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Suvadeep Biswas was at The Bescot Stadium for Impetus to capture the best of the action as Lionesses stars Jordan Nobbs and Beth England made their debuts for their new clubs (15/1/23)
Above: Combative action between Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur yesterday. Photo: Suvadeep Biswas for Impetus.
Perth Glory 2-0 Wellington Phoenix
by Ben Gilby (15/1/23)
Above: Susan Phonsongkham (left) celebrates after dispatching her penalty to put Perth Glory 2-0 up. Photo: Keep Up.
Perth Glory earned a much-needed win in the first-ever Distance Derby in Western Australia to mark legendary defender Kim Carroll’s 150th W/A-League Women game in style.
A 5,500km journey with a time zone difference of five hours thrown in for good measure is one of the biggest away trips in senior women’s club football. These two sides spend hours on planes for away matches in a normal week, but this one is something else.
Alex Epakis’ side went into the game without Rylee Baisden. The striker, who had scored five of the team’s 10 goals this season suffered a heartbreaking ACL injury in Perth’s game at Melbourne Victory. It’s the third season in a row that the Glory have lost a major attacking player to a season-ending injury.
Perth were aggressive from the off with multiple players looking to press and close down Phoenix every time they got on the ball. The purple and orange shirts maintained a high line.
Izzy Foletta, in only her second game for the hosts, was busy from the start. The former Brisbane Roar player has added intelligence and guile to the Glory backline as an excellent addition to Alex Epakis’ squad.
Whilst Wellington had the greater percentage of the possession, it was Perth who did more with it in offensive areas. Unlike the majority of their games this season, they were able to turn their early opportunities into a scoreboard lead.
Local star Hana Lowry picked up the ball just inside the Phoenix half and laid off inside to Cyera Hintzen. The American striker turned her marker with ease, and let fly from over 20 yards with a long range low strike that bounced in at the left-hand post past the desperate outstretched arm of Brianna Edwards.
The Glory continued to probe, and within eight minutes doubled their advantage. Lowry entered the far left-hand side of the box and was felled by Mackenzie Barry and referee, Casey Reibelt had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Susan Phonsongkham to dispatch a low spot kick into the left-hand corner.
For the visitors, Grace Wisnewski and Chloe Knott were battling hard and looking to create where possible, but on the rare occasions that they were able to approach the home penalty area, the high press did its job and forced the Nix into errors resulting in turn over ball.
Ten minutes before the break, Emma Rolston went down under pressure from Ella Mastrantonio. As the Football Fern went down, she managed to get the ball lodged between her legs with Mastrantonio making contact in a bid to get the ball free. Rolston reacted by getting to her feet and reaching out with her hand to make contact with the former WSL player’s face. Not surprisingly both were shown a red card.
Phoenix had half chances, with a corner coming off the bar and then Paige Satchell found space to gallop down the right-hand flank, beating Foletta in idiosyncratic style before delivering a pacey ball in that Ava Pritchard couldn’t quite get on the end of as the half ticked towards its conclusion.
The visitors had the first chance of the second period when they saw another ball in come off the bar. Shortly afterwards, Michaela Foster brought down Foletta just outside the box in a clumsy challenge on the right-hand edge of the box. Up stepped Phonsongkham to hit a free kick which, although dipping, couldn’t quite come down in time.
The second half then game stretched into an end-to-end encounter before the home side took over once more. Sofia Sakalis’ influence grew as the youngsters’ sparkling footwork and creative vision came to the fore.
Perth forced a plethora of second-half corners, one such came in with 10 minutes left to provoke a playground-style scramble in the box before the danger was dealt with. Sub Abbey Green had a late opportunity when one on one with Edwards after gaining turn over ball from Kate Taylor, but couldn’t get her shot on target into the goal.
Whilst this was a much-needed win for Perth to keep their Finals hopes alive, they left a lot of potential additional goals out there, which could have proved costly against an opponent in better form. Alex Epakis’ side now have a long wait until their next game – 4th February at Western United – to continue their second half of the season surge.
Tom McCarthy‘s photo gallery from the match will follow on a separate article on the site later today along with Ben Gilby‘s coverage of both team’s post-match media conferences.
Teams: PERTH GLORY (4-2-3-1): Langman, Rigby, Anton, Carroll, Foletta, Lawrence, Mastrantonio, Phonsongkham, Lowry, Sakalis, Hintzen. Substitutes: Aquino (GK), Cain, Green, Jancevski, Koulizakis.
Scorers: Hintzen 6′, Phonsongkham 14′.
WELLINGTON PHOENIX (4-2-3-1): Edwards, Foster, Taylor, Barry, Knott, Wisnewski, Robertson, Rolston, Satchell, Pritchard. Substitutes: Candy (GK), Cicco, Clegg, Gomez, Vosper.
Referee: Casey Reibelt.
Attendance: 700.
Melbourne City 1-1 Melbourne Victory
by Ryan Miller-Woods (15/1/23)
Above: Dramatic aerial action in today’s Melbourne derby. Photo: Keep Up.
Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory played out an enthralling draw at Casey Fields with goals by Alex Chidiac for Victory on her 24th birthday that opened the scoring before Hannah Wilkinson for City cancelled out Victory’s goal towards the end of the first half.
It could have been anyone’s match with both sides very much having their chances to have won the derby.
Early into the contest, it was a very even affair but City had the best opportunities at goal with a Hannah Wilkinson header from Rhianna Pollicina’s cross in the second minute that went into the hands of Victory’s Casey Dumont and a shot at goal from outside by Pollicina that went out for a Victory goal kick six minutes later.
Victory hit the front just before the quarter-hour mark. Katie Bowen’s attempted back pass to Karly Roestbakken was pounced on by Chidiac who then got into the box as her low left foot shot towards goal made the slightest contact with Barbieri which left the ball trickling into the net.
Daniela Galic provided a chance to level matters with 10 minutes of the half remaining when her cross found Julia Grosso at the far post whose header went over the bar.
Two minutes later, Galic was involved again by providing a great through ball to Torpey who then cut the ball back in the box for Wilkinson on the edge of the box who then had a first-time shot at goal that went past Dumont and into the bottom left corner. The Football Ferns star’s first of the season was a deserved equaliser.
Just before the first half was coming to an end, from a Victory throw-in by Beattie Goad Rikke Madsen chested down, turned and shot but her effort came agonisingly came off the crossbar.
City hit the woodwork with eight minutes remaining when the influential Galic found the feet of Grosso whose shot from outside the box hit the bar and very nearly crossed the line.
In the closing stages, the teams were City playing a tug-a-war of possession with Victory who arguably had the best opportunity of scoring a winner. Tiffany Eliadis made a great run from her own half and had all the time in the world to go one-on-one in the box with Barbieri but for some reason decided to prematurely have a shot from outside the box with the ball going well wide of the goal. And that was that.
Teams: MELBOURNE CITY (4-3-3): Barbieri, Torpey, Chinnama, Checker, Bowen, Grosso, Roestbakken, Davidson, Galic, Pollicina, Wilkinson. Substitutes: Hrehoresin, Blissett, Henry, Malone, McKenna.
Scorers: Wilkinson 37’.
MELBOURNE VICTORY (4-3-3): Dumont, Goad, Bunge, Morrison, Nash, Murphy, Kellond-Knight, Chidiac, Zois, Madsen, Privitelli. Substitutes: Templeman, Eliadis, Tathem, Rowe, Jackson.
Scorers: Chidiac 13’.
Referee: Georgia Ghirardello
Attendance: 506.
Brisbane Roar 1-1 Adelaide United
by Ben Carey (15/1/23)
Above: Adelaide United celebrate after Chelsie Dawber levelled from the spot. Photo: Adelaide United.
Brisbane Roar drew with Adelaide United in a spirited clash in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon. The Roar came into the match hoping to avenge their humiliating 8-2 defeat to Adelaide from last season. The South Australians was looking to break a three-match losing streak.
Despite the warm weather, there was some very high-energy football in the first 10 minutes of the match with chances up both ends of the pitch. Just shy of five minutes into the match, Katrina Gorry played an amazing ball out to Shea Connors on the left flank, who ran in and crossed it into the box where Indiah-Paige Riley was waiting.
Riley made good connection with the ball and smacked it into the back of the net. However, the goal was immediately disallowed for offside. But it was a warning shot to the Adelaide defence.
Two minutes later, Adelaide had a good chance down the other end, when Emilia Murray worked her way past the Brisbane backline and seemed to have beaten Hensley Hancuff in the Brisbane goal, but she flashed the ball just wide. In the 25th minute, Talitha Kramer, starting for the first time for Brisbane Roar, made an incredible run up the field, outfoxing an Adelaide defender, and took a good shot at goal.
Kramer had beaten Annalee Grove, the Adelaide keeper, but Marushka Waldus, the Dutch international, managed to clear it off the line with a header. But the ball didn’t go very far and was pounced on by the ever-present Riley, who found the back of the net. It was her first game of the season and she already had her first goal 25 minutes in.
A few minutes before halftime, Fiona Worts found herself in an acre of space and crossed it into the box, but the closest striker, Emilia Murray, couldn’t catch up to it and it rolled wide.
The last meaningful action of the first half was a skirmish in the Adelaide box. Larisa Crummer managed to win possession and play the ball back to Gorry, who took a first-time shot at goal, but it hit the woodwork and bounced out to safety, much to the relief of the Adelaide supporters.
The second half started with a bang, after a blind attempt on goal from Waldus hit the hand of a Brisbane defender and resulted in a penalty kick being awarded. The Adelaide captain, and all-time leading goal scorer, Chelsie Dawber, stepped up to the spot and slotted it past a diving Hancuff, who guessed the right way but just couldn’t reach the ball.
After the equalizer, Brisbane started applying a lot more pressure to the Adelaide defence, who looked like they were tiring. Understandable, seeing as this was their third game in a week.
Just after the hour mark, Norrie ran past three Adelaide defenders in the box and took a shot at goals but couldn’t wrap her foot around the outside of the ball and it sailed wide. A couple of minutes later, a long throw by Jessie Rasschaert resulted in a high ball, which Gorry took out of the air, but once again the woodwork came to the rescue for Adelaide.
Soon after, Adelaide had an excellent chance on goal, after Brisbane failed to clear it twice. Dawber passed to Murray, who took a shot, but it sailed just over the crossbar. A couple of minutes later, the Roar had perhaps their best opportunity of the half. Connors, being an absolute nuisance in the box, earned a corner kick, which was delivered brilliantly by Gorry into the box. She was able to find her Vittsjö teammate Kasja Lind, but Lind was unable to find any meaningful connection with the ball, resulting in an easy save for Grove.
Ten minutes later, Murray was charging forward, looking very dangerous, but Jamilla Rankin made a superb slide tackle just outside the 18-yard box to deny her.
The closing stages were frantic and nervy. In the 82nd minute, there was a high-energy battle in the midfield, which was won by Adelaide. Dawber found herself in a prime position to slot it through the legs of Hancuff in goal. Thankfully for the home crowd, the goal was disallowed due to an offside call. The clash was turning into a tale of near misses and disallowed goals.
In the dying minutes of the match, Adelaide mounted a relentless attack, testing the Brisbane defence and Hancuff to the limits, but the Roar managed to hold on and force a draw.
It was a frustrating draw all round, as both sides were looking to close the gap between them and the top four. Still, it was an entertaining match. It was also a very physical encounter, Brisbane committing 17 fouls and conceding a whopping four yellow cards. Adelaide committed 11 fouls but received no yellows.
While neither team was able to get across the line, there were a lot of standout performances. Gorry’s work rate was impressive, as always, as was her service into the final third, which set up a number of great goalscoring chances. She also hit the woodwork twice. On another day she’d have a brace and Brisbane would be home and hosed. But that’s football.
Riley also had an incredible first game back with Brisbane Roar. She scored her first goal in the A-League since 2020. The last two years she has been playing for top Danish club Fortuna Hjørring. She has already proved to be an effective injury replacement for Mariel Hecher.
On the other side of the field, Dawber had a great game, scoring her third of the season, and helping set up a number of other opportunities through the match. Waldus in defence and Grove in goals also put in an impressive shift, denying the Roar on numerous occasions.
Adelaide United will have a week to rest ahead of their clash with Melbourne Victory next weekend. Brisbane Roar will face the dreaded Western United away from home.
Teams: BRISBANE ROAR (4-1-4-1): Hancuff, Rasschaert, Lind, Rankin, Kramer, Norrie, Palmer, Gorry, Connors, Riley, Crummer. Substitutes: McQueen, Kruger, Freier, Levin, Bailey.
Scorers: Riley 25’.
ADELAIDE UNITED (4-3-3): Grove, I. Hodgson, Sasaki, Waldus, Hayward, Barbieri, Holmes, Westland, Murray, Dawber, Worts. Substitutes: Farrow, Coorey, E. Hodgson, Tolland, Xiao.
Scorers: Dawber (pen) 47’.
Referee: Bec Mackie.
Attendance: 932.
Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 Western United
by Johnathan Stack (14/1/23)
Above: Western Sydney Wanderers’ Sarina Bolden can’t believe it! Photo: Keep Up.
Western Sydney Wanderers provided a massive shock as they beat current league leaders Western United – sending the Victorian newcomers to their first-ever defeat after seven straight wins.
The 2-1 loss at Wanderers Football Park saw Western Sydney’s post their second successive major upset following their win against Melbourne City.
Sophie Harding and new signing Sarina Bolden consistently caused problems for the United defence, and they combined for the opener in the 12th minute.
Philippines international Bolden scored her first Liberty A-League goal in her second game from Harding’s pass.
Mark Torcaso’s Western United are made of stern stuff, and they responded through in form Hannah Keane, who scored her third goal in four days on the 26th-minute mark with a fine far-post header from a Khali Johnson cross.
It was United’s only effort on target in the first half and the American’s sixth goal of a productive campaign.
The Wanderers’ 53rd-minute winner came from a rare indirect free kick in the penalty area, that was awarded after a backpass.
The ball on the left edge of the six-yard box was played to Amy Harrison who lashed her shot past the wall and into the net.
WSW rise to eighth in the Liberty A-League, while Western United stay top although second place Melbourne City are yet to play. They will take over at the summit if they can beat city rivals Melbourne Victory tomorrow.
Teams: WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS (4-1-2-1-2): Bloomer, Apostolakis, Hunt, Keir, Matos, Gordon, Harrison, Steinmetz, Price, Bolden, Harding. Substitutes: Chessari, Khamis, Massih, Rue, Saveska.
WESTERN UNITED (4-2-3-1): Beall, Sardo, Cummings, Dakic, Vlajnic, Taranto, Robers, McDonald, Johnson, Steer, Keane. Substitutes: Beard, Dall’Osre, Logarzo, Papadopoulos, Sawicki.
Referee: Kelly Jones.
Attendance: 448.
Canberra United 5-1 Newcastle Jets
By Kieran Yap (14/1/23)
Above: Michelle Heyman holds up the ball for Canberra United. Photo: @CanberraUnited twitter
Canberra United delivered a comprehensive performance to defeat the Newcastle Jets 5-1 at Mckellar Park on Saturday afternoon.
The win was Canberra’s third of the season and one was their most impressive performances. It was all the more impressive considering that they were without star playmaker Grace Maher.
Njegosh Popovich’s side was buoyed by the return of one of their star recruits as Chengshu Wu started after recovering from a facial fracture. Her impact was undeniable.
Michelle Heyman opened the scoring for the home side. The league’s all-time leading scorer and potential World Cup bolter picked up the ball on the right flank and cut inside. She drew the attention of three defenders before playing it wide to Nikki Flannery.
The winger delivered a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Heyman who had continued her run. The lofted pass was brought down before the Canberra captain steadied and buried the shot past Georgina Worth.
Flannery brought up her second assist of the half to make it 2-0. Vesna Milivojević dribbled forward and released Flannery on the left. Her low cross was impossible to defend and it crashed off the face of the well-positioned Wu, landing in the back of the net.
It was a bittersweet goal for the Chinese recruit. A goal was a triumphant was to mark her return. Considering it was facial fractures that had kept her out, she probably would have preferred a less painful way to score.
Canberra’s dominance continued into the second half and Milivojević combined with Flannery to set up the third goal for the home team.
Flannery was uncontainable and now looks back to her very best since her knee injury almost two years ago. She cut the ball back to Milivojević, who swept it toward goal. Heyman gambled on it arriving at the back post and her instincts paid off with a simple but well-calculated finish.
Ellie Brush was next to get in on the act. The centre back drifted upfield and got on the end of a Milivojević free kick. Her flickeed header flew past Worth to make it 4-0 and Newcastle looked out of the contest.
But the Jets found a way to score. They almost always score, and have only gone goalless in two games this season. Skipper Cass Davis hit a well-delivered free kick from deep that Tara Andrews easily directed on target.
Despite Canberra controlling most of the match, Newcastle had their chances. Before her goal, Andrews looked threatening whenever the ball was in the penalty area, and Sarah Griffith was only denied by some exceptional keeping from Chloe Lincoln.
The contest was sealed by Milivojević who nodded home from close range after Emma Ilijoski’s cross. The prodigious full-back was skilful and creative after coming on. Canberra have impressive depth at left and right back this season with Sasha Grove, Hayley Taylor-Young, and Emily Roach joining Ilijoski as options on either flank.
Although Newcastle battled industriously and always threatened with their pace in attack, the day belonged to Canberra. If 5-1 was not an exact reflection of the game, it was reward for some ruthless finishing. The Jets tested the in-form Lincoln and Lauren Allan was a consistent menace, but their defence had no answer for Flannery, Wu, Milivojević, and Heyman.
Canberra now have the relative luxury of a full week off before they travel to face Wellington. They are improving in form and adding Grace Maher back into this squad makes them a team that those higher on the ladder will be increasingly wary of.
The Jets remain an entertaining team. They will score in most games, but this season they have conceded more. Newcastle have a bye and are back in action on the 28th January against Western Sydney Wanderers who will have two games in that time.
Teams: CANBERRA UNITED (4-4-2): Lincoln, Grove, Gett, Brush, Taylor-Young, Jale, Wu, Hughes, Flannery, Milivojević, Heyman. Substitutes: Roach, Murray, Ilijoski, Christopherson, Segavic.
Scorers: Heyman 16’, 52’. Wu 27’, Brush 78’, Milivojević 90+3’
NEWCASTLE JETS (4-2-3-1): Worth, T. Allen, Garnier, King, Clough, Johnson, Davis, Tamplin, Andrews, L. Allan, Brodigan. Substitutes: Stapleford, Agnew, Griffith, Konjarski, Olsen.
Scorers: Andrews 80’.
Referee: Lara Lee.
Attendance: 1,023.
Ahead of tomorrow’s huge WSL showdown between Arsenal and Chelsea, Impetus’ Kris Goman dialled into Gunners boss Jonas Eidevall media conference. In wide-ranging discussions, Kris reports on tragic news impacting Beth Mead, Jordan Nobbs’ departure, new signings, the importance of Caitlin Foord, and the match itself (14/1/23).
Above: Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall. Photo: KNews Media.
There was a lot to unpack in the Arsenal press conference in the lead-up to Sunday’s huge top-of-the-table London derby against Chelsea match at Emirates Stadium.
The tragic news that Beth Mead’s mother had passed away was shared. Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall passed on his condolences and said it was taking a lot of energy for the team to have a teammate that goes through that. He said the players have asked to play with black armbands to honour Beth, her mother, and their family.
There’s been a lot of changes during the winter break. But he still thinks that togetherness is the foundation of the team and how they achieve. “When you feel togetherness, you feel safety. And you feel that somebody will have your back. When you create that togetherness, you will have teams that play without fear, that are brave, that are front-footed, that wants to seize opportunities, that plays to win rather than not to lose. And that’s the transformation I want to see this team going through.”
He also mentioned the togetherness of the club. For example, when they were playing Lyon, their pitch was snowed in and the club arranged access to Emirates to train. And for this game, they’ve also been able to train at Emirates last week. “With new players, this has been really important, as they’ve never played at Emirates, so experiencing it before, means they are better prepared for the match. They are small things but all these things together mean we build together.”
The Gunners boss expressed excitement at the fact that it’s the third game in a row with ticket sales of over 40,000 at the club’s major stadium. He was hoping there might be a new record here against Chelsea as well. So he’s now looking at how they play with the crowd. “How do we find ways of using the crowd to energize the state of the game and make it as difficult as possible for the opposing team coming here to play at Emirates?”
The Swede was quizzed on how significant this game is for the season. His answer highlighted the fact that wins over your closest rivals do not always guarantee titles. “Last year, we played Chelsea twice and took four points off them. They took one point off us. We didn’t win the trophy. So it shows you can be better in the head-to-head but still not win. Of course, it helps. We want to win. So the answer is, every game is important if you want to win the League.”
Eidevall spoke of the loss of Vivianne Miedema and Mead, reflecting that whilst the pair leave a major hole, “It’s also an opportunity for other players to step in and an opportunity for us to develop and grow as a team. And it might be an opportunity in the transfer market to bring in replacements as well.”
Over the winter break, Eidevall has signed Canadian Sabrina D’Angelo as a new keeper, Netherlands midfielder Victoria Pelova, Danish midfielder Kathrine Kuhl and recalled Brazilian forward Gio Quiroz but there’s still a gap in the forwards, particularly for a dedicated striker.
Furthermore, it was proposed that he’s bringing a lot of young, creative talent in with the recent signings. There was a question as to whether bringing the age profile down was intentional or coincidental.
Eidevall replied that, “in terms of progressing the team long-term, he wasn’t in a position to buy the best in the market from a global perspective – 26, 27, 28 years olds…we have to be smarter with that and take the players earlier, identify them and see that we can grow together with these players. So we take players with the potential – no guarantees – but the potential to be the best when they develop.”
He hinted very strongly that he would be disappointed not to get a “prolific goal scorer” signed during the transfer window in addition to the current signings and said it should be a really important priority. He said all this with a bit of a smirk on his face so one could expect some big news very soon.
The other massive Arsenal news over the break was the surprise departure of club legend, Jordan Nobbs. Eidevall was able to shed a bit of light on this. He acknowledged that the Lionesses star was a very valued team member who played a very important role both on and off the pitch. He said that Nobbs asked to go, “as her playing minutes was not what she liked. And that’s how it is sometimes. But for her, it’s even more significant because it also impacts the probability of being selected for England. So that created the desire for her to go elsewhere.
“We have to look at it from that perspective. We have a player that we value so much but we also have to look at the history and see that she has given us everything for 12 years and she’s now asking us for a favour to be able to go. Of course, I would have liked to keep her but that was our way of showing the respect of the history she has in the club.”
Eidevall confirmed the break was very welcome saying he thought they were exhausted when they got to the break and everyone was looking forward to it so much. The last game was 22nd December and first one back is the 15th January so it was really more like three weeks. He thought it was vital that they had the break.
We spoke about Caitlin Foord stepping up in the absence of Miedema and Mead. “Caitlin Foord is a versatile player. She can play wide forward, she can play the nine, we have used her in different roles. But before we set this squad at the end of the transfer window, we need to ask certain players, and Foord is one of them, to be versatile and be able to cover more than one position and that’s going to be important for us so we can play the right way at the right moments of the games.”
Finally, he was asked how Pelova is fitting into the team and adjusting to England. He said it’s early in the process but she has all the qualities they signed her for. “She’s good on the ball, good balance, good at receiving the ball in small spaces, she’s got good pressing triggers so it all looks very promising. With all the new players, when you move to a different country, into a different culture, into a new team, time is important to build relationships and they all need to do that and invest.
Impetus’ Johnathan Stack had an EXCLUSIVE chat with England captain Leah Williamson ahead of the Lionesses’ return to action in February’s Arnold Clark Cup (13/1/23).
Above: Leah Williamson celebrating with England last summer. She is aiming to be doing it all over again this August. Photo: Lionesses.
With the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup fast approaching, teams will be looking forward to honing final preparations ahead of this summer’s showpiece tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
The Lionesses will be going into the World Cup as one of the tournament favourites, having had a great 2022. Their landmark victory over the USA at Wembley in October got everyone talking about England’s chances of adding a World title to their European crown.
England’s qualification was imperious – a 100% record and a goal difference of +80 as well as finishing 2022 unbeaten.
Captain Leah Williamson spoke of England’s chances ahead of this summer’s tournament saying: “Yeah, I think everybody wants to stay fit and wants to keep firing to give themselves the best chance to be involved in the summer.”
In the draw for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, England has been placed in Group B with Denmark, China, and the Group B playoff winner which will be either Senegal, Haiti, or Chile. Williamson knows that going all the way is a tough ask for any nation competing saying: “It’s a World Cup, it is not going to be easy. Every game presents new challenges, but for us potentially people that we don’t come across that often.”
Ahead of the World Cup, England has a busy schedule in 2023 as the Lionesses have the Arnold Clark Cup in February against Italy, Belgium, and South Korea, and then they have the UEFA/CONMEBOL Finalissia against South American champions Brazil at Wembley Stadium in April.
You throw in one or two World Cup warm-up games too and that is five or six games before the opening game against Denmark on 28th July, Williamson knows to be the best you have to play the best saying: “Ahead of a World Cup you want to play good teams.
“You want to get the best competition to see where you are really at, obviously, you want to win those games. But it is more about prep, where can you get better, and where are you already great. And that game at Wembley is another occasion for women’s football ahead of what should be an incredible summer, I hope it sells out and sets the tone for the summer.”
It will be interesting to see just how far the Lionesses can go next summer, all we know is it is going to be a great year for women’s football.
Impetus’ Kieran Yap and Jonathan Tay report on Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City’s media conferences ahead of Sunday’s big derby showdown, whilst Ben Gilby reports on Kat Smith’s thoughts ahead of Western Sydney Wanderers’ game tomorrow with unbeaten Western United (13/1/23).
by Kieran Yap
Melbourne Victory will welcome back Grand Final captain Lia Privitelli this weekend, and the timing could not be more perfect. Following the hard-fought draw against Perth Glory, they face the high-scoring Melbourne City in the traditional local derby.
The attacker’s return will be a big boost to Jeff Hopkins’ side. With Melina Ayres still injured and new signing Sarah Rowe readapting to the league, Privitelli’s leadership and finishing ability could make the difference. She scored an important goal against City in last season’s preliminary final and Victory are stronger with her in the side.
“Lia Privitelli is great,” Hopkins told the media. “We didn’t risk her over the last few weeks. She’ll be back with us this week and has trained the house down actually.
“She’s one that always responds well to these derby games. She’s been at the club exactly the time that I have and she really comes alive in these derby games, so I’m really glad to have her back in the squad.”
The draw against Glory ended a four-game winning streak. The injury-hit Victory survived a late Perth onslaught and Hopkins was disappointed with the result, though pleased with the performance.
“I think we were all very disappointed after the game,” said Hopkins. “Obviously being 1-0 up in the game and giving up a 1-0 lead you almost feel like you’ve lost the game. We’ve got to give a lot of credit to Perth and the way they turned things around in the second half.”
Hopkins highlighted the final ball into the box and better-timed runs into attack as areas that needed improvement. The week’s training gave him confidence his team could deliver against one of the league’s in-form sides.
“It’s been a very positive week of training. We’ve trained well, we’ve trained with real intensity and with most probably a bit of purpose. We’ve mentioned the derby a couple of times this week but the girls know what’s coming up this weekend.”
Their opposition this weekend is the highest-scoring team in the league. City surprisingly lost to Western Sydney last weekend but responded with a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Adelaide United midweek.
“I’ve been really impressed with them,” said Hopkins. “They’re a passing team. They stick to their principles. They get the ball on the floor, and they want to play through the thirds.
“They have some really good senior players that are coming back from injury now, very experienced players at this level. But also they’ve got very very good young players. the intensity they play with and the enthusiasm they play with, sometimes makes them a little bit unpredictable.
“I’m expecting a very tough game on the weekend. They are a team that want to play, and they’ll want to impose their style of play on us. It’s down to us to come up with something that throws a spanner in the works and helps us to play the way we want to play.”
It shapes up as a compelling game against a potential finals foe, however, this week is just the first of a series of difficult challenges that Victory have no choice but to embrace.
After the derby, Victory will then play three times in eight days, including two interstate trips. They will only have one full day before heading to Western Sydney. This Round match was originally scheduled for Saturday but shifted to Sunday, giving the players less time to recover.
“It’s important that we don’t play these games in 35-40 degree heat, putting them up at 3pm kick-offs just doesn’t work. It would have been nice to bring it forward to the morning of the same day.
“Now it’s put us at quite a disadvantage with the games coming up, but it’s something we’ll take in our stride. We travel to Western Sydney on Tuesday, we’ll play the game [and] we’ll recover on Monday.
“We’ll have a very light recovery session on Tuesday, and then travel to Sydney, play the game and our plans are to travel straight to Adelaide, train in Adelaide, and then we’ll come back after the game. It’s a testing week for us. Then we play Sydney on the following Thursday.
“If you ask the players, they want to play games. They want to be involved in the games. Training’s great but playing games is what it’s all about. We went through far worse through covid and we’ve come out of that much much stronger. We understand what our bodies can be put through and what we’re capable of doing.
by Jonathan Tay
Melbourne City, at the end of a hectic run of three matches in seven days, are staying positive through the busiest portion of their Liberty A-League season.
After road trips out to Western Sydney and Adelaide, their home Melbourne Derby against Victory – arguably the biggest of the three-game set – was postponed 26 hours to Sunday at 7 pm, due to forecasted warm weather on Saturday.
“It (the postponement) helps us,” head coach Dario Vidosic, speaking at his pre-match press conference, said. “It gives us an opportunity for a tactical session, where we don’t put too much load on the girls, where we could work through a couple things. We looked at and analysed Melbourne Victory, their strengths and weaknesses, where we can stop them and hurt them as well.
“If the game was played tomorrow we would have been ready regardless, but with the weather that’s forecast (36 degrees celsius), I think that’s the right decision to push the game back, especially with players already under fatigue, to put them out in those conditions again; player safety is always number one.”
After a shock loss to the Wanderers last weekend, Melbourne City were forced to quickly regroup, and overcame a struggling Adelaide on Wednesday in a 3-0 win.
Speaking on their away games, Vidosic reflected, “It’s always difficult when you start the first of three games in the week with not the greatest result. I was calm after the game; it was more so us, I think we forced the issue and went away from controlling the play like in the first half.
“We learned from that, we spoke about it, and it was probably good that we could stay together in Adelaide a few extra days, where we could sit down with groups of people and watch. In Adelaide, [it’s] a tough game, hard place to go: I learned before the game that they hadn’t lost three games in a row for three and a half years, so that’s a fantastic way to bounce back.
“We’re still adapting, we lost two players who were up for player of the month (Maria Rojas and Emina Ekic). It takes time to adapt to new people in new positions, so we’ll slowly keep building and be ready to put our best foot forward in the derby.
“We come back with confidence. The message was, we played seven very good games, we had one where we were poor. It seems like doom and gloom straight after full-time, but we can’t take away what the girls have achieved so far and the football they’ve displayed. Now we look forward to playing another good team in a derby which, not only we look forward to, but all of Australia looks forward to.”
Bryleeh Henry, also speaking ahead of the match, added, “It’s a lot. I don’t think we’ve had that quick of a turnaround this season, but I think we reacted really well.
“It was hectic, but it was good we had that time together; normally everyone goes back and dwells on the game themselves when you have a game like that, so I think it was good we had that time to sit down, talk about it, get everything out there and move on and get ready for the next game.”
Both Henry and Vidosic were asked about the opening scorer for their side against the Reds, Daniela Galic. The 16-year-old has wowed A-League fans in her debut season, with support for Senior Matildas call-ups being murmured for the young midfielder.
Henry has been similarly impressed. “Daniela’s great; for her age, I can’t imagine what she’ll be like in a couple years, whether she’s still here or she goes overseas,” the City forward gushed. “Technical, very smart, she’s doing so [well] here, and over the past couple months with the Young Matildas and in the NPL, and I can’t wait to see where things go for her.”
Her boss Vidosic though, was more circumspect, wanting to play down the hype. He explained, “Every week she’s learning; it’s her first season professionally playing against women and at such a tender age at 16, she’s been really good. She’s still got lots of things she needs to develop and learn, and that will happen day-by-day as we work with her.
“We sit down individually with not just her, but all the players and we analyse games and movements in training, and what to do in certain positions. She might be a little bit lucky; she plays a similar position to what I played for a long time, so there’s wisdom that I can pass down to her. But she’s got her own qualities and she’s at this level for a reason: we saw what she’s done at the under-20’s World Cup with the Young Matildas and now what she’s doing in this league as well.
“My advice to Dani and all the young girls is: don’t pay attention to anything that is written. It’s obviously nice to read that and she does deserve it; [but] the most important thing is just to continue to work. If you start reading into a lot of things, then sometimes you lose that focus. You just want to be a better player than the day before, through hard work, a willingness to learn and stay back, practicing on different things, and being present. Without hard work it’s very hard to achieve your dreams, but a lot of our young ones, they’ve got a bright future ahead of them.”
On a personal note, Henry was also asked about her decision to join Melbourne City this season. She’s thrived since making the move down south, notching three goals and two assists thus far. The attacker said, “I’m absolutely loving it, I think I did make the right decision. I’m loving the season I’m having so far, and I love the girls, the club, everything’s great.
“I was close to coming a couple seasons ago, so working with Rado (Vidosic, former City head coach) in that Young Matildas space and then what he’s done with this team over the past two years, I think he’s been a massive influence.”
Their opponents for this weekend, Melbourne Victory, come in off a run of good results, with four wins and a draw from their last five games. After labouring early in the campaign, Victory seem to have steadied themselves, and will present as one of City’s toughest opponents to date this season.
The Sky Blues though will stick to their guns. Asked about his gameplan coming into Sunday, Vidosic affirmed, “I think the same as usual, we want to control the game, we want to dictate the terms and the pace of the game, we want to control the transitions. If we have the ball, the chances of being hurt are much less, and then when we don’t have it we want to hunt and get it back very quickly.
“That’s how we play, and we won’t change for anyone. We’ll work around someone’s strengths and weaknesses and that changes on a week-to-week basis depending who we’re playing. They’re a good team, they’re coming in confident, they come off a long break so they’ve had time to recover and prepare for us. They’ve had extended periods on the training pitch, whereas we’ve just had the one. But we have our style of play and we’re comfortable in that way and we can’t wait to play.”
WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS v WESTERN UNITED:
by Ben Gilby
Western Sydney Wanderers head coach Kat Smith believes that last week’s superb maiden victory over Melbourne City is the culmination of a steady improvement in the team’s form.
“It was a real collective effort. It’s nice when all the pieces come together. We’ve been competitive every week since round three. We knew we couldn’t turn things around from the get-go. It was the type of performance that we’ve been building to.
“Now that performance needs to be a benchmark and we need to do it more. We’re facing another good team (Western United). We’re ready to match them on Saturday.”
Impetus’ Jonathan Stack and Rachel Lara Cohen report on Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur’s events ahead of the first action of 2023 in the WSL (13/1/23).
by Johnathan Stack
Manchester United will play their first league game in about a month this Sunday as they host Liverpool at Leigh Sports Village in the Women’s Super League.
The United players were given time to unwind at Christmas but have been on a warm-weather training camp together in Malta for the first part of January they also played a friendly against local champions Birkirkara which they won 10-0.
WSL Manager of The Month for December, Marc Skinner described the break to the media as “…a really good trip, built purposefully to get the players back together [after time off at Christmas]. With back-to-back tournament summers as well as a really competitive league, when you can get a moment to rest players, it’s really important that you help them. We’ve used this window to do that, but it’s really important to get everyone back on the same page and focused.”
Skinner also gave his views on the United-Liverpool rivalry saying “I hope it rivals the men’s fixture going forwards. We know what a good team Liverpool are, how Matt [Beard] has them organised – they’ve got a really good, together group.
“This could be a really huge fixture. Not only geographically, but the more games you play [against each other] builds that history. We’re still building that history, but it doesn’t mean it’s a game we don’t look forward to. Liverpool is a very good team and we will not take our eyes off that.
“I believe in the future it will be very much the same as the men’s rivalry. Our job, both Matt and myself while we’re here, is to make sure that we put performances in that maintain that standard of that almost-derby game.
“It’s exciting for us and our fans. We’ve just had very different journeys. At this moment, it’s not us downplaying this type of fixture, especially against a very good team and a rival on the men’s side. It will definitely be that on Sunday, there’s no doubt we’re not taking it lightly.
“What I’m trying to say is there is a slight difference. For us, the way our fans treat it is exactly the way we will treat it, so there is no difference in that. It will take a little bit of time to build the history that the men’s games have had, but we’ll try and play it at that intensity and I’m sure Liverpool will do the same.”
Skinner also went on to talk about the atmosphere leading up to the game against Liverpool saying “[Fans] are always the biggest part. We are at about 8,300 [tickets] sold, so that could break our record again at Leigh.
“We’ve talked about there not yet being that rivalry [on the pitch], but our fans make that rivalry, right? The performances on the field will make that, but the fans will make that too.
“You know how loud the Manchester United fans are. We have to make [Leigh] a cauldron, we’ve made it a fortress anyway and have to continue that with our performance and give Liverpool nothing. But [fans] help set that tone and are the most important thing because we have all played in empty stadiums and they are no fun.”
The United head coach also provided team news ahead of this Sunday’s game, Skinner said “Aoife [Mannion] won’t be ready to start but is ready to be in squads and come into games. She’s not played enough competitive minutes – she got her first 45 when we played Birkirkara. It was really important to do that.
“We had a niggle with Leah [Galton], from which she is back running on the field today. We’re hopeful for the weekend. Apart from that, everyone is fit and ready.”
A win for United will keep them in the title picture as two of the other teams in the WSL title race, Arsenal and Chelsea will be facing off in a huge showdown at the Emirates Stadium.
Manchester United play Liverpool at the Leigh Sports Village on Sunday at five past two in the afternoon.
by Rachel Lara Cohen
Speaking to the press following the record-breaking signing of Beth England and as she prepares her team to face Aston Villa on Saturday in the Barclays WSL, Spurs Women manager, Rehanne Skinner talked about the fit between Beth and Spurs, and where the team is currently at.
In line with the multiple rumours we’ve heard about this transfer which date back to last Spring, Skinner confirmed that the deal with England was long in the making. As she noted 2Beth is someone we identified quite a while ago, and we’ve been working hard to make that happen.”
She emphasised that “Beth is definitely the right fit for Tottenham. Both in terms of her values and ours.” Going on to highlight her goalscoring statistics, “In terms of minutes on pitch and goals scored it’s incredibly high. She’s got a lot of experience and has shown that she can score in this league. So for us it’s a massive asset and an area we’ve wanted to strengthen since I’ve been here. But it’s building blocks that we’re putting in place. But it’s the right time and we’ve got the person for the job.”
While suggesting reports of the signing fee were ‘exaggerated’ Skinner highlighted that “You pay for what you get. As a club we’re trying to evolve the team and you know it’s important that you pay those fees when you need to, to get the right people in the door, and certainly, as a footballer and as a person she’s going to add huge value to our team.”
There were no obvious hints about whether there were more signings in the pipeline although the Spurs boss noted in answering another question that “we’re still working in the transfer window.”
Later in discussing player availability she added that ‘we’re still trying to keep improving the quality and depth at the same time. And that’s a fine line. We’re not just adding players for players sake if we want to get that right. So sometimes you have to be a bit patient. With a return from injury for some players as well within that. But we’ll get there. We’re in a better place now with them so hopefully, they’re not too far away.”
So, Spurs fans, make of that what you may. It sounds like there is scope for signing additional ‘quality’ player(s) in this window, but the link to injured players may suggest a willingness to see where the team is when some key players (especially Kit Graham and Ria Percival) return to fitness.
Rehanne Skinner acknowledged that things had not been smooth sailing before Christmas. “I think we were ready for the break. A lot of players have played a lot of football with all the tournaments in the summer.”
At several points she reflected on what the problems had been, suggesting that poor results were partly due to the team (which included seven new signings in the summer) had not yet ‘gelled’: “We did really well last year. We’re really proud of that. And obviously we’ve evolved the team further. We’ve added quality to the team. It’s not quite gelled in the way that we wanted to just yet but that takes time and relationship building and we’ve got to put the time and effort into that to get that right.
“The team know that and they’re all very aware of the work that they need to put into that. As well as the staff. And with time you do get to good quality. You do get to consistent performances. And so that is just part of the process unfortunately.”
Skinner also highlighted the “first parts of games” as problem periods, suggesting that “the biggest thing is we’ve got to be more resilient when the game starts and make sure that we make ourselves as hard to beat as possible. That keeps you in games for longer and we’ve certainly got the quality.” Given a series of poor errors early in games it makes sense that this is something she and the team are working on.
Perhaps more contentiously, the Spurs boss claimed that “some of our possession football in particular was outstanding [in the first half of the season]. We were brilliant at times. But we never reaped the rewards from that at times when we probably shout have.” To be generous this probably is valid if you focus on the first few games of the season; probably it’s less convincing with respect to the final three WSL games, however.
Skinner repeatedly sounded an optimistic note about how things have been going since the break: “Players have come back refreshed and ready to go…The last two weeks of training have been fantastic. Really good quality. We’re looking forward to the second half of the season.”
And she provided a little detail about the last week, including a friendly (rumoured to be a win over Arsenal) “We played a friendly last weekend that went really well. So I’m pleased in terms of how that’s evolved. We obviously won a game just before Christmas as well, so it’s just momentum. We want to start building momentum in the second half of the season.”
That said, she acknowledged that progress is going to need to be a longer term project: “You don’t get to the top of the league overnight. And while aspirationally we know where we want to get to, we’re also quite realistic. In that it’s taken a lot of clubs time to get to that point.”
In terms of Saturday’s opponents, the Tottenham boss highlighted that they have had some good results and “Whoever you play poses challenges and we haven’t played them yet this season. So it’s a chance for us to start the year in a positive place.”
She acknowledged that Spurs and Villa have similarities, as “two clubs that are trying to evolve and at a similar pace. As a collective [Villa are] going to be hard to beat. They’ve scored a lot of goals. They’ve conceded goals as well. But that’s the same on our part.2
Skinner noted with respect to injuries and player availability that there are “a few players who aren’t available – but hopefully, we will be getting them back after this weekend so they’re not a million miles off.”
Focusing on Kit Graham and Ria Percival, two big absences from the team who fans are anxious to see back the Spurs chief provided a little more detail. “Kit is progressing really really well. She’s back in the biggest chunks of training. Some bits, not quite. But she’s back training with the group now for the most part so that’s a fantastic place to be in.
“We’re getting to the end stages of her being closer to the pitch now, which is great. In terms of Ria Percival she’s progressing really well as well. Probably quicker than what we expected. The pair of them have worked incredibly hard, and obviously the medical and physical performance staff have done a great job in getting them back to a really good place.’
That said the timeline for neither looks as imminent as some fans have been hoping, especially with it is now well over a year since Graham has played. Skinner was clear that there is no likelihood she will be back playing this month. But “over the course of the next few months, we’ll see what that looks like. There’s no pressure on them to be back right now. We know it’s going to take time but ultimately if we can get them both back into the team this season then I’d be delighted.”
Finally, there was some background to the return to the team of fullback Esther Morgan following a loan spell at Coventry United. “Esther was only on loan until the end of December. It was a temporary loan to support her development and return to play back from a long-term injury so obviously, we wanted to ensure that she was in the best possible place. And we weren’t the right fit for that.
“We needed her to be on the grass. She’s a young player with a lot of talent. And she’s certainly someone that’s part of our Tottenham youth, that we’re investing in. So in the next stage of the season, we’ll be looking at what’s the best thing for her development to get back on track.
“She’s been out since February. It’s a long time for a young player.’ But Morgan’s return does not mean that she’s likely to prise the right-back position away from Amy Turner any time soon. “In terms of right back, I’m comfortable with what Amy’s been doing. I think that she’s adjusted. She’s played it before. She’s played well there.”
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