Man City make United pay, Chelsea's Villa thriller and controversial jeggings

0:00Chloe: This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.

0:26Rachel: Welcome to Upfront. I'm Chloe Morgan. And I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. There were so many massive games this weekend and they all delivered. Manchester City put Man United to the sword at Old Trafford. Is that two hands on the trophy? Chelsea also battled over the line against Aston Villa and Arsenal looked imperious against Spurs in the North London derby. We'll be covering it all as well as looking ahead to the second leg of that massive All-English Champions League quarterfinal.

0:56Rachel: Rach, before we actually get stuck into any of the football action, including the moments of the weekend, I just want to address the fact that you're wearing jeggings. I'm not wearing jeggings. In the pod. I'm not wearing jeggings. And I'd like to know why you felt it was appropriate to go, you know, this level of throwback, I think. Yeah, at this point in your age. Do I need to for the people viewing?

1:13Chloe: I'm not wearing jeggings. Go on, get a leg up.

1:15Rachel: Get a leg up there.

1:16Chloe: Two XU compression running leggings. Right. Because I'm going running after this pod. Right. It's literally the only story. It's not that deep, man. What midlife crisis have you hit? Okay, guys, have you seen the Jeggins chat with Alex Greenwood and back when Chloe Kelly played for Man City with Sky? And it is still, if I come across that on like a social media feed of any sort, even though I've seen it a million times, I will watch it again because Alex Greenwood's laugh. She just breaks down. Have you seen it? No. Basically, this Sky person, they were chatting about things that like they wore when they were younger or something like that.

1:48Chloe: And they were a bit like, oh my God, guys, remember Jeggins? and they both kind of have a bit of a laugh about jeggings

1:53Rachel: we're mega jeggings come on

1:55Chloe: we're mega jeggings Chloe goes I think she's wearing them about the woman doing the kind of the interview and Alex kind of laughed as if it was a joke and the girl was like no yeah I'm wearing jeggings and Alex and Chloe just completely like creased themselves Chloe had to leave the table like she was crying in the corner on the floor it's the funniest thing and I will watch it again and again it'll be worth popping in here because it's still one of the funniest things I've seen

2:17Rachel: you're lucky that I'm a nicer friend than them because like right now this is just really throwing me back into like it's almost like Jane Fonda it's given that

2:26Chloe: oh do you know what jeggings are? they're like jean leggings yeah so what are these? not jean leggings yeah but they're they're running leggings they're given that kind of vibe okay but they're different things so it's kind of a this was a pointless you're teaching me about fashion right now this is different this is not fashion this is crazy this is functional fit wear this is not fashion you need to whatsapp me when you if sorry if you make it home yeah that's actually a concern if I'm not here next week can you send someone on the route I think that's the last people people want

2:55Rachel: I feel like it might disappear in Hyde Park talking to me on this podcast especially with your Irish literally yeah anyway right moments of the weekend

3:05Chloe: what we saying okay I've got two is that okay I'll be quick do you know what go on Bournemouth winning the FAWNL Cup oh very lovely I have a bit of a soft spot for Bournemouth particularly after their FA Cup heroics against Manchester City, even if they did lose 6-0. Got to do some media with them. Jess Hennessy, Irish, you know, a lot of reasons to like Bournemouth. And they got one over Plymouth Argyle, who they had played the previous week and lost to in the league. So it takes a lot to come back and win the Cup. So there's that. And then also a video came out from ESPN documenting Savvy King's return to football, who was the Angel City player who collapsed on the pitch, I think it was last season.

3:46Chloe: Yes. with a cardiac situation. Incredibly inspiring video to watch. They kind of documented her return. She was back on the pitch in eight months and I just thought it was, yeah, unbelievable to watch. Delighted that she's back playing top level football but like that kind of documentary of her journey was unreal. So that was my other one, Savvy King.

4:09Rachel: Really love that. Really nice ones today. Yeah. What's yours? Very heartwarming.

4:13Chloe: Is it being in a box somewhere?

4:14Rachel: Do you know what I've got? I've got one heartwarming and one just pure selfish, really. Oh, God, what's new? So, yeah, I have been invited. I don't know who listens into the pod, but, you know, praise be. They don't listen to me. No, I do get invited, but it's generally when I'm working games and I've got to take the work, I'm afraid. I'm really sorry about it, mate. Yeah, a brand has invited me to go to their director's box for the game tomorrow. I also got an invite from a brand,

4:38Chloe: but I'm working the game. Do you know who I'm working for? Go on. Our podcast, but, you know, we let that pass.

4:44Rachel: go on carry on it is work related like a part of my job is networking yeah it just happens to come

4:51Chloe: so necessary to network over champagne rather than do a podcast it just comes with a side of champagne and a great buffet and some corporate gifts but side of champagne yeah a funnel into

4:59Rachel: your mouth for the whole 90 minutes of champagne it is it is what it is there's got to be perks to working in the game now do you know what we've fought for so long it's like this is what we've and decades. Perks in the media. We've talked about getting into the bigger stadiums. We've talked about better resources and infrastructure behind the scenes. We've talked about great career pathways, you know. Champagne is also one of those, all right. Tell you what, heated seats, blankets, champagne. Thank you.

5:24Chloe: Yeah. And I'll be able to wave to you as well, you know. That's nice. I'll have a big lens. I'm sure I'll be able to find you.

5:29Rachel: Yeah, well, I'll just point out the poncho, shall I? I'll just look for the poncho in the crowd. The cabool. Yeah. So yeah, that's one of them. And then the second one is that your heartwarming one?

5:38Chloe: Cause I didn't like it.

5:39Rachel: It was, it was quite, it was quite heartwarming for me. Um, the other one was actually something that I kind of missed from last week. So we have finally got to the stage where the FA have apologized, uh, to the women's teams who are defied, um, because of the football ban. So, um, there's obviously been a 50 year ban, uh, in women's football, uh, back in the day that was running from about 1921 to 1971. But, uh, the FA have finally, uh, offered a historic apology, um, which is amazing to the Corinthians who were founded in 1949. There's so many players who have kind of, and go onto the BBC website because it's amazing.

6:13Rachel: It's got photos of all these incredible women who are playing at this time, whose careers were stopped at such an important time and a pivotal moment for women's football when it was bossing it, when it was chilling it. They were shunned essentially. Essentially told it was inappropriate for women to play. So there was a quote here from former player Monica Curran who said, it's amazing, I'm 80 and we received an apology for one of the biggest sporting organisations in the country. so yeah and the FA spokesperson said through their unwavering spirit, talent and determination blazed a trial for women's football around the world so yeah just a really really lovely moment there to kind of actually recognise the impact that's taken place, it will never actually kind of make up for what has happened in the gap in women's football but at least there is some acknowledgement of that.

6:51Chloe: Yeah and you needed those women to be fighting to play the game for to be where we are now just because they had to fight against that in a very very difficult way so So yeah, that is a heartwarming one. Well done. That almost makes up for the first one.

7:06Rachel: The champagne nonsense.

7:07Chloe: We are seven and a half minutes in. That's crazy. Let's get into some football, shall we?

7:11Rachel: Let's start with the Manchester derby. This is not the result that I wanted, but it also was the result I wanted because I support both teams equally. Really tough one every single week. Viv scoring those two headers in two minutes to put City literally in cruise control in the first half. friend of the pod, obviously Kirsten Kasparai assisted the second and thought she had her second assist but then Rebecca Kanak scoring from the corner and then it being disallowed for an apparent foul in the box which I don't think that was a goal. Was a foul in the box. I mean, thank God that didn't impact the game to be fair.

7:49Rachel: But yeah, again, I've got to kind of give a bit of a shout out to Kasparai. I mean, not only is she delivered on match day but also I don't know if you've seen her photo shoot, this iconic photo shoot that she's done for like a, I think it might be, I don't know what kind of magazine it is. I've not heard the title before, but she is absolutely bossing it. She looks like runway level. I'd be surprised if you didn't get the call up to Paris. But yeah, super, super punchy star. Casper obviously with the cutback. And then the first chance. Can we talk about the first chance as well? I thought Greenwood, as soon as it left her boot, I was like, she's on the school sheet.

8:21Chloe: Do you know what I loved as well? She was basically like, Medium was going for it. And I could just imagine her being like, get out of the way, literally. I got this.

8:28Rachel: And Alex Green was saying, well, hold my boots, actually. because that should have gone in, was it not for Fallon-Tullis-Joyce? Yeah, that was a great save. I mean, to equal that was absolutely incredible. Could you imagine, though, if that had been scored in the 26th second? I mean, that probably would have been... I'm assuming that probably would have been a record-breaking thing. Yeah, I think it would have been.

8:45Chloe: Yeah. Not for, however, the Guinness World Book of Records because I think someone from Hibernian got that this week, scoring 4.8 seconds into a match.

8:53Rachel: Yes, it was straight from kickoff. Well, the keeper was back in. She was back in, but she didn't get a hand to it. It was a bit dodgy. but that's alright Guinness didn't mind anyway super super punchy start from Man City pretty much put the game to bed within the first half I'd kind of say yeah

9:07Chloe: I feel like that was probably one of the tactics was to kind of put the put the kind of boot in the proverbial boot in in the first half because I know this is being said a lot by Mark Skinner they're tired they've got midweek games and basically like City only won because they don't play midweek games I find sometimes the post-match comments always have to be a dig at someone else like even pre-match we were bad but it wasn't our fault quite and you know City were only good because they don't play midweek City were good because they're the best team in the league at the moment they've been very consistent this wasn't a sudden ramp also didn't Arsenal beat them when they had that crazy month of fixtures in between playing Chelsea and the Champions Cup and Champions League and then they beat City as well we don't like logic here I dig with them but no I felt like the kind of game plan was if Man United were going to have a go at City it probably would have been in the first half because they I imagine would have fatigued a little bit the bench was very thin it's not like they would have necessarily been able to have a resurgence in the second half to really score a lot of goals so I feel like for City it was if we get ourselves well ahead in that first half you know there's no way back into it a little bit it's a game plan itself I think to

10:14Rachel: kind of capitalize on a team that they know is going to be a little bit tired and going to be vulnerable and it felt like that was the moment in which they really pounced and kind of put

10:21Chloe: more of a choke hold on them to be honest yeah we're going to get to the Chelsea-Aston Villa match but a kind of similar vibe there that first half from the opposition team it was almost like put it to them from the first minute have them on the back foot and it just yeah it slipped away from them very very quickly as a strategy yeah now pretty much there have been you know questions to mark skinner about how you deal with bunny shaw and um what a silly question well you can't well no no according to mark you just have to mark her in the box okay um and there's uh she's an incredible player but too many teams are giving her a lot of space so again it's not that she's good.

10:56Chloe: It's that other teams aren't very good and they're giving her spit. Just that kind of like, you know, I don't know whether it's trying to irk people maybe to try and put like Man City off their game or whatever. Listen, it worked. She didn't score. Just meant they didn't remember the other players like Vivian Miedema, record goal score in the WSL. She can be quite potent, I've heard. I just... The aerial threat is strong. It's not even. She doesn't even score that many bloody headers. That's what made it even worse. She's been doing that recently. It's amazing what you can do when you're not being marked.

11:24Rachel: It is, but also maybe inspired by bunny shaw i mean that's something she's kind of up to gaming recently and it's bunny shaw's like quintessential move yes if you watch the second goal she's almost a bit like not embarrassed but she's a bit like i just had to jump for that that was uh i think that was the hardest thing about watching the game is that a lot of it they were just uncontested so like they had great chances making opportunities but it just kind of felt like they'd i don't know lost that tenacity to kind of get themselves in the game and there was a really a good comment actually it was from the bbc on the and the comms and they were saying it's hard to believe that this is the first versus second in the wsl because they just looked worlds apart in terms of quality in terms terms of chance creation in terms of like just basic defending

12:04Chloe: it's it just wasn't there from united do you find like i mean if you're a team that's fatigued i guess one of the issues that can be impacted is your decision making and it felt like at times that was an area where like the back line those in defense didn't know whether they were i don't know if they were trying to mark the space or whether they're trying to mark the player whether they should engage with the person coming in whether they should stay back and mark the player whether they thought someone else had the player you know there were that a couple of those viv goals i rewound backs i thought maybe they've got a couple of players on bunny and have left her wide no bunny was free too yep there was just a lot of like taking up space as opposed to trying to influence the play and it reminded me a little bit of the tottenham game the previous week where players were there but they weren't trying to put the player off they weren't trying to jump with their distractor you know it just felt a little bit like decision making was a bit all over the place people were just a little bit at sea it felt like yeah 100 and i think you know we have

12:58Rachel: obviously come and said that the the champions league is going to have an impact you know is the first time they've kind of progressed this far as the competition and had to you know you know all the other games they've got going on as well um and then at the same time we do have to maybe take a little bit of i don't know like some compassion there uh they had just two senior outfield players on the bench like squad depth hasn't been great for them as well why because

13:19Chloe: i haven't recruited enough and i haven't recruited in the right places and i know but like this if your if your goal is to be in the champions league and get as far as possible then you need to build a squad for that definitely so it can't come as a surprise that oh we've gotten this far in the champions league we don't have a deep squad like this was the goal so i i understand that and there there is that you know there is elements of that there is elements of you know player fatigue loading dealing with injuries even someone like like melvin mallard you know when she had that

13:49Rachel: chance it was the header and it was just straight at the keeper you just felt that that's not melvin that's not her one flying for me looked the effort looked tired do you know what i mean

13:57Chloe: like you know while you've gotten depth in some areas you're kind of questioning did you get depth in the right areas you know across your back line bail etizier brilliant plays every minute which is great but when you're in so many competitions you need to be able to rotate players definitely you know you don't have 16 year old coming on which is great for her but you want to be bringing players on who at least have had numerous minutes in a number of games where it might not feel like such a massive situation so some of this stuff for me could have been foreseen and you know I'm sure Skinner will want to be asking the club for a bit more resource but equally

14:30Rachel: some more money please Jim please sir can I have some more but equally I've heard

14:35Chloe: rumours that the club are reviewing Skinner as well

14:39Rachel: I have heard this as well

14:40Chloe: I don't

14:41Rachel: I think that's kind of unwarranted to be honest I think given what he's achieved in his tenure with Man United I think I would be annoyed if he was if he was let go interesting I would yeah I know there's been some controversy I know a lot of people have said like maybe is he getting

14:55Chloe: the best from the players that's my query and I don't I don't like to call managers being sacked or anything but in terms of like a lot of fans have said you know good players have come in and then don't always necessarily kick on and is that is that a system issue that they're not being you know you look at a team like Manchester City and one of the big turning points this season for them is that their most creative players have been allowed to play with freedom yeah and they've kind of been unlocked in that respect Arsenal went through it at the beginning of the season they were struggling but they've obviously figured out that ability to kind of unlock their most creative players and you start to see a more free-flowing football you're seeing more goals etc and you know there is an issue there where quality players are coming in and it doesn't seem to maybe this it shouldn't be squeezing players into a system but either get players in for the system yep question the system and maybe allow some of your more creative players to play out of that like unlock them a little bit it just feels a little bit rigid and kind of backwards facing you know you watch the game a lot when they'd get over the halfway line you turn around and go back again and they'd really slow kind of switch the ball along the back line there was no kind of one-two switch it was just kind of passive I think it was Farrell William who called it passive a little bit and I agree with that passive look I mean I don't I don't want to I'm not calling for managers to be sacked but if and it's difficult because you're looking at a team who were in second they're not now they're in fourth you know you're looking at like it's you know giving them the right tools as well it's often the answer from the top is that

16:26Rachel: But they're in fourth, but two points off of Chelsea. I mean, they're on the same points as Arsenal, and Arsenal have, I understand, obviously, Arsenal have two games in hand, but they're not that far off of Chelsea. They're two points off.

16:37Chloe: They're not, yeah, but their Champions League spot's looking fierce dodge now.

16:41Rachel: It is looking a little bit tough, but also I think you've got to give Mark Skinner, I mean, this is the first time that he's been with Man United and progressed this far into the competition. So I think, you know, if you're hamstringing a manager by not giving them enough money to kind of get the squad depth, to be able to go far in these competitions and still not have a squad that's super tired. I mean, and then you look at the manager and go, well, you didn't do well enough, right? So you should be achieving more. We say it's every single time.

17:04Chloe: I do think multiple things can be true as well. And I do think, you know, I think getting the best out of players is on management and tactics is on management as well. There's multifaceted things that can be looked at as opposed to just how far have you gotten in a competition. And, you know, we've seen it at Leicester, like pulling the manager out because they didn't do well and yet they're not investing in the squads. it's you know it's a tough one there's a lot of different things that go into it

17:27Rachel: definitely well like looking at their run of meetings I mean when you look at kind of the Man City Man United match up it's not gone to plan and you do kind of wonder why that has been so Man United have won just two out of their last 13 meetings with City in the league and they're yet to win any at Old Trafford and this was the second time in a week they'd lost at Old Trafford obviously being beaten by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday

17:48Chloe: I was asked to make a point about Wednesday go on I think there was about 7 ,000 fans at the game which is a bit of a shame because it's the first quarterfinal it's the home leg you're playing against Bayern Munich quite an exciting fixture a lot of players there to be like to get behind and I think there were some very frustrated fans who basically couldn't get in on time for kick-off because there was about two gates open huge crowds of people were being funneled into kind of one or two gates and were being told it's because you turned up late and you know they were there 35-40 minutes before kick-off and it took that long to actually get into the stadium by which stage they obviously missed Pernilla Harder's first goal.

18:27Chloe: Just makes me question the preparedness for hosting two games at Old Trafford for the women's team so close together. I just think that wasn't probably a great fan experience for some, which isn't ideal, I guess. But they're going to want more nights like that, so hopefully they'll improve that. That's awful.

18:44Rachel: This is not the first time they've played at Old Trafford. And I think having a bad fan experience like that, I mean, we're still building fan bases. you know this might be the first time that some of these fans are coming to go and see the game at Old Trafford and I think those kind of impressions leave lasting impressions so

18:58Chloe: the interesting things I've noticed about women's football and I imagine you know this is going back years is that fans tend to come in quite close to kickoff and more often you know we've had it before where they're like they've sold blah thousand tickets and I'll be pitch side and I'll look up and think that's not fucking half fault and then like five minutes into five minutes into the game you're like oh god wow happens at Wembley so you know a bit more reaction I think in terms of prepping for a game it's not going to be exactly like the men's game and you can't treat it as such so getting those learnings in about the best way to deal with how fans come in and telling them you've arrived late 40 minutes before kick-off again not a great fan experience I mean make it the most

19:35Rachel: attractive fan experience you possibly can weirdly enough I went to the basketball last week I went to go and see the London Lions it was the men's game and it was their kind of fan experience was absolutely incredible you had the half-time shows you had the dancing you had like the competitions at half-time you had like all these like fan mascots running around you had like the cams where they were like do a dance to like win a

19:55Chloe: is that what you want at halftime of the football do you know what

19:58Rachel: a little bit beforehand a kiss cam yeah do you know what kiss cam wouldn't go amiss don't sit next to Chloe it's an LGBTQ plus friendly place can you imagine if you started having like it was just like I don't know where this is going

20:09Chloe: what are you just encouraging people to just kiss whoever because it's an LGBTQ do you know what

20:13Rachel: we did some fan research actually and they won kiss cam it was about 12 to 17 % of our audience said that they actually go on nights out after a WSL game

20:20Chloe: Okay, that's not the same as a kiss cam. You're just encouraging people to kiss strangers in a football match.

20:24Rachel: No, that's not that. That's what it sounds like. Very toxic. Anyway, let's talk about City because this game ultimately means that, like I said, they do have two hands on the trophy. I mean, they've got two hands on a foot. Yeah. It's like in their bosom. They've got it wrapped in their arms.

20:38Chloe: I think it's only a little time left to get over.

20:42Rachel: Obviously, Jägerlert's side now need two more wins to confirm their first league title in a decade. so the remaining fixtures they've got Bryson Liverpool and West Ham I mean this was the kind of final frontier I think in terms of like the one that could have really tripped them up in a big way you don't think come up against Gaza yes I mean I don't mean this is no disrespect to Bryson, Liverpool and West Ham but I just think that that was the hardest of the final four to get out of the way so it kind of feels like you've got to get six points now from the next three games

21:12Chloe: it's within sight it is and fans want you to do it at home to Liverpool. Can you imagine being Gareth Taylor on that day? When you have left the club and you get to come back to the Joy Stadium and experience your old side lifting the trophy that they haven't had for 10 years. I'd call in sick, would you not? Or tell you what, really rolls up the team and be like, we're not going to let them do it. We're not going to let them do it. Can you imagine that? I'd literally just thought about that now as we said. Honestly, the

21:44Rachel: realisation of that is actually sunk in.

21:46Chloe: You know, sometimes like you know the thing like they say football isn't romantic some of the storylines that just naturally appear in football sometimes you would honestly think was written by somebody that that's giving me acid reflux that's that's a lot do you know what I mean it must be so weird for a manager as well imagine going in there and then accidentally turning the wrong way towards the home dressing room like your natural instincts would kind of kick it nope not that one you just go home though when the trophy presentation started to go out you'd go home you'd be gone

22:13Rachel: or you'd turn your reversible jacket

22:16Chloe: back around to have Man City on it and you were like yep I was involved in that in it the whole time

22:23Rachel: this it kind of looks like they've kind of wrapped it up to be honest but you never know you never know in the WSL

22:29Chloe: Chelsea could still win it well yes you know the way Man City have basically all of their limbs on it there's a pinky toe where Chelsea's going maybe and they're the worst people to have a pinky toe on a chance or an opportunity that's a strong pinky toe Yeah, 100%. That's one of those prehensile pinky toes where they've got it wrapped around the handle.

22:47Rachel: Well, Man City, can you keep it up? You've got a couple of weeks just to keep your calm. Joy at the joy. We will see. Right, let's go to the break before we start talking about the pinky toes. Chelsea.

23:11Chloe: This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself.

23:45Chloe: That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.

24:11Rachel: Ew. It's this kind of pot, isn't it? It is. Everything's gone sideways.

24:15Chloe: I'm so sorry to those listening. If you've got an aversion to feet, this one's not for you. We should put a warning at the beginning of this part.

24:21Rachel: God, as if you've not been tuned off by Rachel's jeggings. As if you're still here. Right, let's talk about Chelsea. Just about scraping through a win with Aston Villa 4-3. It was the 82nd minute winner to claim all three points against Villa. Rounding off a seven goal thriller. I mean, it looked very shaky. It looked very, very shaky. In the first half. Yes. They went down 1-0 within two minutes. I mean it just I thought this was going to be Villa's day I thought this was going to be Villa's day to take the game to Chelsea and to kind of get something out of this yeah but it wasn't it genuinely it wasn't apparently according to Footmob this is also the first game in WSO history in which both teams scored three goals in the first half nice little stat for you there what were your thoughts on this because it was shaky like the first goal obviously coming from a Lucy Bronze mess up a really weird square pass across the back um and then yeah it just didn't it didn't feel like it felt like she was shaky quite a lot throughout the game to be honest she wasn't at

25:26Chloe: best well she was also wasn't in her preferred position to be fair to her yeah um i do think we've spoken about aston villa's ability to have really good halves and obviously as i alluded to earlier on in the episode um they obviously felt like going at chelsea early in that first half was their best opportunity. Chelsea did look a little bit shaky. They looked a little bit lax, not quite with it in the first half, if you like. It took them maybe those 20 minutes to kind of really switch on, wrap their head around what Villa were trying to do to them. So yeah, and look, with respect to Villa, clinical is not a word I would have used with them so far this season.

26:03Chloe: They create a lot. I remember that first game against Chelsea, they could have won that if they'd actually been more clinical. so you know expecting Villa to get three shots on target and three goals was probably not something Chelsea were expecting in one half but yeah look they just looked a little bit shaky took a little while to get into it I know you say they scraped it I understand that because the winning goal was in the 82nd minute but they were much better in the second half more in control in the second half Villa had no shots on target in the second half although bloody hell Kirstie Hansen could have wrapped up a hat trick with a wonder strike that hit the crossbar but otherwise I do feel like Chelsea were in more in control in that second half and you kind of felt like my comms because I was doing uh I was pitch side we're saying oh like I can see Villa nicking it whereas I was like I can see Chelsea nicking it I felt like that was coming so um and it showed a real resilience and that strong mentality that we know Chelsea have um to kind of come out with those three points.

27:06Rachel: I think it shows resilience from Chelsea, but I feel like it also shows resilience from Aston Villa. To come back from 3-1 down. 100%. I mean, it was obviously carnage. So the first six goals of the game scored within 35 minutes. I was busy. I was constantly on my app going, goal, goal, goal. What is going on? Let's give a little bit of a shout out to Kirsty Hansen. I feel like every single week we have to have at least three or four minutes of discussing the incredible rise of Hansen because I just feel like, like you said they're they need to be clinical Aston Villa were very much aware they weren't going to get that many chances to score but honestly every single time Hansen picked up the ball it felt like it was going in the back of the net she wasn't even thinking it was just like there was a couple of opportunities that she had where she didn't even I don't think she looked up and like she scored those two goals but in the second half that mad the curling effort hitting the crossbar she doesn't even think about it she just goes for it and I I love the tenacity that she has um WSL analytics

28:02Chloe: on Twitter have done a great breakdown of her work so far this season. The league average shot conversion rate is 12%. Kirsty Hansen's is 21.4%. She has scored 44 % of Aston Villa's goals this season. And she has scored, I think, from about 56 shots she's gotten those goals, which is, as we've established, is a very good return. I'm not going to do the whole comparing her to other goal scorers for reference. I just think those stats alone are pretty impressive. It has been interesting, though, seeing people try and diminish that because she only plays for Aston Villa and therefore it's less impressive.

28:41Chloe: She can't win the game on her own. She kind of can, though. No, my point is, like, her job is to score goals, right? Everyone else has to do their job for Aston Villa to win a game, to be fair. So I think the system works very well for her. She is a very, very key part of that system being effective. And, yeah, I just think she's come on leaps and bounds in this Villa team this season really backs herself when she's on the ball and yeah, just an all-round dangerous player. We were chatting pre-record about, you know, do we think she might go to a top four team next season? And part of me thinks the reason she's having a good season is because the system works for her.

29:18Chloe: You know, we talk about players working in systems. This system is kind of built around a player like her and your Ebony Sammons and your Chastity Grants, you know, those wingers who can get up the pitch really quickly. They like getting the ball from back to front very quickly and you need a quality player on the end of it. So I like Rep Vila. I think she can do very well there. Yes, definitely.

29:36Rachel: I mean, literally 100%. So she now has 12 goals in 19 WSL games this season, which is incredible, especially for a team, obviously, in ninth place. Are they in ninth? They were fighting for six this weekend. That middle pack is so tight. It's too tight. You don't know who's going to end up where at the moment, which is kind of like the only jeopardy that's really existed now that Man City... Who's going to get six?

29:57Chloe: Literally that.

29:58Rachel: But you interviewed Kirstie, and her dog recently.

30:02Chloe: Yeah, dog was less chatty. And Kirstie was, she was great. Like, she's very humble and you can see that post-match as well when you're trying to get out of her. Like, you know, you're having this great season and, you know, they spoke to her after the Leicester game where she'd gotten that goal. I think she got player of the match and she was very much like, oh, like I could have had more. I had chances I'd missed. You know, she's very much thinking about that. But she, from what I gathered from her, she just kind of goes with the flow and when things are going well she just keeps doing all the right things and allows it to continue if you like as opposed to reading too much into it and getting too wrapped up in that side of things she's very cool calm and collected which you can see on the pitch

30:41Rachel: I love that about her we're going to have to have her on the pod I'd love to pick her brains on the pod yeah I just think that she cannot get enough flowers

30:48Chloe: for me yeah and I think actually she doesn't get a lot because she's at Villa and I think you know if anyone else was having that return in a top four team we'd be raving about them So she deserves to be raved about, in my opinion.

31:00Rachel: Definitely. Well, let's talk a little bit about Chelsea, because I, like you said, I mean, it wasn't a really shit poor game. It wasn't great from them. There were definitely vulnerabilities that were there. And I think one of them that I kind of spotted early doors, obviously Lucy Bronze looking super, super shaky. And there's quite a nice question. And you did clock it at the start. You said, Chloe, like, you know, calm yourself. She wasn't in the position that she was supposed to be. So we've got Simone London on Instagram saying, thoughts on Lucy Bronze at centre-back? Feels like it shifted the whole game dynamic.

31:26Chloe: Do you agree? I wouldn't put it all on Lucy. No, I think, look, she was out of position first and foremost, and she's a player who likes to get up the pitch, and she suddenly found herself having to be pegged back a little bit. You know, had wingers, I mean, Ellie Carpenter on her side is a player who likes to get up, so she's got to cover that area as well. But, you know, look, first goal came from a mistake. It is what it is. It happens. Players do it whether they're super experienced in that position or not. I think generally a lot of the what I found interesting about that first goal was that yes it was a mistake and Chelsea were playing out so they were set up to play out if you like but then they they stayed really narrow I think it was Chastity Grant coming in with the ball and if you're going to stay narrow and there's like four of you in that middle section one of you has to engage the player surely whereas I think it was Germa she doesn't she just continues dropping back so there's acres of space for that ball to go out to Wilms on their right side which I just thought was interesting and you know we touched on it with Manchester United when players are tired sometimes that decision making is one of the things that isn't 100 % and there were those little moments games like this come down to literal one thing can kind of it's like a house of cards right one wrong move and the whole thing can kind of collapse a little bit so it's moments like that where maybe you engage you put the pressure on the ball doesn't reach films etc etc so yeah it was a combination of things I don't think you can put it all on one player No I definitely

32:51Rachel: clots the Germer thing as well I think, you know, the way that she was kind of, I clocked exactly the same thing. She just kept dropping back and dropping back and dropping back. And I was like, you have to engage. That player is so close to your box. Why are you not taking steps to do something? And like, you don't have to do anything rash, but like, at least like get your body in the way. And I've seen Germa do that a few times, to be honest.

33:11Chloe: Yeah, and I do wonder if, you know, having to switch that centre partnership, which Chelsea have had to do due to injuries, you then kind of don't have the same relationship and necessarily the same trust in a back line if you're used to playing with that centre-back pairing every aim you know where that player is going to be you know if you do this they'll do that etc etc so there's that kind of confidence there and I think if you're having that pairing at the back having to switch and have Lucy Brown step in sometimes Berman's playing in there you know you might not necessarily have that natural instinct of where you know that player is going to be if you do that so I can kind of understand and we're going to see it in like when we talk about the North London Derby we maybe underestimate those types of pairings in a team that you know you take one person out and suddenly that relationship shifts and the confidence in it in the players around them shifts a little bit so it felt a little bit like that it was like she didn't know if the players around her were going to do what she needed so she didn't really trust herself to go and make that step no definitely i

34:09Rachel: think um i mean it wasn't it wasn't a complete disaster because you know we've been asked sort of like what the the vulnerability that we saw in chelsea was and to be honest i still saw a chelsea that was taking their chances i think in previous games we've seen chelsea not do that so much rely like a one goal lead or a two goal lead and then get a bit complacent I think they just weren't

34:23Chloe: switched on in that first half 100 %

34:24Rachel: but I did feel like there was a massive step up and I think you've got to give like credit to Lauren James the basically there's a if you've not seen it go and have a look at the clip it's a cross field pass I think it's from Kira Walsh it gets to LJ she chests it down she kind of cuts inside loads and loads of space you think oh she's going to play it to someone and all of a sudden out of absolutely nowhere she just launches like minimal back lift obviously that's LJ's quintessential thing and then just like launches it like straight across the floor like i'd love to know the ball speed of that is this

34:53Chloe: goal too yeah it it was unbelievable yeah i think i will say like we'd seen in her first goal which she is claiming but so is gurma um gurma got an eyelash to that still counts my does it it does it um i don't know it's a bit like when you don't have the camera angle to be absolutely sure you need the player to confirm it's a bit like the chloe kelly one where black stenius came out after the game was like i didn't get a touch on that that's chloe kelly's hat trick gurma's definitely claiming that. I almost thought that if Gerber claimed it, it'd be offside because she was so close to the goal at that point.

35:22Chloe: But my point was, you know, LJ had sent that cross in from quite a distance. So you can see what she can do from a distance. It resulted in a goal. That ball that you're talking about came from a short corner, essentially, where she took the corner, sent it out and then on the overlap, they passed it back to LJ. So you know what she can do from distance. So why would you allow her so close to the box?

35:40Rachel: Literally. That's what I was kind of

35:42Chloe: like, she's getting closer. What are you doing? She's going to score. It was one of those goals before she even lifted her boot, you know she was going to put in the back of the net. You don't see her lift her boot. That's the whole thing about LJ. So as a goalkeeper, how do you prep for that? Because you can't read what she's going to do.

35:54Rachel: No, you don't know whether she's going to curl it top bins or she's going to... And that's the beauty of the LJ technique is that the way that she places her foot, it makes it really difficult to read. Because normally as a goalkeeper, you go off cues, don't you? You can see a big back lift. You can see the foot position. You can see the body position and how they're turning. But with LJ, that happens so quickly. And also there were so many bodies in front of Roebuck at the time that she couldn't read any of those cues essentially and also wasn't expecting it so and also there were bodies in front of the post that she couldn't get to so as a goal cue I don't you know Roebuck there's nothing that she could have done about that but I think like she's one

36:29Chloe: of those players that like you just have to so surely a bit like what Arsall did in Champions League despite the fact she's shown them what she can do from distance in that game you surely try and keep her as far away from the box as possible no chances from LJ is the only way to stop LJ essentially put eight people around her well in a nice huddle and hold hands and she'd still score through your legs literally

36:49Rachel: this win now takes Chelsea up to second and puts them in a very good position for Champions League football next season obviously they're in a 3-1 deficit against Arsenal in that first leg but let's find out how Arsenal got on this weekend

37:10Rachel: oh the North London derby we love a north london derby just just spoke about seven goals yeah we did seven goals to speak about again yes we did you know it's really hard sometimes when you cover so many matches to kind of remember each one of the goals that's happened and where some of them have been so similar like viv's header for example and just take two which which which header was that and then like two brilliant lj goals oh yeah that was the first one yeah do you know what i mean yeah um this was exactly the same thing. So we had 46 ,123 people packed into the Emirates Stadium. Spurs now on the back of two back-to-back 5-2 losses.

37:46Rachel: But first off, Russo. Playing in the nine this time. A nine she did like. She did indeed. It went very, very well for her scoring that hat-trick inside half an hour in the first half to put Arsenal in control. 22-minute hat-trick.

38:01Chloe: Yeah, that was crazy. Absolutely crazy. It wasn't quite a Bunny Shaw 13 minute hat trick, but it was impressive nonetheless.

38:08Rachel: It's a good second place, isn't it? Only 22 minutes. The first header, completely unmarked in the box. Second, a fantastic composed finish after rounding the keeper. And then the third, she pounced on a very wild goalkeeping error by Kopp, who kind of played. I could see what she was trying to do. There were two Arsenal players either side of her. She was, Kopp was kind of in the middle and she was trying to split them and play a ball out to her defender, which is what you are supposed to do. It's what Martin Ho asked her to do. 100%. It's very high risk and there are, you know, very small margins for error.

38:41Rachel: And when you don't get it right by like half a foot, you obviously put, you know, a lot of stress on yourself and you're not able to recover in those situations either. So I don't necessarily kind of, I understand what she's trying to do. It was just one of those things. It's really unfortunate.

38:53Chloe: Also, Arsenal are one of the best pressing teams.

38:55Rachel: So you need to like get it right. It needs to be pinpoint. Otherwise, it's very much not. But yeah, getting back to Russo. First treble for the club. That's mad, isn't it? Yeah, 100%. And I mean, she ran riot for 57 minutes. She could have had five. Yeah, easily. Talk to me about how you felt just watching her just relentlessly go after goal, after goal, after goal.

39:21Chloe: A little bit tired because I'm having to call all of these through into the studio. and there was obviously the Monham own goal in the middle of those as well.

39:30Rachel: That's unfortunate, wasn't it?

39:32Chloe: Yeah, but I also think heading it into the back of your own net if she hadn't scored that Katinka Tamberg would have. Yeah, it was one of those. Well, I thought Tamberg had scored initially. So it's not like the was it Fernandes for Everton where it was a super header and didn't really have a player around her. She did have someone coming in the back post obviously felt like she needed to get a header. This one felt like I mean, if she hadn't touched it Tamberg would have touched it. Definitely. I can understand that. Yeah, I thought Russo looked electric. Her movement was excellent. And again, she doesn't...

40:02Chloe: There are some people out there who don't rate her and you get all of this shite about PR, Russo, etc, etc. I see that a lot. And I do think when you're watching a game from the ground, you see more and you can appreciate a player's movement more. You don't always see that on TV. It's the off the ball stuff. Yeah. and we've talked about that before about a player's off the ball movement and yeah I just thought she had an excellent game and a deserved hat trick she just looked like she was on the hunt for the ball and she kind of felt confident that she could break down that Spurs play out from the back and as I said Arsenal are a very good pressing team like when they get it right they get it right and I meant to talk about in the Manchester derby that kind of United's there was a very good example of a poor press versus say an Arsenal for that second uh second goal which was a third goal which is a very good press so you know it's about that movement and players knowing when another player is going to make that movement without really having to look and there is that element of telepathy when Arsenal are pressing and when it works well it works very well definitely I kind of think this

41:08Rachel: is the kind of um the what was it the the benchmark now for her and I think it's hard to kind of I mean this is obviously a very high standard scoring a hat trick in a game but also at the same time I can understand why the criticism has kind of been there over some of her performances because she has she does have a tendency sometimes to miss sitters like it feels like maybe in the opening few minutes especially Russo doesn't I don't feel like Russo scores it kind of takes her a few missed chances to then find her feet but like in this game five minutes in it kind of felt like that had been shrugged off a little bit yeah

41:40Chloe: I do think it is worth pointing out that Russo has played in the 10 quite a bit this season as well it's also worth pointing out for Vivian Miedema because people are so used to meet him are scoring goals. She's playing the 10 this season. So to be scoring a brace in a game is a little bit unusual for a 10. Arguably, Russo hasn't scored as many goals because she's not been playing in the nine every single game. And that is worth pointing out. But I do think, you know, her ability to switch between the two quite seamlessly has been pretty impressive as well. Because I wondered, I thought it was interesting that Blaquistinius was on the bench, Russo was starting in the nine.

42:10Chloe: You know, how was that going to go, if you like? Because we hadn't necessarily seen that for a little while from Arsenal. So yeah, went pretty well. Yeah, no fair play.

42:18Rachel: Looking at the other end of the pitch there, Daphne van Domselaar, always take a moment to shout out a keeper and she bloody well needs it. Made an outstanding save to deny Beth England in the second half. Yeah. My God. So Beth England, it was a great shot, but it was Daphne van Domselaar who was kind of, she was about two foot off of her line and then managed to get back, drop back in, super, super quick footwork and then claw out this goal from Beth. and it just felt like I mean that was a great save that was almost going to be my moment of the weekend to be honest and then the Bethany England goal yep

42:52Chloe: what about it went through her gloves which wasn't ideal but for Bethany England what about it 200 WSL appearances what an impact she can make off the bench as well and it was like to be fair an absolute rocket of a shot but DVD will be annoyed that that slipped through her fingers

43:09Rachel: it was a weird one because I think I was trying to look at the body position and she was kind of crouched and it was a weird position to take and it was almost like she'd like spring loaded so like as a goalkeeper sometimes like yeah it was almost like I think she was kind of anticipated maybe there was going to be a whipped in ball or something like that or like a low dive to be made but yeah she just wasn't like she should have stood up and I think it's one of those things and ultimately didn't impact the game

43:32Chloe: so Renee was asked about playing DVD over Borbe and you know Renee spoke about the need to get players minutes and you know they have a squad lot of quality but she needs to be able to give these players minutes in games so that should a big moment come up they're not coming in cold and I think she was able to do that um with the team this week getting three one up and then four one up and you know was able to make some rotations she's also played some players out of position as well but again the need to rotate you can see her doing that you know you've seen Beth Mead playing in deeper positions at times and uh Katie McCabe but one point playing centre back against Chelsea midweek.

44:15Chloe: So a bit ridiculous. I don't think she's ever played there before for Arsenal, so that was interesting. But she is, you know, making sure that she is rotating her squad at the moment. And obviously Daphne Van Domslaar is an unbelievable keeper, but Borbae had been getting it ahead of her. So she felt it was important that DVD was getting those important minutes.

44:30Rachel: I really love that. I think it's really tough sometimes as a keeper when you're not played for long periods of time to then go in at these big moments. So I do rate kind of like making sure that you're not out for too much of it because you do lose that game sharpness. Yeah, you're not cold. Yeah, for sure. One person who never loses her game sharpness and hasn't for at least 45 decades now is Kim Little. Oh my God. We've got, I mean, huge, huge moment for her. 400th appearance for the club. There was a huge TIFO in the stands at the Emirates to honour her. The banner read, Leader, Legend, Little.

45:07Rachel: Yeah. And so I think there was a lovely moment like you're almost you look like your your eyes have got a bit glassy to be honest they've got a bit teary there i'm gonna look straight down the camera which one no they haven't little saw the sign as she headed out onto the pitch and visibly said oh wow yeah um she obviously looked very very emotional it's a huge huge thing for for her to have achieved um the club obviously have appreciated how much she's done she just signed the one-year contract extension as well but right let's discuss a little bit about her history with with arsenal because she is one of the most prolific legendary like she's like Ian Wright level of like legendary status within within the

45:43Chloe: she's been like Benjamin Button she just seems to be younger 35 by the way it's worth pointing out yes um it's worth pointing out that she's probably on 408 or 409 by now because she hit her 400th away to Leuven in the Champions League and I think what was nice about them they've had home games since they chose the North London Derby it meant there was a big element of surprise as well for Kim Little because she didn't know that this was going to happen um which is quite funny to be working that game pitch side and you know making sure no one was kind of talking about it no loose lips and in case Little overheard what was happening her family were there her nieces and nephews she got presented with a shirt which again I don't think she expected so she was coming off the warm-up and was greeted by her nieces and nephews pitch side which was really sweet um I did remember saying to the press officers what are you going to do if Kim doesn't look left when she comes out of the tunnel because she's obviously a very focused player and I could totally imagine her coming out and just being focused straight down in front of her I just thought like what if she doesn't look left and see this lovely T-ball but no it they pulled it off really well at a North London derby in front of 45 ,000 like it was a lovely moment for that to happen and there was an element of surprise for Kim I got to speak to her afterwards and you know she she said that arsel did it like to kind of produce this really well and she spoke to sky and was kind of saying i'll never have a moment like this again um which was really lovely

47:07Rachel: so i mean i can see her making her 800 probably i mean yeah but it won't be the 400s that will be

47:12Chloe: different to be fair 500 though is doable it's coming um but no i think i actually think her decision to retire from scotland has probably helped her a lot to you felt that was a really good choice well good time for her yeah i mean i kind of wish she hadn't because she was such a key player for Scotland but in terms of longevity and you know extending her career I think that has probably helped massively all the players and the managers around talk about how professional she is and I imagine she uses those international breaks very very wisely to keep her body in tip top shape because she just continues to deliver I there's not a player I think that has achieved

47:49Rachel: more for Arsenal in in recent years I mean when you look at kind of the the history in which she because I think sometimes you forget because she's been with the clubs. I think she first joined Arsenal at age 17 in 2008. But she went away to America as well. Like you forget that. Yeah, did Seattle, later Melbourne City. She's won every single trophy with the club. So she's won five league titles, three FA Cups, seven league cups and obviously last year's Champions League and this year's Champions Cup awarded an MBE for her service to football New Year's Honours list in 2023. There's not much left for her to really do like she's already you've already completed it mate yeah i think um if you've got

48:29Chloe: time go and read the player tribune player's tribune article that she did uh it was excellent you know i don't really i don't think i've ever seen kim little get emotional um she is always the utmost professional when you're interviewing her and stuff she's very good but she's very professional but she very much opened up on that article and definitely uh shed a tear um pre-match when she saw kind of the T-phone and everything, which was quite cool to see. And I think it deserved, you don't need to be, you know, I'm not an Arsenal fan. You don't need to be an Arsenal fan to appreciate Kim Little.

49:00Chloe: You know, if you're a football fan, you can appreciate a player like that.

49:03Rachel: She's so subtle and understated sometimes. She's not one of those big names that you hear about all the time, but it's just like what she does. I think the leadership that she shows, because obviously, I mean, you forget sometimes that Arsenal are doing really well. They're kind of finding form. They've obviously won the Champions League last year, maybe dropped off a little bit this year, but still really, really good performances. But it's also been a very turbulent time for the club, like last year, before Rene came in, having to help the players and guide them through that transition. Loads of new players coming in and players from abroad as well.

49:32Rachel: You forget what goes on behind the scenes, I think, sometimes when leaders kind of turn up and make sure that actually things in the squad are still fairly harmonious. So yeah, I rate it. And congratulations from all of us up front, Kim, on an incredible career and hopefully many more years to come. I'm looking forward to the 500th. I'll definitely be there. In a box, probably. Hopefully Kim Little's box. Arsenal now looking ahead to the second leg of their Champions League fixture against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. They obviously benefit from a 3-1 lead in the first leg. Yeah, this was a really surprisingly delightful moment for Gunners fans to be in this position, to kind of have Chelsea on the back foot.

50:14Rachel: And I think I said to you, they needed to do this at the Emirates first because it felt like going into Samford Bridge is a bit of a Fort Knox Chelsea have a really good track record there and you want to go in there with at least some kind of advantage and they have but it still feels small

50:30Chloe: in this game it feels small I actually think this game is more in the balance than the Manchester United-Bayern one and Bayern are only ahead by one goal it's 3-2 to them but again it is at the Allianz and I do think they're a different beast there but I do think this game is more in the balance They turned over a 2-0 deficit against Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Champions League last year. So they can do it and they are at home. So it's going to be really interesting. I just think whoever gets the early goal, if Arsenal get an early goal, suddenly that mountain becomes an awful lot bigger.

51:02Chloe: If Chelsea get an early goal, it's game on.

51:05Rachel: The thought of seeing the score go to 3-2 actually sends shivers down my spine. I just don't want extra time. I don't mind extra time

51:12Chloe: because it means more champagne in the box for me. But I do think like Chelsea were unlucky in that opening 20 minutes, hitting the woodwork twice. They then had that Berman goal disallowed that absolutely shouldn't have been disallowed. So yeah, they'll be coming into this game going, we deserve more out of the first one.

51:31Rachel: I feel scared. For who? I actually feel a little bit scared. No, I feel scared for Arsenal, but I'm like really excited for the game. I feel like it's such a historic fixture to have Arsenal and Chelsea go against each other. It's such a pivotal moment in the competition. and knowing Arsenal are going into this with some advantage, but also Chelsea are never going to relinquish this. Like this is so far from over.

51:49Chloe: Yeah, and Arsenal know they weathered a bit of a storm in the opening 20. I do think it settled down a bit more and became more of an even battle then. And, you know, Arsenal settled into it. But that opening 20 minutes, I was like, whew, Chelsea could have been 2-0 up.

52:03Rachel: Well, I think it's that. I mean, Chelsea had more shots and more possession in the first leg, but obviously couldn't make it count. And I feel like this time they will make it count. They've just come off the back of netting four goals. Lauren James is on absolutely flying form like that goal and like

52:18Chloe: there was nothing Borba could have done

52:20Rachel: that was the most oh Christ no no no no

52:22Chloe: unbelievable goal can I ask you about as a goalkeeper go on Kadisha Buchanan at the death

52:27Rachel: yeah

52:28Chloe: karate kicking her into the goal with the ball in the like stomach chest area she was going for the ball right obviously but I just feel like maybe quite lucky not to have come away from that with a red card

52:41Rachel: I would say so. I mean, obviously there was no intention behind it. And I think that's the key thing. And she's obviously tried to go for the ball. You can see the intent is there to go for the ball. Anywhere else on the pitch. But it is also a very dangerous manoeuvre. High boost. Yeah, it's a very dangerous manoeuvre to do. So I think, yeah, I think on balance, she probably was quite... I reckon that ref was like,

52:58Chloe: just get me out this game. I don't want this VAR shit again. Get me out of here. Yeah, so I think we can agree that Brogan goal should have been a goal.

53:08Rachel: Interesting enough on the VAR point, WSL Football is using a new super chip football that's going to be available from next season to kind of hopefully minimise mistakes in this area I'm so intrigued to see how that works it's like giving the football

53:19Chloe: a brain or something

53:19Rachel: me bloody too right what do we think then predictions wise on Chelsea I don't know

53:26Chloe: I honestly don't know

53:27Rachel: I'm not doing a sitting on the fence we've done this see I don't want it to go to extra time

53:30Chloe: but I feel like Chelsea might get the early goal and it could go back to 3-3 and it could be an extra time winner for somebody

53:40Rachel: oh this is a difficult one

53:41Chloe: oh don't sit on the fence I'm not having this bullshit

53:45Rachel: fair play I appreciate being called out when it demands no I actually reckon Arsenal are gonna I think Arsenal will keep it I don't know I feel like their performances have been better recently than Chelsea so I'm gonna go off that and that's all I can do what we say for Man United Bayern then

53:58Chloe: I think Bayern will get an early goal and it will just be again too difficult for United to get and it's difficult for them because we've seen what happens when you press Bayern high. I know their back line creaks, bloody creaks, but also Pernilla Harder, that ball over the top was on all day. So they need to get that balance of pushing forward, taking risk. And that's really hard to do against a team that has a player like Pernilla Harder who can get in behind so easily.

54:24Rachel: And they're also visibly tired.

54:26Chloe: Yeah, and it's at the Allianz Arena as well. So that just is another mountain to climb. But yeah, I think it's going to be difficult to turn that around.

54:32Rachel: I think the timers of this and Bayern being on form, I think you're right. yeah and I hate to say it you know I'm a part time Man United fan and I hate to say it before we go the Lionesses squad is out for the April qualifiers lots of the same names from the last squad but annoyingly Aggie Beaver Jones Grace Clinton and Ella Toon are out with injury but there are two new names here Beth Mead is back and also Erica Meg Parkinson has got her first call up I've just found that out now

55:01Chloe: that's amazing literally that's come as a surprise to us all in the room She was one of my favourite players from the under-17s at the World Cup that I went out to in 2024. And here we are two years later. Under-17s World Cup. She's getting a senior call-up. That is unreal.

55:15Rachel: She's 17 years old and plays in Portugal with Valadares Gaia. She's been on your radar for a while.

55:21Chloe: Oh, I'm delighted for her. I was so pleased to see her play for the under-23s in the last window against the Netherlands. Thought she played really well. Did not look out of place at all. And I was so impressed they're getting that call-up. To get called up to the seniors? Unreal. Well done, Erica. She was born in 2008. Okay, that was an unnecessary addition to the conversation. Did you need to put that in?

55:42Rachel: That's crazy.

55:42Chloe: I was so happy for her and now I'm raging.

55:44Rachel: Interesting enough. So there's a couple of facts here. It's obviously that the BBC have done a little article on her. She was born in Singapore to an English father and a Japanese mother. She was eligible to play for Japan, Singapore and her current home country, Portugal, but spent her youth career with England. Yeah, she speaks four different languages. Are you just trying to make me annoyed? Like, what is this? This is absolutely crazy. When she was asked why she chose to represent or she chose that she wanted to go for the England set up, she said, England were the first country that invited me into the National Training Centre.

56:18Rachel: They sent a scout out to Portugal to see my games. I was playing with boys at that point. They saw some clips of me online and realised I was half English. Once I got here, I really like the culture. Everyone's kind and ambitious. And I like the way that England conducted themselves.

56:30Chloe: Oh, I'm so happy for her. because she was one of those players at the under-17s that I hadn't heard much of and I was saying to Soph, like, I really like this player, I really like Parkinson, she's great. She was just one that stood out for me. So, that's amazing. What a journey.

56:44Rachel: Congratulations to Erica. Massive, massive news for her and also congratulations to Beth Mead for getting back. Always love to see it. Rach, you're recording a special episode from Stamford Bridge tomorrow night, which will be dropping on Thursday. So, you'll get to hear from Arsenal and Chelsea supporters. Is that right? You're going to be going down there and Vox Poppin' in?

57:02Chloe: Yeah, whatever that was. Vox Poppin'. Yeah. See what's happening. I'm looking forward to it. Have a chat with them about Champions League, a little bit about the season and then obviously reacting to however this tie turns out. And I'm dragging Sophie in with me to get her inside as well. Love this. Because some people are going to be in a box drinking champagne. It's called networking. It's called not being responsible for the pod you're on.

57:26Rachel: Well, it's good though that you get to spend time with your wife. Which I would do anyway. I'm like the third wheel. I'm like the Camilla of your relationship

57:32Chloe: if you will no I'd like to so where's the camera that's not true she's not the Camilla in this relationship I'd just like to put that out there right now absolutely not fucking hell there is no extra person in this relationship Jesus wrap this up quick before you say anything else weird there was three of us in this relationship there was three of us in this relationship I am not that person

57:51Rachel: no one of them was Camilla I am the third will but not in that way that was a really bad reference oh my god yeah Debbie look forward to rates dropping that episode on Thursday giving the full-time reaction hit subscribe to make sure you don't miss that episode thank you so much for listening to Upfront we'll be back obviously on Thursday with that special at the match ep in the meantime you can find us on Instagram and x slash Twitter I'm at morgy underscore 89 Rach is at girls in the ball and we are at Upfront underscore pod you can also find us on YouTube at Upfront pod see you next week from me and on Thursday for Rach

58:40Rachel: Upfront is a stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.