Previewing EVERY team in the WSL!

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3:03Rachel: Welcome to Upfront. I'm Chloe Morgan. And I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. It's time for our bumper WSL preview. We're taking a look at all of the biggest stories ahead of the opening weekend, answering your questions and maybe even offering a prediction or two with our flagpoles in the sand so stay tuned i just have to give a bit of a caveat here we are recording this on friday a few days before you'll be hearing this so please forgive us it like if leicester have done something crazy and mad and they've gone you know really rogue and there's all these rumors flying around or london city lionesses have broken like another world like record transfer like just forgive us because we don't yet have this news we are not in the future of that reality just yet um but Rach there's already been it's not even been what 72 hours really since we first sort of bunked up in that lovely new studio and yet chaos has descended upon the WSL once more but before we get stuck into that I think we just go straight to the top of the table mate I think we talk about who's going to be bossing it who we think are title contenders who we think is going to be running away with the WSL and whether actually Chelsea are going to be having a bit of a run for their money this year um i mean they take on man city in the opener on friday night what a game to start the season with looking forward to it i just like i can't wait i'm so excited for that game like if i was to pick a game to kick off the wsl season that would be it like you would think after last season we'd be like not chelsea man city again season five episode six or whatever it is after their honestly march But actually, with both squads touch wood, having full squads, having fit squads, having all of their weapons available to them, playing at Stamford Bridge.

4:53Yeah, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to seeing how both teams line up. And I just think it gives us a real indication of where they're at.

5:01Rachel: Another game, Friday night under the lights as well. I always think that's like such a lovely kind of like juicy one to get stuck into. I'm assuming you're going to be down there at the Stamford Bridge, giving it beans. got my accreditation applied for fingers crossed well if not i'll get a ticket i love that um obviously by chelsea standards they've had a little bit of a quiet window uh two new goalkeepers olivia peng and becky spencer whose loan was made permanent obviously becky has been in and around the wsl for what feels like two to three decades i mean she came into spurs when i was there we joined the wsl and she was a massive part of the reason that we kind of stayed up and she provided that real surety and experience and kind of um yeah she's like a seasoned pro becky spencer i know it was a little bit unusual i think that she made that move over to chelsea because i think obviously there wasn't that expectation that she'd actually get that game time but at the same time i mean she's made a permanent deal i wasn't expecting that i mean did you see that coming rach um yes and no like i feel like if a club says we're happy to loan you out mid-season and makes you think I'm probably not going to get much game time from that club equally if you're at the champions and you might get some game time there maybe they're going to be firing on all fronts your world-class um training facilities and training partners and and coaches um so yeah I guess if that's offered to you you know maybe in the latter stages of your career I don't want to cast any aspersions about Becky's career but you know as you touched on she hasn't been here for three decades now it's a bit harsh but she has been a big part of the WSL for a long time so what a nice way to um add to your your history of being in the WSL is to be playing at the champions 100 % and also come in full circle like back to Chelsea at a point like so far like back from kind of like what it started out as like she was one of the OG kind of Chelsea members like along the lines of like almost like your Claire Rafferty is like that kind of vibe and then to come back full circle in this moment now where Chelsea are doing so super well completely dominant you know having all these great experiences bringing in the likes of someone like ellie carpenter who obviously sonja bampasso would know very well from leon i mean what we thinking about that move because that was obviously one of their big sort of signature sign-ins this summer yeah i think important having um you know more quality in the fullback position you know last season we were complaining a lot that they had too many players that they'd signed too many players so i didn't expect you know a really big transfer window for them in terms of quantity and you know they didn't need an overhaul.

7:34I didn't expect them to be getting in loads and loads of players again. And I think those who did come in would either be an investment for the future or a really high quality signing. And they've been linked to one or two other really high quality signings. They've also got Sam Kerr coming back from ACL, Kadisha Buchanan hopefully coming back from ACL soon too. So they're going to feel like having new signings again and not just any old signings, top class signings. So, you know, that depth is just being added to, which I think is probably one of Chelsea's biggest weapons last season. And of course, there are a few youngsters out on loan too.

8:07We might see one or two more going out on loan, I don't know. But they seem to have, at the moment, a nice balance. And I think the Ellie Carpenter one was a very good signing.

8:17Rachel: Rach, when you think about some of the rumours now flying around with Chelsea, Alyssa Thompson is up there. I mean, do we think that there's any kind of reality in that rumour taking place? I mean, that would be another signature signing for them. Like you said, the squad is already huge. Love the fact that they have started, you know, putting those youngsters out on low. Lola Brown, absolutely love her. Can't wait to see like her developer at Palace. But I mean, yeah, I mean, did Chelsea need any more top quality international like medal winning talent? They're not lacking. Well, I think it's impressive when you're able to lure, not lure, but like when you're able to get in more and more top quality players and really get them to buy into what you're offering at Chelsea because they know they're not walking into a position.

9:01I spoke to Natalie Bjorn about this, about how actually having that quality and depth really forces you to develop quickly because every day you're fighting for your spot. And I think, you know, that can be seen as a real challenge for top quality players to actually say, yeah, I want to challenge myself in one of the best leagues in the world, one of the best teams who are winning trophies. I want to challenge myself to see if I can get regularly into this team. And I think with Chelsea wanting to and expecting to go far in every competition, you need that level of quality all the way across.

9:33And I think we've seen that from them when players come off the bench. The amount of times last season where they might be winning games or they might be drawing at the time, they need something different. It's like, how are they bringing X, Y, Z off the bench? My God, you know, so that quality and that depth is really important to them going far in competition. So, yeah, I wouldn't be hugely surprised if they landed another big signing. equally if it's one of those kind of flirty signings where you're like hey we're interested and then come January after the end of the NWSL season suddenly becomes a little bit more attractive and I wouldn't be surprised if that happened either but if it does it is going to be a pretty sure a record signing at this stage it would need to be to to get her out of there I think 100 %

10:14Rachel: I think that would be like a massive marquee signing that would definitely beat the one million pound that's just been set by by Olivia Smith and I think you also look like the commercial value of these players i mean chelsea are a squad that do struggle to get those numbers and those sellouts at stanford bridge bringing in someone like that that that's bumps on seats that is guaranteed bumps on seats to see that level of talent i mean but let's talk about man city obviously that's the first game of the season against chelsea it's a big i love i love a clash of the titans early doors i just love to see like what everyone's been up to like how set everyone is like the start of the season they've obviously had a pretty big transfer window themselves signing a Germany midfielder Sidney Lohmann who's playing outside of the Bundesliga for the first time I mean what do we think she's going to bring to Man City because you know I was super impressed with Man City last year I think they could have done better but at the same time I think they I I rate what they did I yeah I mean given everything they went through um I rate what they did but equally it was the kind of problem that you could have solved before it happened by having more depth that is something I feel like Manchester City have they have depth and they have quality and depth so bringing in the likes of Sidney Lohman adds to that quality and and hopefully again key players back from injury ready to go Bunny Shaw, Risa Shimizu, Aoba Fugino had that knock towards the end of the season they'll obviously have Hemp and Greenwood back raring to go after a good summer so you know from that respect the quality across that team the depth you know we often worry about the depth in their defence they've got loads of defenders in the ranks at the moment.

11:46They're challenging Chelsea for the amount of goalkeepers. They've got five goalkeepers signed in the squad. Or Arthur Cummings coming in as well. That was such a random one. Didn't see that at all. Definitely depth. I know you touched on Lohan, but they also brought in a man, Benny, as well. She's impressed us as a youngster at the Euros for Switzerland. So I'm excited for City to hopefully get a run going and not be kind of afflicted by such big injuries to such key players. You've obviously got Bunyshaw and Miedema now taking the 9 and 10. Jill Ward obviously left. So I think that partnership could be really, really interesting.

12:24You've got Carolyn in there on the wings as well. I just think the quality and the depth could be key for City this season. I'm intrigued by the new manager to see how he gets on. Not that necessarily we don't know loads about him, But in terms of more recently, perhaps not the most exciting CV. I think, you know, in previous years he was at Umea. They won what was the Champions League back then, for example. But that was quite a while ago. He was a Finnish coach for a while. And obviously most recently, where many will probably remember him from, was that kind of disastrous Euros campaign for Denmark.

13:01So, yeah, perhaps he may be a better domestic coach rather than international coach. I guess time will tell but he's definitely got an array of talent and quality to choose from and you've got players in there real leaders in there as well which I think will help when a new manager's coming in to try and you know ease that transition I think that's the hardest thing I think

13:21Rachel: about being a new manager in a squad that has this level of talent because there's nowhere to hide you cannot blame it on anything like it's only like how well you put together the pieces essentially and I think Rach like you were talking or touching a little bit there upon the um the Shaw-Midamar partnership and obviously it has been quite difficult so like we haven't seen you know big sort of periods of time that's really taken taking place obviously because Shaw's been out of the injury but I am excited to see like them two working together and I think Buddy Shaw on a good day I mean god we saw like the tenacity the ferociousness the kind of the the way that she just drove at players and I think her working together with Midamar a little bit more subtle but again that kind of the pouncing that Midamar spent like going to do I just yeah I'm really excited to see that that sort of kicking off again and I think in the past we've talked about you know City kind of relying on their wide players and sending it into a Shaw and if it's not coming from the width Shaw will be forced deep and with an intelligent player like Midemar sitting where she is she can come a bit higher she can drop a bit deeper if necessary she can play those through balls she can send it out to the wings and it's just another piece to that attacking puzzle that makes it an incredible threat and then you look at potentially I guess who's on the bench should, God forbid, one of them get injured or they're rotating their players.

14:31They've got that quality there to step into. And you've got a versatile number 10 who could, if needed, go up in the number nine as well. So, yeah, just keep them fit. I think it's good to see depth in the squad. I think that's key. And I think that's been perhaps their Achilles heel the last couple of seasons.

14:49Rachel: God, just please stay fit. Please could I not have this, like... Yeah, I just, like, I have this, like, almost PTSD from, like, the last season when we just saw, like, three or four ACLs like every single week on the bounce yeah and I just and Everton obviously being like so massively affected by that but I just hope and pray that like we just touch wood just touch wood fingers everything crossed um we spoke a little bit about Arsenal a fair bit on last week's pod particularly their front line but they'll be starting the season without Leah Williamson at the back as she's injured um I mean half the lionesses were injured you know a player with broken bones and concussions and bits and pieces it was um yeah it was like uh i don't think that the full gravity of like what the lioness had been through physically really came out until after the tournament but yeah what do we think of um of arsenal's kind of transfer window because they've done absolute bits as well as dropping about 35 different fashion lines at the same time um new signing obviously taylor hinds olivia smith i mean picking up that pfa player of the year award a couple of weeks back I mean everyone's excited Chloe Kelly off of what she did in the Euros but also kind of the transition that we saw and how happy she seemed back in the Arsenal squad after sort of a tough time with Man City and you know Gareth spoke recently I think about you know wanting to he should have managed it better they could have both done things a little bit better but now I feel like Chloe Kelly is in full stride full of confidence like she'd have been reinvigorated off the back of the Euros and how the last sort of seven or eight months has been so this is a squad I think where people are going to be fighting for places because their talent now and the depth of the squad that I couldn't the start 11 is going to be an absolute headache for Rene week in week out well I'm intrigued to see how they get on particularly how they start and they've got London City Lionesses first then West Ham then Manchester United I think not having Williamson really isn't ideal in terms of that leadership in the back line and perhaps where Arsenal maybe needed a little bit more depth and quality.

16:50But they've obviously added, you know, full-back, it's a full-back position with Taylor Hines, Olivia Smith, the winger opportunity, like another bit of depth on that side of things as if they needed any more depth in that position. But, you know, they have it. They've got versatile players as well. We've seen what Beth Mead can do playing in multiple positions for the Lionesses during the Euros when needed. As long as she stays, doesn't go to London City. quite but I'm intrigued just to see how they start because we've seen a little bit maybe in the past where they haven't had the best start of a season or where they've done something amazing say getting to the Champions League final then coming back to the WSL and having an absolute wobble so it will very much need to be fully focused and looking at these opening fixtures to get that bit of momentum because I think I just find that the opening fixtures so intriguing sometimes and it can really lay a foundation for teams and you might kind of look back at the end of a season and go do you know what that's where they lost it that's where they've ended up losing relegation that's the key moment where they managed to keep themselves up and you know you think about Chelsea Man City hit the ground running with like an absolute massive clash and what a difference those three points make right at the beginning of a season conversely you might look at a team that starts with a couple of teams where they expect to win and they've got that

18:10Rachel: momentum then all of a sudden and suddenly they're up the border on paper you would expect that those would be arsenal points you never know but at the same time it is they've got those two games kind of bed in before they i suppose face a sort of top or sort of the top tier side so i think you would be expecting that they would go into that game with a bit more confidence and a bit more kind of six points behind them hopefully yeah and the same could be said for manchester united we've got leicester london city lionesses but equally should either united or arsenal not pick up six points in those games suddenly that third game there's so much more riding on it right so this is what I mean I just find it's really intriguing how things start or end and you know we'll get on to Everton later on but you look at a team like that who didn't pick up a win until November last year and you think god they're serious trouble and then things can just completely turn on a dime come January so yeah I just I'm excited I don't know whether I like a big clash right at the beginning or whether you like to, you know, see teams get off the mark.

19:09I don't know. I don't know what the best way is, but it does make for a very intriguing kind of first month.

19:13Rachel: Well, talking of United, we've got a really good question in from Ali. She said, will Man United regress? They haven't invested much or cared about certain players who needed to be moved on. Obviously, they beat PSV in the Champions League qualifier on Wednesday, which is super, super positive. That's a, you know, quite a robust result there. But at the same time, like when you look at the business they've been doing in the transfer window, it hasn't said to me that there's a load of confidence, a load of thought being given into the strategy and kind of the direction they want to take the team.

19:44Rachel: They lost Charlotte Healy to Bristol, which was, I think, a massive loss. I think it was the right move for Charlotte to kind of move into that managerial position and kind of manage a team and not be sort of, you know, second in command. But at the same time, like I know how integral she was to the strategy, how the relationships she had with the girls was amazing. So, yeah, I just I feel disappointed with the team. I feel super disappointed. I mean, Rach, what's your take on it all? I mean, I'm not hugely surprised. We spoke last season about United and the various issues behind the scenes and up the top that are trickling down to the women's side and how it's not a massive priority for the club.

20:23You know, I think we've always been a little concerned with squad depth and rotation at United. That's not a new thing. I don't think that's necessarily been addressed in the transfer windows and you know already seeing some key players missing ahead of those Champions League clashes with niggles and but I think should they progress as well into the Champions League it'll be interesting to see how they manage to fight on multiple fronts right like that's when you look at your Chelsea's and your Arsenal's and I think even City now at this stage even though they're not in the Champions League you need and this was something I think Gareth Taylor spoke about he kind of felt like you needed to get into the Champions League before you could pull players in to give you that depth to challenge in the Champions League and I kind of feel like it's something you should be building to get there so that you have the depth that when you get there you stay there and I'm just a little bit concerned in terms of the depth should they get the Champions League that it will be tricky you know fighting on multiple fronts because they'll want to be go far in the domestic cups as well and I do think they played some lovely football against PSV and you know they were playing a really aggressive press which I thought was really good and could have scored more arguably so that would be good for them coming into the season and I think should they progress and get a win on Saturday you've got some really valuable momentum going into the league as well which I think could be really beneficial for them because as I touched on you start getting those points on the board early it kind of builds that confidence and that I guess the confidence in the style and the the approach that your manager the squad is going is um trying to play if you know what I mean you know if you're buying into a style or whatever it's a hell of a lot easier to buy into it when it's working and you're winning so I think yeah this hammer be a game could be interesting and should they win that that could really buoy them coming into the league but you know some of those some of those areas of depth a little bit worrying still but I still I think Ziggy Oti and Rolfo excellent signings really really good signings ziggy odia especially slotted in really well in that psv game and i think rolf will bring a huge amount of experience and winning experience as well so you know they're two ambitious signings i just think fans probably would have liked to have seen a little bit more

22:32Rachel: i think it's that when i saw rolfo being announced i think well done you pronounce that i've been trying i've actually been trying that's the worst thing i've actually had to try on that um so when i saw fridelina um coming into vanceston united i thought that was going to be like the trigger for like a number of like key like marquee signings and then it just went dead again we have a really good question a really good question from ruckus patrick on the discord he said can anyone stop chelsea that's i mean the ambition is there i think with every team in the wsl um do i think anyone can actually do it yeah 100 i would put really good money on man city and arsenal taking it to the last couple of weeks for sure but it also depends on i mean chelsea and these signings like elissa thompson coming in would oh god really really really i think you know i think stopping chelsea is a very very very difficult task and i think it's a runaway train it's stopping a runaway train it is and i think teams every season chelsea are forcing teams to invest more, push more, to challenge because it's a hard thing to do.

23:43And they've obviously had, you know, the Emma Hayes dynasty really laid the foundations for what they're doing at the moment. And I think as well, like when you think about last season, I think what the biggest frightening prospect about Chelsea is, is that you would expect them to improve on last season. And before Chelsea fans come at me, Sonia herself said it, we did well in terms of trophies and results last season, but we were not always happy with the performances and didn't show as much consistency as I would like. Now, I think, you know, there's a lot of fine-tuning that Chelsea are doing now.

24:16Do you know what I mean? And because there's not been a huge amount of turnover last season, new manager, quite a few new players, you know, trying to fix the plane while you're flying kind of vibes, still grinding out the wind, still unbeaten in the league. That's the frightening prospect because now you've got more time under your belt as manager. Players have those relationships built. You've added a little bit more sprinkle of stardust to the team. And yeah, and I think it makes them a frightening prospect. That is why I'm so excited about the first game. I want to see where teams are and how they're setting up and how they're gelling together and how players are settling in and all that kind of stuff.

24:52And I think that first game is really going to show us that.

24:55Rachel: I think what I really want to see is like an early doors upset. And I think what we don't want to see and I think what's not good for the league is like seeing Chelsea have this like ultimate destruction mode. where it just goes an entire season unbeaten where we just see kind of so much dominance that it doesn't really become there's no jeopardy to the games and that's what I don't want I don't want a perfect month for Chelsea I don't want those perfect four games like I just it becomes unbearable and you just kind of know what's going to happen and I don't want that predictability of it so yeah I'm really hoping that Man City even if they keep them to a draw I think could be a really exciting one like yeah I think what disappointed me about last season is that every season we talk about the league getting better and teams getting better and I feel like last season while there was some of that it was quite disappointing in the manner of which like Chelsea ran away with it they were 12 points ahead when they won which is incredible but equally you look at the previous season it came down to goal difference right and like I did kind of think at the beginning of last season I did say I thought there was going to be a gap between kind of the top half and the bottom half but Christ I didn't expect it to be that much you know there was that big gap between Chelsea and Arsenal then it was closer between Arsenal and kind of United then Brighton were a chunk down and it just you know you look at kind of 20 points or was it yeah 20 points I think Spurs finished on and they were 11th and Chelsea finished on like 62 60 60 points that's insane in terms of the numbers.

26:28So what I would like to see this season is fully expect the top four to be the top four in whatever potential order they come in. I still think Chelsea will be potentially first. But what I'd like to see is just that kind of gap, not A, be so big at the top in terms of whoever wins it, but also kind of from maybe fifth down, a little bit closer. I'd like to see teams picking up more points, you know, nicking off points here and there and just, yeah, having less of a kind of gap between the top half and the bottom half.

26:58Rachel: 100%. Coming up after this, we discuss a chaotic week for Leicester City.

27:14I'm Jake Stouck, co-founder and CEO of Serval. We built Serval to automate the IT work that slows companies down. Onboarding, password resets, access to applications, my laptop stopped working, While employees wait for help, their real work is put on hold. IT desperately wants to automate this work, and that's why they need Serval. You just tell Serval what you want to automate in plain English, and it's built. No drag-and-drop workflows, no expensive consultants. Employees get unblocked, and IT teams go from drowning in tickets to building what actually matters. With Serval, IT becomes the AI engine powering the entire company.

27:53This is a new way to run IT. We guarantee you'll automate 50 % of all tickets and we'll prove it to you in a free four-week pilot. Go to serval.com slash tickets. That's S-E-R-V-A-L dot com slash tickets.

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29:42Insurance coverage varies. Check with your plan for coverage.

29:52Rachel: Rach, it has literally been three days, not even 72 hours past since we last sat down in the pod to kind of talk about the WSL and kind of all the things that had happened to the transfer window and all the drama around it. And then we have this massive story breaking around Leicester. Last week was obviously a massive wild ride for them. So we had the news breaking on Wednesday that might be, I mean, you could have done on Tuesday just before the pod. Do you know what I mean? Like it's always the way that we record something and then something huge happens. so we had the news breaking on wednesday that matt beard had left burnley the club said burnley fcr disappointed to confirm women's team manager matt beard has resigned from his position to pursue other opportunities beard has been placed on three months garden leave with immediate effect so everyone was like okay christ what's happened here like everyone was looking forward to see it matt beard like you know really kind of take the reins at burnley and kind of progress them and take them forward and kind of like get them into it into a much better position and a much better shape like we always talked about how matt beard you know has this that there's resilience and this like doggedness to like do better for teams so that was where the current position was matt had only joined burnley in june let's not forget this he was in charge days or something 68 bloody days and didn't manage a single competitive game and then there was all these rumours flying around about where he was going to go was he going to go to the nwsl like someone had you know sort of enticed him with like a much better offer to do something bigger and better and everyone was like okay cool where is this going to take place Leicester then sacked Amandine Mikel on Wednesday just 11 days before the start of the season only being at the club for a season she obviously steered Leicester clear of relegation last season which was no mean feat just a caveat again at the time of this recording Matt Beard hasn't officially been appointed but it does look almost certain that that is where beardy is going he's on three months gardening leave whatever it's called three months you know what's it called three months yeah three months gardening leave doesn't that mean he can't go to leicester until that's done surely i think it depends on the notice period like and to be fair to be fair to managers clubs will sack a manager at a moment's notice you will literally go into work find that your all your things are packed in a brown box so there's a part of me that's like you know what fair fucks to a manager who walks out the door when something better comes along because you know that a club would do exactly the same thing to you what I don't appreciate is the position that it's left Burnley women in and the team in and the players a lot of the players would have gone over to Burnley you know expecting big things and kind of yeah exactly that and I think it's that that's the thing that I'm disappointed in is that it's not just like your average WSL club that can go and find another manager at another point or they have like incredible backroom staff that can kind of pick up the pieces and kind of you know create that longevity um in the club but that that was a big signing for Burnley and that's going to have impacted a lot of players personally so that's the thing that I don't particularly like about this scenario I have a couple of issues with this firstly I don't think it's a good luck for Matt Beard to leave a club after 68 days maybe more will come out from this that we don't know but I don't think it's a good luck in terms of you know for you offering yourself to a club at any point in your career and then to look back and go will you sack these guys off after 68 days because something better came along how do we know you're not going to do that to us a and as you touched on the players that came with him b the gardening leave thing that line about the three-month gardening leave if he was done with the club with immediate effect they wouldn't have put that in so that makes me wonder surely he can't join another club for three months because he's still on their books for three months right you would think that if he is going somewhere they'll have to buy him out of the contract i don't know that's murky that's weird and then coming back and not taking someone else's job but I just think Amandine Mikel deserved far better out of this situation and she steered Leicester as you said I know 10th place isn't amazing it was their best points tally and you know she had some serious injury crises at Leicester last season particularly up front and it was very much a square peg round hole situation that she had to do for the majority of the season 100 and that was widely documented that Leicester are having terrible injury problems didn't have the context of that is that Leicester have barely ever gotten out of the relegation zone since they came up from the WSL like there's none of this blame is placed on her in terms of their positioning in the league what exactly so them coming 10th isn't like some terrible thing in the wider context of the league she's lost a load of key players had barely any signed in so far which begs the question what are Leicester doing to support the club in terms of improvement great that their training facilities are brilliant that's great but if you haven't got the players on the pitch to actually perform and challenge all of these other teams around you that investment is like what are you wanting out of this it's this thing of we're not going to invest here but we're going to bring in a new manager because that'll fix everything so I think I think she's been absolutely done over by Leicester I think it's really poor form from Leicester so justice for Amandine and finally Matt Beard his biggest gripe was Liverpool was the lack of investment for the club and the squad and that he wasn't able to get players in that he wanted he wanted more investment to be able to challenge so why is he going to Leicester that you know why is that why is that an attractive offer for him if that was an issue he had with Liverpool who were arguably a better squad that you know and what do they expect him to be able to do just come in and what like sprinkle fairy dust I don't understand like what they expect him to be able to do that that wasn't given to Almandine that that opportunity wasn't given to her to actually see what she could do with the fit squad although to be fair I think they only have about 18 players at this point obviously if he does join the the first opportunity is going to be the January transfer window for him to really make a mark and like see what actual impact you know what what finances are going to be behind some of this decision making but like you said like I don't see I yeah I can't see the merit in this decision like I just yeah and if and I'm intrigued i'm sure people will tell me in the comments this whole gardening leave thing if he can't join lester for three months why not hang on to miguel until christmas and then bring him in do you know what i mean and at least in that situation you're like well at least we can give her a chance to see if she gets on with because they did have some impressive results they were they had a style that they were trying to play defensively they were very good for the first portion of the of the wsl the first half of the season you know i think there has to be some respect given to what she was able to do with what she had and I just think it's really unfair to then not give her the opportunity of seeing what she can do with a a fit squad although granted not even barely even a full squad I just it's this same naivety of you know tying a manager's hand behind their back and expecting them to do wonders without enough investment I think um the situation is now though that kind of Matt Beard has like built a rod for his own back it kind of feels like Why is it an attractive opportunity?

36:48It's the WSL, I get, but you want to be back in another relegation scrap?

36:52Rachel: I think there was something really beautiful and ethically lovely about the fact that he was going to go to Burnley and hopefully get them into a much better shape and really progress the club and create history. That was the kind of mentality that I had around that move. This now feels like it's become slightly murkier, like a little bit more shady and a little bit kind of... Nobody looks good out of it. Yeah, essentially. Leicester doesn't look good because they've sacked this manager who's been doing her absolute bloody best to make sure they're not going down the championship. Matt Beard doesn't look particularly great.

37:21Rachel: The players are left at Burnley in this really ridiculous situation. Yeah, it's not a good look in the slightest. By the time this pod comes out, Matt Beard could be managing in a different continent. Matt Beard's gone to Lyon. You never know. Well, six WSL clubs have chased their managers during the past 12 months. Rianne Skinner is entering her third season at West Ham. She is now the only female English manager in the league at the moment. I mean, Christ, I mean, what have you got to do to keep your job in the WSL at the moment? Win all the time and beat everybody, it seems, with like completely mismatched investment.

37:56Yes, good luck. And like speaking of Rhian, you know, I remember when we chatted when she first kind of came into West Ham and it took a little while. And, you know, I do think things started to look better for them last season, particularly in the second half of the season with some of the signings they made. and Shakira Martinez obviously a big one hanging on to her was key so yeah another team that I think will make that middle pack all the more interesting this season because they're the teams that kind of nick points off each other and they're the games where you're not sure which way it's going to go so um I do think West Ham have got a few little upsets in them next and this season do you know

38:33Rachel: what they were the club I managed to do when I was doing this sort of um bit of comms like towards the back end of the WSL season I ended up like covering games that were the WSL like West Ham games and it was the chills right towards the back it was a Chelsea v West Ham game it was 2-2 and West Ham had come back from 2-0 deficit and my god I was so impressed with like the mentality the crowd as well down at the stadium like the tenacity of like some of the players I mean Puba like Puba was absolutely incredible like I just there's these like spicy characters in West Ham that I just really want to see more of this year.

39:07Rachel: I do think, like you said, there is that disruption element to them. And I think, you know, nicking points off top teams and that 4-3 loss to Arsenal, if you remember, like those performances really buoyed them. And you started to see a shift from that kind of emergency goal line clearance defending, which you still see some of, to more assured, confident players who kind of trusted the players in and around them. And I think that kind of development takes time. So I'm glad she's still there because you actually get to see what happens if you give a manager a little bit of time, even if it's not perfect right at the beginning.

39:38So, yeah, another team that I'm kind of intrigued to see if they kind of bring that back at the beginning of the season or are we going to have to wait another three or four months before things start to click again?

39:47Rachel: Well, talking of another club that is lacking in investment, we have a great question in from Jason. He said, have Spurs given up on their women's team? No investment this summer. Are we favourites for relegation? obviously last season did not go to plan for Spurs and that is an absolute fucking understatement this season I really felt like there was going to be some kind of movement in summer that they were going to say look we need to pull our socks up last year was not good enough we didn't hit anywhere near the standards that we have I don't really feel like like when Spurs first came into the WSL there was this excitement around the club they were playing all these like stadium games like it really felt like there was a shift in club history from then I don't really feel like Spurs has ever found an identity it's never found a clicking starting 11 it's overly relied on some players who have then kind of dropped off performance levels like there's been obviously this change in in management and then I just I just Spurs just seem a bit chaotic in terms of like I don't really feel like we found a confident all guns blazing Spurs that is really finding its true form um and yeah no investment this this summer just feels like well again it comes back to that quote that you keep saying if we keep on doing the same thing and expect the say the different results it's it's a sign of madness and that kind of feels like spurs at the moment i think under robert villihan first season i thought he brought in an identity and it was taking a little while to click but you could see what he was trying to do he was trying to play an attacking style of football a creative style of football you know and they finished what sixth than got to an FA Cup final.

41:23But then it fell apart. Then it fell apart. There's never been a consistency to it. And I think that's an issue with a lot of clubs in the kind of middle to lower half of the table is the lacking of consistency. And every season we have one team that does really well. We all get excited and then they come back down again. And Brighton, I'm hoping that's not you this season. But yeah, Villaham really struggled to get that team to hum and to kind of find their form across the 11 for 90 minutes. And you'd have some games where they might defend well and some games where they might attack well and some games where the midfield looked impressive and it was never all at the same time and they'd have some games where they might play well and still lose I think back to that Man City game where they when they played Man City at home and performed really really well but kind of got nothing out of it so that was a frustrating very frustrating season for Spurs where nothing seemed to click it's a bit naive to think changing a manager is simply going to solve all of those problems and they haven't signed many if any well they've signed what one two and they haven't lost many either which I suppose is a bit of a positive sign at least because it means you've got some stability you've got plenty of pre-existing relationships already there and but I do think there's certain areas that haven't been addressed primarily defensively that should have been addressed in the transfer window you know finished second from bottom last season and conceded 44 goals which is the most of any any team bar Crystal Palace you know and that was an area that Spurs have been quite good at in the previous season but last season they were leaking goals and I do think Martin Ho was an exciting prospect I think what he did at Bram was really impressive and perhaps you know Tottenham looked at at Bram's kind of exciting run of the Champions League and they get to the quarterfinals or something with the team that they had and maybe they think well he can work wonders we don't need to change anything about the team we just need the manager with you know very little investment in terms of on the pitch.

43:15So I think the issue is the lack of time that clubs give managers. And that's what worries me is that there's no room really for a bad season. So it gives you very little time to bed in your ideas, bring in the players you want to fit your style. I kind of feel like we've seen that a little bit with West Ham and I don't know whether that's confidence in Rhian Skinner or just a lack of interest in West Ham to progress. And maybe they're just like, oh, actually, we're still on the WSL. This is great. when actually you've got a team there that are really trying to improve season on season so I'm in I'm excited to see Martin Ho and what he can do but I am I'm concerned with the lack of kind of issues being addressed in that transfer window definitely and I think I mean we spoke

44:00Rachel: last season about like this WSL manager merry-go-round and kind of the lack of loyalty that clubs have to really kind of allow managers to like shake the dust off and regroup and resettle and kind of really embed, you know, what they want to do in terms of strategy or kind of recruitment strategy and things like that. But yeah, I mean, we've got Martin Ho, we've got Garen Taylor in a new position, we've got Matt Beard probably joining Leicester. I mean, that's the thing about these new positions, isn't it? It's like... It feels like the Premier League. It doesn't. David Moyes will be back or Sam Aradice will probably come in.

44:31Rachel: Do you know what I mean? That's the vibe that Man United are giving. Fucking David Moyes joining the women's team would be like one of the most ridiculous things that ever happened in football. and I actually see it happening from them. So on Spurs, obviously, I mean, at the time of recording, they've only signed one player, Tokokoga, from Feyenoord. They did obviously beat Arsenal 4-3 in a pre-season friendly, which fucking hell I did not see coming. Did you see that game, Rach? Were you there? I didn't see it. My God. When I saw the result, I was like, have they switched around the numbers? What's happened here?

45:06I think what's good about Martin Ho, and I was reading a piece that the Guardian did on him and there were some good quotes from him and something that stood out was, you know, how many plans he has if plan A isn't working and he was like, we have plan A to Z. Like, we have a plan for everything and he did that during the Arsenal game. He touched on that during the Arsenal game. The areas that they were doing well in but weren't capitalising on and come second half, they changed things around and they were more effective with it. And it just starkly contrasts from, say, when I spoke to Gareth Taylor and he was like, we just need to be really good at plan A and then we don't need any other plans.

45:38And I just think that it's such a contrasting style of football. So I think that's something that Martin Ho will bring is that, yes, there's a commitment to a style. But if that style isn't working, there's a willingness to change in game. And you need that adaptability from a team to be able to do that. So that's what I think makes him kind of exciting because he will come up against a lot of challenges, I think, this season.

45:59Rachel: Well, let's touch on another kind of middle of the table. Mr. Plan A? yeah let's go for we've got a really good question actually from Aljamina I was gonna say good luck with that Aljamina I mean I can barely say Rolfo actually that was pretty good well done what kind of position have Liverpool been left in and what are your opinions on their manager obviously Gareth Taylor appointed Liverpool manager at the start of August Olivia Smith and Taylor Hines have of course gone to Arsenal and Tegan Meier went to Lyon um new fight uh far he retired to absolute og of the game i mean that was a that was an interesting move may um gareth taylor over to the reds i mean what did you make of that because i did i mean personally i didn't see that coming but you never do with these transfers i didn't massively i was a little bit surprised at it um i don't know why it took them so long to announce it because the time between when the rumors started when he was announced it was like what are you waiting for like just get on with it like get get a manager get signing some bloody players um i'm a little bit concerned about liverpool this season okay actually um i don't think they've done very much at all to fill that olivia smith hole and the taylor hines hole left in the squad you're touching it there they've lost some key experience too they've got quite a small squad as well and hey maybe that's what gareth taylor likes he he didn't seem to mind that when he was at Manchester City they've done well to keep a couple of like the staples there you've got your Kerry Hollands your Rachel Laws Fuga Nogano yeah 100 % Gemma Bonner yeah that they managed to keep hold of her yeah Sophie Roman Hogg of course is there as well she'd been injured at the beginning of last season back at it now as you said managed to hold on to Sam Kerr the Scottish one so yeah I think they're doing well in terms of retention but it just feels like every time I open Liverpool press release it's to tell me that they've retained a player and I'm like you know you've just got a million quid from Olivia Smith like what you could do you could get three pretty friggin decent players or one big signing do you know what I mean but yeah I'm a little bit concerned about the squad depth the lack of kind of ambition in terms of what we're seeing being brought into the club the fact they haven't replaced Olivia Smith they're a team that are worrying me a little bit um they haven't had the best prep they lost to west ham in pre-season they lost to villa pretty heavily in pre-season they lost to durham and they drew with united um but yeah they're a team that i'm concerned about this season oh mate don't say that not in terms of relegation but just in terms of i think they're just going to struggle and hey you know me i'll probably be proven wrong that's the spirit you're never proven wrong you're always proving fucking right and that's the worst thing about this um coming up after this we take a look at the WSL disruptors for the season ahead oh I love this section I love talking about the disruptors I love talking about the clubs that are hopefully going to cause a little bit of chaos create that jeopardy that we all want create that drama create those those unforeseen moments like you go into games not really knowing like what's going to happen like that's what we want those the spiciness of it um two clubs who will be looking up the table this season face each other on sunday brighton host aston villa yeah this feels like their first weekend yeah it's like just as much of an exciting game as like the chelsea man city game it kind of feels like this is a real like head-to-head clash in itself um i'd love to touch on aston villa first because like i 100 love the fact that we have had a friend of the pod maggie murphy who was only on not too long ago um obviously an absolute icon within the game uh did so many amazing things with Lewis and kind of bringing the you know making sure the club uh did as well as it could do in the championship obviously I know they got relegated but at the same time Maggie Murphy was instrumental in you know trying to keep that club afloat on very little budget and try and create like these innovative ways to bring fans in and you know I just have generally I think we both do have a lot of time and love for Maggie Murphy she's just been made managing director of Villa that only dropped yesterday i think it was um so massive congratulations yeah yes yeah sorry yesterday being thursday um a former bergham city and villa defender marissa ures was made director of women's football at the start of summer too uh this was followed by a major restructure for villa in june after the women's team was basically sold to the club's parent company v sports partly to help the club comply with the premier league's profit and sustainability rules but this does allow resources to be directly allocated to the women's team as a separate entity maggie is set to obviously have a very big role in that but like for me i think the maggie appointment feels like a bit of a statement from villa we know that maggie is not what she's not a yes person she is not joining any club without first understanding that there's going to be challenges that she'll be sending their way to progress and improve things um she is very innovative she wants to make changes she has a genuine passion for women's football and she wants to take it in the right direction so the club I think I have a bit more respect for the club that they've chosen someone who is there to kind of challenge the decision making and push them on um yeah this was not a hire just to kind of tick boxes Maggie Murphy is um yeah she's an absolute like yeah she's a she's a beast for change yeah super signing and as you said it made me kind of sit up and take notice and say okay like villa are putting them putting the money where their mouth is as a phrase i don't mean kind of like throwing money at something like but i mean like really looking at who can help us progress definitely seriously and i think maggie can do that and then you look at some of their signings lynn williams and elie robic of course still buyings just to name a few they've got some good players in and they've had a few players either retire or leave which not hugely surprising in terms of who's gone because they weren't getting loads of minutes and was super impressed with Natalia Arroyo and what she managed to do she came in to steady a very what felt like a sinking ship and had to do a little bit of firefighting in her first few games but once they shook off that kind of relegation shackles you could kind of see what they were about and what she was about and they were so impressive in the final kind of innings of the of last season you look at the all of the teams from last season their final five games Aston Villa had the best record they won five out of five games I'd say they never wanted that season to end so I'm excited to see how they start again brought in some good names as I've said some some really good young talent um and I'm yeah I just think this Brighton game because of course Brighton were the team we kind of pipped last season as our dark horses and I'm excited to see how they shape up because this is, for both teams, is a tricky fixture to start.

52:53Rachel: I think also they've done really good business in renewing a lot of the contracts of the backbone of the squad. Christy Manson, Lucy Parker, Anna Patton, Sarah Mayling, Rachel Daly. Yeah, all the ones that are going to provide you that security and that consistency. That's what you wanted to do. So I think that's great business in itself. And I think, yeah, like you mentioned there, some of the signings. I mean, Barca and Bayern, I mean, going over to Villa, I mean, that's no... Wolfsburg. Yeah, Wolfsburg, that's no mean feat at all. So, yeah, I think they're the ones that I'm actually super excited to watch out for this season.

53:24Rachel: Let's send our chances a little bit then to Brighton, because they've also signed a star goalkeeper, Chiamaka Ndozi. She was absolutely vital in Nigeria's 10th Africa Cup of Nations title in the summer. And obviously, we spoke a little bit about Michelle Adjimang being kept out on loan from Arsenal this season too. and kind of, you know, her building off the back of the success of the Euros. But Rach, do we still feel like there's going to be the same buzz around Brighton? Obviously, Nikita Paris has headed off as she's gone to London City Lionesses. But yeah, they were a club that we were super excited to kind of really shake up the top four, it almost looked like, last season.

54:00Yeah, I'm not sure it'll be necessarily as smooth sailing this season. But I still think they'll be exciting people. I still think they'll be building that fan base that was growing really impressively last season. they had a great home record as well so they kind of really turned that home ground into in Crawley into a little bit of a fortress I think it's almost the season to really see what Dario is made of now because he's been there a season he kind of worked with what he had now he's got you know now we're seeing players leave and him bringing players in that he wants and he now has the challenge of getting them up to speed there was a lot of exits at Brighton that's my one concern about them is is potentially that back line because they lost poppy pattinson maria tarz dot here a guru bergs fan key players in the back line that played on a regular basis you lost pauline bremer uh stefanovic and nikita paris of course vicky losada like they're they're big key players who brought a lot of experience as well and and probably were instrumental in embedding a new style quickly and and having that quality and experience table be able to embed what the manager wants in the squad so I'm not I don't know whether it'll be as smooth sailing for Brighton but I still think they'll be mid-table and I think that that Aston Villa Brighton game is such an exciting one to start with because again it's seeing where those potential disruptors are and from the get-go and whoever gets those three points is really key because they're the teams in and around them that they need to get three points out of they're they're the the they're the games where we see the gaps.

55:37Rachel: Each team will be saying, we can get three points out of this game for sure. And it's where teams like a fifth place team lose any kind of ground on the top four because they look at the top four and don't necessarily expect to get points. Yet Brighton did against Chelsea. They did against Arsenal. You know, so actually it's the teams in and around them that they really need three points out of, which makes these games so much tougher almost. Well, Brighton and Villa are looking very strong behind the scenes, but so are Everton. I know we touched on this briefly before the pod started, Rach, but you wanted to give me war and peace of Everton and excitement that you feel about this club going into the WSL.

56:13I'm not going to get that long. Not into the WSL, starting the season, apologies. They're kind of my dark horses of the season. I'm quite, you know, I feel like, no offence, Alan White, I feel like Alan White saying excited all the time, but I'm, you know, really keen to see, there's a new word, I'll find a thesaurus, keen to see how Brian Sorensen gets on with depth and with financial backing and, you know, an ownership group that gives a shit, your own stadium, like, he won't know what to do with himself. Refreshed Everton. He's going to be like a different person on these press conferences.

56:46The depth they have on that squad has perhaps gone under the radar a little bit. They did have quite a few players leave, but I think they've brought in quite a bit of experience. You know, Mas Pacheco's gone there, Martina Fernandez. They've managed to hang on to Kelly Gago, Aurora Ghali is back you know you've got players who had ACL injuries three key players who got ACL injuries and Gabaro, Finnegan and Ghali and that was they were huge losses for Everton and so yeah I think you've got Tony Payne there they've got such a good big squad which you're almost not used to seeing from Everton and good quality players as well that could make them really interesting and they're a team I've touched on it before that other managers have said can be difficult to set up against because they're so adaptable not just as an overall tactics for 11 players on a pitch but just defensively in game they could change an approach they could change their press in game and that can be hard to kind of prep for and I think that's what makes Everton difficult to break down and we saw that in the second half of the season I think other than the 5-0 loss against Chelsea they didn't have big heavy defeats you know I think it was maybe 3-1 to Arsenal maybe 3-0 to Man City but they were close in games they were winning games they were much better in the second half of the season and I just think yeah I think it'll be nice to see I think we said this last season it'd be nice to see what Brian Sarnson can do with a fit squad and then he got hit with injuries and a lack of depth so he's got the depth he's hopefully got everyone back fit I'm quite intrigued to see how they get on particularly with the teams in and around them

58:25Rachel: I was going to say Right, but they also have quite a nice run of fixtures for those first five or six games. So they've got Liverpool-Everton as the first game on the Sunday. They love a derby as well. Literally that, that's an incredible first little fixture. Then they move on to Spurs the week after, then London City, then they take on Brighton, and then they take on Leicester City in those first few games. And you think if you want any kind of lovely start to the season where those are games that you can really look to pick up points in, really kind of set your stall out. because I think when we spoke at the end of last season about how the teams that did well at the start of the season kind of made themselves safe, it didn't create, you know, it wasn't that you had to get that many points to kind of be safe in the WSL, especially with the sort of the new entries of Crystal Palace and sort of where Leicester were.

59:10Rachel: But at the same time, Leicester kind of, Everton kind of get those, you know, four or five games under their belt, get some serious points in that. And you've already kind of secured at least a middle table start, if not definitely sort of out of relegation for the WSL. So, yeah, I think it kind of feels like they've been given a nice start into 25, 26 life. When you think about last season, I think I touched on it earlier, they didn't pick up their first win until, I think, November, mid-November, and they still finished 18 points above relegation. So imagine if they get six, nine points before November even comes.

59:45You know, I think that's, yeah, I just think it could potentially be an interesting season for Everton. and I feel like I've always been waiting for them to do what I think they're capable of and I've yet to see it. So maybe this will be the season, who knows?

1:00:00Rachel: Well, we wait with bated breath and not long to wait at all. We do have another question in from Neil on Instagram. Do you think London City can finish in the top six this season? Annoyingly, just after the pod that we recorded on Tuesday, they then announced new signings, Katie Zellem and Alana Kennedy from Angel City. the purse strings of um michelle kind of no no bounds apparently uh two other you know big big signings taking place i mean this is definitely a team that feels like it's possible there is a top six finish possible the issue that the team is going to have i think is like how quickly they're going to how much how little time they have to kind of gel and kind of get themselves sorted because you can bring in the biggest and the best but at the same time this is a club that is already making a lot of transition going into WSL life in the first place it's already gone through like this phase of kind of everyone having to gel together we talked about you know how difficult it is sometimes to kind of merge the squads when you've got loads of people leaving and loads of people who have remained from the previous season there does it just still feels like there's a risk that it's not all going to happen this season do I think they'll be relegated no I don't but at the same time do I think they're going to see the level of success that the top four the top five teams have who have played together for a number of years who've been in the WSL for a number of years I think it's still a big ask I just don't want to get carried away because we see these big signings into thinking oh yeah London City Champions League qualification this season it's give them a bit of time is what I'm saying I fully agree I fully agree I think you know it's a bit like saying we want to sign x y and z you know coming out and saying you know we we want to challenge we want to be pushing in the top half of the table of course you want to be ambitious um but yeah I'm just I'm not going to get carried away you know there's teams that have been in the WSL for a long long time and know what's needed to stay up and to get mid-table and to be safe and that takes experience and it takes putting yourselves in these situations where you're losing and you come back from a loss you're you know tying with the top team and getting into the final 10 minutes and need to get the game over the line or keep it at a nil-nil draw like all of those kind of experiences as a team need to be lived before you can kind of make any assumptions that you're going to know how to deal with those situations so I'm not going to get carried away I don't think they'll get relegated and I think we might see them in a kind of mid-table potentially below mid-table position you know incredible if they get top six absolutely incredible but it's not a flagpole I'll be putting in the sand this season but I'll be very happily proven wrong 100 % I think finishing somewhere like 7th or 8th would be an absolute win for them that would be an incredible start to life in the WSL um yeah and I think it's obviously super super exciting that we're going to see kind of that that change in the clubs that will be coming up next year from the championship and kind of the jeopardy and the drama that that's going to create as well so yeah I think um this is it they've they've got that they've got that safety net almost of no guaranteed relegation there's still that playoff for this season so this is the season to get in all the players, to get in 11, 12 brand new players who have to figure out how to play against each other because they're good enough to be able to arguably beat whoever comes third.

1:03:19So you kind of, now is the time to make all these changes and gamble, if you like. And if it pays off, amazing. I feel like the worst that could happen is you may become 10th or 11th or you have a playoff with a third place team and stay in the WSL. Do you know what I mean? So that's the kind of, it's the best time to make that kind of, take that kind of risk.

1:03:36Rachel: 100 % and I think yeah let's not get to the end of the season and think that you know 8th 9th 10th or 11th is a disappointment for a club that's starting its life in the WSL and going through so much transition is what I'm saying let's but we could all be proven wrong they could get champions league qualification back on this podcast and think oh Christ if anybody like let our imaginations really wander predictions are so hard you just don't know you don't know what's going to happen from game to game you don't know what's going to happen in teams you don't know if injuries are going to happen if players are going to get signed if something happens in the January window if someone goes far in a Champions League and they kind of knocks their domestic run there's so many ifs and buts and variables that are impossible to guess and know what's going on maybe we should just ask chat GPT and just go with that oh god don't no I'm not doing that I refuse I absolutely refuse I'm too old and it's too scary yes thank you for listening to Upfront make sure to join the Upfront Fantasy League by clicking the link in today's show notes We'll also be sharing some of our predictions later in the week on our socials.

1:04:34Rachel: We will be back next Tuesday with our reaction to the first weekend in the WSL. In the meantime, I'm at Morgie underscore 89, Rach is at Girls on the Ball and we are at Upfront underscore pod. See you next week.

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