00:00 [music] Welcome back to the Women's Super League
00:05 Show with myself, Susanna Sealy, and Scotsman and National World Fighter Graham Thorpe.
00:11 This week, we haven't had much WSL active in the past week or so, but we do have a Lioness
00:16 fixture coming up at the end of the week. Straight away, I want to get into the squad.
00:22 There is, of course, one name that we are all buzzing to see back. Leah Williamson has
00:28 been named in the squad. She's obviously been out for several months with an ACL injury.
00:34 I feel like that time has flown by, but I don't know if that's just me. I feel like
00:39 with Beth Mead, we were waiting for ages and ages, but actually, Leah Williamson, her recovery
00:43 seems to be quite quick. I think it's because we maybe saw-- because
00:48 she got injured just before the World Cup, so I think it was April, May time, so we resigned
00:53 ourselves to her not being there. Whereas, there was a little glimmer, tiny smidgen of
00:58 it was never going to happen with Beth Mead, whereas we sort of knew Leah wasn't going
01:03 to be in the squad. Great news, isn't it? I don't want to be the typical fanboy here,
01:09 but she's so important to England.
01:11 Yeah, what will she bring back?
01:15 I just think she's really important to how we play. If we look at before we discuss her
01:21 mindset and what she brings as a personality, I think the way she brings up the ball from
01:25 defence, I don't think there's anyone better in England's squad and what Serena wants the
01:30 team to do than her doing that. I think we reverted to a back three at the World Cup,
01:37 which allowed Alex and Jess to get forward a little bit more and push Lucy more onto
01:43 the wing. But I think if you look at the Euros run and the games that she played after that,
01:50 the majority of the games she played after that, the finalism and stuff like that, her
01:54 ability to be like the... This sounds like a derogatory comment towards Millie Bright,
01:58 and it's really not, but Millie's like the brone and Leah's like the brains in terms
02:03 of she brings the ball out, is really important at distributing things on the back, whereas
02:09 Millie's just like, "You're not getting past me whatsoever." Millie's actually really good
02:14 at bringing the ball out as well, fantastic at it. I just think Leah adds that extra dimension
02:17 and allows Millie Bright to be that kind of brick wall at the back. But unfortunately,
02:22 we're not going to see Millie Bright because she's still injured at the moment. But I think
02:26 in time, when we see those two back together, I think they're two of the most important
02:31 players for any national team and two of the... Potentially one of the best centre-back parents
02:38 in the world, if not the best in Europe. And I think her mentality... Leah has a lot of
02:45 media attention on her because she was the first England captain since 1966 to lift a
02:50 trophy and naturally she gets attention because of that and probably will forever more. But
02:57 I think because of that, we see a lot of Leah in the media, so we get to see a lot more
03:00 of her mindset and we get to understand because of the documentaries that have been made what
03:05 her mindset was going into that game against Germany in the final and the tournament itself
03:11 at the Euros. And I just think Leah's mindset's great. Look, I don't know the woman, I've
03:15 never been lucky enough to interview her. If you are listening, Leah, I'm totally open
03:20 to that.
03:21 Actually, yeah, just come on the podcast.
03:24 Yeah, just do that. Just like, come on. We've had like Lisa Evans on, Kirsty Hansen, we've
03:29 had people that are great on here as well. Just add your name to the list. But I think
03:34 with Leah, her mindset's really good. From what I know of her and what I've seen from
03:37 her, her mindset is like brilliant for a captain of a national team. She encapsulates everything
03:43 that's good about that England team for me and everything that was fantastic about the
03:46 Euros win. And I think there's a lot of chat about being back for Arsenal for me. And this
03:51 might be a bit of an outlandish comment and it might sound a bit weird, but I think she's
03:54 even more important for England than she is for Arsenal.
03:56 Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably a very fair comment. I think as well, like the whole
04:02 captaincy thing, we probably really underestimated how important that was. Her as a figurehead,
04:08 we had Millie Bright during the World Cup, but bless her, she'd only just come back from
04:12 Italy. She was like struggling enough to play, let alone captain the entire squad. So yeah,
04:18 no, it was really exciting to see her back. And some of the other names, once again, Grace
04:23 Clinton, we've spoken a bit about her on the show. We're big fans, excited. Obviously,
04:29 whether she gets... Actually, before we do move on, so we've got England, Austria on
04:35 Friday and then they're taking on Italy. How much time do you think Leah Williamson will
04:40 get?
04:42 I think we might see something similar to what Beth got potentially. Although Beth did
04:46 start the Scotland game and I think Beth was maybe a little bit further ahead at the time,
04:50 so maybe a bit less. I'd be happy with a nice 20 minute, 30 minute cameo. For me, get her
04:56 in amongst the squad. She's fit and she's ready to play a game for Arsenal, so she can
05:00 contribute to the pitch. It's not like when Viv got called up for Holland and she hadn't
05:04 played a minute at the point. I think 20 minutes, 30 minutes here or there, these games are
05:09 sort of test new things out ahead of the campaign coming forward. And it'll just be nice to
05:14 have it in and around the squad. I think even if she doesn't play either of those games,
05:18 having her within the dressing room and around the girls and around the squad is going to
05:22 be just absolutely massive. I also just really want to point out that I feel quite bad because
05:27 I've just woken up with my haircut this morning. I'm just back from a run and I don't want
05:31 to dishonour Leah Williamson's return by having a rugged, almost half asleep look. So I've
05:37 just been on a run, haven't just woke up. If you are watching Leah's look before, I
05:43 didn't mean not to kind of dress for the occasion. So do forgive me, Your Highness.
05:48 Yeah, that's true. If you do come on, obviously we will all be wearing a proper shirt and
05:53 we'll all look as smart as possible. Also, sorry, I did just make an error. So it's England
05:57 and Austria on Friday the 23rd of February, which not this week, which I'm absolutely
06:03 buzzing about because I'm going to Arsenal Manchester United this weekend. And so I was
06:06 suddenly very stressed that I wasn't going to see some of the main players. Hopefully
06:11 that'll all be in action.
06:13 Read the small print.
06:14 Yeah, I know. Sorry, that was really stupid. Anyway, so yeah, some of the other players
06:20 in the squad, obviously Grace Linton we've spoken a lot about and Jess Park back in the
06:25 squad. She's only on five caps so far, but one player who isn't and she's been on the
06:33 fringes and even when she was in the squad, she very rarely played sort of like 90 minutes.
06:39 But Nikita Paris has missed out and she scored seven goals in her last six games for Manchester
06:44 United. Why do you think she's missed out this time?
06:50 I always start this conversation in the same way. Serena Wigman knows miles better than
06:56 I ever do. But I am paid to comment on these kind of things and give my opinion and that's
07:01 the maximum I can get. It doesn't even mean I'm right or wrong. It's just my thought process.
07:05 I don't think United have been great this season, but I think Nikita Paris has been
07:11 and I think she's been really, really, really unlucky not getting that team because I think
07:17 in total she's got eight and 12 across the season in the Super League. I think if you're
07:21 looking at the Conty Cup, she's got five and four. You can see where I'm going with this,
07:26 but she hasn't really been a regular starter in the England team since the World Cup of
07:30 2019. Now, maybe if you're judging a season that she had at Arsenal, the time she had
07:35 at the club before that, I can maybe understand that. I can get that. But I think recently
07:42 she's been really good. She's not old. She's 29. She feels like she's been around for ages
07:48 because she's been one of the...
07:49 She does touch, doesn't she?
07:50 Yeah, she does, doesn't she? Because she's been one of the... I was lucky enough to chat
07:54 to her just after the World Cup and I referred to her as an OG of the WSL and I think that's
08:00 sometimes why you think she's maybe mid-30s or something, but she's definitely not. She's
08:04 29 and that's a peak age in many ways. I think we all get upset when a player... Not all
08:13 do, but we all kind of get frustrated when a player who's been in form for a club team
08:17 doesn't get picked for the international team because you buy into that player and you back
08:21 them and you see that in the men's game, you see that in the women's game. There's a lot
08:24 of Man United fans who are perplexed by her omission, but this is one where I don't think
08:30 Claude Bias comes into it. I do think they have a really valid point. I think she's looked
08:35 really good. She's broken into a Man United team and become a really pivotal part of a
08:39 Man United team when I think, if we're honest with you, when she first signed last summer,
08:44 or the summer before, sorry, I don't think people expected it to have the impact she
08:48 had even last season, let alone the one she's having this season. I mean, what options do
08:53 you have on that right-hand side? Beth Mead's your first pick, but I think on current form,
08:57 Nikita Parrish has got to say, "Look, I can play either wing. I'm deserving of some time
09:00 in these games, which realistically are just friendlies." But it may... I hope it doesn't.
09:07 I really hope it doesn't. And I don't think Serena writes anyone off, but there is part
09:12 of me that thinks she hasn't picked her because she just doesn't see her as part of the squad.
09:16 Yeah. And I guess if you're looking at... So, 29, as we said, is the peak age, but it
09:21 is a point where you're like, "She's been good at bringing in the new blood, if you will.
09:28 And so maybe it's not time to suddenly bring back those players that were part of arguably
09:36 a different era that was pre-Wiegman." So the other options that we do have up front,
09:42 and when you look at it, it's like, who actually do you drop? You've got Rachel Daly's been picked
09:47 as a forward, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, and Alessia Russo.
09:52 That's a joke, by the way.
09:53 Like, who are you putting... Who's coming on as your subs in that scenario? I mean,
10:00 that's a team in itself.
10:02 I don't know if I'm going to get wrong off people, or I'm going to get praised by people
10:07 for this, but if you're talking about my starting forward, Alessia Russo, every single time...
10:11 And I know people are going to not like that. I know some people are going to agree with me,
10:14 but for me, Alessia Russo is more than just goals. She's got absolutely everything. She's
10:18 got room to grow, and I just think we're a better team when Alessia Russo's up front.
10:23 I'm a huge fan. I know she hasn't scored a bag load of goals this season, but I think
10:29 she brings different things to the England team.
10:30 One thing I would like to see is Chloe Kelly get a starting berth. I think it's difficult,
10:38 because you've got Lauren James, who is from another planet on one wing, and you've got
10:41 Lauren Hemp, who is just also from another planet on the other wing. But I really think
10:46 Chloe Kelly's had a really good season. I think City are having a good season, and I'd
10:49 like to see her get a little bit more starting time. But do not ask me who for, because I'm
10:54 not risking the wrath of, A, City fans for saying she should get in over Lauren Hemp,
10:58 and B, Chelsea fans for saying she should get in over Lauren James. Because to be honest
11:02 with you, I don't even know if I can agree with that myself. And then I haven't even
11:08 discussed Beth Mead.
11:09 Yeah.
11:11 I don't know. It's nice and a good headache to have.
11:13 It's an excellent headache to have. And when we come back after the break, I also want
11:17 to mention briefly, we'll talk about it after, some of the fixes that took place last weekend,
11:22 including a very small encounter between Katie McCabe and Chloe Kelly. But on that note,
11:28 we will come back after a short break.
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