Author Topic: Re: Liverpool Women FC (home vs Chelsea - 01/05 - 19:00 ko) (*) (Read 599501 times)

24/7 · « **Reply #4200 on:** January 19, 2023, 04:31:08 pm »

Quote from: LeoT on January 19, 2023, 04:19:25 pm

The new signing's become "Mi-wi" "Taa-La" $:-\$

"Taa, laaaa!" is Scouse for "Cheers, mate!"

kellan · « **Reply #4201 on:** January 19, 2023, 04:38:08 pm »

Quote from: 24/7 on January 19, 2023, 04:30:36 pm

That's great to read - extra depth - the Beard way. But can Fuka play in goal......?!

She's 5'3

Hopefully we never find ourselves desperate enough.

24/7 · « **Reply #4202 on:** January 19, 2023, 04:39:39 pm »

Quote from: kellan on January 19, 2023, 04:38:08 pm

She's 5'3 Hopefully we never find ourselves desperate enough.

I read that as 53 and thought there's still hope left for me.........!

kellan · « **Reply #4203 on:** January 20, 2023, 12:28:36 pm »

Some little bits from the pre-Chelsea press conference:

On whether Nagano and Taylor have received international clearance to play against Chelsea…

This morning we woke up to the news that the NWSL has ticked the boxes on their end. We’re just waiting on the FA to confirm everything is OK. We’re anticipating they will both be available.

On other team news for Sunday’s game…

Katie Stengel has trained this week, so she will be available. Apart from Leanne Kiernan and Hannah Silcock, who is unavailable for the next 7-10 days as she has got exams, we have a fully-fit squad to choose from.

On whether Liverpool could sign an attacker in the January transfer window…

It’s not like we’ve ruled anything out. The midfield was an area we needed to address and prioritise. We also have Leanne Kiernan coming to the back end of her rehab now as well, so we’re hoping to have her available around February or March. With Miri Taylor coming in, she can offer cover there [in attack], too. We haven’t ruled it out, but January is a tough window and it’s got to be the right player. We can’t just bring players in for the sake of it.

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/matt-beard-chelsea-trip-new-signings-team-news-and-more

LeoT · « **Reply #4204 on:** January 20, 2023, 01:54:51 pm »

I found this part of Matt's pre-match (below) quite interesting.

On what new signings Fuka Nagano and Miri Taylor will offer the team…

Fuka is a wonderful footballer, she is very technically gifted. It’s going to take her time to settle into the team, and into England. It’s a new culture for her. The great thing is she’s experienced a year in America [playing for North Carolina Courage], in an English-speaking country. When we became aware of Fuka’s availability, that she was interested in coming to England, and we watched more of her, for us it was a no-brainer. In Japan she played in a midfield three, in a holding role, but in America she played as a No.10. She was so creative there, which is great for us, as it gives us that little bit of flexibility.

With Miri, I’ve known her for a while as a player. When she was at Chelsea, she was a holding midfield player. In America [for Angel City], she has had a year of experience playing down the middle [as a striker] or out wide in a front three. Her natural position is in midfield, though, and she can play either in a holding role or an attacking role. Miri gives me great flexibility in regards to her versatility. When we lost Katie Stengel [to injury] last Friday, it left me with only three fit forwards. So, it gives us more cover there and more competition in midfield. Miri has done very well since she’s come in. Technically, she’s very gifted, she’s very athletic, and she’s confident as well. I’m really pleased with all the players we’ve brought in during this window. They’re going to improve the team and the competition for places.

24/7 · « **Reply #4205 on:** January 20, 2023, 02:25:23 pm »

Very encouraging signings - just hope we stay up so Matt's rebuilding can continue in the top flight and we can compete again for the top positions....

LeoT · « **Reply #4206 on:** January 20, 2023, 03:44:38 pm »

Judging by the number of midfielders we have now, I think we may go for 3 in midfield rather than the 2 we've had since Matts been here.

The squad now looks like this (First Choice is in Bold)...

Laws
Cummings
Kirbey

Bonner - Fahey - Matthews
Robe - Silcock -

Koivisto Hinds
Roberts Campbell

Kearns - Holland
Taylor - Furness
Lundgaard - Humphrey
Nagano

Kiernan - Stengel - Lawley
van De Sanden - - Daniels

kellan · « **Reply #4207 on:** January 20, 2023, 05:06:08 pm »

Can't disagree with much of that above XI, the starting team has been picking itself for a while now. The only players I would maybe question are Hinds over Campbell (I don't think Hinds offers enough to make up for losing the threat that is Campbell's throws when we're still overly relient on them at times), and Kearns (who hasn't managed to establish herself as a starter this season).

A change in shape would of course allow an extra midfielder on the pitch, but it will come at the expense of which CB? If Bonner hadn't come in, then Flaherty's retirement would have solved that juggling by leaving us with just Fahey and Matthews. But Bonner did come in, and not to sit on the bench. Matthews has been performing too well to deserve that fate. And Fahey won't want to stop playing going into the World Cup. It could be said that Bonner will at least easily step into that captain role if Fahey did drop out of the team, but will she drop out?

I think we will stick to the same shape used so far, for the sake of continuity. Matthews returning to CB feels like something of a necessity, but the rest can stay the same for now, with the new signings being eased in where and when needed. We're too close to getting over the safety line to go making drastic changes imo. Beat Reading, beat Leicester, try to pick up a bonus point through March just to make absolutely certain of staying up, and then we would be free to tinker to our heart's content after that to figure out how we're going to line up for next season.

That's what I'd do, anyway. If I was playing football manager.

Boston always unofficial · « **Reply #4208 on:** January 20, 2023, 09:07:54 pm »

Quote from: kellan on January 19, 2023, 04:38:08 pm

She's 5'3 Hopefully we never find ourselves desperate enough.

Big In Japan-Big In Japan.

24/7 · « **Reply #4209 on:** January 20, 2023, 09:24:21 pm »

Quote from: Boston always unofficial on January 20, 2023, 09:07:54 pm

Big In Japan-Big In Japan.

Very good

kellan · « **Reply #4210 on:** January 21, 2023, 05:24:36 pm »

Spurs v Leicester tomorrow has been postponed due to a frozen pitch. So that's Leicester not being able to close the gap on anybody this weekend.

I'm torn on whether or not I wan't our game at Chelsea to also be called off. We've got such a packed schedule coming up that any reduction in the number of matches to play can only be beneficial, plus there's every chance we'll be a better team when the new date comes around. At the same time, I'd really like to see the new signings have chance to settle in between now and Reading & Leicester. Maybe I'll just call it a win/win either way and be doubly glad about the Spurs groundsmen conceding defeat against the frost.

Reading have United. Brighton have Arsenal. Neither should be picking up any points. Shame we aren't likely to ourselves because it would be a perfect weekend to be the only team who does. We could even leapfrog Spurs if we do.

LeoT · « **Reply #4211 on:** January 21, 2023, 10:13:01 pm »

Quote from: kellan on January 21, 2023, 05:24:36 pm

Spurs v Leicester tomorrow has been postponed due to a frozen pitch. So that's Leicester not being able to close the gap on anybody this weekend.

I'm torn on whether or not I wan't our game at Chelsea to also be called off. We've got such a packed schedule coming up that any reduction in the number of matches to play can only be beneficial, plus there's every chance we'll be a better team when the new date comes around. At the same time, I'd really like to see the new signings have chance to settle in between now and Reading & Leicester. Maybe I'll just call it a win/win either way and be doubly glad about the Spurs groundsmen conceding defeat against the frost.

Reading have United. Brighton have Arsenal. Neither should be picking up any points. Shame we aren't likely to ourselves because it would be a perfect weekend to be the only team who does. We could even leapfrog Spurs if we do.

Its 0 degrees down here at the moment, and its predicted to go down to -1 in the early hours.
I'm hoping the game is played, I've waited ages to go to this match, I've shifted the other things I usually do on a Sunday to be able to go.

I really don't expect us to get anything out of the game to be honest, but its a chance to maybe see one or two of the new arrivals, and for them to get used to their team mates under match conditions before the big Reading and Leicester matches.

kellan · « **Reply #4212 on:** January 22, 2023, 12:24:00 pm »

Laws, Koivisto, Bonner, Fahey, Campbell, Matthews, Nagano, Holland, Lawley, Stengel, van de Sanden
subs: Kirby, Robe, Hinds, Kearns, Furness, Lundgaard, Humphrey, Daniels, Taylor

Reads like a change of shape with Matthews staying in midfield instead having a back five. The BBC have it down as 4-5-1, but I can see multiple ways in which it won't necessarily function like that.

Hinds being the defender sacrificed to fit in one of the new midfielders isn't unexpected to me. Though I am a little surprised we've gone straight to giving Nagano a start when Lundgaard only got a sub appearance last weekend. It probably does make sense to go with Nagano though if Matthews is playing in midfield.

Kick off in just under 10 minutes. BBC Two.

gazzalfc · « **Reply #4213 on:** January 22, 2023, 12:38:40 pm »

Looks like this might get called off

gazzalfc · « **Reply #4214 on:** January 22, 2023, 12:39:13 pm »

Ref not happy with the pitch.

Shame because we had great chances

gazzalfc · « **Reply #4215 on:** January 22, 2023, 12:39:30 pm »

Match off

Thats horrible for the fans

kellan · « **Reply #4216 on:** January 22, 2023, 12:41:40 pm »

0-3 shots to us. We won.

gazzalfc · « **Reply #4217 on:** January 22, 2023, 12:43:34 pm »

Think if this wasn't a BBC game it would have been called off yesterday

kellan · « **Reply #4218 on:** January 22, 2023, 12:53:37 pm »

Quote from: gazzalfc on January 22, 2023, 12:43:34 pm

Think if this wasn't a BBC game it would have been called off yesterday

I think you're right. The pitch inspection was at 9.30 this morning, it should have been called off then and on any other weekend would have been. Common sense said 9.30 in the morning is too early for any thawing, and so making the decision the day before was the correct way to handle it. It's the BBC factor that led to this.

kellan · « **Reply #4219 on:** January 22, 2023, 01:02:43 pm »

Listening back to Hayes' comments it seems as if the ref said at the time of the pitch inspection that it wasn't playable but someone from the FA - who wasn't at the ground - overruled the decision. So essentially the referee has been forced to start a match that he knew wasn't safe to play, and then has abandoned it at more or less the first chance he got once a player or two had slipped and landed hard enough times to justify the decision.

Wabaloolah · « **Reply #4220 on:** January 22, 2023, 01:05:09 pm »

Quote from: kellan on January 22, 2023, 01:02:43 pm

Listening back to Hayes' comments it seems as if the ref said at the time of the pitch inspection that it wasn't playable but someone from the FA - who wasn't at the ground - overruled the decision. So essentially the referee has been forced to start a match that he knew wasn't safe to play, and then has abandoned it at more or less the first chance he got once a player or two had slipped and landed hard enough times to justify the decision.

that's shocking, an absolute disgrace if it's true

kellan · « **Reply #4221 on:** January 22, 2023, 01:14:19 pm »

Early pieced together timeline as best as anyone knows it right now:

9:30 - pitch inspection - ref said unplayable
9:45 - teams informed the game may be postponed until 2pm
10:15 - game announced as going ahead
12:30 - kick off
12:36 - match abandoned

Would love to know what the fuck happened in that 45 minute window.

LeoT · « **Reply #4222 on:** January 22, 2023, 03:14:47 pm »

So Just got home from the match, very disappointed.

I drove for 1:15 to get there,
then spent 25 mins looking for somewhere to park,
parked about a mile away so walked about 10 min to the ground,
then queued for about 15min to get into the ground because of baggage checks, by that time the match had already started.
Finally got into the ground and saw the players standing round talking on the pitch (I figured someone was injured or something like that).
Then the players walked to the tunnel, followed by an un-intelligible announcement over the PA.
Then after about 2 mins of standing round they got Emma Hayes to speak through the PA.

...Great day $:-\$

Here's my highlight of the match.

kellan · « **Reply #4223 on:** January 22, 2023, 04:49:37 pm »

Quote from: LeoT on January 22, 2023, 03:14:47 pm

So Just got home from the match, very disappointed.

I drove for 1:15 to get there,
then spent 25 mins looking for somewhere to park,
parked about a mile away so walked about 10 min to the ground,
then queued for about 15min to get into the ground because of baggage checks, by that time the match had already started.
Finally got into the ground and saw the players standing round talking on the pitch (I figured someone was injured or something like that).
Then the players walked to the tunnel, followed by an un-intelligible announcement over the PA.
Then after about 2 mins of standing round they got Emma Hayes to speak through the PA.

...Great day $:-\$

Here's my highlight of the match.

Ouch. I knew you wouldn't have fared well but that's an even worse day out than I expected to hear of.

I've got nothing I can say to you that will undo a wasted trip, but I can at least say that at least the weekend wasn't made worse by the other results. United's 87th minute winner stopped Reading from picking up an unexpected point and Brighton can't take any from Arsenal because that match is also isn't happening.

Samie · « **Reply #4224 on:** January 22, 2023, 04:54:24 pm »

Did you get a pie atleast mate?

LeoT · « **Reply #4225 on:** January 22, 2023, 08:17:11 pm »

Quote from: Samie on January 22, 2023, 04:54:24 pm

Did you get a pie atleast mate?

I was too angry to even countenance giving Chelsea any of my hard earned cash after that shambles.
So I found a chip shop on the main road, round the corner from the ground, stuffed my face whilst walking to my car (cursing under my breath).

In all honesty, I only came from South East London, but I couldn't imagine how bad the fans who got up at the crack of dawn, then the drove from Liverpool must have felt. $:-\$

I've got a ticket to next week's game at the same ground, hopefully the weather will be better.

24/7 · « **Reply #4226 on:** January 22, 2023, 08:44:58 pm »

Disgraceful that, Leo. Game should never have gone ahead. Since when has the referee's word not been the last?? Money talks, well, TV money seems to...

I've been a ref and I have had to make the call on a couple of games. Nobody questioned it. If my FA is overruling me and they're not even there, I'd be telling them to do one and I'd refuse to officiate. Player safety first. Always.

LeoT · « **Reply #4227 on:** January 22, 2023, 11:33:15 pm »

Quote from: 24/7 on January 22, 2023, 08:44:58 pm

Disgraceful that, Leo. Game should never have gone ahead. Since when has the referee's word not been the last?? Money talks, well, TV money seems to...

I've been a ref and I have had to make the call on a couple of games. Nobody questioned it. If my FA is overruling me and they're not even there, I'd be telling them to do one and I'd refuse to officiate. Player safety first. Always.

to be honest, My club cancelled our u12 training on Saturday for the same reason. Fortunately I did a quick 8am pitch inspection then cancelled before the parents got in their cars.
It should be a really simple thing.

kellan · « **Reply #4228 on:** January 23, 2023, 04:31:03 am »

The official line from the league (finally said at 4pm yesterday, four hours after the abandonment) is that the referee okay'ed the pitch at the 9:30 inspection. Which is in complete contrast to what both mangers and the pundits said pitch side live on the BBC minutes after the football stopped, as well as the version of events that journos are sharing

So either the league are throwing the referee under the bus, or every single other person got the story wrong and there's a working referee who believes a safe pitch is one that is so frozen there are groundsmen sweeping shards of ice off it while abandonment is being considered six minutes in.

It would be funny if PGMOL came out with their own statement.

jediwarrior · « **Reply #4229 on:** January 23, 2023, 09:41:21 am »

Nearly the same thing happen at Brighton V Arsenal game last night. I live local and unfortunately my wife and daughter are Arsenal fans so we were going to go and I said in the morning from just going in our garden I'll be shocked if the game went ahead the ground was rock hard and it was minus 5 that night. They finally called it off about 5pm just under 2 hours before kick off. Not really giving a toss for fans who had to travel from far and started their journey (lucky not us) think if it wasn't due to be on Sky it would've been called off in the morning.

kellan · « **Reply #4230 on:** January 25, 2023, 11:34:08 am »

Bibiana Steinhaus - women's football head at PGMOL - explaining what happened at Cheslea:

Quote

She said it [The FA] had monitored weather forecasts from Monday to see how conditions would affect the weekend's games, and that referee Hair and his team had contacted Chelsea on Saturday with concerns about the pitch given the cold, before being able to first inspect the pitch at 09:30 GMT on Sunday - three hours before kick-off.

Steinhaus Webb said: "At 9.30, the first time the referee looked at it, he was not convinced the surface was playable. However, he was in close contact with the ground staff, and with the heating on full power, you can actually immediately see the change in the surface.

"A second pitch inspection was then decided before warm-up; this time it was absolutely playable, it was fine during the warm-up. When the teams came for the line-up, there was a slight change in the surface because the heating made it humid on the top.

"The grounds team, who know their surface best, said it would hold up, but with this thin layer of humidity, it deteriorated again. It made a thin layer of hard surface on top very quickly, so after six minutes the referee made the tough decision to abandon the match for the safety of players, which is paramount."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64380218

Beard's much shorter take in his latest column:

Quote

I’ve seen the statement from the FA, and ourselves and Chelsea got told at 9.30am on Sunday that the pitch wasn’t playable. Ultimately the decision to change that should never happen at any level of football
https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/matt-beard-column-chelsea-situation-was-disappointing-well-look-forward-cup-football

Still feels like there's an elephant in the room here that nobody working for any kind of governing body wants to address too directly. I reckon it will take even the FA only about a second to figure out what factor was behind pushing for the already frozen pitches at the fixtures with the worst kick off times for low temps to be made playable. And I reckon it will take the FA about as long to finally - after years and years of unnecessary postponements - fix the issue of substandard pitches now their newly acquired broadcasters are getting pissed off.

But whatever, the farce of the weekend is done and over, and we've a cup quarter-final tonight. West Ham 7.30pm. Stream on the FA Player. Doesn't appear to be on LFC TV as well, but I do see they've got the highlights of the Chelsea match from Sunday in the schedule for 5:15-5:30. They'll have to loop the footage and show it twice to fill that slot.

LeoT · « **Reply #4231 on:** January 25, 2023, 05:42:16 pm »

Quote from: kellan on January 25, 2023, 11:34:08 am

But whatever, the farce of the weekend is done and over, and we've a cup quarter-final tonight. West Ham 7.30pm. Stream on the FA Player. Doesn't appear to be on LFC TV as well, but I do see they've got the highlights of the Chelsea match from Sunday in the schedule for 5:15-5:30. They'll have to loop the footage and show it twice to fill that slot.

oojason · « **Reply #4232 on:** January 25, 2023, 07:29:12 pm »

a 7.30pm kick off. The game is live on the free 'FA Player' - https://faplayer.thefa.com/home/all : www.flashscore.co.uk/football/england/women-s-league-cup

Stream: http://xxxxx.to/3i_1 & http://janfeb.stream/c/football/england-women-league-cup/25-01-2023/liverpool-w-vs-west-ham-united-w/1/

Wikipedia page for the Womens League Cup - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%E2%80%9323_FA_Women%27s_League_Cup

The pitch at Tranmere looks good

Boston always unofficial · « **Reply #4233 on:** January 25, 2023, 07:37:33 pm »

Got a stream here.https://footysaga.com/broadcasts/94252/liverpool-w-west-ham-united-w-england-women-league-cup.

oojason · « **Reply #4234 on:** January 25, 2023, 09:28:31 pm »

Doh! West Ham win 1-0; Brynjarsdóttir the scorer on 86 minutes.

Theoldkopite · « **Reply #4235 on:** January 25, 2023, 09:34:11 pm »

Iffy decisions by that ref. Couldn’t see anything wrong with our disallowed goal and our player got booked for trying to get the ball off (?) Konchelsis the Hammers manager. Ref didn’t even have a word with him. Maybe I’m biased!,

Boston always unofficial · « **Reply #4236 on:** January 25, 2023, 11:09:45 pm »

I only stuck with it for the first half,thought it was gonna finish 0-0 and end in pens,neither team was any good going forward.

LeoT · « **Reply #4237 on:** January 26, 2023, 12:35:30 am »

Quote from: oojason on January 25, 2023, 09:28:31 pm

Doh! West Ham win 1-0; Brynjarsdóttir the scorer on 86 minutes.

Not the best result, but lets focus on the league.
Hope Stengel is ok, maybe rest her again this Sunday, then have her fit for the 2 big six pointers coming up in Feb.

..and finally, Daniels needs to stop falling over.

kellan · « **Reply #4238 on:** January 26, 2023, 12:35:40 pm »

Quote from: LeoT on January 26, 2023, 12:35:30 am

Not the best result, but lets focus on the league.
Hope Stengel is ok, maybe rest her again this Sunday, then have her fit for the 2 big six pointers coming up in Feb.

..and finally, Daniels needs to stop falling over.

Needs an xray. Jaw issue, which I'd say was pretty apparent just from seeing the contact. I think we're in trouble if she can't play against Reading and Leicester. We have too little up front even when she is on the pitch. Those two teams will be smelling blood if she isn't.

Beard said we're done for the transfer window - even if he is still open to more signings should they be the right ones - but it might well be too late to add another forward even if the desire and the budget and the right player all aligned. Seems like we've pinned our hopes on Stengel being both fit and able to contribute a goal a game before Kiernan gets back, and then we're pinning our hopes on Kiernan being able to immediately play like she hasn't missed a minute at all. I really hope we don't get to the end of the season and have to question why three midfielders were signed instead of a goalscorer, because I do quite like that we've bolstered the midfield so much.

That's probably enough catastrophising for one post.

LeoT · « **Reply #4239 on:** January 26, 2023, 12:59:50 pm »

I think Miri Taylor sometimes played as a central striker when she was in America.
My guess is that we'll push her up front, I haven't a clue how good/bad she is so that makes me really nervous.

Hopefully Stengel is ok and will be back in time for Reading & Leicester.
If not, hopefully Keirnan has a miraculous healing, and is somehow match fit for those games.
If not, hopefully Miri Taylor plays up front for us on Sunday against Chelsea and proves to be decent up there.

Otherwise we're stuffed.