Sacking season, the January transfer window opens and the WSL returns!

0:28Welcome to Upfront, I'm Chloe Morgan. in that title race. Will their January signings prove the difference? Speaking of which, we take a look across the table at the most recent transfer market business. Who has been making moves and who's been keeping their powder dry until summer?

0:51We do have some very, very exciting news to start the year we have our winner finally for the signed lucy bronze shirt i never thought we'd see the day that we'd actually allocate the longest competition in the world i genuinely thought it's going to be a 2027 reveal thank you so much to everyone that took part in the survey these things are such a massive massive help for us and allow us to continue bringing more of our shows to you that you love but of course there could only be one lucky winner despite all the entries um a big big congratulations to freya ricky um please do send us a photo of where you're going to be hanging up your lucy bronze iconic shirt i definitely enjoy that very very uh well deserved and thank you so much for taking the time to participate rake it's so nice to see you in a fresh new year like i'm looking out of my window there is frozen grass and frozen cars and windshields and like nearly gone over my ass a couple times on the slippy pavements um but you're in a completely different setting slightly more magical slightly more christmasy and still living in a festive bubble what's what where are you what are you doing i am in norway uh in a cabin overlooking the lake uh and it is very snowy here um there had been some snow before not loads but a lot of like powdery snow because it's so cold it's like minus 10 and that powder is just sticking around and overnight there's just been a big dumping of snow so i am looking at a very very snowy landscape outside uh inside of a lovely warm wooden cabin it just sounds so magical mate are you going outside to like these snow angels like is it like toasted marshmallows by the fire lots of red wine like yes to a lot of that um so we did we did new year new year's eve in stockholm and uh on new year's day there was a big dump of snow in stockholm as well so sophie has already done a snow angel and can you stop calling it a dump of snow like it's a flurry of snow like a a flurry of snow doesn't imply like a massive log of snow overnight the way you say it is so gross sorry uh a uh a heap of snow lovely uh felt um but yes soap is already done with snow angel i'm slightly concerned i might disappear outside if i try that because uh every time i go out to get like logs from the shed i'm like knee deep in snow so i'm definitely finding like peak lesbianism i'm chopping wood with an axe oh my god and yeah building fires yeah um so that's been a big moment in 2026 already love that for you mate um happy christmas sorry i couldn't make it as well i know i got the the invite to to share uh the experience with you in the cabin let me just tell sophie chloe said she's really sorry she couldn't make the trip she said she's sorry she couldn't make the trip chloe sophie's dead safe yet yeah i couldn't i could not see that but i can i know exactly what face she's pulling right now and i and i trust that she's as upset as you're telling me that she is um i spent it at the london palladium watching the pantomime another one with julian clary really like massive very camp affair katherine tate was in it this year what was the theme what was the play sleeping beauty yeah it's very like crude adult humor there's no kids in it like it's very like close to the wire like there was like a yeah it was just it was just really funny really really funny and then my mum and dad came back to mine and like we did like a new year's party watching like uh like jules holland and the rest of it so it was very very cute and then i was in bed by like one like i'm lovely i'm 36 now getting on and i can't can't rave like the rest of them so yes well talking of someone else who had a very very big uh new year a number of lionesses named in the year's honors list last week including of course our queen icon legend Sazie Viggs receiving an honorary damehood and rightly so for the abuse that she suffered at your hands a few weeks ago for her wonderful coloured coat that she wore in one of the international fixtures.

4:42I know I can see the panic in your face, are you going to get cancelled? What's happening? Yeah, congratulations to you all, obviously very, very well deserved for all the accolades and achievements from this year so yeah, always lovely to see our lineups being rewarded. And also the royal family really doing their bit to make sure that England hang on to Sazzy Viggs for as long as physically possible. I rate that. Give it to her. If we have to make her queen, we need to keep hold of her forever. Yes, let's advocate for dethroning Camilla and getting Saz in. Could happen. Weirder things are happening in the world right now.

5:17Talking of which, let's get stuck in to talking about the absolutely massive WSL sackings that have been taking place over the last couple of weeks. It's such a Debbie Downer right before Christmas. It is a Debbie Downer. It gives us a lot of things to dissect, though, because this one, the first one we're going to talk about, really did come out of the blue for me. Because we've been singing the praises of London City Lionesses and what they've achieved in the league and how far they've taken the club in such a short space of time. So starting from the beginning, on the 21st of December, London City Lionesses manager Jocelyn Pacheaux was sacked.

5:50The club's statement seemed to say that Pichelle had taken the side as far as he possibly could. Following careful consideration, the club believes that now is the right time to begin a new cycle and pursue a different strategic direction for the next phase of its development. So London City Lionesses are currently sixth in the league on 15 points, which, to all intents and purposes, I'm looking at that as like a half-year analysis and going, fair play, like, well done. Because if someone had said to me, coming up into when we did it with Spurs, if someone had said, you're going to finish sixth with a number of really decent wins under your belt.

6:25They've got the win against Spurs, all the games that they're expected to win, bar maybe the game against Leicester. The last two. Yeah, bar sort of tailing off a little bit towards the end. Really prolific season, encouraging youngsters in and around the squad, scoring goals. I just feel like it was a real positive vibe. You've got this massive announcement, MasterCard deal. You've got the Together squad. And it just felt like there was a real momentum and shift, like moving towards London City Lionesses. Jocelyn, obviously being at the forefront of this and I, you know, I had the pleasure of speaking to him just before he took the job on two years ago now, a year and a half ago.

6:59And he was saying like his vision for it, how much experience he wants to take from, you know, the work that he's done in previous clubs into this club, like how much passion and investment is going behind it, how he really buys into the value of, you know, what Michelle Kang is trying to do. A year and a half later, he's gone. and everyone's sort of in this state of shock. I mean, what did you feel like? What were your thoughts when you heard that news? Probably the last manager I expected to be sat in league. Agreed. Arguably. Really, really strange one to kind of wrap your head around when you're arguably doing, I think beyond Sunderland, are doing like one of the best kind of promoted teams thus far, coming up into the WSL and doing as well as they were doing.

7:43doing the things that other teams struggle with which is beating the teams in and around them and yes they had kind of difficult times against the top squads but as we've said like brand new team 17 players coming in and you've given a manager what like four months to get the most out of them or bring them as far as he can bring them it makes me think that this was a longer term planned situation that regardless of where they were in the table come Christmas time when players are relatively settled and they were going to bring in this new manager. They've obviously got this long-term vision, which feels quite short-term because I think they want to be vying for European football by 2027.

8:27Like that's very short, that's next year actually. And so that's not a huge amount of time to be doing that. But yeah, it's a very strange one to wrap your head around. And then, you know, we'll move on to the new manager, but just this idea of wanting to implement a newer style is mid-season. It's a very difficult one to wrap your head around. I really like Josterman. I thought he was doing a good job at what he had, bringing a team like that together. I thought the way he managed the blend between older players and younger players, we seem to be getting the best out of both. Some of the players towards the latter stages.

9:06I think when you look at some of the young talent as well, like Poppy Pattinson, Isabel Goodwin, Fred Godfrey as well, They looked like they were enjoying their football. They looked confident on the pitch. They were scoring goals. They're setting up opportunities. It felt like he was nurturing young talent at the same time. But it was that combination. You've got players towards the latter stages of their careers looking rejuvenated. And you've got younger players stepping up massively. And I think they'd managed that blend really well. And it's something that Michelle Kang and the board have said they care about is fostering new talent and that kind of thing.

9:37Which I thought Jocelyn was doing a very good job of. many of us wondered what would happen to your Izzy's and your Freya's once these big names came in and they've just stepped up further and been really really important players for the team so far so you know you could see how frustrated Jocelyn was after the Brighton game I did that Brighton game as floor manager so I had to do the post-match interviews and you could see how frustrated he was from that loss and you know part of me was a bit like give yourselves a break like you're a relatively new team into the league like I can I understood I understood why he was frustrated because arguably London City very well could have won that game or probably should have won that game they were playing well they were creating you know stuff like that you'd be worried if they weren't doing that um so that's yeah that it's just I couldn't wrap my head around all I could think was that it must have been a longer term plan that was always going to happen regardless And I do think that's an odd way to run the club, I guess, or plan.

10:33You know, maybe he was going to be kept on to kind of steady the ship until Christmas and kind of manage that transition from WSL 2 to WSL. And then you bring in the new face. But I guess it gives a new manager, what, four or five months to kind of find his feet and get the team used to what he wants and the style of football he wants to play, sitting in a relatively comfortable sixth to allow them to try new things and maybe make mistakes before kind of really giving it a go next season so very interesting one altogether yeah I think I mean only looking at like I'm just trying to find some kind of rationale behind the decision I think obviously some massive massive successes and I won't be taken away from that at all and I don't mean to like dampen things in any respect but yeah leaky I suppose 21 goals conceded this season it's it's one of the the worst defensive records i suppose in in the league um that leicester city game in particular it just felt disappointing they felt flat it felt like they'd lost the game plan it felt like they'd kind of lost a bit of like the energy around them but also like there's context to that in that they've stepped up from the championship like you're running more your accelerations are more your recovery is going to be bigger like there's so much that goes into that i don't know whether there was maybe like a like a squad like uh the culture around it like maybe there was something like that that's the only thing that I can kind of read into like there was something not working but also I think it is quite telling rates the comments that you were kind of making there about whether this was like always an intended thing to kind of take place because last week obviously on 2nd of January nearly two weeks later his replacement was announced as the former CD Tenerife manager Ada Maestri and the BBC was kind of saying he's viewed as a world-class coach strong Spanish style which London City want to implement um but they were also saying the chief exec martin semons spoke about the appointment saying after a detailed search it was clear that ada's values as a person align with ours and his vision of what we will see on the pitch will help us reach our ambitious goals to me saying a detailed search does kind of indicate that there has been this kind of search being taken place for a number of weeks months like well in advance of like this happening so yeah but i think i mean what are your thoughts on this kind of new person coming in at this because it kind of feels like a bit of a replica of when Laura Kaminsky was sacked with Palace, like did this amazing job bringing the team up, first year that she's in charge, kind of doing what she can with the players that she's got, takes them up into the WSL for the first time.

12:56And then by January, she's out the door. I mean, obviously it was a different kind of set of circumstances because Palace weren't achieving results. But understandably, there was a lot of context to that too. But it kind of feels like he has achieved results. He has achieved this massive, you know, monumental kind of historic moment for the club everyone's really excited about where london city are going trying to build this fan base as well in and amongst the other 30 000 london-based clubs that already exist and are well established and then he's just out the door this new person's come in and this kind of like this focus now and it's having this like barcelona-esque kind of spanish style of possession football of quick-paced football that's going to kind of get them this european glory in the next in the next year i mean do you feel like it feels overly ambitious they've kind of they've not appreciated where they might want this but the rest of the league is so competitive it's so talented there's so much competition it it feels a little bit over the top as I'm gonna eat my words now aren't I yes and no I think they've shown their they've been clear from the get-go how ambitious they want to be even though a lot of us are saying really like that's a lot to expect from a club so quickly even Maestro himself you know he's viewed as a the BBC say a future world class coach that in itself is like an up and coming kind of you know maybe this is the perfect opportunity for him to kind of and flex and do what he wants to do and kind of mold the team a bit more because it's all well and good wants to play a lovely style of Spanish football but like you don't turn a team into that you need the reason it's so good in Spain is because it's from youth levels up like you're they're all kind of switched into this style and this lovely way of football I this idea that you can just bring in a Spanish coach and he's what going to sprinkle a little Spanish magic on a squad and they're suddenly going to be playing like Barcelona that's the bit where I'm a bit like oh it's ambitious I can see what you want to do but we've seen from coaches you know in every league and we've seen the WSL we've seen the Premier League a manager who's really specific on one style is all well and good but if you haven't got the players who can play that style of football what are we doing so you know to invest 17 players and then bring in a coach where you're like now we want you to play your style of football with this squad that we've just built is ambitious um and maybe that's why they've done it in christmas at christmas time at the end of the year where it gives him that kind of four or five months to see whether the squad that has been built can achieve what he wants to do or can can play the way he wants to play and then it gives him a summer window to go okay we need this this this and this if we're going to try and play that kind of football but ambition wise yes it is ambitious but that is london city all over i think i think it's just like the pressure now that's on him i'd be thinking like my predecessor has already achieved so much with the club i'd be thinking that the how highly pressurized the situation is that you know that you're not going to be given a lot of leeway a lot of error to make mistakes a lot of kind of time to be able to embed in your new philosophy and like embedding in a Barcelona Spanish style kind of ticky tacky full throttle creativity possession based style is going to take time because like you're not going to just suddenly embed this style and teams aren't going to read what you're doing and completely dominate and know exactly what like you already have like your Arsenal's or Chelsea's your Manchester United's your City's who are coming across you know Spanish based styles of football all the time they're very well versed in how to counteract and look for the threats and kind of count like it's not a case of like they're just going to embed this philosophy and start winning and running away with the league.

16:21But also even Arsenal are still struggling to play like Arsenal. So why do you think like, do you know what I mean? Like it's a hard thing to do to get a squad of players to play a really particular style of football. And, you know, I've talked about this before, the importance of being able to adapt and having a plan B. And, you know, we're talking before we've even seen the guy and the style of football he wants to play. So it's really hard to know. But that's just maybe why the timing is the way it is. It just gives him a little bit of a buffer to find his feet for the squad to get used to what he wants to do.

16:50You know, Jocelyn has left them in a very nice position and left him in a very nice position to step in in sixth. Although it is tight, to be fair, with the teams in and around. You know, you've got Brighton and Hovon in 14, one point below, and then one point below them is Aston Villa. So, you know, there are teams nipping at their heels. But it's a very interesting one and definitely like an interesting one to kind of watch unfold. You know, never really had this kind of thing happen in the league before. So, yeah. Watch this space. Yeah. Well, as if that wasn't enough, a few days before Jocelyn was sat, Rhianne Skinner was sat by West Ham after just one win in 11 WSL games this season.

17:30They, of course, hit second to bottom in the league on five points. So West Ham's statement said that recent results have not matched expectations and the board of directors believe that a change is necessary to help improve the team's position in the Barclays Women's Super League as soon as possible. It's understood that the news of Skinner's sacking started to emerge while the players and staff were having their Christmas lunch on the 18th of December. This one obviously didn't feel like as much of a shock and surprise. I think we've spoken so many times at length about how West Ham just don't seem to be finding consistent form.

18:02And I was so impressed with them last season. There was a couple of games I went to and I was just like, I really feel like they're on the right wavelength. And I just felt like now I've been quite naive. And then we kind of talked at length about, you know, the recent game they had against Liverpool and just how like the whole team fell apart, how the basics weren't being done, how, you know, you've got the defensive errors that were being made, the kind of really like uncharacteristic, just low level of just everyone not being on the same page. And I just, it was clear that Rhiann Skinner, I think, had done all she possibly could to kind of get the team into a position of you know being a bit more consistent starting to at least kind of make some gains in the the league positioning but it just hasn't been possible I mean yeah Rach what did you think about this one because I think yeah this wasn't as much of a surprise obviously.

18:48No this wasn't as much of a surprise I still think frustrating a little bit um I agree to some extent of your assessment of West Ham I do think that there has been improvements under Skinner and the problem was getting them to do it across 90 minutes and I think far too often they were written off just purely on results and people not actually watching the games that they were playing and the way that they were playing and my frustration with them was it often came in kind of 45 minute periods or 60 minutes and could not be replicated for the full 90 and you know I thought that there was a style that Rian was trying to bring in but that when things got difficult players just reverted back to kind of that silly last minute last ditch head loss kind of style of football and I just wonder if maybe ryan couldn't get that across to the players and get them bought into that and i think when you're in a club like west ham whose ambition this is what annoys me about these fucking statements right like what is your ambition arguably like from what ryan said in her statement it's to stay up how low like is how do you kind of get the team to really buy into what you want to do with all the club is kind of saying is like just stay in the wsl that'll be great you can but equally if you do anything wrong we're just going to sack the manager how do you then have that buy-in and faith and trust to commit to a project and feel that you're allowed to make mistakes knowing that you could have the rug pulled out of monday at any moment you know i think what two seasons rihanna's been there um and as she said in her statement it was very much a rebuild project and and she used to speak a lot about clubs not giving players long enough contracts so you'd have another season where you'd have a big outgoing and a big incoming and you're starting all over again from scratch and you're like, okay, now we should try and build again and build a style of football.

20:31And we see that in a lot of clubs. Maybe you're right. Maybe there was, she'd gone as far as she could with the players. She'd gotten from them what she could because a lot of the issues seem to be players on the pitch, not putting the ball in the back of the net, making silly mistakes in defense. You don't kind of coach people to do that. So maybe there was that disconnect and maybe that refresh was needed. I just, I think what frustrates me is when clubs come out, you know they basically ask the manager to do a job with one hand tied behind their back and then say you're not meeting our expectations like you know your expectations are not matching your investment so what do you expect and that's my biggest frustration is that clubs just seem to think new manager that'll fix everything we'll continue investing not enough with a low budget and expect them to do wonders and you know hopefully West Ham will have a bit of a new manager bounce which would be good and new manager looks exciting but it's just that frustration from clubs where it's that same old copy and paste statement insert manager name and you know we go again with the same kind of lack of investment and lack of ambition in my opinion it does feel like the the clubs are kind of using managers as scapegoats like like you said right it's like if you're not given the budgets there like you're not giving them the opportunities kind of buying players they need to fill gaps that they they've been created to you know like the investment in facilities and everything on the pr teams and everything else go around it to increase audiences like online and also like in person like it it doesn't feel like you're really giving them the optimum kind of conditions in which to kind of grow and develop and build the team and get them out of the mindset of just like this year we've just we've just got to we've just got to stay in it like that's our that's our main thing and i think i've got to give rihanna flowers as well i mean i know i've talked about sort of like the inconsistencies of west ham but first female manager at the club also you know a lot of the articles talking about how instrumental she's been in kind of leading structural changes pushing for more staff like more um the women's medical research maternity support and generally trying to providing kind of a better environment for the players to to play in as well and manage the team and keep them up with a low budget you know 100 so i think like it's it's yeah it's not just like what's happened on the pitch the tactics the buy and the recruitment it's also like the well-being of the players and like how that adapts with time as well um so yeah i just thought as well what the bbc said in that article about the way the shrewd way that she managed those signings and and finding maybe foreign players who haven't met the criteria to play in the league to have the league's criteria points she'd send them out on loan like that's you know shrewd way of managing a small budget but getting in some Shakira Martinez for example who can have a real impact and I just think we kind of forget the sometimes the inner workings and the kind of hoops managers might have to jump through in a club that isn't investing enough which is quite interesting and because you know you look at the changes for example that Emma Hayes made to Chelsea like incredible changes behind the scenes structural huge kind of changes from that side and you've got managers trying to do that in other clubs as well that maybe we don't see with a much lower budget and and are still kind of trying to juggle all of these things that would be arguably should be outside of their remit a little bit so and yeah I think it's nice to give her her flowers for that because those kind of things structural changes are very hard to do so but no you wanted to talk about the new manager who's coming in who was quite exciting yes so So three days later, the 21st of December, Skinner's replacement was announced as Rita Guarino.

23:46It's her first managerial job outside of her native Italy. Guarino was the head coach of Inter Milan between 2021 and 2024 and previously led Juventus to four Serie A titles in a row. Also on top of this, Decoracy player capped 99 times for Italy between 1991 and 2004, including representing her country at the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991. obviously playing career managerial career like she's been there done it got the t-shirt in Italy less obviously experience in the WSL she's got a massive job on her hands in trying to make sure that West Ham stay up because the position they're in at the moment is obviously quite a fragile one they're incredibly vulnerable they do have I think this kind of a small lifeline I suppose in kind of the playoff being this year but again like we've talked about how like that literally turns on a dime on the day like it's not and I think the championship clubs are well within there like they're strong enough to beat any team on it on a good day so there's a lot on her plate to deliver in the next six months I mean Rach are you concerned you look a little bit concerned some concern on your face there mate and it's not just like when will the next dump of snow come no I'm not actually concerned and funnily enough we spoke to Rita in the Euros for a piece we did around Italy making the semifinals because she had been involved in the last Italian team that had made the semifinals of the Euros.

25:09So it was a name we knew, which is quite nice. I said, oh, we have actually spoken to her. No, I'm not hugely concerned. I think back to a team that had a similar fate last season, and that was Aston Villa. They had a terrible first half of the season. They had all sorts of managerial merry-go-rounds. They were looking at relegation square in the face at the beginning of the year. And Natalia Arroyo came in. And, you know, she managed to kind of get them to a place out of that relegation zone. And it actually gave them a chance then to play with a little bit more freedom, try and play with the style of football that she wants to play.

25:42You know, and we saw a really good end, I suppose, for Aston Villa to the end of that season, given how it started. So perhaps we could see similar for West Ham. I don't, while she's coming in to a team that is facing relegation or the relegation spot playoff, whatever you want to call it you know arguably that's not her fault so her job is yes to get them out of that situation but there's an awful lot less pressure on her to do that in my opinion so um you know as we said lots of teams we see a new manager bounce perhaps we'll see that with West Ham and we'll see as well if West Ham are willing to open their pockets in the January transfer window which will be an interesting one to see I think it just depends on how much time she's really got in the January transfer window if you've only just come in like you really don't have a lot of time to kind of do your research there'll be other people in the background though oh yeah 100 % will there be it really does be looking down the back of the couch seeing if there's any is it pennies coppers that kind of thing yeah see what we can put together for the next like five or six months I do think like obviously avoiding a relegation battle is the absolute key priority and then it feels like to me like the summer transfer window is the way you can really make your mark as a manager and then go into the 26 27 season like with a squad that you really want that you have kind of identified like where your needs are like how the team are play and what the culture looks like like where the pain points are for the players like where the pain points are for the staff i think it needs six months like be in the team without the pressure of kind of any performance like performance pressure to kind of assess like what that situation is and then build afresh from from next season so and then it's a rebuild so give her the time i think it's that i really hope that the time is given um to both new managers and welcome to the wsl it's savage here you'll be sat it's a merry-go-round hang on good luck yeah hopefully see you in summer.

27:26Coming up after this, a big game to welcome us back to the WSL.

27:45Ooh, it's a tasty, tasty fixture getting us kicked off in 2026. Arsenal versus Man United. So Arsenal obviously in third place. They're hosting fourth place United this Saturday. Just one point separating the two teams right now, but both are still some way behind league leaders Man City. I love saying that sentence. I love it. I can't help it. I'm not even a Man City fan. You are now. I could be. I mean, that would be City, Arsenal, United and London City. Where do you like considering London City? Yeah. So it's basically just the top five that I now support. Shocker. Yeah, that's odd. It's just, it's weird that it's worked out that way.

28:24Obviously been a very, very busy transfer window for Man United already. They've brought in Sweden right back, Hannah Lundqvist from San Diego Wave and German forward, Leo Schiller from Bayern Munich. At just 23, Lundqvist started every game at the 2025 Euros. And yeah, let's get stuck into how amazing these signings are. I mean, for me, super, super impressed with Leo Schiller. I didn't see it coming. Like these signings, like they blindsided me a little bit, but like this is a forward who has scored like more than 100 goals at Bayern Munich helping to win four Bundesliga titles like 82 international caps and scored an impressive 54 goals like this is absolutely the kind of caliber that Man United need to take themselves forward they've understood that like squad depth is 100 % an issue and I feel like a signing like Leah Schiller is like absolutely freaking key so like she said from the conversations I had with Mark and the club the ambitions of everyone here are very clear I still so much to have there's still so much I want to achieve my career.

29:21I know that Manchester United is a perfect club to join. The style really suits my game. Yeah, I just feel like this is a great signing. I mean, Rach, what were your thoughts? Because I feel like you've been just as impressed as me, mate. I've been impressed with United signings thus far this season. I thought, you know, while there weren't a mop in the summer window, it was good quality, good experience. And those players have proven that, I think, as they've kind of found their feet in the squad. So I hope and expect the same from the players that are coming in now. I think Mark Skinner has been very vocal about needing more depth in the squad and quality and depth in the squad.

29:55So to see United kind of being one of the first to state their claim and say, we've made signings and really good signings at that is exciting. I still think there's areas that they need to look at and I'm sure they will because the January transfer win has only been open a few days. But I think they've really made a mark with those two. Bringing in experience, I think, is key experience in multiple competitions players who are used to playing in multiple competitions, I think is key. Hannah's played in multiple leagues as well, so I imagine she could be quite good at adapting quickly to the WSL.

30:29And I'd still consider her a very young, exciting player. You can see how important she is to the Swedish squad as well. So, yeah, I think they've made some... Leah Schuller as well, like you could wax niracle about her. I think they're very exciting signings for United, and I think to be able to have that quality and depth is going to be key for them, particularly looking at these Champions League knockout games. Let's talk a little bit about the Arsenal sign-ins then. So on Monday, they kicked off their January transfer window by signing their own young Swedish player, 19 Smilla-Homberg from Hammersby, who made her first appearance for the club when she was just 15.

31:03I mean, it's getting a bit silly now. Stop it. It's almost child labour. I'd arguably say it is child labour. I mean huge huge signing for them as well I think that's like another testament to Arsenal and kind of like the direction they want to take in terms of kind of like progressing youth talent and kind of growing their team in a way that kind of suits like the maturity and experience that they've got but also trying to bring through like these young guns like we saw the same thing with like Michelle Adjeman hopefully she'll be back this year which will be lovely Olivia Smith arguably Olivia Smith 100 % and then before completing this transfer window the biggest news out of Arsenal was the rumour that they were looking to bring in Stanners, the Stanners, tattooed Stanners.

31:50Her deal at Bayern Munich expires this summer, so they might be able to sign a pre-contract this January. But those that live under a rock, it is Georgia Stanley that Chloe is referring to. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for that clarification. Yeah, I mean, this is exciting, seeing her back potentially in the WSL. We'll see. you know Arsenal like to flirt and show a little bit of ankle to players in the January transfer window and tell them that they're interested and then they wait until the summer to try and get them for free and someone else has already come in and scooped them so this will be interesting to see if that pans out for them and yeah I think Svilla Holmburg is a very she was one of those players to watch before the Euros she was one of those players that a lot of people were talking about and I think she she showed why very exciting youngster getting forward and obviously defensively but her her ability to get forward is um quite frightening so yeah a great signing for them um i means as well that they can do a bit of rotation as well which would be nice for some players i think in the arsenal squad um but i do want to see them bring in like a big name um you know a caldente type player you know it's great that they're bringing in exciting youngsters and i think that's important for the the longevity of the squad and it shows you know future ambitions but also I think they need to bring in experienced players as well to help maybe turn the tide a little bit.

33:11Again, they've got that quality and depth, but I think they need to add a little bit more to the squad to help maybe shift away from this, what's the word I'm looking for? Deja vu type of style of play where you're like, same old Arsenal kind of struggling at the beginning. A little bit. So great, you know, Homburg's great. If they can get someone with experience in as well, and that'll be I think exciting for for Arsenal fans and I just don't want them to do what they normally do and be like hey we're interested maybe see you in the summer and then she's gone to Chelsea so I know is no no one else is going to Chelsea there should be a cap on people going to Chelsea for like the next year that should be legislation um I'm really really excited about the potential of Georgia Stanway coming in.

33:59I think like the, her hold up play, her creativity. I think like the one thing that I really love about her is that she'll take her chances. Like she is not a player who will hesitate or make the wrong ball kind of like pass out when she should have just taken a shot. The amount of times we've seen a Georgia Stanway screamer just from anywhere on the pitch, just giving it a go. I think that's what Arsenal need. Like, yeah, Arsenal need someone who will just put the ball in the back of the net, who will like look up, see an opportunity and just go, do you know what, fuck it. I think I can do that.

34:25And then do it. like that is where I think Arsenal like we've seen so many times that they kind of dribble the ball into the final third and then like the it's the wrong pass or it's the wrong person or it's the wrong movement or they've gone down the wrong route and I'm just thinking no actually the creativity and the vision that Georgia has in in the midfield kind of taking the ball forward having that attacking mindset and kind of having that like tenacity I think is going to really bolster Arsenal's confidence so yeah that's what I think she's going to add there and I I'm talking about if she's I'm talking about as if it's already like a done deal but like in my mind it is like what an early lovely Christmas present for all of us Arsenal fans and United fans and the rest of the fandom that I also support all of the other teams support many Arsenal fans also feel that the goalkeeper position should be a priority this month Zinsberger's ACL injury in October brought her out for quite a long time obviously and Daphne van Domselaar is back in training but questions do remain around her injury record.

35:23Do we think they should kind of go for a little bit more of an established option or maybe a younger player for the long-term future? Bayern Munich's Gross has been linked to a kind of move with England. Yeah, I mean, she's a super exciting player. I think experience will be key for Arsenal in that position, even if it was a loan. You know, there's a number of good goalkeepers kind of sitting on the bench or being rotated in. And so I think potentially getting a loany goalkeeper with that level of experience would be important. And, you know, you look at the original Arsenal goalkeeper, I don't want to say roster, but group of goalkeepers.

36:06What's a group of goalkeepers called? A gaggle? A murder? No, they're crows. What do you call a group of goalkeepers? A union. A gaggle of goalkeepers. A union. You know, you look at that and think, wow they've got like some real quality and then suddenly two injuries you just think shit no one saw that coming so um yeah so whether it's a loan situation or they actually bring in someone I do think it needs to be someone with that bit of experience for sure I also think there needs to be a bit more consistency um like I know we've kind of seen in like recent years this kind of propensity towards like chopping and changing with the goalkeeper like I'm all for facing out a goalkeeper for a tournament or something like that like a cup or whatever but I think there needs to be consistency in kind of like how you're developing your back line and how you're developing that relationship between everyone on the pitch and like your goalkeeper like starts the play they kind of dictate like what's going to happen in terms of the like attacking like the attacking setup too like the playing out for the back styles like a lot comes from the goalkeeper and I don't think people appreciate like the how foundational that is to get some consistency there for me um yeah but I agree that does obviously need to be looked at because that's looking pretty vulnerable at the moment.

37:12Coming up after this, we share one player on our transfer wish list this month.

37:21Oh, there's more news in the January transfer window. Spurs have signed five players already. Not like Spurs to put their hands in their pockets. I don't know what, I'll concede. Like I've always been a bit of a, I don't know if anyone knows my history with Spurs. I've been an advocate for some of the things they do and haven't done behind the scenes. But really, really impressed with them, actually, in investing. They're building a little Nordic army. Yes, they are. Like a Viking-esque type. Yes. Well, you're currently living in it. Sydney Gorsett from Brown, whose deal was announced back in November.

38:01Other signings are Uli Blackstead, fullback from Hammaby. Hannah Veek, fullback from BK Hacken. Matilda Nilden from... I love that. Matilda Nilden. from Sweden, Winger obviously from BK Hacken and Micah Hamano on loan from Chelsea. Rach, you're looking through that list and you're smiling and I love it, mate. What are you thinking? I think they've just done like such a interesting kind of firstly, putting the hand in their pocket. That was the one thing. I think it's an opportunity for us to see what Martin Ho wants out of a squad because didn't have a lot of time in the summer and, you know, and obviously picking from an area of the world that he has a little bit more experience with.

38:43Granted, he was in Norway, but I'm not surprised that Zynga Goepstead has come. I was hoping she would. And when I saw that Martin was coming to Tottenham, I thought she wouldn't be far behind. So she's a very exciting youngster, as we saw during the Euros. And yeah, a variety of players, some with experience. Yuli Blackstead, of course, have played in WSR before, so welcome back. Matilda Nilden is Amanda Nilden's sister, I believe. So that would be fun for them linking up at Tottenham as well. And look, you know, getting in Micah Hamano, what a signing, what a player. Not been getting a lot of minutes.

39:20Very exciting player. I mean, just the depth now that they have in the squad. And I've been looking, seeing some Tottenham fans on Twitter kind of going, well, how are we going to manage this? And who's going to be dropped? And where are they going to be played? You've got depth. You've got quality and depth now. Like, that's super exciting. They've already got exciting youngsters on the squad doing bits. So this is only going to strengthen them, which I think is quite exciting, particularly given the season that Tottenham are having. Definitely. And I think, I mean, I feel the same way in terms of that Sydney Gorp set for me feels like the kind of like stellar signing out of all that.

39:52Maika Hermano, obviously 100 % all day, but like given what she was doing in the Euros, like I think it was that, where was it? It was the Norway-Iceland game where she scored those two goals. Yeah, yeah. And like, I just thought that was such an amazing get. It was such like a testament to her talent and her passion and like the, like the creativity. I just, I, yeah, I fell in love with her too, that tournament. And I just, yeah, I'm excited that she's going to be in the WSL. Apparently so is Martin Ho. He said she offers genuine invention in possession, explosiveness in duels and a top level ability to shift momentum in those one-v-one moments, intelligence to connect the game, and athleticism to drive forward with purpose.

40:29And they're youngsters as well. And you can see that ambition, you know, that, again, commitment to a longer term project, which is exciting to see as well. So, yeah, could be a very interesting second half of the season for Tottenham. Well, like you said, Rach, I mean, the oldest of those signings is 24 years old. What do you like? What's what's happening here? Ash Neville possibly heading to Leicester, which is I never thought it would happen. I never thought Ash would leave Spurs. I know. She joined years and years ago. I think she joined just after me. Obviously, it was an absolutely massive part in the promotion from the championship into the WSL and sort of like how stable that Spurs have really been.

41:16Like bar one season, there's been a stability that they've really had. Not always consistent, but at least in and around sort of middle, low middle, middle, now progressing into the table. And I feel like she's been a massive part of that transition and the long-term plan for Spurs to really push on and look at Champions League qualification at some point in the future. And I think defensively, she's always been a rock. She's always been there. She's very much a ride-or-die Spurs, pretty much grown up herself with the club. She was young when she started. And now moving on, it just feels like a changing of the guard and Ash Neville leaving Spurs.

41:53So, yeah, we'll see if that sort of takes place. But also, it would be a great get for Leicester to get that experience in. And they've also just announced that they're signing Sarah Mailing on loan from Aston Villa as well. So another very experienced defender. So while, yes, it's sad if Ashley does leave Spurs, a very good get for Leicester. It does feel like, I mean, off the back of the win towards the end of last season, it does feel like Rick Parsmore is kind of like, there's a positivity that he's like building, at least something that's quite stable and quite sure. He's so positive. he's so positive and I think he understands where he's at the club he's at the investment levels the players he's got and he you know he wants players to go out and enjoy the football they're playing relish the big games and I really like that kind of injection of positivity when you know you're going to be going out facing tough opposition and it kind of it almost allows them to play above themselves and they kind of really step up and and so yeah he's super positive and there's some good signings I think.

42:57I think also it's something to pull out of like this whole kind of transfer window for the WSL. So 10 of the total signings made by the teams this window, six of them have been from the Swedish League, all but one of which have been from Hammerby or BK Hacken. Like, incredible. Like it just goes to show like what's happening like in Sweden. Obviously like there are countries where like women's football has been well established there for a number of years. like the the international team has done you know that they're the accolades are there but in terms of like the domestic leagues and kind of the talent they're growing and the pathways they're creating like it's they're growing a lot of sought after players a lot of good players had come from BK Hecken and you know you think it used to be Linköping for a while there was a lot of of Scandian Nordic players from those multiple countries that had come through Linköping and And now BK Hecken seems to be the team producing some unbelievable talent.

43:50And I've been there a couple of times to see them play. And they've got like a really lovely ground. Like the number of fans who came is a real kind of community, local vibe. People come, they're loud. Like it's a really nice ground to go to and team to see play. So they are producing some unbelievable talent. But I doubt they want to keep losing it. That's the only thing. Yeah, 100%. I think there was a period of time when I think Jonas Eideville and exclusively bought players from Sweden. So Sweden or Australia, that seemed to be like the recruitment mantra. Right, to finish off, we've got a really good question in from Greg on the Football Ramble Patreon.

44:28If you had a magic wand that could sign one player for a particular club in the WSL, who would it be and for which club? Do you have anyone in mind, Rachel? Go on. Kira Caruso. Okay, go on. Irish forward over in San Diego. Absolutely love her as a player. One of my favorite Irish players to watch. And I think she'd be amazing. Look, I know Liverpool would be a difficult club to go to at the moment, given where they're sitting. But she could do some serious business there. She'd be unbelievable at Brighton, you know, in place of Adjaman while she's injured, perhaps. But I'd absolutely love to see her and her energy in the WSL.

45:10So that would be my dream player currently. Love that. Okay, mine would be Trinity Rodman. Oh, West Ham.

45:22I just think it's the kind of boost that West Ham needs to kind of get themselves out of this slum. Like, you've got a new manager who's just come in. He's having to navigate the dangers of the WSL and how quickly things go. I've got to need more couches to look behind Chloe if they want to bring her in. But it's a dream signing, okay? True. Like, firepower-wise, it's the excitement that she'd bring, like the energy the fandom that she'd bring to the club like i feel like she'd be like a real boost of like energy i mean like they'd have to like i mean christ i'd have to sell the rest of the squad and it'd just be like a 1v11 like most weeks but like i think that would be an absolute sick signing um or lucy bronze to london city lionesses just from a defensive standpoint i think like she could really shore up that so random but she's already in the wsl so you can't she's she can't be the dream signing what that what no it is a dream sign i mean lucy bronze going to a club like London City Lionesses to help them like bolster defensively and ensure that no other managers are vulnerable to you know very quick sackings I think is a really valid one hopefully that's the end of the manager sackings by the way for the rest of the season oh don't we're going to have to touch wood now well done I'm totally surrounded by wood you literally can't avoid wood yeah okay well could you let us know what your magic wand transfer would be who would it be and for which club yeah I absolutely love that and also like some why's as well I'd love some rationale behind some of these decisions.

46:42It can't just be like. Bluezy Browns, London City. Yeah, like it can't be stupid. Like, yeah. But well, I'd love to know. We'll read a couple of them out on the next episode. Thank you so much for listening to Upfront. We are back next Tuesday for all the latest from the first weekend of WSL action. In the meantime, you can find us on Instagram and XSAS Twitter. I'm at Morgie underscore 89. Rachel's 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. And happy new year.