posted May 7, 2007

Leeds 2-1 PNE

Yes...bad quality, the defending was terrible, the Charlton keeper was awful and please don't think I'm daft enough to base my view of women goalkeepers on that one performance, I used to be a keeper myself at albeit at a low level but I still know that you can't judge a keeper on one game as I had many stinkers as well as decent games. I have seen plenty of women keepers, that one that was in goal for Leeds in last season's final, Pauline Cope was always very shaky, the majority of them are too small and don't have strong enough wrists to get balls away. Sorry but it's a fact based on genetics I'm afraid.

You can't judge the Arsenal defence, barely tested (but were caught severly lacking in concentration for the Charlton goal) although Aluko did make them look flat footed at times (Aluko was the only good Charlton player on the field and she was let down by weak finishing and yes, I have seen her play before and for England). The free kick was hit well but it should never have been let in. The passing was poor for the most part despite a few good passing moves, a lot of it was aimless long balls.

Again, the half volley was nicely hit but again, should have been saved which in turn demonstrated my 'weak wrists' argument.

I'm not doubting that some of the ladies had ability with the ball...but they were all playing for Arsenal barring Aluko. Very predictable and one sided.

Yes, I did think the game was pretty poor quality for the most part. I dread to think how poor some of the women's team in lower divisions are if Charlton were arguably the second best in the Premier League.

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posted May 7, 2007

Good to see plenty of support for women's football in England. You need to keep up that support through next season and go to more women's games.

The BBC did well to show the WFA Cup Final, probably aware that a large crowd would attend. They missed out, however, by not showing the much more competitive UEFAW Cup Final (over two legs). If anyone on here thinks that women footballers can't be as skillful as men, then all I have to say is:
Marta Viera DeSilva.

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posted May 7, 2007

Our north london rivals don't have a women team,is it spurs or totonamu.

56 comments is too much for FA champions,I reckon they can help Wigan beat the drop hmmm

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posted May 7, 2007

Baronvon 175

I agree with some of your points on the state of womens football in GB.

First let me say that we should not blame Arsenal for being succeful they deserve the glory as they obviously have the best players and the best work ethic and backing from the club.

It's up to the FA,sponsors and media to construct a sytem that promots clubs to back women's football in GB and Europe.

The only way to get a womens league that is competative is to have the backing with money and sponsors.

In the USA a few years ago they had a wonderful women's profesional league that lasted for a couple of seasons.
Players like Julie Fleeting,Mia Hamm and other players from all over the world played in this very exciting league and it was very competative and FUN to watch.

It failed through lack of sponsorship and support.

The womens professional game has vanished in the USA although there are efforts to rivive it in a smaller way.

The womens game in the USA is very popular at the grass roots level with millions of girl youth teams playing football all over the country but for some reason it fails to sustain a profesional league system for women and pull in the heavy sponsorship needed to sustain it.

Womens football in Great Britain has vastly improved over the last few years in its standard of play.

There was some nice football played today..not the old kick and crash they played years ago.

The league is helping the England national team win and play better football as is proven by their qualification into the world cup.

The point I am trying to make is don't blame Arsenal women for being such a dominate force in English soccer it's not their fault if they are supported and encouraged to play great football and win...blame the FA and the system for not promoting and supporting ALL the league and making it more appealing for other clubs to get their teams up to that standard.

I for one believe the womens game has a future and will one day be able to have real profesional leagues all over the world and a true place on the world stage of football.

There are a lot of very succesful women busness tycoons out there who maybe should be looking into this sport as a platform to raise the profile of the game and at the same time help their fellow sisters get the recognition they deserve.

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posted May 7, 2007

good stuff, if only the mens team cud emulate this. u shud teach them something ladies. good going.

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posted May 8, 2007

Did anyone look with amazement at the hair do of one of the two female players in the studio had??!! It was bizare. It was a mixture of Davy crocket's hat and cockatoo feathers!

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posted May 9, 2007

At last some descent football. I was very impressed with the quality of the game. Woman gets a boot in the face - goes to ground - takesa moment to recover - gets up and carries on. what would have happened in a men's game? Oscar performance of rolling around in such pain. Men footballers, over paid weeklings. Women footballers, not paid enough.

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posted May 9, 2007

The passing was poor for the most part despite a few good passing moves, a lot of it was aimless long balls.


aimless long balls? you see them all the time in mens football and there werent even that many in that game!

and ok arsenal were in a different league completly but with more talent from girls playing across the country it wont be long before the standard gets alot better.

To say the sport at the moment isnt as popular as it could be i thought it was a great entertaining game

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posted May 9, 2007

From experience coaching a women's football team in London, I'd have to agree with Baronvon175's point about the science of genetics not being favourable for women goalkeepers. Genuinely solid ones are pretty difficult to find, even at a competitive level. The Baron's memories of Pauline Cope are much like mine - she always did flap a bit, and she was the best in the country for many years.

If female goalies aren't 6'4", built like a brick outhouse and with hands like paddles (as genetics allow the male equivalent to be more often), they'll probably be more prone to leaking the odd "soft" goal or two.

But as a spectator sport, is that necessarily bad for business? Believing that a goal under siege is perhaps *more* vulnerable?

So although some of the passing, defending and goalkeeping may not have been close to the quality we've come to expect from the men's game, I still think Monday's game was very watchable. Certainly it never had "0-0" stamped on it!

The only problem for me would've been the predictability of the result (despite the fact Charlton gave it a really good go). Arsenal are just so strong. Because the women's game doesn't have the professional structure (and financial backing) of the men's game, it's much easier for the best players to jump ship to whichever team is in the ascendancy. I seem to recall Katie Chapman and Rachel Yankey firing Fulham to an FA Cup win five years ago - when they were the only professional women's team in England.

That's not to criticise Chapman or Yankey - it's their prerogative - and there are a lot of very good players at other clubs (Everton spring to mind, for one). But until the women's game in this country gets a professional structure and a stronger identity (and here's hoping it will), these imbalances are likely to occur.

Arsenal fully deserve their success and as a club have reaped the rewards of supporting their women's team - but ultimately, the shift of power is something akin to Chelsea attempting to overhaul Man United next season by buying Rooney and Ronaldo off them. Which would be a bit sad for us neutrals.

Anyway, it's good to see women's football on BBC1 again though - hopefully with this sort of exposure, more of the big football clubs (and the viewing public) will start giving their women's teams the kind of backing that Arsenal has done.

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posted May 23, 2007

It was nice to see the crowd was balanced in gender. I'd say 50/50 men and women, lots of kids, girls: that's a good thing to see when you grow up. There is some progress. The BCC is taking notes. The 606 of women football is booming. More than 24,000 people came to Nottingham Forest. Who knows how many watched the game on TV. Knowing that until the 70s, women football had been banned in the UK for about 40 years, this is a great achievement. Women games still need more support to be decently represented. I would like to see more gender-balanced news and events on TV. I believe that only when this happens, women will start to be treated equally to men, not just in theory.

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