England vs Scotland preview | The WSL Show - video Dailymotion

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Susanna Sealy returns to present this week's WSL show as we deep dive into the Lionesses' debut UEFA Nation's League campaign. Will we see a return for Beth Mead - or has the games against Scotland and Netherlands come to soon?

Transcript

00:00 Welcome back to this Women's Youth League show where we are now discussing England's

00:08 chances in the Nations League.

00:10 So their first picture they've got in the tournament is on the 22nd of September where

00:15 they are taking on Scotland, which is actually quite a nice mirroring given that the men's

00:20 team are playing each other tomorrow.

00:23 Anyway, that's enough of the men for now.

00:26 So obviously the squad hasn't been announced yet.

00:29 We are expecting that to come next week.

00:32 We know that Beth England is injured and we've seen Beth Mead on the bench for Arsenal.

00:41 Obviously she has yet to actually come on to the pitch.

00:44 But Graham, who are you expecting to be named in that squad next week?

00:50 I think we might see it this week potentially, but you might be right in saying that.

00:56 I mean, what are we on today?

00:57 It's the 11th of September at the time of speaking, so potentially, hopefully this week

01:00 I would imagine.

01:01 I think it's a really interesting one because we touched on the first part of the show about

01:05 the fact that the World Cup only ended like three weeks ago and the England team are already

01:11 kind of back within, it'll be five weeks, I think, five or six weeks by the time the

01:15 game comes along.

01:16 And there's a lot of players again that won't have a rest.

01:18 I think you've got Alessio has obviously started a season.

01:23 You've got the likes of Georgia Stanway, I think, played yesterday for Bayern Munich

01:28 in a competitive game.

01:29 I believe it was, I could be wrong with this.

01:32 I don't really give up with the Bundesliga as much as I should compare to England, but

01:35 I believe it was like their charity shield or community shield is now called.

01:40 You've got other players that are kind of still maybe not completely fresh coming off

01:46 the back of the World Cup because they haven't had too long off.

01:49 So it'll be interesting to see who comes in, but I think we'll see the bulk of players

01:53 that were at the World Cup come into the squad.

01:55 I think it'll be interesting to see how England line up because we pretty much went with that

01:59 back three, didn't we, during the World Cup after, I think it was the second or third

02:04 game, a third game against China.

02:06 We went at that back three and you know what, once we went at that back three, it kind of

02:10 stuck up until the second half of the final when we opted back to a four.

02:15 So it'll be quite interesting to see what happens in terms of what the formation is

02:18 going to be like.

02:19 I think the squad itself, I think a lot of the team picks itself.

02:23 Mary Earps, she's going to play.

02:26 She's going to be your goalkeeper.

02:27 You've got the likes of Lucy Bronze will play.

02:30 She's still our best right back.

02:31 Millie Bright's obviously fully fit.

02:35 Alex Greenwood had a tremendous tournament.

02:37 Jess Carter was incredible during the tournament.

02:40 Kiera Walsh, thankfully, is completely fit.

02:43 Stanway's obviously going to play every game.

02:46 So I think if you see additions to the squad, you're going to be getting additions that

02:49 are maybe squad additions that wouldn't get in at the start of the XI originally.

02:55 But it's interesting you touched on Beth Mead because I think, and I don't really know fully

03:01 100% because I wasn't part of the press conference, but I read some quotes from Jonas saying that

03:07 she was in that squad to kind of maybe get a bit of a feel back for being part of the

03:11 squad and stuff like that.

03:12 But look, if you're on the bench, that means you've got an ability to be fit.

03:15 Whether you think she's going to come off 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or she's not going

03:19 to come on at all, there's a potential that she is fit enough to be on the bench at the

03:23 end of the day, which means she's a lot closer to a return.

03:26 And I think there'll be people who disagree, but if you're going to be picking England's

03:29 top three players over the past two, three years, Beth Mead's in there.

03:34 Massive part of why England won the Euros, huge part, probably the most important part,

03:39 hence why she won't play with the tournament.

03:41 And she's a big miss when she's not there, whether we like it or not.

03:44 Have we found ways to adapt without her?

03:46 Yeah, we got a World Cup final without Beth Mead, but could we have won that World Cup

03:49 final with Beth Mead?

03:51 You never really know, but I think...

03:52 I think it's best not to go into that.

03:54 No, it's not, is it?

03:55 I'm going to start crying again.

03:56 Yeah, I know.

03:58 But you know, Beth Mead's a tremendous player, a world-class player.

04:02 Second in the Ballon d'Or last year, UEFA Player of the Year, runner-up to Alexia Ptahies,

04:08 which is not a bad accolade to have.

04:10 She's had that unfortunate injury.

04:11 It's going to take her time to come back and get fit.

04:14 Is it too soon for her to be back in the England squad?

04:17 Maybe.

04:18 But it might not be a problem to put her within the squad and get the feel back for being

04:22 part of the squad again and just say, look, you're probably not going to play, but come

04:25 back with the squad because you're obviously a huge part of this squad.

04:29 When you're fully fit, you're probably in the starting XI.

04:32 Come back in and get a feel of it again because you've been away for the best part of a year.

04:35 So I actually think we will see Beth Mead in that squad.

04:39 I think it'll be good.

04:40 I don't know if we'll see her get any minutes because I think Scotland is a really competitive

04:43 game and it's a rivalry.

04:47 We both live in Scotland.

04:48 We know what the rivalry is like.

04:49 England fan, I've been getting pellets for the men and the women for the last few weeks.

04:53 So hopefully I don't have any text messages from any of my male football supporters tomorrow

04:59 or the following week.

05:02 I think it's great that there's been over 40,000 tickets sold and there's no way in

05:05 for Scotland fans.

05:06 I think that's really exciting.

05:09 With Beth England being out, does it give an opportunity to another striker?

05:13 Because I think as much as you could bring Beth Mead in, do I class her as...

05:18 For me, she's a striker, but she's that right-hand side wing position, that number seven position

05:22 that we've seen Lauren James occupy and Chloe Kelly occupy.

05:25 So maybe adding an additional body in there, but then you've got Alessia Russo as your

05:29 forward and then we pretended for a little bit that Rachel Daly was a forward.

05:33 She's very much still a forward, but apparently she's a left wing back now or left back.

05:37 So for me, I think Rachel Daly...

05:39 No, it's a shame that didn't last long enough.

05:41 She's just destined to be there, isn't she?

05:43 I think whether we like it or not, she's destined to be there.

05:46 So you look outside of that, I think one that's really interesting is that Ebony Salmond obviously

05:52 has moved to Aston Villa two, three days ago.

05:55 I think the time is speaking at the weekend.

05:56 So that kind of came out of nowhere.

05:58 So there's a chance now for Ebony Salmond to potentially stake a claim for getting part

06:02 of the squad.

06:03 She's narrowly missed out on getting in the squad for the last couple of tournaments.

06:08 She's now back in England after being over in the States.

06:12 She's obviously only still 22.

06:14 There's tons of room for her to grow.

06:17 And I think when you look elsewhere at the other strikers within the squad, people that

06:20 can play up front, you've got your Katie Robinson's and your Nikita Paris.

06:23 They're more of that kind of right wing position.

06:25 You just park it like your left wing, your right wing.

06:28 So I think out and out centre forwards, you're looking at maybe Ebony Salmond could maybe

06:32 come in and stake a claim.

06:34 It's Nations League, so it's competitive.

06:36 It's Scotland, so it's definitely competitive.

06:38 And Holland is a tough game as well.

06:39 I know we beat them 5-1 prior to the Euros, but Holland are a very good team.

06:43 Really, really good team full of really good players, some world class players.

06:46 I think they're both really competitive games and it gives these players like maybe Ebony

06:49 Salmond the chance to come in and say, "Hey, look, I can be part of the squad moving forward."

06:54 Beth England I think has got a hip injury.

06:56 She's having a hip operation.

06:57 So that doesn't sound to me like it's a short term knock.

07:00 I hope it is because I love Beth England, big fan, but it offers an opportunity for

07:04 her.

07:05 But one player that I really, really want to see get a chance and someone that I think

07:08 I've spoke about till, you know, Kingdom Come.

07:12 I wonder who it is.

07:14 I wonder.

07:15 May Letizia I would like to see.

07:19 I was kind of hoping I was going to shock you there, but then I realised I'm not.

07:21 But for me, May has been tremendous for the past year.

07:25 For me, she's the future of England's defence.

07:27 I think it's difficult to place her ahead of Jess Carter, Millie Bright or Alex Greenwood

07:33 at the moment.

07:34 If we're playing that back three, if we're playing a back four, it's even more difficult

07:37 for her to get in.

07:38 But I think she's excellent.

07:40 I think she's superb.

07:41 I think she deserves a chance.

07:42 I think she should have went to the World Cup.

07:43 I still believe that.

07:46 And please put her back in the squad, Serena.

07:48 However, if you are listening, Serena, I never, never, ever distrust anything you do.

07:53 You potentially may walk on water.

07:55 So just you back yourself.

07:59 Don't listen to me.

08:00 Well, I'm sure we're going to be talking about it a lot more close to the time.

08:03 But for fans who are more WSL focused rather than the Scottish Women's Premier League focus,

08:10 who would you be saying to look out for in that Scotland squad?

08:14 Who are you expecting to turn up for Scotland?

08:18 I think when you look at Scotland, they've got a lot stronger over the years.

08:22 Their midfield is arguably world class.

08:26 Caroline Weah, how she's not been on the Ballon d'Or nomination, we discussed on last week's

08:30 show, that baffles me.

08:33 Caroline Weah is affectionately known by her teammates as 'Caca'.

08:37 I did an interview with her, I want to say two years ago now.

08:43 And one of her former teammates said, asked her about the nickname.

08:46 I asked her about it.

08:47 She had laughed.

08:48 And it's because she now A plays for Real Madrid, which is weird.

08:51 But she used to play in a similar vein to Caca.

08:53 And anyone who's old enough to have seen Caca, which unfortunately I am one, as I said, it

08:57 was my birthday, I'm 37 last week.

09:01 He's pretty good.

09:03 And by pretty good, I mean, like, outstandingly good.

09:05 And Caroline Weah being named after him or nicknamed after him is not a great surprise

09:09 because really, really good player and a very, very similar style.

09:12 And it's had an amazing season for Real Madrid and just keeps kind of like going up and up

09:16 and up.

09:17 But then you've got Aaron Cosbert, of course, Aaron Cosbert.

09:20 If you don't know who Aaron Cosbert is and you don't watch WSL and you're not watching

09:24 close enough because Aaron Cosbert's amazing.

09:26 But outside of that, you've got Sam Kerr in the middle as well.

09:28 Now Sam Kerr is, she'll be well known to Glasgow City fans, we've done an awful lot with Glasgow

09:33 City.

09:34 And most importantly, we're really well known to Rangers fans where she's been for the past

09:37 couple of years and was part of their Invincible team that won their first Scottish Premier

09:40 League title.

09:41 She's gradually became that sort of number six role over the past few years for Scotland.

09:47 I've got to be honest, Glasgow City played Rangers last season, a game when we unfortunately

09:52 lost 2-1.

09:53 But Sam Kerr looked, she looked miles ahead of the best player on the pitch that night

09:58 without standing.

09:59 And she's obviously got her move to Bayern Munich this summer.

10:03 And to go from the Scottish Premier League to a team with Stanway, a team with Peniela

10:09 Harder, Magdalena Eriksen, that's in there.

10:11 And there's many other names I could mention, shows her quality as well.

10:14 And that's your midfield for Scotland.

10:16 But there's also some really good young talents like Jenna Clark, who was at Glasgow City

10:20 beforehand.

10:21 I think I've talked her up an awful lot.

10:22 I love Jenna Clark, both on a personal level and as a player.

10:25 But she's now at Liverpool.

10:27 She's a fantastic defender and you've got a lot of experience alongside in terms of

10:31 like Rachel Corsi, Sophie Howard, who's been at Leicester for the past few years, has been

10:34 excellent as well.

10:35 Scotland's a really tough test.

10:38 It's a really tough test.

10:39 But one, if England play to the level they can, we should get beyond that.

10:45 Scotland have a lot of good young talent like Sam Kerr, Lauren Davidson, Erin Cuspin, still

10:50 very young, world-class talent like Caroline Weir.

10:52 Anyone who thinks that's going to be an easy game is absolutely out of their minds.

10:58 Well, yeah, as I say, we've still got a couple of weeks, so I'm sure we'll be discussing

11:02 that in detail once the squads are announced.

11:08 That's it for today.

11:09 Thank you once again for joining.

11:11 If you want any more of our women's football content, please head to the QR code, which

11:16 will send you to Graham's newsletter.

11:20 And for any more of our content, please head to shotstv.com.

11:23 And this show is produced by Mark Wilson.

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England vs Scotland preview | The WSL Show

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