Women’s Football

[danjosaint]

As most say the women's game at the moment is what it is, a lack of technical quality and technique and should be taken in its own right not pitched against the men. What I will say is my daughter plays a high level for her age and there are some seriously talented and technically brilliant girls out there, yes they'll never complete with highest level boys/men but in 5-10yrs the women's game in itself will be of a much better standard, also need the refs to up there game 

[SW11_Saint]

7 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Serious question - are women's penalty shootout always so crap because they have less power to strike a dead ball? Or was that just particularly terrible? 

That was just particularly terrible I think. Awful selection of takers by Wiegman (Kelly & Bronze should have been in the first three takers). In fact Wiegman got it wrong pretty much all night, Sweden were miles better. She owes Chloe Kelly a very large G&T…

Wife & daughter are there for the semi-final - hope we put on a better show! 

[Turkish]

6 hours ago, danjosaint said:

As most say the women's game at the moment is what it is, a lack of technical quality and technique and should be taken in its own right not pitched against the men. What I will say is my daughter plays a high level for her age and there are some seriously talented and technically brilliant girls out there, yes they'll never complete with highest level boys/men but in 5-10yrs the women's game in itself will be of a much better standard, also need the refs to up there game 

I would agree there are some very good girl players out there. I refereed a couple of girls tournaments in June U13s and U10s and there were three or four seriously good players there in both age groups. it was also a much nicer experience as a ref with girls much more polite than the boys and parents not so aggressive but that’s another story. 

A couple of girls still play in U12s boys football for other teams in my sons league both of them are very good technically and have recently been picked up by academies in the area. Finally the futsal club my son is in the U11s-U12s train together and there are a couple of girls at that who technically are very good and up there with best boys. 
 

Older than that it gets hard for them to compete with the boys at U12s and below they physically as strong but once puberty hits it’s a game changer. We sometimes have a couple of Leeds U14s girls train with us and despite being two years older are not even at the level of some of the better grassroots players now. 

but there are so much more girls football now than even 5 years ago, our club has a team at all age groups now playing in leagues plus a women’s adult team and you see more and more girls wanting to play which is great for them. It’s helped by the fact a former England international women player who was part of the euros team played for the club when she was younger and the pavilion is named after her. 
 

it’s definitely going to improve but the women’s game will always struggle to even be at the level of decent standard youth football, simple biology tells you that, the women might good technically  but the boys and men do everything and more that they do but with much more pace and power and as anyone will know operating at a higher speed is going to naturally make everything else better too, first touch, reactions etc so let’s just enjoy it for what it is and stop all the comparisons. Last night’s penalty shootout was shocking so no idea why people are getting upset people are saying that to make out it wasn’t is just embarrassing, lying and kind of proves that those are getting angry are more interested in being seen to be saying the right things. 

[skintsaint]

This twatter account disagrees.

[Sunglasses Ron]

I've always felt that the women's game is trying too hard to simply copy the men's one, rather than putting on a different product.

Smaller pitches, smaller goals, different kits, 80 minute games, maybe even outlawing heading, would, I think, give it some really good USPs.

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, skintsaint said:

This twatter account disagrees.

It was funny when she got the ball in the centre circle in the second half and the commentator said “this is where the magic happens”

she then booted the ball about 20 yards over and wide of the winger and went out for a throw in 

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

15 minutes ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

I've always felt that the women's game is trying too hard to simply copy the men's one, rather than putting on a different product.

Smaller pitches, smaller goals, different kits, 80 minute games, maybe even outlawing heading, would, I think, give it some really good USPs.

If there were smaller goals, I fear last night's penalty shootout would still be waiting for its first goal.

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

17 minutes ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

I've always felt that the women's game is trying too hard to simply copy the men's one, rather than putting on a different product.

Smaller pitches, smaller goals, different kits, 80 minute games, maybe even outlawing heading, would, I think, give it some really good USPs.

There was a small sided tournament earlier in the summer that some English teams played in that was really fun to watch because it was more like this. It was clearly a gimmick but interesting to see how a 7-a-side tournament of professionals went, and it did seem to suit the women's game more.

I've always thought it is interesting that there isn't such a range of physical differences in the women's game between positions, the centre backs for example aren't particularly tall like in the men's game, you could quite easily put Leah Williamson in most positions on the pitch and she'd look comfortable because she's athletic enough to do most roles and physical enough, but to compare to England Men's you wouldn't want John Stones in many positions other than where he has played.

England have a real shot at the final now, Italy don't look any better than Sweden or the Netherlands and we've now (admittedly a bit scrappily last night) got past both.

[East Kent Saint]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

It was funny when she got the ball in the centre circle in the second half and the commentator said “this is where the magic happens”

she then booted the ball about 20 yards over and wide of the winger and went out for a throw in 

Well known commentators kiss of death ! Motson excelled at this " The last thing England need now is to concede from this corner " is a classic 😄

[steve green]

20 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Well known commentators kiss of death ! Motson excelled at this " The last thing England need now is to concede from this corner " is a classic 😄

 

Who was the old Solent commentator with a masters degree in stating the bloody obvious.

 

Used to drive my Saints anxiety to mega levels with a throwaway "the last thing Saints want to do now" in the 87th min.

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, steve green said:

 

Who was the old Solent commentator with a masters degree in stating the bloody obvious.

 

Used to drive my Saints anxiety to mega levels with a throwaway "the last thing Saints want to do now" in the 87th min.

Dave Merrington bless him. "What saints dont want to do now is concede a goal" 

[Saint_clark]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

It was funny when she got the ball in the centre circle in the second half and the commentator said “this is where the magic happens”

she then booted the ball about 20 yards over and wide of the winger and went out for a throw in 

That says more about the idiocy of Robyn Cowan than anything about Lauren James. Utterly abysmal commentator. 

[rallyboy]

Yes there were some terrible penalties and some Saintly defending early on, but they came back from two down and on the brink in the shootout to get through.

If the men had shown the same resilience and fight over the years, 1966 wouldn't be an oasis of joy in a huge desert of underachievement, golden generations and failure.

Bring on Italy, see if the women can do better than the men did against them when the title was on a plate.

I suspect they will.

[Turkish]

28 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

That says more about the idiocy of Robyn Cowan than anything about Lauren James. Utterly abysmal commentator. 

Shit commentery and a shit pass. TBF Lauren James played pretty well apart from that. 

[Marsdinho]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Shit commentery and a shit pass. TBF Lauren James played pretty well apart from that. 

She doesnt seem the sharpest tool in the box, hope that doest hold her back a la Jack Wilshere, Jack Grealish, Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley etc.

Edited 20 hours ago by Marsdinho

[SWLondon Saint]

1 hour ago, Marsdinho said:

She doesnt seem the sharpest tool in the box, hope that doest hold her back a la Jack Wilshere, Jack Grealish, Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley etc.

She's clearly technically a level above most of the women, probably from playing with her brother and boys for so long when younger, but she does also seem to drift worryingly at a lot of points and seems a bit casual in possession. But then she also does some top drawer stuff, I remember one volleyed goal that any player male or female would've been proud of.

[SWLondon Saint]

2 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

That says more about the idiocy of Robyn Cowan than anything about Lauren James. Utterly abysmal commentator. 

Robyn Cowan to me is just average as a commentator, fairly inoffensive. But whoever was co-commentator last night was complete rubbish, half the time they were just describing what had just happened and the other half just spouting gushing compliments about the England players, couldn't offer even restrained criticism.

[Lord Duckhunter]

I’ve just watched the penalty shootout 😂😂😂😂

[Sheaf Saint]

6 hours ago, Turkish said:

It’s definitely going to improve but the women’s game will always struggle to even be at the level of decent standard youth football, simple biology tells you that, the women might good technically  but the boys and men do everything and more that they do but with much more pace and power and as anyone will know operating at a higher speed is going to naturally make everything else better too, first touch, reactions etc so let’s just enjoy it for what it is and stop all the comparisons. 

There's a certain chap from the Channel Islands who would strongly disagree with that statement.

This is one of the things that I actually like most about women's football. The PL is now such that pace and power trumps everything, as we found out in a big way last season. Being technically good on the ball just isn't enough anymore, and players in the mould of MLT (and even David Beckham) would never make it in this day and age because they just wouldn't get the time on the ball they need to play their natural game. And that's a shame IMO, because it detracts from 'the beautiful game'.

In women's football though, that's not such an issue because they simply can't replicate that pace and power. So there's more time and space for technically gifted players to shine. The standard of technical ability in the women's game has improved massively over the last 5-10 years, and with so many more girls coming through at grass roots level now and much greater investment in youth level coaching, it's only going to get better (as you yourself acknowledge above). 

So yeah, let's enjoy it for what it is and stop comparing.

[SW11_Saint]

7 hours ago, skintsaint said:

This twatter account disagrees.

She was bloody awful last night (even before the godawful penalty). She has skill, no doubt, but thinks she’s a lot better than she is… 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

7 hours ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

I've always felt that the women's game is trying too hard to simply copy the men's one, rather than putting on a different product.

Smaller pitches, smaller goals, different kits, 80 minute games, maybe even outlawing heading, would, I think, give it some really good USPs.

I've found that the difference in physicality already gives it USP's. The tactics are adjusting for the differences. So, you get different passing options, positioning. Lots of intelligence being used to try and exploit the spaces, where there isn't the raw power to recover.

The first USP's I remember noticing were that play had continued through a half dozen crunching tackles with no feigning injury, no endless throw ins and no lip taken by the ref. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

5 hours ago, Turkish said:

Shit commentery and a shit pass. TBF Lauren James played pretty well apart from that. 

Yup, and a penalty that she shouldn't need the manager giving her stick for.

James is probably the squad's best player. Even with moments she's seemed a bit within herself, she's then linked up well with others. She's capable of doing the job anywhere in the final third. And doing it really well.

But it's finding that balance where Toone and Mead are similar that gives her a more definite role. James dropping deep, with Russo, was key in shifting the balance of the game. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Spain deserved winners against the hosts, Switzerland. A game where the 23rd seed played with one up. They tried to keep it as compact as possible to limit Spain's passing.  Spain had missed a penalty, and had a couple over the bar, but it mostly worked in frustrating them. It wasn't until the 66th minute that  Spain went ahead.

Spain's second goal had another moment of misfortune to it. The Swiss captain, Walti, didn't run into the ref. But the official was close enough that she changed her mind on where she was looking to pass the ball. The result was that she turned into a challenge. While she stopped, for a non existent foul, having given the ball away. Spain shot from outside the box and it was in. Walti's poor touch, at the other end, shortly after, only got her a yellow card, with that goal still on her mind.

Spain also managed to miss a second penalty, while the Swiss never really got to make a final push. Pilgrim made a difference for them as a sub. But she was still a lone outlet. The closing minutes consisted of Spanish possession, while the Swiss racked up an impressive tally of yellow cards to go with some late challenges. They got a straight red just before the end, when Maritza brought down Paralluelo, preventing a 1 on 1 with the keeper.

Spain are better in possession, patience and passing than England. But they also got frustrated against a tight defence. Unlike England, who have direct outlets in Hemp and Bronze as starters, with Kelly and Agyemang, as subs, Spain often looked to pass through where there was no space. Parallueo offered more of a target, when she came on. They also looked vulnerable to direct runs through the centre. Just part of them keeping a high line, and anticipating breaks down their flanks.