Women's Football

[Tyne81]

I've tried to get into this, especially for my daughter who has recently got into football and is at a club but Jesus I find it tedious. Just doesn't feel or play like the male equivalent. My daughter sharp lost interest too. Most I've seen is the England Scotland game and that was just dog awful, best bits were Alex Scott and Hope Solo talking shite.

 

 

[O Neill]

People need to realign their expectations a little when watching. It's obviously very easy to compare to men's football but it's never going to have that level of physicality or athleticism.

 

One thing to bare in mind is that this is a 24 team tournament which in itself is ambitious as a number of nations who have qualified don't have their own professional club league and plenty of players are amateurs. Even in the Scotland squad there are 7 or 8 players playing in the Scottish league who are all part time players. The game is growing globally and in my opinion it probably is being forced out a bit too soon. But huge strides in quality are being made world wide and those are evident between this world cup and the last one in Canada.

 

The crowds won't be particularly big across the tournament. That's simply a case of women's football having little identity on a global scale. In France they have Lyon and PSG so in those regions I'd expect the local turnout to be higher than in say Nice, Rennes or Le Havre etc There are relatively few star names and fewer still who have a profile that stretches beyond the viewer who has interest in the game already. Marta may be the only one. It also hasn't helped that Ada Hegerburg has chosen not to play given her status in the European game with Lyon. Again though the profile will improve over time. Particularly as the WSL grows.

 

As for the quality of matches. They are slower, there are horrible mistakes, there has been poor goalkeeping. Can't deny any of it. But many people who don't seem to want to encourage the game to grow and improve are desperate to highlight every failing on social media while ignoring the positives. There have been some great saves to go along with the howlers. Some fantastic bits of individual skill as well.

 

It's definitely not a product for everyone. If you've given it a go and you aren't enjoying it then fair enough. At least you've taken the time to look. I view it much like women's tennis. It's not the same as watching Federer vs Nadal. It won't have the same variety, physicality or big serving as any men's match will. But there's a product there which is different and demands it's own space to grow. The more people who stop to have a look, the better, as it's the only way the game will grow and hopefully that will encourage more girls to get involved leading to more opportunities for them in future and in turn improve the standard of the game.

 

Nice to see a thread on this even if it's not quite ticking the box for everyone.

[Raconteur]

 

As for the quality of matches. They are slower, there are horrible mistakes, there has been poor goalkeeping. Can't deny any of it. But many people who don't seem to want to encourage the game to grow and improve are desperate to highlight every failing on social media while ignoring the positives. There have been some great saves to go along with the howlers. Some fantastic bits of individual skill as well.

 

 

I used to play in goal a lot, and it's always bugged me how shite women's keepers are. My daughter has shown some interest in it, and I've done keeper coaching before, but it's a different game being keeper. It's harder on the soul than any other position, and I would never shepherd her that way.

 

You're right to say that there's been some good keeping in this World Cup, some genuinely decent keepers who don't automatically look like the worst outfielder was made to put the gloves on. The standard has gone up enormously. But as you say, there are many minnow nations, and they still seem to be in that position.

[Jill]

Great post, O'Neill.

 

I've a few friends who have daughters doing well at college level and it's nice to see interest developing.

[jdckelly]

great post O'Neill

 

 

[Guest alijmitchell]

From what I've watched, I've really enjoyed it. I don't really understand why people feel the need to criticise it. Elite mens football I find absolutely dull for the most part, and I long for a time when you see mavericks, mistakes, human being's trying to play the game. What we see at elite men's football is a bunch of fucking terminators tearing across the pitch and joyless tactical battles. The women's game is a breath of fresh air, especially if you consider it a different kind of sport. Like cricket, 20/20, test, 50 over, women's they're all from the same game but are vastly different sports. Then again, I like watching any kind of football. The more mistakes the better!

[Guest alijmitchell]

Also, people tend to forget the evolution of the men's game. From what I've seen from archive footage, small, shit goalies and slower football was the norm. Physicality in football shouldn't be encouraged over technical skills. I'd rather watch tiki-taka than the pressing game though.

[DJ_NUFC]

Good post, Oniell, but I think comparison to women’s tennis is slightly off. Women’s tennis is freaking awesome, and I think it should be footie’s goal to get the women’s game upto the same level as women’s tennis. I think we are on the right track.

[SEMTEX]

I think it will be more palatable to the masses when we hit the knockout stage. Higher skill level, more on the line etc. It's very frustrating watching poor nations misplace passes every two minutes.

[jdckelly]

I think it will be more palatable to the masses when we hit the knockout stage. Higher skill level, more on the line etc. It's very frustrating watching poor nations misplace passes every two minutes.

yeah I think thats likely, the gap in funding for the women's game between different countries is painfully on display atm and hopefully more evenly matched teams will produce more interesting games

[Astroblack]

I think they need to change the entire format of what is actually televised. I think games with smaller pitches and smaller goals will be much more entertaining. The decision making is pretty good and that impresses me but the technical quality is pretty poor and I hate to say it but I find myself in hysterics at times like Keyes and Grey.

[Ameritoon]

It's come a long way in just a few years. We've gone from having maybe three teams good enough to win it to seven or eight.

 

In terms of attendance FIFA is getting a lot of flack. They claimed most games were sold out a month ago and most host cities have absolutely no promotion outside of the stadium, which is very unlike FIFA.

 

Maybe it's because I'm American and have a better standard of women's soccer to watch on top of the national team being in the public eye since the 90s, but I love the world cup and am enjoying this one so far.

 

You're not doing yourself any favors comparing it to the men. There's a lot of good stuff going on at the top level, but there's also a lot of countries here with basically no funding. Watch the top teams and you'll enjoy it more. As more money keeps coming into the game, like it has in the UK over last 5 years, you'll see a huge increase in quality. No reason to make pitches smaller or any gimmicks like that

[Deuce]

People need to realign their expectations a little when watching. It's obviously very easy to compare to men's football but it's never going to have that level of physicality or athleticism.

 

One thing to bare in mind is that this is a 24 team tournament which in itself is ambitious as a number of nations who have qualified don't have their own professional club league and plenty of players are amateurs. Even in the Scotland squad there are 7 or 8 players playing in the Scottish league who are all part time players. The game is growing globally and in my opinion it probably is being forced out a bit too soon. But huge strides in quality are being made world wide and those are evident between this world cup and the last one in Canada.

 

The crowds won't be particularly big across the tournament. That's simply a case of women's football having little identity on a global scale. In France they have Lyon and PSG so in those regions I'd expect the local turnout to be higher than in say Nice, Rennes or Le Havre etc There are relatively few star names and fewer still who have a profile that stretches beyond the viewer who has interest in the game already. Marta may be the only one. It also hasn't helped that Ada Hegerburg has chosen not to play given her status in the European game with Lyon. Again though the profile will improve over time. Particularly as the WSL grows.

 

As for the quality of matches. They are slower, there are horrible mistakes, there has been poor goalkeeping. Can't deny any of it. But many people who don't seem to want to encourage the game to grow and improve are desperate to highlight every failing on social media while ignoring the positives. There have been some great saves to go along with the howlers. Some fantastic bits of individual skill as well.

 

It's definitely not a product for everyone. If you've given it a go and you aren't enjoying it then fair enough. At least you've taken the time to look. I view it much like women's tennis. It's not the same as watching Federer vs Nadal. It won't have the same variety, physicality or big serving as any men's match will. But there's a product there which is different and demands it's own space to grow. The more people who stop to have a look, the better, as it's the only way the game will grow and hopefully that will encourage more girls to get involved leading to more opportunities for them in future and in turn improve the standard of the game.

 

Nice to see a thread on this even if it's not quite ticking the box for everyone.

 

top post

[O Neill]

I think they need to change the entire format of what is actually televised. I think games with smaller pitches and smaller goals will be much more entertaining. The decision making is pretty good and that impresses me but the technical quality is pretty poor and I hate to say it but I find myself in hysterics at times like Keyes and Grey.

 

I did consider this. A lot of the group games will be pretty painful viewing unfortunately but there is a necessity for the smaller teams to get exposure in their own countries to try to at least help grow the game. I'm fully understanding though that it can both be punishing to watch and that Thailand losing 13 goals to USA probably doesn't do anything for the profile of the game over there.

 

It is however a double edged sword. Scotland losing 2-1 to England wad unthinkable to me even a few weeks back. I suspected we were looking at 5-0. But that result has undoubtedly given the game a massive boost up here with it being televised and Scotland looking very competitive in the second half.

 

Smaller pitches and goals are a great idea theoretically but the problem becomes putting that into practice. Step away from the World Cup or even the WSL and where do you find the facilities? Once you go to non professional and down to grass routes then most teams are sharing facilities with lower league men's teams etc. Because there really is no money then it becomes a case of using what's available and for most clubs it's pitched marked up for 11-a-side with standard sized goals.

[Kanj]

I'm sure women would love to hear men wanting to shorten the pitch and decrease size of goals. That can't be a serious suggestion.

[SEMTEX]

https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/22/chelsea-women-manager-emma-hayes-urges-goals-made-smaller-womens-game-9640291/

 

Chelsea manager seems to be all for it.

[Dr.Spaceman]

I get the whole ruthless thing, but celebrating your 11th goal as if you've just won the cup itself is a little weird.

[Kanj]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/05/29/reducing-size-womens-goals-would-not-help-fight-equality-says/

 

your goalkeeeper does not

[SEMTEX]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

You asked if it was a serious suggestion. If a manager of a professional team has suggested it, I'd say that it was a serious suggestion.

 

I don't really see the problem with suggesting smaller goals, given they're optimized for the men's game.

[Kanj]

I'm just making sure you saw that the manager of said professional team's goalkeeper, her player, does not like it.

 

That's all I'm trying to say.

[triggs]

I get the whole ruthless thing, but celebrating your 11th goal as if you've just won the cup itself is a little weird.

Aye this is the bit I found a bit weird

[SEMTEX]

... still a serious suggestion tho innit.

[Astroblack]

I'm sure women would love to hear men wanting to shorten the pitch and decrease size of goals. That can't be a serious suggestion.

 

I’m sure they’d love it. Here’s Emma Hayes, Chelsea women’s manger, calling for smaller goals.

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2019/05/22/chelsea-women-manager-emma-hayes-urges-goals-made-smaller-womens-game-9640291/amp/

 

Obvious statement but women aren’t built like men and they shouldn’t have to run the same distances as men do. It’s unfair and I feel sorry for them.

[Mike]

This Thai keeper, yikes.

 

Dreadful.

 

I'm in love with Megan Rapinoe and her pink hair.

 

Megan is incredible.

[Astroblack]

I get the whole ruthless thing, but celebrating your 11th goal as if you've just won the cup itself is a little weird.

Aye this is the bit I found a bit weird

 

Women are fucked. Played some co gender footy and I’ll be dribbling round and wam, some chick’ll just chop me down, no regard for the ball at all.