The THFC Women's Team Thread

[DelboySpurs]

Brum beating Brighton has done us a favour as we can now afford to lose all 3 games and still hold on to 5th

We all know RS is not a risk taker (wont try anything new - wont even get angry on the touchline) and plays her favourites
I hope Izzy gets a look in but like Cho last year - hardly ever featured as a new loan player - same with Vikki ! this year - what was the point of signing her!

 

[Ben1]

Brum beating Brighton has done us a favour as we can now afford to lose all 3 games and still hold on to 5th

We all know RS is not a risk taker (wont try anything new - wont even get angry on the touchline) and plays her favourites
I hope Izzy gets a look in but like Cho last year - hardly ever featured as a new loan player - same with Vikki ! this year - what was the point of signing her!

Where do you want Viki to play? you keep mentioning it, but also think Bartrip/Zadorsky have been best two players. We tried a back 3 at Brum and had a terrible 45 minutes.

Every manager has favourites.

 

[garyhopkins]

Bartrip and Zadorsky have been excellent, so I assume Schnaderbeck was signed as an understudy in case of injury.

However, with our obvious goalscoring problems I am surprised RS gave up on a back 3 after 45 minutes. Neville looked good when starting further forward, so trying the wing back system for a little longer surely would have made sense? Or was it just a lack of a suitable left wing back?

Every manager has their favorites and who they can rely on. In RS case I think it just makes things more predictable for our opponents (a bit like Conte not trying a different system or players yesterday). Depending on whose fit the likely team and set up are often predictable and with our lack of goals I thought she might change it around a bit; and hopefully we'll see some different formations/forward players in the next closely packed 5 games.

As you appear to have more understanding of the women's team than I (I watch the games but have limited knowledge of much else going on) I was wondering your thoughts on RS picking Ria Percival at right back in the City game recently. Beforehand she'd played Ale for 3 games with Neville further forward and kept 3 clean sheets. It left me feeling that RS was shoehorning her 'favorites' into the team (although it could, of course, have been tactical or due to a niggle). So, when Ria makes a mess of the goal I'm left thinking why was she right back in the first place?

 

[DelboySpurs]

Great first half and we hold our own ... shame about their equaliser and maybe Korpella should have stayed more back and could have reached and tipped the cross over. Vikki has done well alongside Molly and Shelina and RS must have heard me say - try Bartrip and Nev as wing backs as it seems to be working. Just need to do same and be more decisive when on goal and who knows we may get a point out of this .... COYSW

 

[DelboySpurs]

Ah well didnt last long and Schnaderbeck should have done better with that cross - well I must be wrong she aint as good as I thought. Think we miss the hard graft from the likes of Clemaron

 

[DelboySpurs]

Summanen has been my WOTM for me - outstanding today thus far

 

[DelboySpurs]

Should have taken Naz off a lot earlier

 

[DelboySpurs]

Boy we know have to cave in when we had the advantage of 11 against 10 and a goal up .... guess 3-1 is better than 4-0 as I expected.
Very poor 2nd half and especially last 25 mins I have to say. We just dont have the skillfull players in places where it matters .... Tang/Naz/Simon quite poor today. Seems like they had 10 against our 9.

 

[DelboySpurs]

They were as I expected - hard and dirty and certainly know how to kick a ball and shoot when it matters ... we just dont have that skill up front at all. Rachel tries her best and she puts in a real shift every time - even Harrop did amazingly well on the left wing but as far as decent shots at goal ZERO ... same as the men's team the last 2 games. Naz should give up and play Rugby as she has more chance of getting 3 pointers than a goal and brings very little to this team but then just look at the bench ! nothing worth talking about and why I would like to see so much more better in next season. Their bench was full of talent and many more than us 9 for our 5 - that speaks volumes. Why no Izzy on the bench ? - probably forgot to register her in January for the WSL.
2 still injured and 1 on 5 yellows ... we should have signed at least one more top front player in January considering Ubogagu and Graham have been out since 2022.
Be interesting to see who RS plays at theirs on Wed .... it probably will be a canning the next time around.

 

[garyhopkins]

Didn't see the game today. Playing against 10 it sounds like we had as good a chance as ever to get something. Unfortunately, the major issue of accurate striking of the ball towards the goal remains. 9 shots but none on target.

The shooting by the forwards is definitely the area that needs improvement. I am amazed at how poor we've been all season. You'd think they'd be staying late to improve this 'basic' skill requirement.

And no Izzy on the bench again. Anyone know why she is overlooked or is she injured?

 

[DelboySpurs]

Totally agree Gary - Ben may think differently but I think it is more likely she was not registered for WSL only the Cup games - that makes more sense as to why she is not being picked and never on the bench.

Naz had 2 if not 3 golden chances but she just cannot keep the ball horizontal - she always leans back before she kicks the ball and it always goes into the rafters or way off target. When I trained kids years ago I always encouraged young players to use the plant foot just in front of the ball and kick with the trailing foot in a way with the knee over the ball first - that way the ball will always go horizontally or at worse head height if miskicked but would be goalbound if on target. More so with these lighter skinned balls. Young players are always trying to bend the ball all the time like Ronaldo or Backham of old but cannot do the basics first. That is to learn how to kick the ball hard horizontally - practice practice practice.

Simon and Naz - then Tang brought nothing .... I also forgot That percival was on the injured list so that was 4 out and why a weak bench of 1 GK and 4 players to their 1 GK and 8.

RS didnt even change the style of play when Chelski set up with 5 4 1 for the 2nd half and gained 100% more possession
She could of done the same by not bringing on Tang and bringing on Green to shore up midfield and hope for a Williams break away goal when we were 1-1 ... game was lost when they scored to make it 1-2, we had no answers.

 

[garyhopkins]

It sounds like we were better when they had 11 players. It will be interesting to see what RS comes up with in the return game on Thursday. I can't see a sudden improvement in our finishing and the priority must be the Sunday game at Everton.

 

[DelboySpurs]

Nor me - we will get pasted unless RS comes up with a better counter plan ... but a damp squid will never be a firework

 

[DelboySpurs]

The pundits were saying that our home pitch was a disgrace and not fit for WSL games - interesting
Lets hope the big boys at THFC hear that and go get a better home ground for next season or help pay for a new pitch lay at the Hive.
Be interested to hear what Spoddams thinks as the Chelski rabble were certainly more vocal that the Spurs fans and once again very little encouragement from the people in large blue coats. We need more from the touchline mannequins.

 

[spoddams]

Hello! Ha, we made our 2 seconds of fame on tv around 15 minutes in thanks to the awful M25 traffic jams (2 hours where it should be 1!) which was the highlight, as we missed our only goal, stood outside the ground as it happened.
Random thoughts.. Jess Naz gave the ball away far too often, though when everyone was forward (towards the end) she has the pace and caught and managed to stop Chelsea getting forwards. I like her as a player for the record.
Their supporters are loud, though watching the highlights on tv I heard our supporters, so we were probably just too close to them. But we need that presence and noise a lot more - there are two women who we see at games who get the singing going, spotted them for the first time though we all seemed really quiet overall.
It felt like Ash Neville had a quiet game - like they knew she's an important player for us so she wasn't as obvious as usual. We had Kerys Harrop close to us and she was SO closely marked, she didn't get a lot of space, but players relied on her to get the crosses into the box, so it failed a few times. Plus that corner they took short... husband and I were both "WHHYYYY did they do that?!" right at the end.
Chelsea were strong. (husband was also happy to see Sam Kerr score though not happy it was against us as he's Australian). Not sure what they're saying about the pitch quality as it seemed like the same old same old.
My overall opinion - we're not there, but if we can have a decent finish then players will want to come to us and things will improve. 10 vs 11 helped us in the first half, but we didn't get the goal we needed - or rather, goals. But as my daughter said "I'll take this, it could be a lot worse" - it was only a couple of seasons ago we were having way worse defeats by them....
I got chatting to a man and his child in front of us, their first game and they enjoyed it - I figure if we get the support, you get the supporters, the noise will come and it'll make a difference. We need to be noisy. As I pointed out to my daughter's friend who was with us, we all sing the same songs, they've just got different words. If we were to move from The Hive I'd love us to be somewhere that's easy to get to from South London - we've driven since the pandemic but are thinking about public transport again, and the Hive is pretty good for that.
I came out of the game not feeling too down. You could see where we needed improvements, and listening to the few bits of commentary late last night it sounded like we were expected to lose anyway. Next season, higher expectations, better players. I loved the days of Karen and Juan before Rehanne took over, and it doesn't feel like we're at that stage where we keep losing - this was a loss against a stronger team.
Sorry, lots of rambling there, I'll probably think of more things I thought about, I should write it down at the games

 

[DelboySpurs]

Thanks for that Spoddams - great to hear. The pundits !!! its all them very little mention of us and of coarse like all pundits they dont really say what they think - bar their comments on the pitch. Many in the top WSL are getting their own stadiums so why not us? This Hive looks like they have 3-4 games each week and why it is looking so poor with still a few weeks to go.
They will def have to look at this if we want to try get into Europe.
Interesting that you like Naz ... she can run that i give you but does very little else - same for Ubogagu and Ayanne
These are the players we need to move on for players that can do something with the ball - not just lose it every time.
I am hoping RS will move on another 6 and get players in like Bartrip/Clemaron/Summanen - all top signings but they all need to be midfield to front creative players who know how to score goals. It is goals that win games not running/passing and defending although they are important as well.

 

[DelboySpurs]

Hate to say it but the new interview from RS is like a repeat - if she knew they had changed the game after 10 mins into the 2nd as I mentioned in my earlier post then why not do something about it rather than let 2 more goals get conceeded and carry on with the same set up and game plan?

 

[spoddams]

We did say yesterday (haven't read/seen the interview yet), why was she bringing on Angela Addison so late in the game? That's one thing that always irks me - Addison is good and quick and gets into space and does things - and every time she's on for the dying few desperate minutes.
Although it could also be said the team desperate for that last minute goal pushes everyone forward and hopes there are no little mistakes made that help the opposition score... like yesterday. Sigh.

Good news on the Shelina Zadorsky front though - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61218752?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

 

[DelboySpurs]

Yes I did see that .. but this also makes me mad ! ... she is thinking of taking the club's one year option ... Not the club want to make her a better offer. She is by far our best player and loyal - so give her a good deal for another 3 years - not the old one for 1 more.

 

[DelboySpurs]

Lovely interview with Shelina about the excitement of her extension ... 1 year !!!! .. yet they give Neville to 2025 - just doesnt make sense .. unless she only wanted 1 more year as she is 30 soon and wants to try go elsewhere - what do I know !

Just hope Morgan Naz Ayanne Addison Spencer Green are not extended or offered new - we need better and I would add Ubogagu to this as well if we can cxx her contract and move her on.
As for Williams and Harrop - guess they have worked their socks off for us and deserve another year.
Other players under option from Ben's list are - Percival Cho Korpella and Clemaron (all worth keeping for another year)

As for the loanees - I would imagine Tang will go back as she clearly cannot cope in this league and I think there is still a good defensive player in Schnaderbeck even though she is still a Red. She had a good first half this week but was out of sorts in the second along with others if being honest - not totally her fault as we lost the momentum and RS should have changed the set up and gone to a back 4 when they went 5-4-1 .. I guess with her height she should have had the cross for their 2nd covered . 3rd goal came from tired legs from Summenen (my WOTM) and a tired pass (the rest is history)

Just hope we leave enough room to rebuild again in the summer and not give too many contract places away before the end of this season - that would mean we are working with current stock player investment rather than investing more to go get better. We need Paratici to go get 3-4 big name players in to make the WSL know we are here to stay and can attract top players .... I can see Liverpool doing more if we hold back as they will for sure invest in their brand come the summer.

Guess the only downside for starting contracts now is that those not in the reckoning may not bother if picked in any of the last 4 games and we need to try get points from Everton and Leicester otherwise 6th beckons although that is still two places better than before .. think it was 8 last year and 7 the year before COYSW