WSL Man Utd (H) 19/01/25

Mon Autre said:
Rotten day at the office for Khiara. She plays a risky a game and you have to accept the downsides that come with that, but today she had an absolute howler. If she could improve her judgement she'd be world class.

We actually played q well for long periods today but we were never off the back foot thanks to the goals we gifted them.

I think Knaak showed enough to suggest she'll be a decent stand in for Greenwood. But we also saw today (and over the past 2 months) that this squad isn't equipped to deal with more than one key absence at a time. No Hemp and no Shaw leaves us too light up front. The lack of directness and physicality was so clear.

Ouahabi needs upgrading too. Keating will be blamed for the third but she played a pass that was clearly what she was expected to do and Ouahabi was half asleep. Cant see it happening this January but we have to upgrade on her in the summer.
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Ouahabi is a weak link for me too. Our left side was poor all night, Fowler got a good couple of crosses in when she briefly moved over to the right, one of which led to a goal.
Also agree about our lack of direct play, we faff about far too much.
Personally I think we need to upgrade the manager but sadly I don't see that happening.
 
Lee the Blue said:
With our resources our Womens Team has underachieved for over 5 years now.

Todays performance in the first 30 mins was frankly an embarrassment and it should be Taylor's last; sadly it wont be but the Womens team will again fall short this season.

Shitting their own bed last season at home vs Arsenal with the title in their grasp told you a lot about the mentality and ability under pressure of the manager and this set of players. 8 months on and I dont see any change.
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There are times where I feel the club isn't completely serious about the women's team. They see it as a necessity more than really wanting it to be successful. Make sure they have nice facilities, do a lot on social media for them but being "good enough" is ok.

I may be incorrect, but it comes across that way to me, on occasion.
 
chesterbells said:
Like it.

Apart from the result was gutted about being sat by some mouthy reds and by the thought of how long it’s going to take this blue car park to empty. I love the smell of exhaust fumes for an hour.

But yep, good point.
So frustrating cos in general play and for the vast majority of the match, we were the better team, even with our diminished team.

I’m not entirely sure on Knack, but tbf very harsh to judge her on one game.
Frustrated by some of our shooting and how slow it was. Was like watching Grealish; so slow to get the shot off, that when we did shoot it was invariably blocked.
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At least you didn't have to walk for what felt like a mile and a half up and down crash barriers just to get on a tram.
We need our injured players back quickly but I can't see Hemp or Greenwood coming back in the near future.
Our shooting is awful at times. We appear to try to pass first and foremost, shooting is an after thought.
 
blue whippet said:
At least you didn't have to walk for what felt like a mile and a half up and down crash barriers just to get on a tram.
We need our injured players back quickly but I can't see Hemp or Greenwood coming back in the near future.
Our shooting is awful at times. We appear to try to pass first and foremost, shooting is an after thought.
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Yep, can’t argue with any of those points.

Tbf, I do normally use the tram, but it being a Sunday night and me thinking a smaller crowd would make it easy stupidly decided to drive.
Think a combination of less public transport, more kids here, hardly anyone drinking, and 2 degrees temp that feels like zero all meant proportionally more people seem to have driven in. Deffo the last time I’ll be taking this option
 
better dead than red said:
There are times where I feel the club isn't completely serious about the women's team. They see it as a necessity more than really wanting it to be successful. Make sure they have nice facilities, do a lot on social media for them but being "good enough" is ok.

I may be incorrect, but it comes across that way to me, on occasion.
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I think this was the case about 3 years ago. They became really complacent. For what it's worth I think theyve done really well at retaining their best players these past couple of years and also recruiting pretty well on top of that. It seems to me that they have really tried to get a good senior management team in place and are serious about their aspirations.

However well we do though, it's really difficult to close the gap on Chelsea who have been run perfectly for a decade now. For me, the next piece in the jigsaw is to identify a shit hot manager and get them in asap. Gareth Taylor has done ok but he's a throwback to when you could just throw any old coach in who was hovering around your men's team or academy. Women's football has moved on from that.
 
chesterbells said:
Yep, can’t argue with any of those points.

Tbf, I do normally use the tram, but it being a Sunday night and me thinking a smaller crowd would make it easy stupidly decided to drive.
Think a combination of less public transport, more kids here, hardly anyone drinking, and 2 degrees temp that feels like zero all meant proportionally more people seem to have driven in. Deffo the last time I’ll be taking this option
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I can't abide public transport but have no choice. At least when you finally get out of the carpark you can get to your front door. I will have to wait for a bus when I get off this tram.
Agree about the temp, it was cold out there. Not helped by the result.
We better win midweek.
 
blue whippet said:
Ouahabi is a weak link for me too. Our left side was poor all night, Fowler got a good couple of crosses in when she briefly moved over to the right, one of which led to a goal.
Also agree about our lack of direct play, we faff about far too much.
Personally I think we need to upgrade the manager but sadly I don't see that happening.
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Our left side has been completely non existent since Hemp got injured. No Hemp shows up Ouahabi's limitations even further. She's doing her best and I think she's fine for most games we play, but she just isn't at the level for the games against top opposition that truly define your season. I hate getting on her case too much cos she's not a terrible player and she seems a really well liked member of the squad. But hers is one position where I think we could easily upgrade.
 
Mon Autre said:
Our left side has been completely non existent since Hemp got injured. No Hemp shows up Ouahabi's limitations even further. She's doing her best and I think she's fine for most games we play, but she just isn't at the level for the games against top opposition that truly define your season. I hate getting on her case too much cos she's not a terrible player and she seems a really well liked member of the squad. But hers is one position where I think we could easily upgrade.
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O Hanlon?
 
Mon Autre said:
I think this was the case about 3 years ago. They became really complacent. For what it's worth I think theyve done really well at retaining their best players these past couple of years and also recruiting pretty well on top of that. It seems to me that they have really tried to get a good senior management team in place and are serious about their aspirations.

However well we do though, it's really difficult to close the gap on Chelsea who have been run perfectly for a decade now. For me, the next piece in the jigsaw is to identify a shit hot manager and get them in asap. Gareth Taylor has done ok but he's a throwback to when you could just throw any old coach in who was hovering around your men's team or academy. Women's football has moved on from that.
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Chelsea have done extremely well in identifying their replacement for Hayes, and she was fantastic for them. Your summary of Taylor is probably the best I have read, he really does feel like a throw back. Until we become serious about that side of the team we will be in the same position. Chelsea don't look like a club that will be taking their eye off the ball.
 
The stats don't tell the full story, although four goals from five shots has its own narrative. The lack of immediacy and dynamism when we have the ball has characterised our season with the exception of the BArca home game. In the first half we had a throw in on the East side about a yard from the Rag
corner flag - within a pass we've worked it back to the halfway line. Even crap sides can defend that game plan. it'll be what they've been instructed to do but it puts absolutely no pressure on the opposition. The texts on the MDC tells us the kind of game it was - 46 mins Miedema sets us off, 46 mins Toone scores.

Had we had the services of Bunny, and Lauren up front there might have been a different complexion on the game. We shall see what we have learned come Wednesday.
 
Mon Autre said:
I think this was the case about 3 years ago. They became really complacent. For what it's worth I think theyve done really well at retaining their best players these past couple of years and also recruiting pretty well on top of that. It seems to me that they have really tried to get a good senior management team in place and are serious about their aspirations.

However well we do though, it's really difficult to close the gap on Chelsea who have been run perfectly for a decade now. For me, the next piece in the jigsaw is to identify a shit hot manager and get them in asap. Gareth Taylor has done ok but he's a throwback to when you could just throw any old coach in who was hovering around your men's team or academy. Women's football has moved on from that.
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Absolutely agree. The investment is clearly there and backed up with a state of the art facility for the women in construction, some top quality players. It's disappointing to see Chelsea and Arsenal managers acquiring world class women's managers now. Can only dream what they could do with this bunch of players!
 
Solatron said:
Absolutely agree. The investment is clearly there and backed up with a state of the art facility for the women in construction, some top quality players. It's disappointing to see Chelsea and Arsenal managers acquiring world class women's managers now. Can only dream what they could do with this bunch of players!
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Yeah I saw a lot of people who thought Chelsea would drop off this year after Hayes left. But they acquired the very best in the job and I feared they'd hit the ground running as they have. They were kind of fortunate Hayes stepped down when she did as I think her race was run.
 
Solatron said:
O Hanlon?
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Very keen to see what O'Hanlon will offer but I feel like I've spent a year now waiting for that to happen. She's still very young and there might be a case to bring in a ready made experienced LB regardless and hold onto O'Hanlon as one for the future. We ought to have two strong players for every position anyway.
 
Mon Autre said:
I think this was the case about 3 years ago. They became really complacent. For what it's worth I think theyve done really well at retaining their best players these past couple of years and also recruiting pretty well on top of that. It seems to me that they have really tried to get a good senior management team in place and are serious about their aspirations.

However well we do though, it's really difficult to close the gap on Chelsea who have been run perfectly for a decade now. For me, the next piece in the jigsaw is to identify a shit hot manager and get them in asap. Gareth Taylor has done ok but he's a throwback to when you could just throw any old coach in who was hovering around your men's team or academy. Women's football has moved on from that.
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It's not like they just didn't extend his contract or anything like that.

https://www.mancity.com/news/womens/gareth-taylor-signs-city-contract-extension-63845156

Shaw looked good at Bordeaux but wasn't the player she is now her first season here. Perhaps it took her a while to adjust but I don't believe it's terribly similar to a Lique 1 player coming to the Premier League. They play some good women's football in France.

Greenwood has always been a good/great player. She did the continental thing and maybe wanted to come "home." She's a Northern girl. London maybe didn't appeal to her? Manchester is close enough to the Scouse Republic she can still see her family regularly.

The club has made good signings. I'm not trying to completely slate them. As I said, I think being "good enough" is good enough. Giving Taylor an extension less than a year ago does not hurt my theory. They easily could have looked elsewhere. Perhaps they did and others said, "No thank you." That would surprise me if it were the case.
 
better dead than red said:
It's not like they just didn't extend his contract or anything like that.

https://www.mancity.com/news/womens/gareth-taylor-signs-city-contract-extension-63845156

Shaw looked good at Bordeaux but wasn't the player she is now her first season here. Perhaps it took her a while to adjust but I don't believe it's terribly similar to a Lique 1 player coming to the Premier League. They play some good women's football in France.

Greenwood has always been a good/great player. She did the continental thing and maybe wanted to come "home." She's a Northern girl. London maybe didn't appeal to her? Manchester is close enough to the Scouse Republic she can still see her family regularly.

The club has made good signings. I'm not trying to completely slate them. As I said, I think being "good enough" is good enough. Giving Taylor an extension less than a year ago does not hurt my theory. They easily could have looked elsewhere. Perhaps they did and others said, "No thank you." That would surprise me if it were the case.
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There's also a bit of a shortage of top coaches in the women's game. This will hopefully change in the next 5 years as we see the first generation of people who played pro retire and move into coaching. But we also have a serious problem in England that cost of achieving a UEFA license is ridiculously expensive when compared to other countries.
 
Mon Autre said:
Yeah I saw a lot of people who thought Chelsea would drop off this year after Hayes left. But they acquired the very best in the job and I feared they'd hit the ground running as they have. They were kind of fortunate Hayes stepped down when she did as I think her race was run.
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Who is still available of quality?
 
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