Lionesses vs Sweden

Seriously, that was a lucky win.
And it really shows how its the result that counts, in tournament knock-out football.
Does everybody on here know what that means btw, "tournament knock-out football" ?.
We've made it to the Semi's, and I think that's as far as I thought we were going to get.
So anything now beyond this, is a bonus.

 

Of relevance to absolutely nothing, my dog is called Russo. Daughter named her after Alessia.

 

I’m assuming he means Penistone Church, Worsbrough, Athersley Rec etc. if he does I think he’s correct.

I doubt he’s talking about Sunday league level. They wouldn’t be able to match up to professional women on a fitness level on a big pitch.

 

I have absolutely no doubt they'll beat Italy, if the players who picked up knocks yesterday are fit. Nowhere near the side Sweden are.

 

To be fair to the women, those lovely blokes in the FA denied them access to playing the game at any level for 70 years, that's 70 years of development they have to make up. SO, **** the FA and **** anyone saying the womens game is ****.

 

You what? Lucy Bronze's goal was as good as anything you'll see in the professional game. In local football, even if the cross had come in, it would have hit the attacker straight on the kite and he would have had to go off with a broken nose. The defending goalie might have dropped the ball into their own net though due to laughing so much.
.

 

I'm probably a lot more invested in women's and girls football than most on here, so if this is a genuine discussion, then here are a few thoughts. Of course it's a lot more nuanced than initially presented.

We often see threads on here - and discussions anywhere else - about women's football are distracted by a comment such as "yeah but how would they compare to men." It's important to say at this point, there is no need - they are different sports played by different people. They can co-exist as different things, can aim for different audiences (though there can be substantial crossover), and be defined by different standards. Live and let live.

That said, I can completely understand why people might be interested in how a women's team might fare playing a men's team. As an exercise in simple wondering, it's a fair question to pose. The problem is that many who pose it are seeking an 'angle' that denigrates women's football, and that's not OK.

I have a small amount of direct experience of this, having played a couple of years ago in a game against Barnsley FC Ladies (5th tier at the time), as part of a team of rather old, unfit men - not even what you'd describe as 'Sunday League' standard. It was a 1-1 draw. They had all of the possession, were way fitter than us, were more intelligent and creative, and were better drilled. But the simple matter was, we were stronger in every duel, had a couple of players with better top speeds, and made better decisions at crucial points in play. In other words, we 'old-manned' them - literally.

What does that tell us? Well not a lot, but it points to both the importance of physiological differences and something to do with a game understanding that is afforded to boys that isn't to girls, at least in the age groups the players in that game grew up in.

I'm absolutely certain that if we routinely created women's v men's game at different parts of the pyramid, we would see similar results. But again, it's not the point. Yes, England Women may be at a similar level to level 6-7men's teams, WPL teams may be at a lower level still, and Tier 5 teams may be Sunday League level or below. So what?

Back to the point about 'opportunities afforded to us' - this I think is where @Rosco's point is very relevant. The girls game is growing exponentially. After Euro 2022, the number of players registered in our local girls league doubled. The coaches in those leagues are far more engaged, qualified and keen to develop than ever before. Girls are now starting to be afforded much better levels of engagement, coaching and development. Still nowhere near the same levels as boys get, but the gap is closing.

And what impact does that make? Well again I have some direct experience to draw on here. The standard of girls football in the age group I coach is *miles* better than the couple of years above it, and the same can be said for the age groups below ours. Girls are getting much, much better at football, much quicker than they ever have before. It really is quite something to watch. There is one team in our age group (grassroots football) that has pretty much given up on playing boys the same age, because they wipe the floor with them week in week out. The physiological advantage is reducing as quickly as the 'know how,' because girls are finally being afforded the same level of coaching and preparation.

Would that be the same if you played girls v boys Academy teams at the same age? I doubt it - again the physiological differences come into play more there. But can girls teams play better football than boys teams at the same age? You bet they can. And as a side note, it's quite something to see the coaches and spectators of those games absolutely lose their sh*t when their lads are being trounced by girls!

TLDR: they're not the same game, don't pretend that they are. But come back and ask the question in 20 years, they'll be far more comparable.

 

Cripes! Are you saying there's some cheeky corrupt chappies in the FA per chance .... lol.
Throughout my entirety I've found the powers that be in the FA to be a reight disgrace!
Well said Rosco.

 

Yeah hopefully you might be right.
And didn't they/Italy also scrape past a Scandinavian team, like we did.

 

I don’t know why people compare the women’s game to the men’s. Most are outraged at the thought of men playing in women’s sports, trans athletes for example. So it’s just a daft comparison.

I never watched Jess Ennis and thought “yeah, but Daley Thompson would beat her.”

 

Can’t believe no one has commented on Chloe Kelly’s run up for the penalty.
Got have balls of steel to do that before your penalty let alone in the circumstances.

 

And if it weren't for the discrimination in the clubs between their mens team v their women's team, the grassroots would be a better standard.

 

Rapid growth of women's football in Cymru
'Our Wales: For Her' five-point women's football strategy.

"We have set an ambitious target to double the participation and get 20,000 playing by 2026 – in order for us to ensure the game reaches its full potential," said Mooney at the time.

"We are investing more as a percentage of our turnover into our women’s programme than any other nation across Europe."
Noel Mooney, FAW CEO

Now three years down the line, the landscape of women's football is very different, and significantly healthier, at every level. Almost 16,000 female players are now registered in Cymru, a 45% increase, while almost 4,000 girls have taken part in the UEFA Playmakers programme since 2021.

The FAW has more female representation at staff and board level, additional investment through stakeholders and commercial partnerships means funding for the women's game has risen 254% since 2021, and on-field success has seen the average attendance rise from 1,800 to over 6,000.

The women's domestic game has also grown exponentially, while further investment into the FAW Academy programme has helped to improve the quality of players coming through the ranks.

"We are thrilled with the rapid growth of the women’s and girls’ game across Cymru," said Mooney in October. "The strategy is ambitious, and the progress made so far is monumental. The FAW is committed to building on this success and reaching even greater heights."

 

Be interesting to see what happens because boys football at grassroots and academy level for boys in wales is in the worst state it’s been - they put a rule in that meant once kids reached 12 yrs old in wales you can only play for one club (so previously kids could play grassroots and academy) now they can’t. It’s decimated the grassroots scene in wales as kids can’t play with their mates in grassroots anymore - an example my sons team just lost 7 players to academy’s and had been on the verge of folding & the academy only play each other in wales so they play the same 6 teams 4 times a season and every time they tend to come off worse playing teams from England where kids can play grassroots and academy level.

 

Seems incredibly short sighted that, wonder what the thought process was behind it.

 

Would imagine it works well for teams in highly populated areas like Cardiff / Swansea areas but not the rest of wales.

they seemed to think it would lead to more players having opportunities to join teams but in reality most teams fold once they can’t find replacements as there aren’t many big communities to find replacements from.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61339163?app-referrer=deep-link

 

So the Lionesses won, and France are out!

 

Can’t look past Spain winning it now