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Beyond the Pitch Episode 1: Pre-Season, Pitch Performances and Public Platforms
45 Plays3 months ago
Dive into the world of football as we discuss the excitement of pre-season, analyze standout performances from the Lionesses, and explore the impact of new stadiums and streaming options for women's football. From player insights and team dynamics to the future of accessibility and fan engagement, join us, Alka Hirani and Briony Smith for a thrilling journey through the beautiful game!
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Transcript
00:00:00
Briony
to this.
Introduction to 'Be On The Pitch'
00:00:11
officialgspn
Hello and welcome to Be On The Pitch, a daily women's football podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. I'm Alka and I'm joined here by Bryony.
Overview of Topics
00:00:22
Briony
Hello, Alka, nice to be here again.
00:00:22
officialgspn
Bryony? Yay.
00:00:24
Briony
um Yeah, today we're going to focus on maybe just a little bit of pre-season, potentially just looking at the ah recent news on Declan Rice and on Kira Walsh and that correspondence.
00:00:32
officialgspn
and
00:00:40
Briony
Maybe look at a little bit on the lionesses and their friendly fixtures coming up. And then we will maybe discuss the exciting news around the streaming of the WSL on YouTube.
Pre-Season Experiences
00:00:55
officialgspn
yeah right So how's your pre-season been?
00:01:00
Briony
Yeah, yeah, not too bad. It's been slow. ah I coach a lot more than I play. ah And for me, it's is that importance of going out and watching, learning and gaining the extra insights on the coaching front for me.
00:01:07
officialgspn
Fair enough.
00:01:17
Briony
um And I think there's lots of excitement media and news around women and coaching and I think it's been really interesting to see the build up. What about you?
00:01:31
officialgspn
um Oh, I don't even know if I could call it pre-season. It's been just summer, summertime. No, we actually have been pre-seasoning, pre-seasoning or pre-seasoning because I was like, I'm making a dish.
00:01:48
officialgspn
We probably since like May, it started really early. We've been really lucky, but it is only once we train them. It's good to have a consistency. I like it. We're at the club. um quite fresh and quite new so being able to see each other all the time is is much better than obviously going AWOL for about four months um but yeah i don't think i've been pre-seasoning as much as i've been everything else and i've actually picked up coaching though but i think pre-season is very different for little kids they don't really have it so it's just been a big
00:02:21
Briony
No, it is very different. I think that pre-season build-up is very important for a lot of people though. Getting back into the swing of things after such a long time out, it can be extremely challenging on so many fronts, can't it?
00:02:32
officialgspn
100%. But then also there's definitely loads of people that don't get a pre-season like all the Olympic girlies um and guys. um But they it's incredible because it's now been one, two, three, four, four years, summers in a row where they've they haven't got four pre-season or they haven't had time to obviously train with their team before season starts and have a break for themselves.
00:02:41
Briony
so
00:02:52
Briony
No.
00:02:59
Briony
Yeah, exactly.
00:02:59
officialgspn
um But it's also really nice to see what they've been up to the ones um that are afraid from seeing luckily, because I really wish that we were in the Olympics, but like the lionesses who have unfortunately not made it into the Olympics. but yeah
00:03:17
Briony
Unfortunately not. It has, however, been interesting to see the news on Walsh's mentorship of Declan Rice in pre-season.
Mentorship and Integration in Football
00:03:26
officialgspn
Mm-hmm. They were out in Dubai, yeah, training together, which is wicked. It got me really excited for a bit because... What's the last note who said that? What? Me? Please.
00:03:38
Briony
Yeah, who knows? I mean, there's speculation around this one now with Kara Walsh, but we have to wait and see. i think this is I think this is something really fresh, something really new, and I think this is a big statement in terms of you know who can rule the roost here and there. you know Kira Walsh is a quality player. We know that. And I think it's really interesting to see how they've gone, do you know what? Let's actually give one of the men this as something to look at, something to take from, and not the other way around for once. and I think it's really exciting.
00:04:16
officialgspn
Yeah, I think I've looked at it as more of a fan perspective in terms of I am an Arsenal fan. Hate on me if you must, please don't though. But it got me really excited because I thought, perfect, why would you be training with Declan if you're not going to come back to North London?
00:04:26
Briony
ah
00:04:35
officialgspn
But then this morning when I opened Instagram, she was back in Barcelona.
00:04:42
Briony
Oh, yeah, no, it's it'd be it'd definitely be it'd definitely be nice to see her playing club football in England, whether it will happen or not, we'll just have to wait and see. um But I do think that there are obviously many benefits that will come from this introduction of integration where it comes to men and women in football. I think not solely categorizing and separating out men's and women's and teams into their own separate entities and actually where they're able to come together and cross over in the training and in the pre-season, it can obviously have so many benefits going forward.
00:05:22
officialgspn
Definitely. A hundred percent. And not even just in terms of physical training, exercise, nutrition, but also just, just the cohesion of the club. Also under not the players, but the staff as well, being able to work together and learning, like both managers learning side by side.
00:05:38
Briony
Yeah.
00:05:40
officialgspn
They don't obviously do major group pre-seasons together, but I think this intertwining will be extremely beneficial. A hundred percent.
00:05:48
Briony
I agree. And I think, you know, looking at two players like Declan Rice, like Kyra Walsh, in terms of their positions, positionally, they are, they are similar. They are similar players. But actually, could it be something interesting for someone like Declan Rice to take something from the female game and take that over into the men's game in terms of maybe playing style?
00:06:10
officialgspn
definitely they were both obviously such different differently played not only the fact that he plays in English like Premier League and Kiria Walsh is playing in the Spanish side. um I think both of their mentalities regardless of men's and women's football just from the location of the clubs alone is so vastly different that they could both share a lot of knowledge I would definitely pay to be in a training ground with them so
00:06:36
Briony
Yeah, and I think it's, from what I've seen anyway, it seems that actually it's gone really well. I mean, it looks as if it's something that, in my opinion, they should take forward and continue to do in more pre-seasons with more players, et cetera.
00:06:50
officialgspn
Definitely.
00:06:54
officialgspn
100%, yeah. it's that I think that's probably one of the best pre-seasons I've seen so far, other than like a little, I do love it when I see the ah more summer, like holiday fights of the players, but like as in like ads for actually training pre-season, I think they've probably won.
00:07:02
Briony
Oh, yeah, no, I totally agree.
00:07:18
Briony
I think that's really important as well when you make that point of their summer holidays and their pre-season. I think it's so important as an audience that we do see both sides of that. I think it's very easy for people to forget that players are still human sometimes.
00:07:33
officialgspn
100%. Yeah, they just think that they're there for them to watch and they should be able to watch them like in friendlies and fixtures, but um have a break. they've got They deserve it. It's incredible what they've been doing, working constantly, obviously with even international friendlies, fixtures, tournaments, it's incredible. Yeah.
00:07:54
Briony
be interesting to see what happens and where they keep in touch going forward.
00:07:59
officialgspn
Oh, I hope so. I think they'll get on the same flight back and then go to the same place. Arsenal, right. So pre-season.
00:08:12
Briony
yep
00:08:14
officialgspn
Pre-season looking like for international teams is very different to individual players, though, because obviously you've got the likes of the Olympics, but then you also have
00:08:24
Briony
ye Yep.
00:08:27
officialgspn
up a new common fixtures as well for international teams. um The lionesses, the lionesses have come up with loads of different, and is it four, five fixtures in the next
00:08:32
Briony
Yep.
Lionesses' Upcoming Fixtures
00:08:44
officialgspn
half a year?
00:08:44
Briony
Yes, it's five up up and coming towards Christmas, I believe.
00:08:51
officialgspn
Right. I'm so excited for the USA one. to
00:08:57
Briony
I mean, what what more could you want than Serena Wieckmann's side versus Emma Hayes?
00:08:57
officialgspn
That is when I need to get hands on.
00:09:04
Briony
I mean, come on, is I don't think it gets much better than that in terms of play style, in terms of two managers who, I mean, let's be real, it doesn't really get much better than those, does it?
00:09:14
officialgspn
Iconic.
00:09:15
Briony
It really doesn't. And I mean, you look at Emma Hayes as and her playing style, her system,
00:09:24
Briony
How do you think that is going to fare for someone like Serena Wiegmann and what do you think the lioness is going to have to do in order to keep them at bay?
00:09:32
officialgspn
I gotta watch my mouth, I'm joking. But um I think they're a weapon. They always have been, they've slipped, okay, everyone's allowed to slip. But I think the minute they slipped in the World Cup, everyone then thought, oh yeah, USA, not too good, you know, go go and train harder or like go fix the internal issue that caused you to do, to perform poorly in the World Cup. That is what they did, they performed poorly in the World Cup.
Analyzing Team USA
00:10:00
officialgspn
They are not poor performers, however. They had one ton of events that did not go their way. They are still incredible. like I think they were at the top for so long that they were never touchable. They were that far up.
00:10:19
officialgspn
that everyone thought whoa they were the best and they showed their human side but as well as as long as the games continue to grow there are so many fixtures that not fixtures but like other national teams that are also growing and pushing them a bit further and I think and so
00:10:34
Briony
So I was, yeah, so I was gonna say it, you know, a team can't be untouchable forever. It just doesn't work like that. You know, particularly now, as we'll know with the money that gets, is being pumped into women's football a lot more. The growth of other national sides is gonna become more apparent. And don't get me wrong, I don't think that it's gonna stay that way for much longer. I think with Emma Hayes coming in, there are a team of already, strong players left, right and centre.
00:11:04
Briony
And they're just bringing in arguably one of the best female managers, coaches in the world.
00:11:08
officialgspn
ah yeah
00:11:10
Briony
And all that's going to do is, you know, add to the pot. And it's going to, in my opinion, cause a lot of problems for a lot of nations now going forward with someone like Emma Hayes with those players.
00:11:19
officialgspn
hundred percent have it
00:11:22
officialgspn
especially well going back to the original question of what threat this is going to bring to the lionesses, their forwards are incredible and Obviously, so are the defenders and their keeper, all of that fine. But they're forwards. I don't think I've seen such strength and cohesion in a forward group as the USA in a very long time. But not in fact that they know each other and they poll each other. I fly an S's if we don't take shots. And I hate to say it, but that is just what happens.
00:11:22
Briony
Yeah.
00:11:52
Briony
No, no, it is factually correct.
00:11:56
officialgspn
With the USA, like even watching them throughout the Olympics, um insane. They take shots that they think they're going to miss and it so happens to go in. Like Trinity Rodman is on fire and that is the issue that we are about to face.
00:12:08
Briony
Yeah.
00:12:11
officialgspn
We do not have enough power either at the back or um as awful as this sounds at the front to be able to balance out either the way that they want to play.
00:12:27
Briony
No, I agree. And despite us, I would go as far to say that our front our front line as a lioness squad is ah is it's very technical. It's very skillful. And you talk about the USA knowing each other inside out. And it really is. And it's it's sixth sense for them. They take that shot. and they all know what's gonna happen with it. And I think our frontline, as good as we are, you know making that one-two pass, that let's take out the line, play it out wide, get a ball, whip back into the box. Yes, we've got the height. Yes, we've got the players that put the head on it.
00:13:05
Briony
but we just do not see that outside the box shot or let's have a go from range and take our chances here because actually there are more odds on our side than we think, i.e. we watch teams like the USA National team who do it regularly. And okay, maybe you could argue a breath of fresh air came in there and we started to see a little bit of that in players like Lauren James.
00:13:28
officialgspn
100% are like, yeah.
00:13:28
Briony
I mean, yeah.
00:13:31
officialgspn
Even like what I was thinking is even regardless of the players and how many times they've played together, they can still manage, this is the USA, they can still manage to pick these balls up because Emma Hazen's walked in and picked her team and she said, yep, I'm having you, you and you, cause you're the best and I'm not having you because you don't fit in the team.
00:13:52
officialgspn
Hence the lack of Alex Morgan in the Olympics.
00:13:52
Briony
You need to do better.
00:13:53
Briony
It's as simple as that. Yeah.
00:13:56
officialgspn
and And I'm not saying Serena Vega needs to do the same, but she needs to make that that impact in terms of picking because we all know that she likes her saying ah say her same starting in or her same pick of a team. She doesn't leave like more senior players out, but I am now wondering with this transfer window that's happened and to be absolutely still of probably, but I'd like say European players into the NWSL is is whopping is probably the most it has ever been. Will those players like Jess Carter, Esme Morgan, will they still be able to find their place? Or do you think Serena is thinking, in right, they're gone, time to, you know, let's look at the under 21s, let's look at the under 23s and see what new fresh players and feet we can bring.
00:14:47
Briony
I think there obviously comes a benefit in in consistency in a squad. I think that are there is young talent that needs to come through. And I think, obviously, there needs to be that mindfulness that you can only have that same squad playing for so long before you know we've seen injuries in that squad so many times.
00:15:04
officialgspn
100%.
00:15:08
Briony
Obviously, that's a conversation for another day. But injuries in women's football at the moment is so prevalent. players retire. There is also quite a lot of age in that lioness squad now. There is a lot of experience, which obviously comes with its, you know, its pros. We do need to bear in mind that there are going to be those players that, you know, we've seen it in recent years. We've seen, for example, big name, Ellen White made that call, made that decision overnight. And we've been lucky that we've had the replacements there. And we don't know that Serena isn't a manager who keeps her cards close to her chest and she knows where her backup comes, but
00:15:44
Briony
It'd be interesting for the outer public, for the outer world to actually be able to see that a bit more and know what the thought processes are behind that.
00:15:54
officialgspn
Definitely. Like, even in terms of having that knowledge and that experience in the team, but letting them sit on the bench. Does Mary actually to start all the games?
00:16:09
Briony
I think Hannah Hampton's made a real statement for herself, may I just say.
00:16:09
officialgspn
Can we play something in? Exactly. Or like, do we need both? I would like both. I like to watch them, but do we need both Lily Bright and Nia Williamson who are Yes, they are back from injury, but they're not fully fit. They might become fully fit at the end of pre-season. Don't get me wrong. I'm not, you know, I'm not that physio for me to tell you they're not fully fit, but is it okay to let them have that break, especially against some of the teams that are less like more low ranked than us, like Switzerland, for example, and they're all friendly. So let's bear that in mind. So I'm hoping this is a new opportunity where we can go to some really cool stadiums and
00:16:52
officialgspn
Just watch new experiences.
00:16:56
Briony
Yeah, and I think on the topic of stadiums, if we maybe just, you know, move this along a little bit, where the WSL was concerned this year, it appears that actually we are starting to see women's teams now playing at mainstream stadiums,
Women's Games in Mainstream Stadiums
00:17:11
Briony
i.e. we look at, it's just been announced, Aston Villa ladies have indeed been allocated Villa Park to their main stadium. I mean, this is, you know, it's big in terms of equality. We're obviously going to see here, you know, Will this attract more men to watch the game? Are we going to see a wider array of an audience that come and watch the games because it's at the stadium they used to go into? They know you know they know it better. There's going to be something that's gonna be season ticket holders. Is that something they might consider making joint season tickets because it's at the same stadium? What do you think in terms of the benefits of this?
00:17:48
officialgspn
I think it's incredible, not only for increase in views, but also um just the woman being able to play in their stadium. It's not the men's stadium. It's not a stadium. It can be their stadium now. And there is still like, even when you go to some stadiums and you see the difference in what, like the Emirates compared to like, at Bournemouth, it's insane. Like it is not a stadium that should have been affiliated with both.
00:18:22
officialgspn
Obviously they use it because their academy trained there too, but it's an academy. Like the woman should be able to play in the men's, not the men's, in the stadium that the men's play in. And I think being able to play, obviously yeah, okay, cohesion, increase in views, but I think just the sense that they have in themselves and as players and as
00:18:34
Briony
Yeah.
00:18:45
officialgspn
professional athletes will just increase and that again will benefit their play and the game so much more.
00:18:53
Briony
ah It's just this statement again, isn't it, that until things are done equally on both sides, we're not going to see the progression of the women's side of the game.
WSL Streaming on YouTube
00:19:02
Briony
And actually, really excitingly, I think, as we'll all agree, they have announced that all WSL games will be streamed live on YouTube for free access for people to watch. That is that. That isn't even something that the Premier League sees.
00:19:15
officialgspn
thank god no because thank god i don't have to go about fa player anymore because if i ever had to click on another game where it tells me that i cannot view it
00:19:18
Briony
That the Premier League is not freely accessible for people. You've got to have Sky Sports, et cetera, et cetera. You've got to have BT Sport. Women and girls and men who support women's football are now going to be able to watch the WSL free every game on YouTube.
00:19:43
officialgspn
or what The amount of games I watched last season through the FA player where it was a torrential rain and I saw the cameraman wiping down the camera. Do you know how insane that is? I'm so excited to have it on YouTube, accessible to everyone. No one has an excuse now.
00:20:03
officialgspn
Sit at home and go watch that game because it is worth your time.
00:20:03
Briony
ah Exactly.
00:20:07
Briony
Again, the moment the moment that it's freely accessible, and it is now accessible to everybody, yeah like it you know, are we going to see more uptake of the game?
00:20:07
officialgspn
um
00:20:17
Briony
Are we going to see more people buying into the women's side of the game? Is this essentially one of the components needed for the WSL to grow, both within the media and within mainstream football?
00:20:30
officialgspn
100%. I think the streaming side, so it being on YouTube, is far more beneficial than having the players play in the same stadium. Obviously, there's benefits to both, but it's so much more widely accessible. For example, me, I don't live in Manchester, but I can watch all the Manchester United and Manchester City games now, which would benefit me more than being able to go to the Etihad and watching them or Old Trafford.
00:20:53
Briony
Exactly.
00:20:59
officialgspn
And that is something that I think.
00:21:03
officialgspn
Yeah, it's so much better being able to watch them in both home and a waste of circumstances, but also another thing that I'm very, very happy about is not all clubs are at their main stadium, but they are starting to use the main stadium. For example, we've got an intake, an increase in Chelsea at Samford Bridge. They have now also got their home package advantages at Samford Bridge, which hopefully include a Champions League as well because
00:21:32
Briony
Amazing.
00:21:38
officialgspn
off topic, but I really do think that Lucy Bonds has got a magical power and they might win the Champions League this year.
00:21:44
Briony
I wouldn't disagree too much with you on that one.
00:21:48
officialgspn
I would like to disagree.
00:21:48
Briony
I think it's, it's inevitable, you'd think, wouldn't you? It's, she's just, the moment she steps on my pitch, you know that something else is going to happen. And
00:22:00
officialgspn
And the amount of fresh transfers that have come into Chelsea is incredible.
00:22:05
Briony
It is going to be, I think, a very rememberable WSL season.
00:22:12
officialgspn
100%.
Challenges for Manchester United Women
00:22:14
officialgspn
Similarly, talking about stadiums and training, maybe not too similar, I just want to speak about it. But I was looking at the link of transfers and clubs, and one that surprised me was actually Manchester United. As of recent, we have figured out that the women will no longer be training or have the building of their um their own training ground and be moved to what you want to call it luxury boxes instead of yeah um I don't even know
00:22:47
Briony
yes i've seen this yeah i mean how how on earth does this bring any level of consistency or in fact there's no what is the word i'm looking for here how is this there's no home sense to this there is no level of this is our training ground there's no there's going to be no legacy that follows this there's going to be no level of
00:23:14
Briony
home turf is the word you know i think i think it's madness no no you just can't you just can't
00:23:17
officialgspn
But just so that the men have a facility because the men's facility is being renovated, not the women's. And I'm not saying you to renovate them both, but I'm saying you can't kick one out to provide for the other. That's not how it works. But linking that to the transfers, i expected man well I expected a lot more Manchester United place to go. We've obviously seen Mary Epps. um I'm lucky to Paris. I'm shocked. she's staying.
00:23:47
officialgspn
I thought Mallard would really try and keep her home place at Lyon because she deserves way more. But we are we are also seeing incredible transfers in as well, which baffles me to the fact that players are okay to be signed to a club that so easily allows this to happen.
00:23:53
Briony
Yeah.
00:24:06
Briony
Yeah.
Closing and Future Excitement
00:24:08
Briony
I think transfers is something we could talk about all day, isn't it?
00:24:10
officialgspn
I know, we just don't have enough time.
00:24:14
Briony
We just don't have enough time today, but definitely one for another day.
00:24:14
officialgspn
ah
00:24:19
officialgspn
But end on the positive, YouTube Wicked, absolutely loving it.
00:24:23
Briony
It is absolutely great.
00:24:24
officialgspn
It is so exciting. That is my, my, my positive, my plus for this podcast is being able to easily access, accessible, easily access it. So very excited for the future.
00:24:37
Briony
I know what my weekends are going to be spent doing for the next year in a game after game.
00:24:41
officialgspn
100%.
00:24:43
Briony
It's been great talking to you today, Alka.
00:24:44
officialgspn
Right. And that's probably about it. Time to wrap up. Thank you very much for listening.
00:24:49
Briony
Yeah.
00:24:51
officialgspn
Hope you enjoyed it. A bunch of God knows what's just come out of our mouths for the past half an hour. But yeah, see you next time.
00:25:01
Briony
See you next time, guys.