Women’s Football

[whelk]

It’s Northern Ireland I feel sorry for - going to be hammered by us.

[Jimmy_D]

Just now, Turkish said:

Did I hear that right, Norway are 8th in the world and one of the tournament favourites?

Yep!

They're actually a decent team too. This scoreline is more than slightly ridiculous.

[whelk]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

Did I hear that right, Norway are 8th in the world and one of the tournament favourites?

Ballon d’or winner up front

[whelk]

I think I might become a woman to celebrate even more

[Jimmy_D]

Beth Mead playing ridiculously well

[Turkish]

Well I have to say That was a decent watch, England very good

[Saint_clark]

White reminds me a lot of James Beattie in her style of play.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

That was some display. I've seen Norway a few times, and they have excellent attackers. England pretty much manage to stop any supply to them. Impressed by the range of tactics England are showing.

Early on Norway realised England could beat their press. They had players between Norwegian lines to play directly through the middle. When Norway compacted to stop that, England then unleashed a number of excellent passes out wide, with equally good crossing. With England's harrying and energy, Norway just collapsed. Caught playing it direct and caught in possession too.

Made the absolute most of the contact for that penalty though. 🙂

[hypochondriac]

"Seeing as the records could start to tumble, it's worth bearing in mind that one more goal from Ellen White will move her level with Wayne Rooney on 53 goals and joint-top in England's all-time history." 

 

That's a ridiculous thing to say. 

 

 

[Saint_clark]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

"Seeing as the records could start to tumble, it's worth bearing in mind that one more goal from Ellen White will move her level with Wayne Rooney on 53 goals and joint-top in England's all-time history." 

 

That's a ridiculous thing to say. 

 

 

Yeah, it's this kind of talk that divides people. That kind of thinking means that no woman holds any world record in track and field events at the Olympics, they're all held by men.

[alehouseboys]

That John Arne Riise is a bit of a lump these days, still, scored a cracker at St Mary's "Sit down Pinocchio..."

https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc/videos/spectacular-john-arne-riise-own-goal-seals-victory/631394717313367/

[Jeremy Corbyn]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

"Seeing as the records could start to tumble, it's worth bearing in mind that one more goal from Ellen White will move her level with Wayne Rooney on 53 goals and joint-top in England's all-time history." 

 

That's a ridiculous thing to say. 

 

 

Why is it ridiculous? 😆

It's literally just a technically correct stat.

[hypochondriac]

32 minutes ago, Jeremy Corbyn said:

Why is it ridiculous? 😆

It's literally just a technically correct stat.

Why is one stay being compared with another one from what is essentially an entirely different sport? It's a ludicrous comparison. 

[Daft Kerplunk]

Could be a bloodbath on Friday with England v Norn Iron. Friday Bloody Friday. 

[Jimmy_D]

Amazing.

There aren't many teams in the tournament that will be able to even begin coping against us if we keep playing like that.

[whelk]

10 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Why is one stay being compared with another one from what is essentially an entirely different sport? It's a ludicrous comparison. 

I kind of agree but what if someone referred to Steffi Graff’s record grand slam titles - would you say that was ridiculous?

[hypochondriac]

7 minutes ago, whelk said:

I kind of agree but what if someone referred to Steffi Graff’s record grand slam titles - would you say that was ridiculous?

From memory, the majority of times I've heard things like that mentioned they've said things like "most successful female tennis player." I take your point though, that does seem a bit less ridiculous. Maybe it's because I give more of a shit about football and silly comparisons like that devalue the game for both sexes.

[Turkish]

19 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Why is one stay being compared with another one from what is essentially an entirely different sport? It's a ludicrous comparison. 

You don’t hear England u21 goalscorers or England B or C players being compared to full England Internationals so no idea why the women are. It’s these sort of comments that piss people off. I enjoyed tonights match and was impressed with them but  moments like that don’t help the cause 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

England will be pleased that they got another couple, and created, against a team who had adapted to be more defensive. Norway continued to be nearly completely snuffed out, and didn't have any workable plan to get past the England midfield.

N. Ireland are the weakest at the tournament, so a comfortable win will be expected. You'd imagine them to be set up to frustrate, so this second half tonight will come in handy as practice for that approach.

Then it's either Spain who create loads and have real strength in depth, or a relentless Germany whose energy levels are the closest to England's.

Irritating commentary, with a quip about winning the tournament or getting the keeper to take a free kick. The one about no one having scored more than 6 in either a men's or women's tournament will have got some eyes rolling too.

[Sheaf Saint]

31 minutes ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

Could be a bloodbath on Friday with England v Norn Iron. Friday Bloody Friday. 

Please don't sing that if you're going to the game! 

[JRM]

It's a shame the sold out game at St Mary's on Friday has nothing riding on it now, probably lots of squad players getting a run out , comfortable win by a few goals for England. 

Tickets only using the uefa app on phones,  hopefully will be no issues with St Mary's turnstiles 

[Sarnia Cherie]

11 hours ago, whelk said:

It’s Northern Ireland I feel sorry for - going to be hammered by us.

We can beat Northern Ireland without too much trouble. I would prefer to see them taking it steadier, reserving energy and minimising the chances for injuries rather than 'hammering' them. Keep something in the tank for the tougher teams ahead. 

[LiberalCommunist]

The England ladies really do seem streets ahead of the opposition. But I do find it strange that such one sided results like the 8-0 are celebrated with such gusto.

If the sport continues in a uncompetitive manner, then it will have a disastrous long term effect.

The novelty of watching the Harlem Globe Trotters beat college teams week in week out would soon lose its appeal. 

[The Left Back]

49 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

The England ladies really do seem streets ahead of the opposition. But I do find it strange that such one sided results like the 8-0 are celebrated with such gusto.

If the sport continues in a uncompetitive manner, then it will have a disastrous long term effect.

The novelty of watching the Harlem Globe Trotters beat college teams week in week out would soon lose its appeal. 

I remember us winning 8-0 at St. Mary's a few years ago and there was quite a lot of gusto around.  Norway are only 3 places below us in the rankings and are a decent side so don't think the comparison you make with the Harlem Globetrotters is a fair one at all. I seem to remember World Cups back in the 70 s where African teams would get a bit of a spanking - it didn't seem to harm the development of the game.

There's a lot of nit picky comments on this thread. It's really easy to pick holes in the women's game but you have to wonder about the motivations of those that do (I don't mean you particularly @LiberalCommunist).  Those who don't enjoy the game have made it abundantly clear, but they still repeatedly turn up on this thread trying to righteously justify their view.  It all seems a bit vindictive and bitter to me.  

Personally I love watching football at any level. It's summer international tournament which we are hosting, what's not to love?

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

2 hours ago, JRM said:

It's a shame the sold out game at St Mary's on Friday has nothing riding on it now, probably lots of squad players getting a run out , comfortable win by a few goals for England. 

Tickets only using the uefa app on phones,  hopefully will be no issues with St Mary's turnstiles 

I was at the NI v Norway game last week, the app worked brilliantly (although they require quite a lot of info to register you). I'd bought two tickets, kept one for me and transferred the other to my dad. The app sent him an email, followed it through and his ticket was on his phone ready for him too. They both scanned easily under the usual ticket reader and were in easily. Makes a mockery of the issues we had at the start of the season how smooth it was

[TheDevilishSaint]

36 minutes ago, The Left Back said:

There's a lot of nit picky comments on this thread. It's really easy to pick holes in the women's game but you have to wonder about the motivations of those that do (I don't mean you particularly @LiberalCommunist).  Those who don't enjoy the game have made it abundantly clear, but they still repeatedly turn up on this thread trying to righteously justify their view.  It all seems a bit vindictive and bitter to me. 

Honestly. Who cares if you don't like it but if you don't why do you keep coming back to this thread.

You don't need to constantly ask yourself "is this as good as the mens". It shouldn't be a a competition. This comparison stuffs bullshit. Why can't the question just be a simple, "am I having fun?" If the answers no that's completely fine. Nobody's forcing you to watch and your within your right to not. You still don't need to come here constantly tho and argue with the people in thread about things that really don't matter. Some of the people here are as bad the woke crowd that they claim are forcing agendas down they're throat..

I watched the England game against Austria and as most people have said, I thought it was a bit of a slogfest. The ball wasn't being passed around very well and I turned it off at half time. However, I do think it's slightly unfair to judge the entire sport by one game...Sometimes some of the men's games could bore me to sleep too. Watching teams like Everton and Man Utd has been like poison this season. I don't suddenly refuse to watch men's football ever again tho, claiming it's absolute shit.

I turned the Norway game and actually found it extremely entertaining. Ball was being passed around well, some lovely crosses into the box. Very enjoyable game.

It's OK if it's not for you but some of us want to actually enjoy the football and have a discussion about it. Not choose sides in a culture war.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, LiberalCommunist said:

The England ladies really do seem streets ahead of the opposition. But I do find it strange that such one sided results like the 8-0 are celebrated with such gusto.

If the sport continues in a uncompetitive manner, then it will have a disastrous long term effect.

The novelty of watching the Harlem Globe Trotters beat college teams week in week out would soon lose its appeal. 

Some hyperbole from commentators aside, I think there's some happy surprise in the scoreline, resulting in the gusto. Norway are good up front, while England, transitioning from a poor spell under previous management, game managed their opener to ensure the win. Norway were blown away by England.

I agree that you want tournaments at this level to be competitive, putting a number of strong teams against each other. There have been some high scoring matches. But in nearly all of them, each side has had chances to shift the outcome. That's led to interesting games, even when one side pulls away.

With a number of strong favourites, it's hopefully not going to be one team of globe trotters turning up and beating everyone else. A lot of nations have players from top clubs.

Edited 12 July, 2022 by Holmes_and_Watson
autocarrot

[hypochondriac]

2 hours ago, TheDevilishSaint said:

Honestly. Who cares if you don't like it but if you don't why do you keep coming back to this thread.

You don't need to constantly ask yourself "is this as good as the mens". It shouldn't be a a competition. This comparison stuffs bullshit. Why can't the question just be a simple, "am I having fun?" If the answers no that's completely fine. Nobody's forcing you to watch and your within your right to not. You still don't need to come here constantly tho and argue with the people in thread about things that really don't matter. Some of the people here are as bad the woke crowd that they claim are forcing agendas down they're throat..

I watched the England game against Austria and as most people have said, I thought it was a bit of a slogfest. The ball wasn't being passed around very well and I turned it off at half time. However, I do think it's slightly unfair to judge the entire sport by one game...Sometimes some of the men's games could bore me to sleep too. Watching teams like Everton and Man Utd has been like poison this season. I don't suddenly refuse to watch men's football ever again tho, claiming it's absolute shit.

I turned the Norway game and actually found it extremely entertaining. Ball was being passed around well, some lovely crosses into the box. Very enjoyable game.

It's OK if it's not for you but some of us want to actually enjoy the football and have a discussion about it. Not choose sides in a culture war.

Which posters on here have said its not for them and then keep coming back to this thread? I haven't seen any.

[nta786]

3 hours ago, Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan said:

I was at the NI v Norway game last week, the app worked brilliantly (although they require quite a lot of info to register you). I'd bought two tickets, kept one for me and transferred the other to my dad. The app sent him an email, followed it through and his ticket was on his phone ready for him too. They both scanned easily under the usual ticket reader and were in easily. Makes a mockery of the issues we had at the start of the season how smooth it was

Yep, you would think it is the future of tickets.

Apparently for the 2022 World Cup, tickets can't be transferred unless near the stadium which would significantly hinder the likes of online touting for sites like Viagogo etc etc

I'd also be sceptical of purchasing a "screenshot" from a tout too if it ever came to it. 

[The Left Back]

On 20/06/2022 at 09:28, Dman said:

Wether you’re into it or not, no one can deny that the standard (even more so at the saints girls level), is nothing short of pathetic and inline with a Hampshire league team, if not lower. 
 

For that reason alone; it’s a massive no from me. 
 

Didn’t the USA women’s team, who are apparently deemed one of the best in the world, get spanked by an U-15’s team 😂😂😂

That's a pretty clear view.  It's a massive no.

 

30 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Which posters on here have said its not for them and then keep coming back to this thread? I haven't seen any.

Have a look at how many times since he's been back since.  For someone who was a massive 'no' there seems to be a lot of subsequent sniping at the crowds, the commentary, the players.  If it's such a massive no, why keep watching?  Masochism? A desperation to be proved right? Vindictiveness?  

[Piran]

I enjoyed the football, and admired some of the England play. I also admired the way that the Norway team managed to 'repair' things a bit in the second half. It can't have been easy, after being 6 - 0 down at half-time, but it was good to see a bit of pride on display.

My real complaint though, was the verbal diarrhea from the main commentator. My God, could she talk?! Nothing to do with being female - I've heard enough crap from male  commentators, after all - but she took the biscuit for a sheer compulsion to keep on talking, even when she had nothing to say.

[hypochondriac]

41 minutes ago, The Left Back said:

That's a pretty clear view.  It's a massive no.

 

Have a look at how many times since he's been back since.  For someone who was a massive 'no' there seems to be a lot of subsequent sniping at the crowds, the commentary, the players.  If it's such a massive no, why keep watching?  Masochism? A desperation to be proved right? Vindictiveness?  

Yeah fair enough I didn't notice him. I font think there's anything wrong with passing comments on the differences between men's and women's football or the atmosphere and crowds but it does seem a bit pointless to say you have no interest and then keep going on about it. 

[Dman]

26 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Yeah fair enough I didn't notice him. I font think there's anything wrong with passing comments on the differences between men's and women's football or the atmosphere and crowds but it does seem a bit pointless to say you have no interest and then keep going on about it. 

I mean it’s hard to reserve an opinion when it’s been rammed down your throat with total nonsense like that “beckham esque” example, from the BBC. 

However; since the start of the tournament, personally (using me as an example because I was called out), I’ve made about 3 posts. Hardly “keeps coming back”. 

I’ve watched about 30 minutes of the whole thing here and there. Nothing has changed my opinion that in general, the standard of football, from elite competitors, is nothing short of shambolic. 

To be fair; I actually feel abit sorry for most of the girls, they no doubt accept that it’s not a sport many are or will be interested in. it’s people like the BBC over pushing it and idiots like that Yank who was asking for equal pay who stoke the fire and debate. 

Edited 12 July, 2022 by Dman

[Mystic Force]

It's clear the standards have risen over recent years. The biggest difference I see is that the passing distance has increased, there used to be only a few players capable of generating the longer passes now this seems a more regularly used ability. Comparing men and women's top scorers is kind of stupid, the quality distribution of sides is different, and I am pretty sure one of the complaints against Rooney was that he got most of those goals against the chumps in qualifying groups rather than against good opposition sides at Euros and World cups.

For sport to be exciting, there must be something that hangs in the balance that it can go either way, that fortunes can reverse. If we thumped a bunch of nobodies 8-0 every week it would quickly get dull. The fact that in the past African teams could not compete was not so detrimental as it would only be a few games, and the exposure also help build these countries. What you want to make sure is that there is not to much of this going on to loose the spectacle.

Showing you have a good product is much more beneficial that telling everyone how amazing it is only to be disappointed when they see it.

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

I mean it’s hard to reserve an opinion when it’s been rammed down your throat with total nonsense like that “beckham esque” example, from the BBC. 

However; since the start of the tournament, personally (using me as an example because I was called out), I’ve made about 3 posts. Hardly “keeps coming back”. 

I’ve watched about 30 minutes of the whole thing here and there. Nothing has changed my opinion that in general, the standard of football, from elite competitors, is nothing short of shambolic. 

To be fair; I actually feel abit sorry for most of the girls, they no doubt accept that it’s not a sport many are or will be interested in. it’s people like the BBC over pushing it and idiots like that Yank who was asking for equal pay who stoke the fire and debate. 

6 posts. 3 different days, you started and ended Sunday in the thread with posts in the morning and evening. So yeah, you keep coming back. For someone who has watched 30 minutes of the whole thing, you seem to have both avoided it being "rammed down your throat" and yet formed some pretty strong opinions. Maybe, just maybe, give it a miss, the games, the discussions, the viral clips, the BBC Womens Euro 22 section, the yank who isn't involved in the tournament. If you stop engaging in it, you'll have a lot less opinions, look a lot less silly in a thread specifically for it and feel a lot less sorry for people who don't really care for your concerns. 

[Dman]

22 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

6 posts. 3 different days, you started and ended Sunday in the thread with posts in the morning and evening. So yeah, you keep coming back. For someone who has watched 30 minutes of the whole thing, you seem to have both avoided it being "rammed down your throat" and yet formed some pretty strong opinions. Maybe, just maybe, give it a miss, the games, the discussions, the viral clips, the BBC Womens Euro 22 section, the yank who isn't involved in the tournament. If you stop engaging in it, you'll have a lot less opinions, look a lot less silly in a thread specifically for it and feel a lot less sorry for people who don't really care for your concerns. 

So unless your opinion mirrors that of yours, don’t form an opinion or post about it.

Right, got ya. 

[suewhistle]

That is not what he is saying, but go ahead anyway.

Everybody has opinions, but it always helps if they are informed.

[suewhistle]

As to the score last night, it shouldn't be put down to a mismatch. The whole point about the win and its scale was who it was against. I agree one-sided games aren't satisfying at any level: when the Dog and Duck turns up against The White Horse with only 8 hung-over players nobody really enjoys it, and Hounslow in Southampton Women's league last season must have disliked the whole season after QPR took most of their players.

England's mens team have struggled often enough against minnows, and the women were sub-par against Austria and that is the context the game should be viewed in. As ever some seem to think it's an issue with the women's game and use it as a stick to comment on the whole game.

I wonder what this tournament will do for playing numbers? As of 2020 there were 3.4 million girls and women playing in the UK, and based on the increase in the number of local teams I think this has increased since.

 

[Dman]

20 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

That is not what he is saying, but go ahead anyway.

Everybody has opinions, but it always helps if they are informed.

Informed about what, exactly? 

Ive played and coached at a very decent, non-league standard. I’ve watched hundreds of games from the premier league to tyro league. 

These are professionals who train every day and have the best facilities around to help them better themselves. Some of which struggle to put in a cross off the ground. Give that to any male who’s playing in the Hampshire premier league or higher and they’d be the best player at this tournament. 
 

There is clearly a huge push from certain media outlets to improve the popularity of the women’s game. That will not come until the standard improves. 
 

at the minute it’s miles off. 

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, suewhistle said:

As to the score last night, it shouldn't be put down to a mismatch. The whole point about the win and its scale was who it was against. I agree one-sided games aren't satisfying at any level: when the Dog and Duck turns up against The White Horse with only 8 hung-over players nobody really enjoys it, and Hounslow in Southampton Women's league last season must have disliked the whole season after QPR took most of their players.

England's mens team have struggled often enough against minnows, and the women were sub-par against Austria and that is the context the game should be viewed in. As ever some seem to think it's an issue with the women's game and use it as a stick to comment on the whole game.

I wonder what this tournament will do for playing numbers? As of 2020 there were 3.4 million girls and women playing in the UK, and based on the increase in the number of local teams I think this has increased since.

 

Sorry sue but I don’t believe those numbers. That’s basically about 5% of the population. 
 

my son goes to futsal twice a week where there are about 80 kids over the two nights, there are about 3 or 4 girls. They are technically good but there aren’t many of them.  In the league he plays in there are probably an average of one girl per team out of 6 ages groups two teams with 14 or so a squad kids playing on a Saturday morning. There is no way 5% of the population are females playing football, simply observing local football tells you that. 3.4m might have played football at some point but there is no way anywhere near that many are playing regularly 

according to stats on 1.5m adult men play twice a month with 11m players in total, no chance one in four are female. I know that’s how they report it but I very much questions the accuracy being involved in local football myself 

Edited 12 July, 2022 by Turkish

[Sheaf Saint]

5 hours ago, Dman said:

I mean it’s hard to reserve an opinion when it’s been rammed down your throat with total nonsense like that “beckham esque” example, from the BBC. 

Nobody is ramming anything down your throat, and that example is just an over-excited commentator talking shite. It's not as if that has never happened im the mens game is it.

If you don't like the amount of coverage the media are giving it, you are free to ignore it. Personally I'm not the slightest bit interested in Wimbledon, but you won't find me going on Tennis forums and repeatedly posting about how uninterested I am and how it's being rammed down my throat by the BBC.

[Chris cooper]

You know we are getting done on pens by the Germans in the 1/4 finals !! 
 

[The Kraken]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Sorry sue but I don’t believe those numbers. That’s basically about 5% of the population. 
 

my son goes to futsal twice a week where there are about 80 kids over the two nights, there are about 3 or 4 girls. They are technically good but there aren’t many of them.  In the league he plays in there are probably an average of one girl per team out of 6 ages groups two teams with 14 or so a squad kids playing on a Saturday morning. There is no way 5% of the population are females playing football, simply observing local football tells you that. 3.4m might have played football at some point but there is no way anywhere near that many are playing regularly 

according to stats on 1.5m adult men play twice a month with 11m players in total, no chance one in four are female. I know that’s how they report it but I very much questions the accuracy being involved in local football myself 

Maybe we find out by doing a straw poll of how many SWF female posters are players. I’ve got a hunch Sue might have played once or twice, though she’s a little coy about it so I could be wrong, but perhaps there’s others that play that will push the representative number closer to that 5%.

[nta786]

Credit where it's due, my biggest qualm with women's football is usually the standard of goalkeeping but the Finland/Denmark game earlier both keepers had a very good game. Some of those saves wouldn't be amiss in the men's game.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Spain have had chances, but it's 2-0 at half time for Germany. A suicidal pass from the Spanish keeper for the first. Another goal from trying to play out from the back. Although this was more unforced than most.  A decent header for the second. Spain outfought at times, and the early goal will have changed the shape of the possession, we'd have seen otherwise.

[AlexLaw76]

Something missing in this picture 🤨

[The Kraken]

What is it Jamie? A ball?

[Weston Super Saint]

3 hours ago, Dman said:

That will not come until the standard improves. 

 

at the minute it’s miles off. 

What are you comparing the standard to?

How do you know it will improve? This standard may be the best it's going to get....

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Germany crushed any avenues for Spain's attack in the second half. Really compact lines. Spain had to go wide. I thought they'd persevere with that, but they prefer passing through the middle. But, even with a couple of unforced errors, Spain couldn't get back into it. All the possession and passing just seemed to drain them as the game wore on. Germany nearly pounced on a third, with Popp ruled to have gone over with no foul, when nearly through against the keeper. Spain will have to be careful not to lose second spot to Denmark.

[Sheaf Saint]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

What are you comparing the standard to?

How do you know it will improve? This standard may be the best it's going to get....

The standard has improved massively in the last few years. The quality, particularly the goalkeeping, is clearly superior to when I watched the last WC. 

But Dman wouldn't know this because he's only watched 30 mins of this tournament and that's obviously enough to decide that the overall standard is terrible.

I actually like the fact that the women's game is played at a slower pace than the PL, as it gives flair players more time and space to show off their talent. It's true that, in general, women will not be able to hit a ball with as much power as men can, but you still get to see some great goals in these international games, so I find it enjoyable.

If other people don't, that's fine. I just wish some of them would stop 'ramming it down our throats' (😉) how much they dislike it.