Georgia Goulding is in the hosting seat this week as we discuss big wins for both Chelsea and Manchester City in the WSL title race. Who will win the title come season end?
We also look at Alessia Russo's winner in the North London Derby, Marc Skinner and Carla Ward's continuous struggles at Man United and Aston Villa and all the big WSL news from the weekend games.
We also look at Alessia Russo's winner in the North London Derby, Marc Skinner and Carla Ward's continuous struggles at Man United and Aston Villa and all the big WSL news from the weekend games.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [whistle]
00:01 [music]
00:02 Hello and welcome back to the WSL Show. Thank you for joining us today. Keeping you company
00:08 is your host, myself, Georgia Golden, and alongside me is the ever-present Graham Falk.
00:12 And we're going to take you through the latest round of Women's Super League results, and
00:15 particularly, what has turned out to be a nail-biting title race. First and foremost,
00:20 though, I feel I haven't been on for weeks. So, how have you been, Graham? What's new
00:24 with you?
00:25 I'm all right. Not much. My hair colour, I guess. I've had about four different hair colours
00:29 over the past couple of weeks. But not much, really. I'm still breathing. I'm still coping.
00:33 I'm still thriving and surviving, or whatever you want to call it. How are you? You all
00:37 right?
00:38 Yeah. I mean, that's excellent news. Your hair looks great. I'm donning my new jumper,
00:41 which my grandparents got me. It's a Women's World Cup, and it's from Tesco, could you
00:46 believe? And that's not an ad spawn or anything like that. I was actually surprised. They
00:51 had such good Women's Football ranges. People could learn from that. But let us get stuck
00:58 in and dive into a rundown of the results. We'll dissect them as the show goes on.
01:04 We had Manchester City kick us off on the Saturday with a 2-1 win over Everton, as Bunny
01:08 Shaw scored once again to keep her Golden Boot bid ticking over. She's on 15 for the
01:13 season now, three ahead of Chelsea's Lauren James. The North London derby brought the
01:17 noise at the Emirates as more than 60,000 people once again watched Arsenal beat Tottenham
01:21 1-0. Liverpool stunned Aston Villa, 4-1 on the road. Chelsea earned a convincing 4-0
01:27 win over Leicester City, which wasn't short of its special moments. West Ham held Man
01:31 United to a 1-1 draw, and probably game of the weekend was the utter chaos at Ashton
01:36 Gate as Brighton took home a 7-3 win over Bristol City. Now, that for me was definitely
01:43 the talking point of the weekend, and we will get on to that. But we need to start with
01:46 City, I think. So they had their win over Everton, and City are now, well they remain,
01:53 level on points with Chelsea, which very much poses a big threat to Emma Hayes' fairy tale
01:58 swan song before she moves on to the US. And Gareth Taylor's been awarded a new contract
02:03 for his efforts. He's penned until 2027. And the director said that, I'm paraphrasing,
02:11 I can't remember the direct quote, but something about how Gareth is key to the aim that the
02:16 club has got at the moment. Now that is interesting because I wanted to get your take on it, because
02:21 not too long ago, fans were calling for a changing of the guard at City. A lot of people
02:28 were doubting whether Gareth Taylor was the man to take them forward. Now they're level
02:33 with Chelsea, they could well win the WSL, and Taylor's committed his future for another
02:38 three years. I mean, is this a rapid turnaround and we all need to reinstate our faith in
02:43 Gareth Taylor, or what do you think?
02:46 I think, I mean, look, I'm as surprised as anyone else because I thought Gareth Taylor's
02:51 time at Manchester City was pretty much only going one way. I didn't find him in any way
02:58 poor or bad. I just thought the players that he had at his disposal, he wasn't getting
03:03 the most out of them, or close to what I think their potential was. But he kept this mantra,
03:09 didn't he? Like last season when they lost the first two games, when he was like, look,
03:12 I'm going to get the team settled. We're going to get better. I'm going to keep much of the
03:15 same players around the club doing the same sort of things. And we're going to eventually
03:19 mould into a team that can challenge for the title. I didn't think he'd actually be right,
03:24 but here we are. He is right, I guess, after all. But I mean, they look really good. I
03:30 know it was Everton who weren't like one of the big teams at the moment. And I know Bonnie
03:35 Shaw's goal was like a massive mistake from Van Hevermaat. But I mean, I was just looking
03:39 to their bench at the weekend because I think what's quite good about City as well is they
03:43 can alternate quite well with the players they can bring in, the players they can take
03:47 out. And I think they only brought on Mary Fowler at the weekend, but the bench had Philippa
03:52 Angerdal, Esmé Morgan. You also had Ruby Mace is still there, Kennedy's on there. You've
03:57 got Poppy Pritchard's coming through and all the young players are signed in January. And
04:01 I thought January was a really interesting time for City as well because the players
04:06 that they brought in were like future players, players that, you know, Gareth Taylor and
04:11 the club can mould into. I think Poppy Pritchard's a great player, came in from Durham, but she's
04:17 not the only one they brought in in January. He can mould them into players that can sort
04:21 of develop into the first team, which means that, in my opinion, the current XI that he's
04:26 got or the kind of the main senior players that he has at the moment are ones that he
04:32 fully trusts to kind of push things forward for them. I think it's a real shame they don't
04:37 have Jill Fitt because, well, she's really good at football and that was obviously a
04:43 huge miss for her. But I think for me, where City have transformed, and I don't know whether
04:49 City fans will agree with this, City fans will watch Man City a lot more than I do on
04:54 a regular basis, but whenever I watch Manchester City, the one player that I think transforms
04:59 them completely since she's joined is Hasegawa. I just think she makes a huge difference.
05:04 You know you get certain players where you go, you're paid to watch that kind of player.
05:10 She is someone who I would literally pay money regular for to see play. I just think she
05:16 makes such a difference because her passing and her positioning just benefits the rest
05:21 of the team. You could arguably say they've got the best striker in the league in Bonnie
05:26 Shaw as well, who offers something different to what almost any striker in the WSL offers.
05:32 Maybe Lesley Rousseau is maybe the most similar to it, but she's not quite as lethal. And
05:37 then you've got Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp on either side. And I think, how good is Jess
05:41 Park in a 10 by the way? I just think they've got a really good set up at the minute and
05:47 what Gareth Taylor said came to fruition, but how often does that happen? That's maybe
05:50 the most surprising thing that a manager says, "Just calm down, chill out, be patient," and
05:54 then you're patient and it actually works out. But there's still a few months to go,
05:58 but I think they're right in that title race and I would not be surprised if they could
06:02 win it. And that's the first time I've said Chelsea might not win it this season.
06:05 Yeah, it's crazy because you have to factor in as well, because Gareth has said, "We've
06:12 always wanted to be right at the top and we've achieved that," but they missed out on Champions
06:15 League football. That's definitely one thing to compare it to. And you mentioned how they've
06:23 got so many good young players coming through and I feel that's always been a prominent
06:29 thing at City. And also when you said it's a shame they don't have Gil, my head immediately
06:35 thought, "Yeah, it is a shame that Gil Scott's not there anymore," and I was like, "Oh,
06:38 of course." But yeah.
06:41 Fair as well.
06:42 Yeah, definitely.
06:43 Fair as well.
06:44 There was a time when, I think it was the Euros actually, and there was 11 City players
06:49 in the England team. And that just says everything. City are a really good club. They always have
06:56 been. They've always had really good depth. They have a pull where people want to come
06:59 and play. They lure Lucy Bronsback, Alex Greenwood. They bring in, as you say, one of the best
07:06 strikers on the planet in Bunny Shaw. People forget that they kind of kick-started the
07:10 whole US loan thing where Lewis and Lavelle came over. I don't think City get as much
07:18 credit as they do. And it is so interesting that this season is shaping up to be how it
07:25 is because I think maybe if you'd have based it on last season and said, "Do you think
07:29 City will challenge for the title?" You'd have said, "Probably not. They'll be up in
07:33 the top three." But they're neck and neck, and they've won, drawn, and lost the same
07:38 amount of games. It's only the goal difference separating them.
07:42 But then there's Arsenal too, who are three points behind. So all it takes is one slip-up
07:47 and it could blow it wide open. I mean, based on, I know you said there's still a few months
07:52 left, but based on what you've seen so far and form, and especially with City beating
07:58 Chelsea, which Alex Greenwood said they would, who do you think is going to snatch it? And
08:03 do you think it's going to be fine margins or is it going to be quite comfortable?
08:07 Oh, I think it'll be like really fine margins. I think it'll go down the last day of the
08:11 season. But look, I've learned my lesson to never go against Emma Hayes. I think City
08:18 finishing second and pushing all the way would be a great season for them, although it would
08:22 be frustrating for City fans, probably frustrating for the team, especially considering they
08:26 went to Chelsea and won. But I mean, you look at Chelsea, they've got like two strikers
08:32 out and they just bought a new one. That's really, really good as well. And talking about
08:37 depth, I think Chelsea probably have the best. And I just think Emma Hayes has that more
08:43 on Gareth Taylor when it really gets to the crunch time.
08:48 It's boring because I think I'd probably, from a neutral perspective, maybe prefer City
08:52 to win this one or Arsenal to win this or someone just slightly different just to kind
08:57 of give us something extra to speak about. But like if I'm sitting here saying I realistically
09:03 think Chelsea won't win the league, I would be lying. But it's the first time I felt like
09:07 I could be wrong and I might actually not get this right and that City might actually
09:12 win this. I don't think Arsenal will. I know they won at the weekend. I know they got the
09:17 one-nil win. I know Spurs are a much better side than they were in previous seasons. But
09:22 I just feel like when I watch Arsenal, like, dare I say it, I'm a little bit bored sometimes.
09:29 I know that's what Jonas wants to do and how he plays and that's his style and it's worked
09:34 for him for a long time. But I just think sometimes the pass, pass, pass, pass, pass,
09:41 gets on my nerves a bit. And I think it would be a bit different if they were scoring all
09:45 the time and winning all the time. But there's been some games where they kind of have done
09:52 that and not scored enough goals to win the game, West Ham away, Spurs away, for example.
09:57 And I think that might kick them in the backside. But for me, Chelsea, Georgia, I just think
10:01 experience at the top, I think depth within the squad and mentality monsters.
10:09 Yeah. And with Arsenal as well, it's always hard when you're relying on the teams ahead
10:16 of you to drop points. It's one thing keeping your lead, but they need to win everything.
10:21 But also hope that both City and Chelsea either draw a couple or lose one along the way, which
10:26 is completely out of their hands. And we will get on to the London side's results at the
10:32 weekend as well as the rest of the WSL right after this short break.
10:35 (whistle)
10:38 Bye!