Women's Football Thread 2024/2025

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blue whippet said:
There is a carton of water the same as the ones you get at the Joie and the Etihad though, a bit like a product placement. We don't get chips at the Joie do we, only spicy wedges.
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They've never really done 'proper Manc' fare at the Joie. They must have done some research 'n found that most of the fans are from Stockport who profess to have palates more akin to the fashionable restaurants in Knutsford or Wilmslow!.
 
Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:
They've never really done 'proper Manc' fare at the Joie. They must have done some research 'n found that most of the fans are from Stockport who profess to have palates more akin to the fashionable restaurants in Knutsford or Wilmslow!.
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I did.like the spicy chickpea curry they did a few seasons back, it was delicious, probably why it's not been seen again. The wedges are pretty awful.
 
Ha nevermind. Even though Paris knocked out Arsenal at this stage last year, they didn't make it out of the group stage (in fact they finished behind the quarter finalists Hacken who Arsenal have drawn). They will be a decent test but if their two performances against Chelsea last season are anything to go by, we ought to get past them. If we don't pressure will be on Taylor before the season has even started.

Arsenal won't be particularly thrilled with their draw either.
 
Mon Autre said:
Ha nevermind. Even though Paris knocked out Arsenal at this stage last year, they didn't make it out of the group stage (in fact they finished behind the quarter finalists Hacken who Arsenal have drawn). They will be a decent test but if their two performances against Chelsea last season are anything to go by, we ought to get past them. If we don't pressure will be on Taylor before the season has even started.

Arsenal won't be particularly thrilled with their draw either.
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Doesn't feel like there's any really options going via the 'League route', whereas the draw for the 'Champions route' sees lots of lesser teams involved, so easier ties.

You can argue "well it's the 'Champions' league" but it feels like the champions of countries like Scotland have it easy compared to the runners up of England and Spain etc.

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born2bblu said:
I know it is early, but have in mind our new recruit: Aoba Fujino. Apparently today she had a very good game when she came in the second half (I haven’t seen the game). I have seen her with Japan. She is only 20, but very promising. I am convinced that in general we have the best squad and should win the league. As much as I hope the coach succeeds this season, I am also afraid he will struggle, as he did before, managing a strong squad. We will have just to wait and see.
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I agree about the strength of your squad. In fact, watching the preseason games, the amount of quality is frightening. It occurred to me that if you split your squad in half, then entered each of them as separate teams in the wsl, both sides would finish in the top four.

This really seems likely to be a big season for City. Everything is in place.
 
Bridgejunky said:
I agree about the strength of your squad. In fact, watching the preseason games, the amount of quality is frightening. It occurred to me that if you split your squad in half, then entered each of them as separate teams in the wsl, both sides would finish in the top four.

This really seems likely to be a big season for City. Everything is in place.
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I agree with you. But you also know that a good coach can make a hell of a difference in football. A good coach can win trophies with half a decent team, and a lousy coach can win fuck all with a very decent team. Your new coach has a very impressive record as a player and coach.

As I said, we will have just to wait and see. I hope that at least we get to watch very exciting games between City and Chelsea. I am looking forward for the season to start, and can't wait to hammer you ;)
 
Bridgejunky said:
I agree about the strength of your squad. In fact, watching the preseason games, the amount of quality is frightening. It occurred to me that if you split your squad in half, then entered each of them as separate teams in the wsl, both sides would finish in the top four.

This really seems likely to be a big season for City. Everything is in place.
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I think the over-riding issue is that if we had the choice of two teams, both of which would finish in the top four our coach would start the eleven that would finish fourth! We have got a lot of quality, but we seem to labour, huff 'n puff, and take an age to get into the opposition penalty area, and then a decent chance is blocked by a defender knowing nothing about it, or it 'narrowly' misses. Had we converted five percent more of our much better chances we'd have won the title, and Emma would have had to be content with just her Olympic medal!!! it's gonna be an interesting season but I can't see much of an improvement. There appear to be no teams in the WSL, and hasn't been for some time, who are fodder. They are all athletes. Might not be top women footballers but they can run, chase and get in the way and frustrate a much better-equipped team.
 
Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:
I think the over-riding issue is that if we had the choice of two teams, both of which would finish in the top four our coach would start the eleven that would finish fourth! We have got a lot of quality, but we seem to labour, huff 'n puff, and take an age to get into the opposition penalty area, and then a decent chance is blocked by a defender knowing nothing about it, or it 'narrowly' misses. Had we converted five percent more of our much better chances we'd have won the title, and Emma would have had to be content with just her Olympic medal!!! it's gonna be an interesting season but I can't see much of an improvement. There appear to be no teams in the WSL, and hasn't been for some time, who are fodder. They are all athletes. Might not be top women footballers but they can run, chase and get in the way and frustrate a much better-equipped team.
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We play a slower possession based style, similar to how the men do, but the trophies come along for the men so there are no complaints! If they did for the women that style wouldn't get mentioned and nobody would mind that we aren't playing 1980s Graham Taylor football and getting the ball straight into the box!

We missed chances yes, but the main thing is creating them. A coach can't control whether they are finished or not. The main reason we lost the league is because we bottled it at home to Arsenal. I say 'bottled', but we possibly ran out of steam due to a few key injuries also, but letting in those 2 late goals really killed us.
 
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born2bblu said:
I agree with you. But you also know that a good coach can make a hell of a difference in football. A good coach can win trophies with half a decent team, and a lousy coach can win fuck all with a very decent team. Your new coach has a very impressive record as a player and coach.

As I said, we will have just to wait and see. I hope that at least we get to watch very exciting games between City and Chelsea. I am looking forward for the season to start, and can't wait to hammer you ;)
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Likewise. Can't wait for the new season, especially the trip to the Etihad.

I think it's reasonable to feel that there are no excuses for Taylor ahead of 24/25. A couple of years ago he suffered an horrendous injury crisis that ended your season almost before it began. To be fair to him however, you recovered strongly once you got some players back. Last season you lost Bunny at a crucial stage but, in my opinion, not enough is made of Jill Roord's absence. If she had stayed fit I doubt it comes down to goal difference but, even if it does, I doubt that advantage stays with Chelsea.

Of course we suffered an injury crisis of our own last term that left our squad stretched to breaking point while we played only two games fewer than the maximum number possible. We barely scraped our way to the tile thanks to our squad depth but Taylor has that depth too now. This is why I make City title favourites and I'm hoping that they, along with Arsenal and Chelsea, will make the Champions League Semi-finals.
 
Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:
I think the over-riding issue is that if we had the choice of two teams, both of which would finish in the top four our coach would start the eleven that would finish fourth! We have got a lot of quality, but we seem to labour, huff 'n puff, and take an age to get into the opposition penalty area, and then a decent chance is blocked by a defender knowing nothing about it, or it 'narrowly' misses. Had we converted five percent more of our much better chances we'd have won the title, and Emma would have had to be content with just her Olympic medal!!! it's gonna be an interesting season but I can't see much of an improvement. There appear to be no teams in the WSL, and hasn't been for some time, who are fodder. They are all athletes. Might not be top women footballers but they can run, chase and get in the way and frustrate a much better-equipped team.
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That is a major problem of this coach: team selection. He is either biased and committed to certain players regardless of their performance or whether they are suitable for a specific game, or he is truly clueless when it comes to team selection. My guess, it is a mix of both. He has shown that repeatedly over his 4 seasons in charge. It becomes more evident when there are several gifted players in the squad. He gets lost and resorts to his favored ones, who could be the least gifted or the least suitable. I am confident this coach will never know how to use a player like Gundogan, for example. Too much complicated player for his simple mind.
 
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