Women's World Cup 2019 - anyone here interested?

[fallenangle]

That is exactly what we have seen here in the WWC, the best teams are clearly fitter and stronger than they were 4 years ago. They can now can shoot very decently if still irregularly and, something which is new since the last WWC, is that they have learned you can actually score with your head. Previously that was rare and heading most often used to play pointless keepy-uppy exchanges in midfield.

It is the final third both defensively (although that is far better than it was) and in attack where the gulf still lies. That's where the footballing brain comes in - seeing the patterns, seeing the space, making the space for yourself or others. Teamwork, fitness and ball skill you can learn to a certain level but getting that footballing brain working in the fluid arena of an actual match is another thing. That's the difference between good and average players of either gender.

Best thing I've seen in this WWC in that respect was/is from an England player who has been around for years and does, clearly, have that good footballing brain: Jill Scott. She is far from stella in all areas of her game and can be stupidly nasty but she mitigates those failings with a unfailingly high work rate.

I can not remember which match it was but they highlighted in the half-time talk what I'd seen her do and I've seen her do before in other games - intelligent running off the ball. Dragging defenders away just by that movement, creating space for others is a natural skill and that sort of intelligence is what seems to be missing from many players.

It is like that perfectly executed, visionary pass into the space nobody else has seen except the other equally visionary player destined to receive it and has even started to move. When you see that sort of thing, not accidental, a mix of instinct skill but still clearly thought out all in a fraction of a second. That is what raises football to the sublime sporting level it can be.

[ZipZap]

The USA team have been the only women's side I've seen that can actually play a decent game in all parts of the pitch and they'd still be owned by most non-league men's teams. It just is not good football to watch in comparison to the men's game and no amount of BBC hype can disguise that.

I think the Women's World Cup is a better to watch than most lower league men's football. At that level, size/strength/speed make up for a lot of other shortcomings, there's a lot playing down the wings to get in a cross, and a lot of goals that come from scrambles in the penalty area.

[Anpanman]

I stopped watching the men's game years ago, fed up with the diving, moaning at the ref and time wasting. The women's game for me is a far more watchable, flowing and honest version of the game with good hard tackling and for the most part only 'going to ground' in the pen area.

I don't watch league or Euro stuff but enjoyed the last WC and have been watching this one as well.

[CMcK]

I’ve quite enjoyed the games I’ve watched. USA and England seem to be a better standard than a lot of the others but there’s plenty of decent individuals in other squads. It’s kind of like football was years ago there is a lot less emphasis on raw strength and speed so it flows quite nicely with an open passing game.
Scotland’s meltdown against Argentina was disappointing seems like they’ve learned from the men’s team there!

It’s good to see the women’s game getting a higher profile. If today’s youth see it as normal to have both genders on TV and hero players to admire its all for the good of the sport.

[Neon Ignition]

In the short term it could work better for them to have a high profile, high stakes tournament for only the teams that meet a certain skill bar (assuming there's a fair way to determine that). Something that segregates high level play in a way that looks appealing to other countries that aren't there yet to catch up in hope of taking home the spoils. If not that then something that pits the higher level teams against each other more as otherwise people will tune out fast.

[fallenangle]

That is the problem - the disparity between the best and the worst is not going to be closed. Unless you have high quality league football being played regularly in every country who aspire to play international tournaments the gap is only going to get wider. That's just as true of the men's game but amplified for the women as in some places you're starting at zero: women who've never played any sport let alone a sophisticated team sport like football.

In the UK women's football has a history and even forty years ago I was playing for a short while in a college 5-A-Side league where there was no gender distinction. I really didn't think anything about it despite previously having been to all boys schools and never having played football against girls. Admittedly we had only one regular and one other occasional women players but more would join in casual kick-abouts.

But if you do not have that grass roots level interest where the girls who might want to play can do so and progress to competitive local team leagues and so on up, the quality of football is never going to be the same as the men's game even at the highest level.

Whilst the interested generated by tournaments like the WWC might benefit the development of football in those countries which have that grass roots structure in many of the other countries who are starting at year zero it does not help. Seeing their international football team broadcast world wide being trounced by double figure scorelines might even be detrimental to the development of interest in the sport in those countries.

[Neon Ignition]

I don't bother with football but I've seen a lot of articles on it lately popping up and it seems to be as clear cut as it's a simple case of it growing in support and exposure but only in a very small number of countries. Until there's an international drive to massively increase the investment, exposure and overall support of it then it's going to suffer from chasms of skill levels and interest, it's on the beginning of an upward journey but it's a very long one and it may never attain the popularity and money the men's side does as it's just as reliant on marketing practicalities as well.

[fallenangle]

I was not going to go down this controversial route and I definitely do not mean this to be some misogynistic, sexist rant it is just that I can not see how any knowledgeable viewer of the beautiful game can witness this 'quality' of football without criticism.

The USA team have been the only women's side I've seen that can actually play a decent game in all parts of the pitch and they'd still be owned by most non-league men's teams. It just is not good football to watch in comparison to the men's game and no amount of BBC hype can disguise that.

It is cheap football on TV and lots of extra career opportunities and world travel for their stable of commentators and ex-player pundits. It ticks so many boxes and that is why it is getting this depth of coverage but at the same time that is exposing it to honest scrutiny.

I just feel it is a case of the empresses' new clothes and that nobody is actually being truthful about what they're seeing. Gender is irrelevant - it is, a lot of the time, simply not good football.

Discuss.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Topic.

USA beat Thailand 13-0. Saw that and kept watching as it was football history in the making but the rest, so far, I'm wondering why I bothered. That sort of gap between the best teams and the worst is like an indicator of how far the womens' game has improved over the last decade or more. But the fact there are still international sides qualifying who are so completely out of their depth also says a lot.

I do see what you're saying, but I don't necessarily agree with all of it.

Let's not kid ourselves here: That is precisely what would happen if San Marino/Luxembourg/Malta, etc. ever got into a Men's World Cup or European Championships.

It's not so long ago that we were watching Germany thrash Brazil 7-1 in a Men's World Cup semi-final, after all.

[fallenangle]

Topic.

USA beat Thailand 13-0. Saw that and kept watching as it was football history in the making but the rest, so far, I'm wondering why I bothered. That sort of gap between the best teams and the worst is like an indicator of how far the women's game has improved over the last decade or more. But the fact there are still international sides qualifying who are so completely out of their depth also says a lot.