you need to put your finger on.

7:49I don't know if it's fatigue. I don't know if it's, you know, maybe players out of form. What it is that's kind of causing that issue. But it's become a little bit of a pattern in the last few games. Well, I think what concerned me about the game was that because Everton had scored so quickly, I was like, they've got a very long period of time now where they're going to have to keep this lead. And Chelsea just kept battering down the door. And I thought at some point it's just going to break. And Courtney Brosnan can only do so much to keep that ball out the back of the net. And I tried to record all the chances because you've got that Alyssa Thompson effort just before the first half, smashing the ball along the floor.

8:22Amazing save from Courtney Brosnan. We'll go on to speak about her performance a little bit. And then you've got the great effort from Baltimore kind of skimming the pose. Then you've got the Sam Kerr miss. You've got the Ellie Carbenter miss. You've got Lucy Bronze with a long-range effort. Yeah, you've got the Alyssa Thompson again trying to curl in the bottom corner. Then you've got Kurt at the end of the game. Oh, my God. Skew on that. Fernandez sliding in her own net to keep this thing off of the line. That was unbelievable. How she got that, and it kind of like deflected into Courtney Brosnan's that goal was living a charmed life there was a symbiosis some voodoo over the goal there was like an invisible force field that thing was not going over and it was just like I just felt it was it was not Chelsea's day you always talk we both always talk about the kind of mentality monsters of Chelsea and the mentality was there they were absolutely desperate they were gunning hell for leather but it was just one of those like really unfortunate days that it just it didn't matter what you did it was it was never going to happen but I do have to give an absolute shout out to one particular player.

9:19And I'm not the only person. Alan Smithy on YouTube asking, has Courtney Brosnan come back with superpowers? The short answer is yes. I have never seen. It's the wealth of experience that she brings to that squad. And I think you can notice when she's not in goal because she brings that communication. She brings that confidence out in the team. She pulls out these ridiculous, ridiculous world-class saves. The quick reactions that she has. and even when she's kind of parried the ball off, the pace in which she gets up from the floor to reset herself for that second opportunity, she is so alert, she is so aware.

9:53She was arguably the biggest part of what happened at the weekend. I mean, absolutely heroics from her. And I think that was a big thing for Everton, you know, the last couple of games is that Courtney Brosnan has been injured and you maybe don't... She is such an underrated keeper. I've said it for years and it's not just my Irish bias, but I'm so glad she's the Irish goalkeeper because I think she's been one of the outstanding goalkeepers over the years. And we've talked about, you know, most clean sheets gets you golden glove, right? But you look at a player like that whose face is so many shots.

10:25We had her on the pod asking her about that, whether or not, you know, it should be the player who's maybe had the best shot to save conversion rate or something because she would definitely be up there. But yeah, she's one of those goalkeepers that when she's on it, she is on it. And, you know, I also want to shout out Ruby Mace who was playing in central defense. I thought she had an unbelievable game. She's come on leaps and bounds, both on the pitch and off it. She gave a really good interview to BBC afterwards. Oh my God. Like, you know, I remember interviewing her at the beginning of last season and she was quite like nervous and shy and giving you that kind of young player, kind of unsure what's kind of expected of her.

10:58They brought up quickly, don't they? My God, she was brilliant on the pitch and post-match. I just thought she had a really mature game. And I think, yeah, this will be a big boost for Everton in terms of how they stuck together as a squad, how diligent they were in the game plan, how switched on they were defensively. If one player got beat, there was another player behind them immediately. The way they were backing each other up. The emergency defending was absolutely, it was world-class again. I just felt like it was, like you said, there was just player after player after player. It felt like Chelsea would go through one brick wall to find another brick wall, to find another brick wall.

11:30To find Courtney Brosnan covering the entire goal. Yeah. It kind of felt like, you know, that's like a chisel and a hammer or something you can get. And it was like, the only things you can do are like the top bins. And even then, like Courtney Brosnan's got a hand to it. it just it was just everything they were just on the same page I think in terms of how tactically astute all the players were in making sure they protected that lead for such a long period of time like the adrenaline that would have been going through those for those 70 minutes that they had to keep the 70-80 minutes they had to keep it was absolutely unbelievable and I think let's have a look at some of the stats here because Chelsea really could not find a way through Everton so you mentioned that Chelsea had 30 shots Everton had four Chelsea had 53 crosses Everton had two.

12:08Chelsea had 18 corners. Everton had zero. Chelsea had 64 touches in Everton's box to Everton's three in Chelsea's. Chelsea had 78.9 % of the possession and could not find the back of the net. And I think you're completely right, Rach. In terms of the Everton that we saw before this result and the Everton that we now see going forwards, I think it should bolster them. I think, you know, Everton having not won their last eight league games. They've conceded every game, I think. 100%. The last WSL victory was on the opening weekend when they batted Liverpool in the Merse side derby at Anfield. And then now it just feels like, well, is this a turning point?

12:42Is this a turning point in the mentality that they have now? Well, I don't want to put that much on it, but I think it's huge for them in terms of knowing how consistency can play a part, right? So having the... I'm not saying they need to not change their 11, but just having a consistency in their back line, having their forwards fit is so key. Having Courtney Brosnan back and, you know, they're not going to go and win every single game with the rest of the season, but knowing what they can do against 30 shots, against a team that are hammering you on the door, the fact that you can have four shots, two on target and score one of them, that's a 50 % conversion rate.

13:17Chelsea had like a, what, they missed a, they got a sixth of their shots on target, if I'm right, a fifth of their shots on, 20 % of their shots on target. You know, I think those kind of little small details will be important for them going up against teams where they'll think, okay, we should, you know, we should win, we should get points out of this game. Knowing you can do that against a team who have scored a goal in the last, at least a goal in the last 66 games. And I do feel maybe partially responsible because sometimes I feel like my questions that I ask in the press conference come back to bite the manager that I've asked.

13:52Because I asked Sonia about the fact that Chelsea had scored in every single game, every single WSL game they've played under her, they've scored a goal. And I was like, look, some manager's philosophy is let's tighten up the defence. If people aren't scoring, you look at Tottenham, if people aren't scoring, we're not going to lose the game, right? I said, are you more of a, let's score more goals than the opponent and that's what's going to win us the game? And she was a little bit like, to be honest, yeah, I like to score goals. I like us to have the ball, to have possession, to go and win the game.

14:16I'd rather win 5-4 than win 1-0. And she was like, and that's as, even as a defender, I'd rather win 5-4. And now I'm like, gosh, shit, man, why did I ask that specific question? And now they've gone, they've gone and not, they've not scored a goal for the first time in 66 games. What I really, really loved though, and just a final note on Everton, was the response from their social media team. It was the graphic that had like win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win. And it had the L at the end. And like it was an Everton graphic. And then we had like, there were loads of kind of like celebrations from the league about like how the unbeaten run had like dropped off.

14:50And it just, I just, I rated the tongue in cheek nature of the celebration. I'm obviously too old to understand what the fuck the 6-7 thing is. But I really enjoyed that Everton quote retweeted it and about the whole scoring in 66 or whatever it was and then saying like whatever 67 isn't for everyone or whatever it was. And I mean, I'm not a massive fan of some of the stuff that Barclays WSL come out with because I just don't feel like that's the account it should be coming from. But Jesus Christ. It was very close to the wire. It was very, it was tongue in cheek. The weird graphic thing they put up of Brian Sorensen ripping up.

15:25I'm like, that was odd. That was odd. If that came from Everton, maybe. but coming from Barkley's an impartial league which I kind of this is what annoyed me about the whole win win win win win win graphic was it was like 0.3 seconds after the full time where Chelsea hadn't lost again I'd be fucking post that graphic I'm just glad I don't have to see that graphic from WSL again but yeah I mean to be fair those like I don't know if they're AI hands or what but they've actually done quite a good job of the hands because normally that's what gets you where you're like that's fake but yeah I do feel like Brian Sorensen's looking into my soul and ripping Sonny Bonpastor in half and I just think There's such an odd thing coming out of the league.

16:03It's supposed to be unbiased and it's supposed to be very impartial. And what we saw there was kind of a... And this was the same league that was pretty much sharing like another win for Chelsea, like pretty much every week. So it did feel like a very severe and sharp turnaround. And someone, some astute person noted that there was a... In Chelsea's Twitter bio, there was a... I think it was the win, win, win, win, win, win thing. And then they just changed it with tickets available for next week. We play at Kingsman. yeah very quick from everyone this weekend on socials on socials it was impressive but yeah let's get into what this actually means then for chelsea this massive unbeaten run gone uh 34 consecutive matches without losing has come to an end and their first league loss since may 1st 2024 and sonja bonpas's first defeat as a wsl manager can i just speak to it might be quite nice just to get it off your chest yeah i was gonna say it could be just to kind of it was it's going to happen at some point in your managerial career.

16:54Happened to England where they were unbeaten for ages and they got rid of that issue right before the World Cup and it was better to do it before the World Cup than at the World Cup. So, you know, done now. You don't have to be asked about it anymore. But I'd just like to say to the Chelsea fans saying that Sonia needs to go, cup yourselves on. Who said that? You're joking. That was an actual narrative. Honest to God, I can't deal with like, Jesus Christ. It's like when people are going, England won 8-0. this is this is disgraceful i don't want to watch that i'm like please i want to watch my team win eight nil i want to watch if i'm a fan i want to watch us go 30 feck in whatever games unbeaten and have a manager that's never lost in the league before one loss cut yourselves on guys honest that is absolutely savage now there's not a lot of them but i've just seen a few of those kind of comments where you're like she needs to go if any one of those people who has written a comment to that effect listens to this podcast can you please get in touch and just explain your rationale behind that i just i just like to see what the points are being made look i'm an open i'm a very balanced fair-minded person but i just are you in the room with us i just i'd just like to see what what that looks like um well let's talk about the impact this is going to have now on man city this is obviously huge for them coming into the christmas break a wrapped up lovely little gift a present underneath the tree for them um they beat less of three nil and all three goals came in the last 20 minutes.

18:14They now have this six-point lead at the top. They've scored 10 more girls than Chelsea so far this season. It's a nice buffer. It's a very nice buffer. It is. And I think, you know, as we were talking about before, knowing as well they've played Man United, they've played Chelsea, they've played Arsenal, beating two of those three. You know, they got their first loss out the way, early doors. And now it's all uphill for Manchester City. So, yeah, I think it's, they're doing well. and I think even in those games like that where a team Leicester made them work for it Leicester were really diligent a bit like Everton where they really know their roles when they're defending and what they need to do but again City were banging on the door so I think for them to get a game like that Andre Jäglertz talked about it pre-match he was like we know we turn up when we have these big games they're always the big exciting games he was like these are the games we need to win if we want to be winning the league because that's where your banana skins are we've seen it you know you slip up against a team you don't expect to dropped points to and suddenly you know that league comes down to goal difference or something if you remember so I think yeah getting a comfortable win and as well the Chelsea game kicked off later so I think what was nice for them is that the pressure swings back to Chelsea rather than playing after Chelsea and going oh we have to do X, Y, Z so yeah nice little cushion, nice little buffer and for Chelsea I do think it's worth pointing out you know Bjorn was injured apparently so bronze came in at centre back which I thought was an interesting choice over Millie Bright she partnered with Girma you know LJ I think it was her first start for Chelsea in a long time 200 and something days Micah was in like she hasn't started very often as well like they're just little things you factor in where just that little bit of disruption maybe affects everyone even the best teams even the best players those kind of little things can can cause slight issues that maybe are unforeseen but um they are worth noting because you look at maybe some of the reasonings why those chances weren't quality enough maybe those relationships hadn't quite clicked yet you know maybe Thompson's not used to playing with James or you don't know that she's going to be on the back post because you haven't managed to get those kind of moments with them already and created those chances before so they're all just like little small details and we say this these games come down to to fine margins and goal line clearances and inches wide and tipped over the bar or the goalpost or whatever it is.

20:35I think sometimes you can do all the right things. Like it wasn't like the chances weren't being created. It's that they just couldn't find the back of the net. And sometimes that is an excellent save. That is emergency defending. That's a team getting it tactically right. And all those things happened this weekend. But I think there's a kind of a mini narrative starting to creep up. You know, the title is slipping out of Chelsea's fingers. And I think that is so naive. And I'd like to touch wood on that point because it reminds me of a Chelsea a couple of years back with Emma Hayes' last season.

21:02And there was that. moment where there was six points difference between them and Man City again, kind of came down to goal difference and there was that gap that was created and Emma Hayes was pretty much saying, like, we're a bit down and out. After the Liverpool game, she basically conceded the league. Yeah, it was quite, it was very pessimistic because considering that the league hadn't actually factually been wrapped at that point. Never fucking over. And then they won the next game and the Man City result didn't go. And they, all of a sudden, the gap completely decreased and Emma Hayes is going, oh, you know, it was never fucking over.

21:29It's that kind of vibe. So I just think like at this point in the season, when we know what Chelsea can do, when we know how, you know, how they can find consistency, when we know they've got this squad depth, I think it is way too early, even with the six point gap to be said. They're, you know, Man City have steamed ahead and they're, you know, out of touch. I was saying that. They're just, they're not. I was saying that beforehand. I was like, just don't say anything too loud, too quiet. Like, I know we'd like to have someone new in the league, but it's like a skittish cat. Don't make any sudden movements because suddenly, and Chelsea are back at the top of the table and you're like, guys.

21:58Another Emma Hayes reference there. Oh my God, Black Hats. Yeah. Poetic, isn't it? Well, last season, Chelsea would be one point ahead of Man City right now. 28 points after 10 games. And they'd scored like 31 goals in their opening 10 games, I think. Just 31. They've only scored 16 this season. Yeah, I mean, I absolutely love the fact that I think we've got another very promising contender for the Tiles for Rays. I love the fact that Man City has provided new injection of energy and I love the fact that we could see someone else at the top of the table. Like, I can't get away from that. And that's not because I'm against Chelsea I just think variety and diversity and having this like level of competition and you know it's the the last minute like down to the day wire of who's going to get it is it going to come down to goal difference like that's that's what I love to see in the league and I think what's interesting as well as much as Chelsea will be looking up at Manchester City they're also going to be having a little peek over their shoulder because Manchester United are just one point behind them and Arsenal and Spurs are just two points behind them that's a crazy close section.

22:53Isn't that close? Isn't that crazy? So those four teams from two to five, there's only two points different between them. So I mean, in terms of Champions League qualification, it's getting really, really spicy between all top five, all top five teams. And London City aren't completely out of the running for one of those spots either. And Chelsea have Brighton away in their last league game of the season. And if you want to talk about a team doing some emergency defending and a goal living a charmed life, that absolutely happened between Brighton and London City at the weekend Nadozi pulled off some super saves again last ditch tackles last ditch defending you know so they have that in their locker as well so it could make for and we've seen Brighton Chelsea games could be interesting well coming up after this Arsenal get a massive result against Liverpool ahead of a huge Champions League showdown

23:58this is a nice thing that we get to talk about now Arsenal beating Liverpool 2-1 the nice thing being that we get to actually talk about there being a different we don't have to go what's going wrong for Arsenal yeah there's a different I mean we could have been having this it was very close we could have just found a section I found a section from one of our earlier episodes and just dropped it in and just be like press that again because it's the same thing and just change the name of the team yeah Yeah, no, 100%. That would have made that. I mean, that would have, that would have shaved about 20 minutes off the pod.

24:25The issues are still the same, but at least they've scored the goals. Let's move away from that. Okay, fine. Come on. Olivia Smith scored another long range screamer after weaving her way out of trouble. That was unbelievable. This, this girl, I... That footwork for that goal was superb. Hold my beer type stuff. Like it's just, also I've got to give a shout out to Olivia Smith. Her and Mia Renderby, that they've been producing like lovely content on TikTok of them two in this like lovely festive relationship. shit they've got his matching pajamas giving each other a hug and they're like dancing to Michael Jackson is like the sweetest thing I've ever seen in my entire life just really yeah and then obviously they're battling it out on the pitch but they are obviously still very much in love um off the pitch um I mean it was a it was a very muted celebration um I can understand obviously you know give it beans when you score a goal like that even against the former club fuck it like that's an unbelievable goals your job is to score goals celebrate it but I think classy I think classy to to you know just dampen it down a little bit I think next goal if she'd have scored another goal after that I'd be like yeah cool like whatever it is you know Chloe Kelly shirt off like you know that kind of vibe but this is the first one I think she was right to do that lead obviously didn't last long with Beata Olsen pouncing on a three ball from Mia Enderby and then taking advantage of that very disjointed Arsenal back line really love that Mia Enderby and Olivia Smith were having like this head to head kind of battle of like who was going to produce the most kind of chances and goals and then obviously we've got Blackstinia scoring the winner in this like if you've not seen it Stina Ballerina it was I think it's a player of the a goal of the month contender because the ball is lofted in this gorgeously floated ball in she takes it really deftly kind of like pivots on it and then just like boosts it left foot she's a right footer player left foot weaker foot top bins top bins keeper had absolutely no chance it was and it's fascinating because she just missed the most clear cut chances being offside I don't know how many times.

26:18And that, you know, when you're looking at that game, a bit like the Chelsea game, you start to go, it's not going to happen. It's like, it's not going to happen. They're creating the chances of not putting them away. And then she does that. But I mean, I've got to give credit though. You're talking about like, you know, proper opportunities that Blasini has had. That tackle, that block from Gemma Evans will go down in history. Classic Gemma Evans though, isn't it? Literally quintessential Evans. It was like the handshakes, the high fives afterwards. Like you've really got to recognise that as like what could have been a match saving opportunity there.

26:47And then obviously I think you just feel like, oh Christ, I just feel so gutted having done something like that and that is the result that we pegged against that game. I just feel really, really gutted for her. But it shouldn't be a huge surprise given the problems that Liverpool caused Chelsea. I think huge credit has to go to Liverpool to be pulling performances like this out with the squad that they have. They've had, you know, more injuries off the back of the international break. Sam Kerr injured, Grace Fisk injured. You know, it really often feels like like they're having to kind of patchwork a team together.

27:18Beata Olesen has become, I don't know how, she's playing with so much freedom. She's somehow playing without pressure, which is incredible because you know the lack of depth in this squad and almost how much is on her shoulders to perform. Her conversions rate must be incredible because she seems to be so confident to pick up a ball and know she's going to at least get a shot off, get a shot on target. And to have a player like that in a game like that where you're like, do you know what? We only need one chance. And it changed, put the game on its head a little bit. I thought Arsenal dominated the opening.

27:52I thought they were going to score multiple goals. You know, I thought Olivia Smith is going to get a hat trick. You know, hitting the post they were. Lottowob and Moy was back post nearly three or four times from some of the corners. You just felt like they were knocking on the door. And yes, some of it was down to some very good defending, some very good saves. And some of it was down to Arsenal just not being clinical. And then once Beata Olsen scored, it was like, oh okay this could be a very interesting day at the office the momentum shifted in that half I thought Arsenal came out good in the second half yeah they did yeah and and you know despite what many say I do think they deserve to win that game I am and I think if it had been another team performing like that people would say that they deserve to win that game but because it's Arsenal and Arsenal's kind of habit this season has been create lots of opportunities and not bloody score them that narrative then tends to shift when it's them just winning a game but I think those kind of performances for Liverpool despite the loss will galvanize them we've seen teams really come together when they have to deal with lots of injuries and I think they're really just desperate to get to this bloody break and I do feel for them because this is where they that game that they had postponed at the beginning of the season has been wedged in to this last window so now like unlike other teams they have three MWSL games to play in this window so they're playing Aston Villa on Thursday.

29:09And then they have a game at the weekend against West Ham, which is going to be a huge game because they're the two fighting this relegation battle. So that's going to be a huge game for them. And I think they could really do without having to have a midweek game against Aston Villa. Well, talking of injuries, we've got to give a massive welcome back to Leah Williamson, who was back in the Arsenal squad for the first time alongside Kim Little. It was really lovely to see. I think you just like, it just feels like the last couple of years we've just been kind of like a yay welcome back and then oh welcome back and then it kind of feels like that so that's always lovely and obviously like she's such a fan favorite i feel like it just the the emirates gets around her you know she's she's also integral to the way arsenal play you know as a ball playing center back the the passes she finds the the plays she makes the lines she cuts when you take her out of the team that and listen it shouldn't really be the case that you rely so heavily on one player but she is so integral to that style of play and I think having her back for Arsenal will potentially see a shift in the way that they're playing and some of these opportunities they're creating that they'll just be a bit more impactful and effective.

30:14So apart from kind of a morale boost for Arsenal, I think it will also be really important to kind of have that little cog back that's perhaps been missing. Yeah, for sure. Well, from all of us here up front, nice to see you back. Welcome back. Yeah, now that you're listening. Also a shout out to LJ starting as well, getting her back. Yeah, very nice. It's really good to see as well. so WSL legends back in the game this weekend they're the ones you miss okay in terms of kind of the Arsenal set up I know there's been a load and load of talk about Arsenal and why they're not doing as well as they should be this season we know we're always talking about the Champions League and that being in this such a massive moment for them in their club history and such a great moment in their recent club history having not found that many trophies in recent years and then we kind of have a lot of people kind of talking about okay well what isn't working and now we have this kind of big sort of report in from the Athletic that behind the scenes at Arsenal there's unrest in the dressing room that's persisted for many years with a small group of players wielding significant influence.

31:10The report states that increased player influence at Arsenal has been a consequence of the greater exposure and attention brought on teams and individuals by the growth of the women's game and that it has been an issue for some time. Sources say that the growing cultural sway of players has not been addressed properly for many years. In the vacuum the dressing room has become a very difficult place for some players to feel comfortable. One source indicated that they had never known an environment that is so competitive and yet so disrespectful. Allegedly, some feel that Renee Slaggers, while a highly respected coach, is lacking in player management skills, perhaps as a consequence of her relatively lack of experience as a first team manager.

31:45My take on this, I think things have been blown out of proportion in my view. I feel like the kind of issues that we're talking about in The Athletic are not issues that are just personal to Arsenal. I feel like when you look across all the WSL clubs, all the clubs that I've ever played with, there has always been like periods where there is just unrest in the group. And sometimes that's down to a few players. Sometimes that's down to just, you know, you kind of get at each other a little bit when you're not performing well, because you're just trying to figure it all out. And it becomes quite stressful when you, you know, you're in a high performance, very demanding environment.

32:15I think when you're talking about like some of the players having cultural sway, that happens across all clubs. There are always bigger personalities. There are legends who have been in the club for years and years. there are legends who, you know, consistently in the starting 11, who kind of have more presence in those dressing rooms. And I think it can be harder sometimes for younger players to come in. And, you know, you are still finding your feet. What you see on the pitch is, you know, the youngers sort of scoring goals and having all this confidence. But when you're in this really highly pressurised, demanding environment where you're trying to effectively steal these players' positions in the future, you're competing for these places week in, week out.

32:47Like, it does create that competition, which is completely natural. so I think Renee Sleggers like these conversations about you know how she's lacking in player management skills we weren't having these conversations when she went on that you know that incredible run and also went on to win the Champions League and now all of a sudden people are saying well she doesn't have the skills that she clearly did have when they were going through this very turbulent period of time especially after Eideville where you're thinking this is a time where you need someone to really bring the players together and get them back to enjoying football again and she did that so it kind of feels like you can't say on one hand she doesn't have these things but on last year she she did you don't lose player management skills but i think as well she's a new coach so of course that's something that's going to develop over time for sure but i think she's a new coach to a first position but she's been a coach for years and years and years and a player herself like she understands dressing rooms i think for arsenal you know there have been issues for a number of seasons and you know under eideval they went through all those injuries there was kind of a little bit of unrest there under him and you know I think perhaps the relationship broke down a little bit between players and coach at times and you know then Renee came in and mid-season have to hand has to handle this suddenly they're on this great run suddenly they're getting to the Champions League final and sometimes things are difficult to address when the train is moving if you like like trying to fix things as you go is sometimes difficult sometimes things will be maybe left on the back burner that needs to be addressed and I think maybe when you have a team that hasn't had a huge amount of changes you then sometimes miss out on refreshes or you know a new kind of option opportunity or a new feeling or a new environment and maybe that's where that idea has come from but as you say I don't think it's something that's necessarily unique to Arsenal I think I thought Renee answered the question really well she didn't deny the article I thought she answered it really well she said it's a high performance environment it's a very challenging environment we demand a lot of things from each other and it should be like that we should be like that if you're looking if you look internally you see a lot of really really good things going on every group has people to manage uh but i'm very positive about where we are and i can say that full-hearted because i'm on the inside and can see what's happening so she's not saying we don't have issues but as you say every club goes through this we've seen it with like manchester united we've talked about it you know and it's just a case of sometimes that spills out um and sometimes actually that spilling out can be the thing that kind of kicks you up the bum to go okay actually let's sit down and maybe have a chat and address this it could be the thing that changes things or refreshes things and then in some instances it doesn't get shared but it does get fixed so it's it happens everywhere as you say but I guess because of this run that Arsenal are on and they had at the beginning of last season as well there's more of a microscope on it and people want to really get to the root of why and I don't think there's one single issue I think there's a lot of different things that come into play when it comes to getting teams to be at that level.

35:37I think what I would say also I think like the stories of this nature that have obviously come from supposedly people who are quite close to the Arsenal squad and have you know have collated this information and shared this is that that that in itself isn't helpful when you're going through these things you know in the dressing room you're trying to sort these things out yourself you're trying to do it internally because you want to manage the squad and make and make sure that you're getting into a better space having leaks essentially of information that kind of suggests that these things are going on isn't helpful it's counterintuitive to what everyone is trying to to create so yeah it's just um I think it's kind of there's been a lot of discourse about it and I completely understand and I you know I've been in situations that are very similar to this but I don't think it's as kind of I don't think it's as terrible as ever as the the article it makes out to be even when I watch Arsenal play I don't see we saw a fractured squad under Eiderville we saw a team that didn't enjoy playing we saw them look upset yeah it was like the upset and the distress and the players are crying at the end And there was that, that you can tell when a team has completely fallen apart in terms of the culture and the dynamics in the change room.

36:40This is not what I'm seeing from Arsenal. I'm seeing at best a couple of disagreements because maybe things aren't going wrong or there are bigger personalities. But I don't, I don't even get that sense that these things are happening. And even, you know, lots of Ruben Moy kind of talked about it. And she said, well, we invite you to the training ground to see what it's like on the inside. And I know, you know, she's obviously not going to give you the, well, it actually is quite crap. Like, you know, things are, you know, things have been quite toxic for a while. Of course, she's not going to say that at all.

37:03but I think there's a I don't know I just I don't get that sense maybe that's me just being completely naive but like you also have commentators like Leanne Sanderson you know she's very close with some of the Arsenal players and she was saying you know I don't get that same feeling either I think what's happening has been blown out of proportion that's that's my take what I will say though and I think it's important to say is that these articles that come out are researched they are speaking to sources that are as you say close to the dressing room they're you know double sourced triple sourced they are you know legit women's football writers writing these articles they're not hit pieces and I've seen other journalists in the past be accused of just making stuff up or not properly fact-checking things and I will say that like I know these journalists and I know they're not the type of people to go out and try and tear someone down so I what I agree and I it might you know maybe it's it is there could be disgruntled players whatever it could be i do think from a journalist point of view it's important that people know that these things do get research fact check they'd get go through legal there's lots of it's not just someone making an opinion and deciding something i do think it's important that that people know that about articles that get written i think it's important to say that yeah for sure and look i'm not discrediting the article like i i will always have respect for the writers um i suppose you know none of us are in the change room none of us know what's going on um you never know someone might write a book yeah i really i'm kind of waiting for it i'm kind of waiting for like a secret life of a wsl footballer that kind of vibe um written by mloe cloggan um anyway arsenal play fc20 at meadow park tonight they are 10th in the champions league only the top 12 progress all the teams from fifth down to 12th go into a two-legged playoff round to decide who goes through to the quarter of finals you know Arsenal love to take the long journey don't they don't they don't they just oh bloody hell it's just it I mean it's squeaky bum time to be fair like this whole format has created this like the point is to play more teams more difficult teams you know and that's the you know you don't get an opportunity to play someone learn and improve the next time you play them you get one hit um and that's what's made it so interesting so yeah you're right though squeaky bum time well asked about the tournament's format we've been always said I think it definitely provides a lot more jeopardy in terms of a psychological edge that's for true you take each game as it comes and you want to show yourself in that 90 minutes as a team whether it's Benfica away or Real Madrid at home I think there's always going to be surprises and that is European football so they've got FC Defender and then they've got Leuven next week and realistically they should win those games but you never fucking know we can't we can't after this weekend everything's up in the air we're back on Thursday with a very special guest dialling in from Como very fancy stay tuned to find out thank you for listening to Upfront 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 in the meantime see you next week

40:20Upfront is a Stack Production and part of the ACAST Creator Network.