Tag: WSL

Euro Roundup: Champions, Champions League and WSL Restructure

Posted on by RJ Allen

Before you go ahead and read this article, please note that the Euro Roundup will be taking a little break over the summer period with the majority of leagues finished. There will be a roundup looking at the next round of results from World Cup Qualifications next month but that will be it for a while up until September.

Champions

As previously mentioned, many leagues have finished or are nearing their conclusion with the champions already crowned. In England, WSL1 was won by the unbeaten Chelsea. It was close between them and Manchester City with not much between the two. Ultimately it was points dropped by City late on in the season that cost them the title and a second full season in a row with an unbeaten side winning the title. Chelsea’s unbeaten run almost came to a halt in the last match with Liverpool taking an early 2-0 lead but 20 minutes from the end, Chelsea scored three in reply and secured that run. They also won the FA Cup this season with this being the second time they’ve won the double.

In Spain, it was another close-fought title race between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. Atletico Madrid just managed to claim the title with Barcelona one point behind. Previous matches between the two in the league saw them evenly matched as both matches ended in 1-1 draws. Barcelona’s two losses let them down with those coming against Granadilla Tenerife Sur and Athletic Club. Atletico’s only loss came against Rayo Vallecano.

In France, it was business as usual with Lyon blowing the opposition away. At the time of writing this, they are still unbeaten in the league with one game to go. They’ve recorded 20 wins and one draw. That draw came against PSG on May 18th. Lyon faces Rodez on the final day. Unfortunately for PSG, they are eight points behind with 17 wins, two draws, and two losses.

German giants Wolfsburg won yet another title with the same point difference but still have two games to go. This is their second time of winning it twice in a row after the 2012/13 and 2013/14 wins. Between these feats, Bayern Munich achieved a double title win and that is who Wolfsburg travel to next.

Italy saw the closest title race in Europe with the title having to be decided in a championship decider match between Juventus and Brescia. The two teams finished the Series A season with identical records, 20-2. They each won against each other in the league with Juventus’ second loss against Fiorentina and Brescia’s against Mozzanica. Like the title race, the decider was a very close one with neither team scoring in 120 minutes. It took penalties to separate the two and Juventus triumphed winning it 5-4.

Champions League

Lyon triumphed over Wolfsburg in what was a crazy ending to the Champions League. That was Lyon’s fifth title and third in a row. Both teams looked equally matched in the regulation 90 minutes with chances for both.

It all started to change when Pernille Harder put Wolfsburg ahead just a few minutes into extra time. After being put through a grueling cup match just days before, this was a bit of a surprise and they looked to hold on to the lead. It didn’t take long for the match to implode on itself. Alexandra Popp committed a late challenge and having been booked already, she received her second one and was sent off. Lyon immediately pounced on this with Amandine Henry equalizing and Le Sommer putting them ahead just moments later. The win was pretty much wrapped up when Ada Hegerberg scored a record 15th goal of the UWCL campaign. Lyon added another late one in the 2nd half of extra time with Camille Abily getting the perfect send-off as she scored in her 81st and final European game.

WSL Restructure

The WSL started up in 2011 with a second league being added on in 2014. The next big change from then on was the recent 2017/18 season. The WSL had always been a summer season as it fitted in well with having the league as its own entity and filling a gap between normal seasons elsewhere. It changed to a winter season recently to put it in line with most other UK leagues as well as the European calendar. This was to help the top teams compete more in Europe as well as helping the national team. Not long after the season started, the news dropped that there would be a restructuring of the top four tiers which rendered promotion and relegation obsolete for this season.

The restructure seems minimal in Tier3  and Tier 4. That’s where the Women’s Premier League is and it will be renamed to the Women’s National League. The top Tier 1 and Tier 2 are where the main change is happening. WSL1 will revert back to the original name of WSL and WSL2 will become the Championship. There have already been licenses issued to various teams in both. All but 1 team in WSL1 has been granted a new one, with Sunderland waiting til the second round of application and Brighton going up from WSL2 to WSL1 after being granted a Tier 1 license.

There are seven confirmed teams in the Championship. Oxford United and Watford didn’t apply first time around but they could be included in the second round. The winner of the WPL Play-Off Final between Blackburn Rovers and Charlton Athletic will be in the Championship next season subject to the license. This leaves four spots in WSL and four spots in Tier 2. One of those four in Tier 2 looks to be filled by Manchester United who are starting a women’s team again but look to be taking it seriously with Casey Stoney set to become the manager.

The teams in both tiers will be confirmed on Monday, May 28th, so when you are reading this, you may be able to find out just who is in and who is out.

Euro Roundup: WSL, Sweden, UWCL and the International Break

Posted on by RJ Allen

WSL Title Race

The NWSL may have just started but other leagues are nearing the end of their current seasons. One, in particular, is WSL1, which saw a big shock this weekend when Reading beat first-place Manchester City 2-0. Reading have been a tough team to beat this season and are starting to really show just how good they can be. An improvised bicycle kick finish by Remi Allen put the Royals in front and Kirsty Pearce secured the win for them despite going down to 10 players. City had plenty of chances but just couldn’t get past Mary Earps in the Reading goal.

Had City won, they would have capitalised on Chelsea dropping points to their London rivals Arsenal. The Chelsea-Arsenal matchup is always close and full of drama, and this one lived up to it. Sari van Veenendaal made an error in clearing the ball, which Ramona Bachmann latched onto before sending it into Fran Kirby. Kirby took a touch and poked it past Veenendaal to get her 20th goal in all competitions this season. Beth Mead leveled it up for Arsenal right before halftime with a great solo goal. She made a good run, beat a couple of the defenders, and finished well. She was easily one of the best players in that game and fully deserved the goal.

Birmingham City quietly moved up to third in the table with a good 2-0 win against Sunderland and Liverpool kept themselves near enough in the top five with a 4-0 win against Yeovil Town. Arsenal are just ahead in fourth of Liverpool on goal difference.

With matches still to be rearranged after weather delays, and some teams having games in hand, this title race could go right down to the wire. There is no room for error for any of the top five.

Sweden

As most of you will have heard by now, Christen Press has joined her former team Kopparbergs/Göteborg on a short team deal after the interesting saga with the Houston Dash. Press was last with this team after WPS folded, a spell with the club saw the team win the Svenska Cupen.

It’s been a few years, so let’s look at where the club is now and where the league is currently. Press has come into the league at the start with the Damallsvenskan kicking off April 14. Kopparbergs will kick off their season away against Rosengard on the 16th. Rosengard were runners-up last season, while Kopparbergs finished eighth last season out of 12 teams and will be looking to improve on that.

UEFA Women’s Champions League

This is another club competition nearing its finale for the season. UWCL is highly regarded as it really shows who is the best in Europe. History has already been made, with both WSL1 teams in the tournament—Chelsea and Manchester City—making it to the semifinals for the first time. It’s also the furthest that Chelsea have ever made it. They faced Montpellier in the quarterfinals, and while the French side did make it tough, Chelsea progressed through 5-1 on aggregate.

Manchester City made it interesting for themselves in the second leg against Linkoping. City took a 2-0 lead into the away leg and what ensued was a goalfest, with both teams going for it. The second leg ended 5-3 to Manchester City. The other two in the semifinals are usual suspects at this stage, with Lyon and Wolfsburg both making it through. Wolfsburg secured their place with a 5-0 win over Slavia Praha in the first leg, but drew 1-1 in the second. Lyon faced quite a tough test against a great Barcelona side but won both legs to put them through.

Both semifinals are on the same day with the first leg on April 22 and the second one on April 29. Both English teams will start off at home. Manchester City face Lyon, who they faced at this stage last year. Lyon won the first leg last time, but City managed to win the second one—although it wasn’t enough to put them through. City will be looking to go one step further this year.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will be facing their nemesis Wolfsburg. The German team has put Chelsea out twice before in earlier rounds, but the third time could be the charm for the Blues. Chelsea have already come through a tough journey, beating Bayern Munich, currently second in the Frauen Bundesliga, on away goals. They then went on to beat Rosengard 4-0 over two legs before facing Montpellier. This is not the same team as in previous seasons, with manager Emma Hayes bringing in players to really strengthen Chelsea’s ability to compete on various levels. Chelsea are currently unbeaten in the league, and could finally beat Wolfsburg over two legs. These two semifinals are really unpredictable and we could see yet more history made.

International Break

This month sees four federations kick off or resume their World Cup Qualifications. AFC will see the Asian Cup take place in Jordan, with five teams qualifying for the World Cup. CAF will see teams in the first qualifying round for the African Women’s Cup of Nations, and the Copa America will directly qualify two CONMEBOL nations and send a third to a playoff against the fourth-place CONCACAF team.

The fourth federation is, of course, UEFA, and the European qualifiers look to be at the business end. Eight teams will qualify out of seven groups. Group 1 sees the top two teams, Wales and England, go head to head for the first time in this campaign. Wales currently top the table with 10 points, but England are behind by just one point with a game in hand. England have won all three of their matches so far, and will be full of confidence after performing well in the SheBelieves Cup.

England are now second in the world, but Wales won’t be too much of a pushover, with players like Jess Fishlock and Natasha Harding in their ranks. 15,000 tickets have already been sold for the encounter, which takes place at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton on April 6 and it should be a great atmosphere. Expect England to win and thrash their next opponents Bosnia with Wales ending their campaign later on in a playoff spot.

Group 2 is a bit more wide open, with Switzerland on top, with 12 points, and Poland second with six points and a game in hand. Group 3 is quite close, with the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland level at seven points, while Norway have six points. The Netherlands and Republic of Ireland face off on April 10. Group 4 has Denmark and Sweden first and second based on goal differential, with Denmark to face third-place Ukraine. Germany will look to regain their form against the Czech Republic, who are second. Rounding out the groups, the top two in Group 6 (Italy and Belgium) face each other April 10, while Spain and Finland in Group 7 play April 6.

We could see teams going a step closer to their place at the World Cup and maybe a few shocks as well.

Euro Roundup: Casey Stoney Retires, International Previews, and More

Posted on by RJ Allen

Welcome to the third edition of the Euro Roundup. There’s a few different points in this week’s edition, with international tournaments coming up, and, of course, the top leagues being back in action after the international and winter break.

Press Play

Have you wanted to look behind the scenes and see what life is like for some of the pros in women’s football? Now you can, thanks to UEFA. In 2017, UEFA launched the #WePlayStrong campaign at the Champions League final in order to change perceptions of the game, and to encourage girls who may be interested in playing football. Anyone can get involved in spreading the word and taking part, from pros to fans.

They have continued this with a YouTube series called Press Play. This is where you see the lives of four European players—Eunice Beckmann (FC Basel), Lisa Evans (Arsenal and Scotland), Sarah Zadrazil (Turbine Potsdam and Austria) and Laura Feiersinger (SC Sand and Austria)—as they vlog it. There are already five episodes and it is uploaded every Thursday, so go and give it a watch.

SheBelieves, Algarve and Cyprus

It doesn’t seem that long since there was international action happening, but we are soon approaching another break—only this time, some silverware is up for grabs. First up is both the Cyprus Cup and the Algarve Cup. These tournaments both start at the same time—February 28—with a fair amount of European interest.

In the Cyprus Cup, the European teams involved are: Finland, Wales, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Hungary. Belgium, Austria, Finland, Switzerland and Wales have announced their squads, with other teams still yet to announce. There are some notable call-ups here. For Austria, Simona Koren, who plays for Sunderland, got called up and could make her international debut. Three uncapped players have been called up by Wales: Ellie Lake (Swansea City), Gwen Davies (Cyncoed) and Elise Hughes (Everton) have all been named in the squad.

In the Algarve Cup, seven out of the 12 teams are European. The Netherlands, the European champions, are involved, as well as runners-up Denmark, plus Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Russia and Portugal. The Netherlands and Russia are yet to announce their squads for the tournament.

Of course, concurrent with these two tournaments, we also have the SheBelieves Cup, a round-robin tournament between the USA, France, Germany, and England. 2017 has been an interesting year for all three of the European teams. They all made it out of the group stage in the Euro, with the Lionesses faring the best as they won all three games. France made it difficult for themselves, just getting through after drawing with Austria and Switzerland. Germany, who had won the last six European Championships, were knocked out by Denmark, and England eliminated France in the quarterfinals. England were of course knocked out by the eventual champions, the Netherlands.

The USA is the only side that has yet to announce their final roster.

League and cup action

There’s been a fair amount of action in European football this month, with a fair few top leagues in action. In France, Lyon are still yet to drop as they have 15 wins—the most recent win being against Bordeaux, with a comfortable 4-0 scoreline. They’ve been on fine goalscoring form in the Coupe de France, too, with 41 goals in three—yes, three—matches. Their opponents have been teams lower in the standings, and Lyon have shown the power and talent they have in their squad. Their next opponent, Marseille, is slighter higher in the league than previous opponents, but it looks like Lyon will get through yet again.

In Germany, the league came back after a winter break on February 4. It’s fairly close in the league, with three points between first-place Wolfsburg and second-place Bayern Munich, and just four points separating the third- through fifth-place teams (Freiburg, Turbine Potsdam, and Frankfurt, respectively). Both Bayern and Wolfsburg had close matches recently. Munich beat SGS Essen 2-1. Essen took the lead 23 minutes in, and the winner came in the 89th minute.  Wolfsburg beat Hoffenheim 1-0 with the only goal of the game at the 15th minute scored by Pernille Harder.

It’s been a mixture of cup and league games in the WSL. This month saw all WSL teams enter the FA Cup—the knockout tournament where all English teams, down to the county leagues, can enter to try and get to the final at Wembley. Cardiff City, from the WPL South, produced a shock in the 4th Round when they beat WSL2 side Oxford United on penalties. Cardiff are in the league below Oxford. The next round saw Cardiff knocked out by fellow WPL South side Charlton Athletic to see Charlton become the remaining WPL side left in. All other ties went pretty much as expected but Millwall came so close to producing a shock in terms of league position. Millwall are flying in WSL2 and managed to only lose 1-0 to Arsenal, in a game that saw Kim Little’s long-awaited return from injury.

In the league, however, Chelsea and Manchester City are pulling away from the rest in their quest for the title. They faced each other on February 1, a meeting that ended in a draw, but the next match, on February 24, is likely to be different. Chelsea can’t afford to draw, as they are two points behind City and only one goal behind in goal difference. A win for them would see them just edge out in front. City, meanwhile, could afford to draw, but a win would increase their lead.

Casey Stoney retires

February 18, 2017 was Kelly Smith’s farewell game. A year on from that, another England legend announced her retirement. Casey Stoney has announced her retirement from both league and international football and she will be part of the backroom team with the Lionesses.

Stoney started her career at Chelsea at age 12, and later moved on to Arsenal. She played with Arsenal from 1999-2002, before going to Charlton Athletic—a team that was disbanded in 2007 due to the relegation of the men’s team, which Stoney spoke out about (Charlton have since started up again, and are currently second in the WPL South). She then made her return to Chelsea, before moving on to Lincoln; she didn’t follow the team when they moved to Nottingham and became Notts County, instead going back to Arsenal in 2014. Finally, she landed in Liverpool, where she’s been since 2016.

Over her career, she won the WPL National Division twice, FA Cup four times and the WPL Cup four times.

As for her international career, she made her debut in 2000 against France, although she missed out on major tournament appearances until the World Cup in 2007, where she played every minute of every match. She was one of the 17 female players who were part of history in 2009 when the FA introduced central contracts. She became England captain in 2012 when Faye White retired from international football. In that year she also captained Team GB at the Olympics in London, where the team advanced to the quarterfinals.

In 2015, Stoney again made history when the Lionesses had their best-ever finish in the World Cup. They battled on after a loss to France in the opening match to go on and finally beat Germany. They finished third and claimed the bronze medal after a heartbreaking loss to Japan in the semifinals.

Stoney will play her final game February 21, when Liverpool take on Sunderland at home in the league. She has inspired so many players on the pitch, including many of pros that now ply their trade in the WSL. She has been a leader and a true Lionesses legend, and she will continue to inspire off of it and maybe inspire the Lionesses to future international glory. All that is left to say is, thank you, Casey.

It’s The World’s Game – We Should Treat It As Such

Posted on by RJ Allen

When it was announced that John Herdman would be leaving his position as the head coach of the Canadian Women’s National Team to head the Canadian Men’s Team the soccer media world erupted. ‘How could he do that?, Was the team aware?, Does that man have any loyalty?’ were just a few of the shouts that could be heard throughout social media. But this article has nothing to do with any of those things. In fact, I could care less about the kind of man John Herdman is and the effects that his leaving will have on the CanWNT. Mainly, because I believe that the Canadian Women will continue to be an insanely talented and strong team without Herdman. But also because Herdman going from the women’s game to the men’s says something much bigger about the beautiful game:

Men’s soccer and women’s soccer have a lot more in common than the fans and media are willing to acknowledge.

I never realized how segregated the WoSo and BroSo fan bases were until I started writing for Backline Soccer. I am definitely in the minority at Backline as someone who watches both women’s and men’s soccer. Compile that with the fact that I watch the leagues both here and abroad, and that dwindles the group down even more.

And that is okay. There is nothing wrong with only watching women’s soccer or only watching men’s soccer. And there is nothing wrong with only watching a single league or watching soccer within the bounds of a single country. There is no right way to be a fan.

But the Herdman move lends to the idea that things can be learned between the two sides of the sport – that coaching and playing tactics can translate between the men’s and women’s game. It also begins to change the narrative from always saying that the women could learn a lot from the way the men play, to the narrative that the men could use some of the amazing resources and skills that the women have developed. They can discover and teach and share with each other – the monopoly on the evolution of the game is no longer a one-way street. It is a thriving metropolis with streets and highways, a metro system, and a railroad. Things can be learned and understood from both sides and globally.

I know that this is an unfavorable opinion. In fact, many of you reading this will vehemently disagree with me, and I accept that. But the thing that no one can deny is that although soccer is a game that is always evolving, the basic techniques and philosophies will remain, no matter what gender or nationality of the player is.

So what is the harm in reaching across the aisle and seeing what the other side has going on? What is wrong with experimenting with a tactic that worked for a men’s club in another league in another country? What is wrong with saying the same thing with regards to the women’s game?

There isn’t.

Soccer shouldn’t be consumed in a vacuum. There is so much that can be learned from not only other leagues, and other countries, but also from the other side of the game – the men’s or the women’s, depending on where your allegiances lie.

And I will take the argument a little bit further and say it would be a detriment to not be aware of what is happening on the other side of the sport, or in other leagues, and in other countries. Look at what is happening in Columbus, Ohio currently. Do we honestly believe that the NWSL is in a secure enough place to not have that happen to one of their clubs? What about the debacle of the USMNT not advancing to the World Cup. Could the men’s side have maybe taken a note from the women’s?

And if we only watch soccer that is played here in America we could lose on so much as well. Like, what makes Olympique Lyonnais so insanely well put together on the pitch, why is Fran Kirby so dominant in the WSL, or how was Norway able to make it possible to pay both the men and the women’s players the same salary? All of those things should be relevant to the women’s game in America. They are all things to take note of and evaluate. Because if they aren’t, then we fall behind in the evolution of the game. So if we are questioning why Morgan Brian went to France, or why Jessie Fleming is looking at playing in Europe over the NWSL, then we also have to ask the question of what it is that we could possibly be lacking.

And the only way to know what we are lacking is to look around us at what is happening in the game from a global perspective. From the perspective that we can learn something from all aspects of the game and from all leagues, clubs, and sides of it. The Canadian Men’s National Team did this when they tapped John Herdman to come and coach for them. They could have chosen a men’s coach from anywhere in the world. But instead they looked to the man who took the No. 12 ranked Canadian Women’s National Team to No. 5, and who lead that team to two Olympic Bronze Medals and a World Cup Quarterfinal.

What will he do with the No. 94 Canadian Men? Only time will tell. But his performance with the Canadian Women made the men’s side take notice and recognize that they could use someone like Herdman. It doesn’t matter that he coached on the women’s side. What mattered was that he knew how to coach the game as a whole. It wasn’t about sides.

Like I said at the beginning of this article, there is nothing wrong with only following one team or one league or one side of the game. In fact, it is the norm. There is no right way to be a fan and no right way for the media to cover the sport. But there should be an acknowledgment that the game does not simply happen in one place, or one country, or only on the men’s or women’s side. Soccer is the world’s game. And to discredit any portion of it is to discredit the game as a whole. Because this game does not live in a vacuum – it grows, it spreads, it evolves. And if we only pay attention to one small piece of that game, then we lose sight of everything that it stands for. It is a sport for anyone, everyone, anyplace, and everyplace.