Upfront Wrapped 2025 & New Year’s Resolutions!

0:28Welcome to Upfront, I'm Chloe Morgan. And I really do mean that, that we are giving away a framed England shirt signed by Lucy Bronze. All you have to do is click the link in the show notes and complete our short survey about how you listen to us and any other stacked shows you might enjoy. Once you've done that, there's literally nothing else to do. You're in the prize draw. Entries will be closing at the end of December, so you don't have long. So do it right now. Right now. Click the link in the show notes and get involved and put us all out of our misery so we can stop saying this every single week.

0:58So as I explained in the intro, we're going to do our very own Upfront Rap. We'll select our top artist and our most watched moment and our biggest hit. And then we'll explain what that all means as we go along. All right, so let's go straight into top artist. So this is your favourite player. She doesn't have to be the best player, just a player who has had an unforgettable story this season or entertained you week in, week out. So Rach, who are you going for? I found this really hard because I feel like as soon as last season ended, I just immediately put it out of my head. And then as soon as the Euros ended, I just put it out of my head.

1:35So I might be colored a little bit from this season. It reminds me a bit of, you know, when you study for an exam and then you have all of the information the exams over and then it's gone immediately. Never remember it ever again. Who are they? I feel like I'm a bit like that. But I think what I was trying to do was trying to pick someone who, yes, it might be clouded by this season, but, you know, did something in the summer, maybe didn't win the Euros I didn't want to immediately go for an England player but did something in the summer You're not a glory answer are you mate? No I'm Irish and also you know maybe had some good moments in the second half of last season so it might be a bit rogue but I've gone with Vivian Miedema Nice Obviously slightly coloured by how well she has started the 2025-2026 season that relationship with Bunny Shaw but also in the summer hit her 100th goal for the Netherlands and you know she did in the last window score four for the Netherlands and also I will always remember that second half of Manchester City Chelsea where she didn't start the first half she started the second half and it was just such a great example of what an intelligent football player is because she came off the bench and knew exactly what to do and how to pick apart Chelsea and she was integral in that win they did go on to lose the tie in the end but when I just think back to some of those little moments and highlights it's about players who have entertained me and I just I she is one of my favorite players to watch and what I'm really enjoying is seeing how happy she is on the pitch I think that's been a big part of how she's kind of finding her form again because there was that silly talk from some fans that said she was past it and she wasn't going to reach how dare honest to god wasn't going to reach that form again after her ACL injury blah blah blah and it's just wonderful to see her playing with a smile on her face having those you know building those relationships at Manchester City she's playing in the 10 she loves assisting loves setting up um goals and she's doing that with Bunny Shaw and it's just like they're being so prolific at the moment so that's who I picked and I found that a really difficult one but I think she's a pretty good choice I think it's really nice to see a player find form again after such a catastrophic thing to happen and I think especially when it's like later on in your career as well you're not too sure how they're going to recover are they going to get back to being one of the world's greatest players.

3:50And I think she's done that. And recovery isn't linear for everyone. 100%. And she's done that more than. And I just think you're completely right. You know, there was an awful kind of like, there was footage in a video of how upset she looked when she was at Arsenal and how kind of downtrodden that it looked like she felt she wasn't exercising herself and being able to express herself in the way that I think she wanted to. And she's such a tactically astute player. And I feel with her time now, especially under Andre Jaglitz, I think he's been absolutely phenomenal and allowing her to kind of express herself again.

4:19I think like Viv's a bit like a, almost like a football artist in a way. There's like a precision to her that comes from like years and years of training and understanding and study in the game and understanding movement. And I think for her, when she delivers some of these passes that we now saw, like the game last week against Aston Villa, there was a beautiful ball that she played in that kind of led to the Ficino goal that you mentioned. There was that one she did for Bonnie Shaw. And it was like, it reminded me of that one she did for Blackestanias against Manchester United when she played for Arsenal.

4:45but it was that and it didn't end in a goal and it was such a beautiful pass it deserved a goal but it was just like those flashes of just like wow from a player that that genius from a player and i like in the louvre yeah and i like what you said about andre jegler he's he spoke about her i asked him about her in a previous press conference and he said she's an amazing player she's so clever at finding spaces she can play in both those positions as a nine and a ten but she's very good at finding the right positions on on the field she's also tactically very good we talk a lot of football with her my job is to put her in positions and situations where she can express herself and i think we've succeeded with that quite a lot so i like a manager who can recognize that there's really tactically gifted players who can contribute and it's not kind of you're not it's a slight on you to say actually yeah i'd love your opinion on this situation and you're getting the best out of both worlds 100 and i think like you've chosen someone who i don't know she hasn't been kind of like at the forefront of all the headlines this year and not even so much last year at all but i feel like there's that understatedness to what she does and the impact that she brings to the team and there's such a class to her so yeah i really love that mate it wasn't the obvious choice i don't think for a lot of people but it was definitely a very valid one yeah nice i'd like to hear yours because i think it's a good one as well oh i mean i've gone for an up-and-coming youngster someone who has completely torn apart the rulebook of like what youngsters should do at this age and this early in their career um you can tell by the excitement in my voice like how much this player means to me because I've got to give it to Michelle Adjaman I think she's been and it probably is a bit of a more of an obvious choice I'd say definitely but you look at like her progress especially over the last couple of years and the loan spell that she had at Brighton and how she's come on and developed and you know really kind of like taking the ball by the horns and the opportunity that she's got and I think she's got this lovely grounding in her family they all care about her and I think obviously you know in recent you know the last couple of months has been a really difficult for one one for her with it with the ACL that's come such an unfortunate time as she's kind of elevating and kind of progressing in her career but you kind of look at what she's achieved already and the weight of expectation and the weight of demand and pressure that has been on her from such a young age so not only obviously with Brighton but she made her senior England debut first international goal as well making that debut in April 2025 and scored just 41 seconds into that match against Belgium which is like the most incredible way to announce yourself on the world stage it was just unbelievable then she was uh got the Golden Girl Award winner honoured with the 2025 Golden Girl Award by Tuto Sports the best female player under 21 obviously she had the contract with Arsenal Arsenal know that she's going to go on and do great things so I think she will return to Arsenal at some point once she's recovered and gone through all of that as well and maybe build up some more experience with Brighton as well and then we also have to talk about what she achieved at the Euros I mean the weight of expectation on the team not just her I don't think there was I don't think there was on her and that's the thing I think it's like she no one was expecting that a youngster fresh into their WSL life would get minutes would get minutes for the start.

7:46She was expected to essentially be there to pick up experience, you know, learn from the more experienced players, be in this really major tournament atmosphere and kind of just learn from that. And, you know, know the graft and and try and earn a place of, you know, in the training, the training grounds and things like that. But her coming on in the moments that she did at crucial points in the games where it literally was a do or die moment and salvaging England's chances in the Euros. Had it not been for what she did in those games, we wouldn't be talking about the history that's been made for England, for English UK women's football.

8:24It's been absolutely phenomenal. And I think I just think that's such a huge thing to have done. and at her age she's so humble she's so grounded and that couldn't have been better exemplified than after her first goal against Belgium when she went straight in the back of the net and picked up the ball and brought it up she didn't even take time to celebrate that's incredible and I think again that's a lot to do with her family around her I think is really important but I also think having a manager like a Serena Viegman who will say I don't bring players to a major tournament unless I believe they can contribute even if they might not she trusts that they will and then to turn around to her in those key moments and go go on you're the one i'm calling upon to help us and rather than that be like a really kind of high intensity high stress moment for her it's almost like she takes that and goes well if you believe in me then i can absolutely go like i believe in me bag yeah a hundred percent so love that i love that i think maybe different ends of the scales right where you've got a player who's been and is world-class in, you know, I'm not going to say the latter stages of her career.

9:30She's only 28 because she's not 29. You know, she's mature. She's come back from an injury and she's back at the top again. And then you've got this youngster who's going to be a world-class player. So I just, I love that kind of two ends of the spectrum of our choices. 100 % in terms of kind of the experience, the youth, but both kind of in the same space and kind of creating these magical moments that we've seen over the past year. So yeah, I think they're really nice choices, mate. Well done, us. yeah it's almost like we know what we're talking about and that's so it's funny because you like wrote yourself off in last week's episode so yeah true story all right let's go to the most watched moment this is just a specific moment you watched most this year it could be a goal a tackle a moment of madness anything that you replayed the most on social media what took over space in your head rent-free essentially um rach what are you going for

10:20copying me somewhat a little bit there's a couple of options where that could have happened i know obviously she scored in the sweden game and that was huge that was the second goal that was massive the italy one the timing of it the fact that we felt like serena brought her on too late that it looked like it was gone that it literally had to be the final final dying seconds and i love those commentary moments that get replayed and replayed and replayed and that was one of them i want you to play it

11:07That just gives me goosebumps even now. Honestly, I had to close my eyes. I will watch that back. I can feel myself in the stadium. And that was when I got the shot of the bench. You know, when everyone, the families, the bench explodes. And maybe Finn will drop that photo in now if you're watching on YouTube. But that, I know obviously the final and I know the Sweden game. And there's so many moments that you can pick. But that one, I was fully like they've missed their chance. I fully, and the thing is, that didn't even guarantee them to go through. It just meant they were playing extra time.

11:42And then, you know, so I don't know. It was just, yeah, that one for me. I've watched, I don't know how many times I've watched that. I think it was just how much it meant. We had gone through so much of a roller coaster in that tournament, you know, losing the first game. There was such a kind of, there was a creeping negative narrative that was happening with the Lionesses because they... People being negative about the Lionesses. Because they weren't always firing all cylinders. You know, we were scraping through, you know, these wins, these knockout stages. And it kind of just felt like there was a belief then because we kept doing it so continuously, so consistently almost, it's like just pulling it out the bag at the last minute and adjuman was such a massive part of that but you know we just think like this is it we're done you know our luck's run dry like yeah you know we're exhausted we've come we've come so far and we've had a good run considering how squeaky bum time it's been for the entire thing and then they can't do it again oh pump like uh our lord savior michelle adjuman mbe worthy delivering the goods and you just think like i think i lost like I stopped breathing I think I was just like we haven't we haven't we we fucking haven't we've not done this again what do you remember I was like fully convinced I had an ulcer the stress was crazy well the good thing is it's not like we have another stressful option coming up do we Chloe what's your pick I have got to go with Chloe Kelly's euro winning penalty um another goosebump moment for me I've got I've got to listen to it again

13:17it's Kelly hammers it home

13:23oh my god she's knocking stuff off the bloody walls she's so excited I love that it's Robin Cowan and I love RBF in the background woo

13:36you always where were you because it's one of those moments you always know exactly where you were fucking behind the goal shooting it wasn't I literally like you know what was around you you know what the light was like you know like what you were doing how you celebrated like everything around that it's like the birth of your first child like it's like it's that energy i felt weirdly isolated in that moment because what i was around i was i was not around any photographers that i knew right like you're out you're trying to find your spot like you're going through with sophie who was in the press box next to susie with someone she knows in a press box of people she knows and i'm like same thing happened in 2022 like i don't have anybody around me that i know and you're just going no but it's a mental kind of like up and down where we were trying to message each i'm trying to bring you into this bitch my phone's blowing up from everybody at home watching it just being like what the fuck who's this we're messing each other going it's not possible they're gonna do it again and like you just stood there going like insane so she's a ball i'd put on a party at a really lovely townhouse in central london and obviously it was you know it was a brand partnership thing and we have done quite a few watch-alongs this year and this was the only one that we had to get security involved in and the reason for that was because i jumped on the sofas effectively ruining whether we were going to get a deposit back and i just remember thinking it's worth it like everything about like my mom and dad were there my partner were there like some of my like biggest like football fan friends were there and like there was just like we i i just the band exploded it was like sweet caroline everywhere it was like how have we done this and it wasn't it felt like there was a different energy to it than the 2022 because that was like we had gone so long without winning and this time we'd gone into it having felt a win in recent years and like but it was history again that we'd done it back to back that against all odds against all of those situations that we thought we were out it was one of those emma hayes classics it's never fucking done it was that vibe and it was just chloe kelly i can't even imagine how it must have felt yet waiting for that whistle to blow and knowing exactly what would happen on different outcomes because it kind of felt like if she hadn't it was spain's like that that's that's it you change the course of history but it's all how like in one kick the amount of things that have to happen for it to be her yeah do you know what i mean like what are the chances of all of those because she's always on the fifth penalty yeah what are the chances of all of those variables happening for it to be chloe again agreed and the run-up it's i mean it's the most the roll back of the ball three times like the amount of people afterwards who were doing the iconic kind of Chloe Kelly stunted run up.

16:25The Ghanaian players were doing it during that friendly afterwards. They were getting their photo taken with Chloe and one of the girls was doing it. It was so cute. Absolutely massive. And obviously the lead on from that, you know, you've got the Lionesses parade, you know, the celebration of fans go down, you know, towards Buckingham Palace. It was just, it was just beautiful. It was absolutely beautiful and all creative from that moment. Good choice. Some absolutely big ones there, like goose bump inducing moments there. All right, number three, biggest hit. this is your new favourite arrival in the WSL whether it be a player or a manager well last year I picked Brighton boss Dario Videsic this year I'm picking Manchester City boss Andrej Eglert I think there was a little bit of unsureness when he was appointed just purely because he was coming off the back of I think he was appointed before Denmark even started but Denmark did terribly at the Euros I don't think they picked up a point.

17:23People were kind of a bit like, oh God, is this the right person? Who goes here, newcomer? Quite. But then also it makes you go actually international or managing a national team versus managing a domestic league team is very, very different. And he's been a breath of fresh air. I've really enjoyed how he's engaged with the media. He's really open. He's very giving in his answers. You know, he's not afraid to chat tactically about things. He doesn't kind of keep that really close to his chest. he's obviously been you know given that Man City team a new lease of life and you know there's a real not that they weren't together before but there is a real togetherness and I think he's clearly a big part of that and I really enjoy how we're getting those insights into his half-time talks or his full-time talks I just think that's so interesting just he's quite transparent and I think that's quite refreshing and you know I touched on with Vivian Miedema that he's a manager who kind of welcomes that.

18:18And we've seen other managers that maybe have a bit more of an ego previously who maybe don't appreciate a player who's maybe got opinions on tactics or wants to give their insight on things. And I really rate his ability to kind of welcome that. I just think it's been a really great addition. I really like that, mate. I really, really like that. And I think it feels like he's getting the best out of the players. It feels like they're getting back to kind of like this lovely, yes, the winning mentality, that always helps in terms of having that positivity around the changing room but also just that the players are being allowed the kind of there's a trust that he has in the players to go out to express themselves 100 % Kirsten Kasper I said that in our interview with her and the other thing he looks like Christoph Waltz the actor so Finn maybe you'd put that picture up of Christoph Waltz next to Andre Eglertz for those watching on YouTube but when I first saw him pitch side at the Denmark-Sweden game I remember messaging Sophie being like oh my god he looks so like him so there's another little tidbit for you that's really lovely what a lovely lovely thing to end on there mine has got to be Olivia Smith I I can't say how much I think I've gone for like a very young player skew in these kind of choices but I think you look at the impact that she was starting to make at Liverpool obviously had this huge huge kind of the pressure around her again I think it's these youngsters in pressurised situations and how much confidence they have to just ride it out and just like not let it phase them at all obviously she completed that historic move from Liverpool to Arsenal in July 2025 world record one million pounds on her head everyone's thinking this kid is good at Liverpool but does she have what it takes to really compete with like the big dogs on the Arsenal uh over the Arsenal bench and then she picks up PFA uh Women's Young Player of the Year um for the 24-25 season loads of goals of the month that she's been in contention for and won multiple Player of the Month awards at Liverpool prior to obviously her time at Arsenal and I think every time she gets on the ball I just feel like there's this and it's carried through obviously to this season as well there's been this consistency in like how direct she is how much she's goal how goal hungry she is i mean the amount of times that we've seen situations where she just she just cuts in and fires these screamers and it feels like the players aren't really learning from this because she keeps doing these that very template goals over and over again i was going to say she's not scored many yet for arsenal but the ones she has scored bloody hell 100 and i just there's a there's a there's a passion that i see to her like she's enjoying life with arsenal and i think yeah she's been like one of those players that i really like look out for when i when i go and see see the games in the box obviously um and then i did have a little i had a slight other one but it was it seemed a little bit unfair because obviously alissa thompson has only been in the wsl for a matter of seconds what an impact but my god yeah if this was like a player of the a half player of the season it would be her all day because i just find her the most fascinating player to watch in terms of like the directness the like the impact that she's made like how she is just willing to shoot from any opportunity it doesn't matter where it is doesn't matter how far it is she drives with the ball i i just i love her style of play i absolutely love it i could watch her all day yeah so love it yeah cheeky one for alissa thompson there but olivia smith all day my absolute wonder kid um coming up after this it's time to find out what your football new year's resolutions are for 2025

21:44so we've done the looking back we've done the reflection now it's time to decide on some new year's resolutions this is basically anything we want to change in football in 2026 we've got a couple of our own and some of your picks too where have you where have you got to mate i think i'm gonna go for uh half-time manager interviews or just get rid of them yeah yeah in-game manager interviews get rid I think I'm right in saying when the last game of the season which I think was Tottenham vs Manchester Manchester United of course at Leesports Village they did a half time interview with Martin Ho I don't remember seeing any post match interviews with the managers on TV they did one with Olivia Holt who was player of the match but to not have post match interview I want that more so than half time and I just think it's a distraction to the managers they should not be worrying about anything to do with talking to the media until the game is over in my opinion so for me get rid don't like it yeah nice i really really really really really that mate yeah um do you think there's any place for it at all like do you think there's like we'll ever see a situation that even like just a couple of minutes with like a i don't know i don't really know what you fit in that that little window there but no one's going to give you some real detailed insight about how they're going to this is what we're going to do in the second half like we've already talked about it we're going to change the formation she's going to come on we're going to target this player like I mean I just it's nah don't like it no not a fan alright no a lot of people haven't and the players that we've spoken to actually aren't fans either so maybe we'll see it banned in 2026 you might actually get your wish come true I doubt it I doubt it what have you got you've probably got loads no I've got three main ones of course trying to get to more in real life games for me I thought that was Ireland games I was like oh yay but oh no absolutely not I wouldn't do that and not in a hospitality box um yeah i just feel like i need to stay humble uh i need to have a finger on the pulse of what's happening at these games you know engage with the fans engage with the the poncho wearers and i can't do that from the lofty heights of the box and i get too drunk with the champagne and the free food so i think i need to like just strip that back a bit you know get down to real life again um i mean yeah it's not helpful obviously that i'm starting starting the the year with um the hospitality box in the the director's box the one that you got invited to that i didn't yeah that one uh thanks mags and um yeah but apart from that like as of february essentially my new year's resolution is to is to slum it you're not getting any positive feedback from me for that move on to the next one nothing all right okay let's get on to the listener resolutions so we had a really good one from uh nessie they said no more midday kickoffs across the board preach really or the 5 to bloody 12.

24:29What? No, I like the old 11.55. That was a real curveball they threw in this year. I tell you what, when you're like floor manager or anything like that and you've got like a whole set thing that you need to do a certain minutes before kickoff and then it's just five minutes early, it really throws you off. Can you explain why that was? Why we went from 12 to 11.55? It's meant to be a buffer between when they then end and the next thing starts and it gives them a bit of a buffer when there's, I think maybe when there's also Premier League games on. I'm not 100 % sure. I don't like it, but I think that's what it is.

24:57yeah feels unnecessary it still feels like the morning do you know yeah yeah for sure uh no i would agree with that but like in the same breath i do quite like a kind of i don't know get to the pub early have a cheeky pint at 11 gives you an excuse like when you get to the airport three it's only appropriate to have a pint at the airport at that time um yeah but it does make it quite difficult for fans to get up and get out and get to get to the games at such an early start so absolutely yeah no i hate i hear you nessie and and i'm i'm not not on board with it um who else Hannah Arsenal to pass the ball faster oh that's quite as a personal one simple and accurate I back that would you I mean there's a slowness to it and it's frustrating people and it's predictable so I think Hannah's right a little bit more pace a little bit more if it was like okay well Arsenal to score more to be more clinical do you know how they score more pass the ball faster alright you make a good point I've got one in from Jane who said no more tactical timeouts.

25:57Listen, Jane, I had someone give me one of the best suggestions for how we get rid of the goalkeeper tactical timeouts. Right. Is to not, when a goalkeeper goes down, is to not allow the players to come and gather by the pitch and chat to the manager. They have to stay on the pitch. And that's the best suggestion I've heard to kind of deal with these goalkeeper tactical timeouts. You know, Bergeritis, when a goalkeeper goes down. Bergeritis. Well, you know, AKB was one of the legends of it. but you know and suddenly all the teams it's like completely out of nowhere suddenly the goalkeeper's like oh and everyone comes and has a little tactical chat and it breaks up the momentum so I think that's one of the best suggestions I've had to try and deal with that I don't mind a bit of dark hearts you know I don't mind it at all and I think if that's the way forward I think what's going to happen is that we're going to see technology progress you know Apple have got this new deal with the WSL all of a sudden you're wearing in-ear pieces and the managers will be able to tell you everyone's been doing that for years yeah exactly they'll just be able to tell you what's going on you won't even need the manager there would just be like a call out an internal broadcast in your own head Jane I love it I think you're absolutely right Jane I as a goalkeeper quite loved a tactical timeout if not just to sit down for a couple of minutes I was going to say it wasn't tactical with you it was just a rest it was just a rest I mean when I first started we were doing about 3k a match and by the end of my career we were doing about 8 or 9 so actually Jane I don't think you've taken into consideration when you say we did you mean the outfield players?

27:15I would do I was as a goalkeeper if you were very if you were aggressive in your stance if you're on the front foot all the time, if you were being that kind of fifth person, essentially, in the back line, and you were doing doggies. Sure you were. You wouldn't understand. 80 underscore rocket, full-time professional referees. I back that. I think it might be difficult to get in in a year, but I do think it's needed. It's definitely one of the next steps that should be prioritised. Really like that, yeah. No, I think that's probably one that we're actually fully agreed on, to be fair. Wow, no arguments.

27:45We do like each other. I've got one in from Robert, who said, and I really back this a different winner this year not Chelsea different shade of blue on the old WSL trophy could be could be I do you know I'm not I'm not a not Chelsea fan I don't want anyone to think that I'm a Chelsea hater variety is the spice of life but I 100 % think the competition just needs a bit of a shake up a bit of a different type of you know competitiveness towards the end I'd love to see Chelsea not even in the race not even close to the race okay come on though that's asking a lot too far that is yeah that's too much I've gone too far but it is only half done and we know what Chelsea are like they're going to be absolutely gunning we know how much the title means to them it's obviously a priority one and I I don't know yeah I just feel a little bit nervous as a non-City fan I feel quite nervous so yeah imagine the poor City fans be stressed sending thoughts to you all actually this Christmas break I appreciate you can raise a glass but not too high love and light yeah we are back for one final episode on Tuesday and it's a very special interview with someone we've been wanting to get on the pod for absolutely ages, isn't it, Rach?

28:51It is. It's going to be bellissima. Don't go dropping hints about it. I'm trying to think if there's any topic jokes I can make. Just stop talking. It's going to be a cracker. Don't miss it. In the meantime, you can find us on Instagram and x slash Twitter. I'm at morgy underscore 89. Rach is at girls in the ball and we are at upfront underscore pod. You can also find us on YouTube at upfront pod. See you next week.

29:30Upfront is a stack production and part of the ACAST creator network.