The WWC Warming Up Nicely
Jun 23rd, 2015 by 'holic
I have largely enjoyed watching England Ladies advance to the last eight of the WWC in Canada. There, I’ve said it. I know that puts me in something of a minority, judging by the volume of traffic on my Twitter timeline during the matches, but hell, I’m swimming against the current on the likely signing of Petr Cech too. More of that if and when the deal is completed.
I’ll accept England took an hour to get into their stride against Norway last night, but the occasional derogatory tweets failed to distract me from the last half hour that saw England book a quarter-final date with the hosts this coming weekend.
Steph Houghton’s excellent header cancelled out Norway’s opener, and was followed by a stunning strike from Lucy Bronze which will surely be a candidate for goal of the tournament.
Despite the negative comments I have seen elsewhere I think it is clear that this England side has made great strides since the formation of the FA WSL four years ago. That coaching standards are better is clear. This was England’s first win in the knock out phase of the World Cup and there is every reason to feel that a semi-final place, at least, is a distinct possibility. Currently ranked sixth in the world, that would represent a considerable achievement for them.
The team lacks nothing as far as technique and organisation goes. What all of the teams here do lack is the diving and amateur dramatics that has infested the mens game. The tackling can be fierce though, just ask Karen Carney whose ankles were singled out for the sort of treatment often dished out to Jack Wilshere.
It’s good to see that the BBC are moving their live coverage from BBC3 to BBC1 for the match against Canada. The game deserves a wider audience (although early hours of Sunday kick-off will limit the numbers – this is why our smart boxes can be set to record tv for later viewing!).
So if you have been put off watching by the curmudgeons of social media do yourself a favour. Watch a match or two from the competition with an open mind. I’d recommend following Andrew Gibney (@Gibney_A) on Twitter for informed comment. There are good matches, and some not so, just like the mens game. There are moments of brilliance, and moments of farce, just like…you get the picture.
Oh, and there is the added attraction of five Arsenal Ladies in the squad. Come on England!
74 Responses to “The WWC Warming Up Nicely”
Enjoyed those England goals and English mojo in the second half. And Jill Scott’s one woman party in the corner near the end.
I too am watching the England games. Sampson rotates the team more frequently than any other manager I can think of but so far so good. Ladies football is improving rapidly. There are more mistakes than you see from the men but there is great individual skill and I thought our possession football in the last twenty minutes yesterday was excellent and very mature.
There are lots of Gooners. Several played against Colombia but none got on the pitch yesterday. You see lots of set piece goals and the first two goals yesterday saw elementary mistakes from corners. In fact when they scored our goalie touched a ball for a corner that was going several feet wide. But the winning goal was superbly struck. Keep the faith against Canada!
A Chelsea friend sent me this piece from what he says is a reliable Chelsea website. It suggests Arsenal will announce the Cech signing on Friday and it will actually happen on July 1st . He says that very few proper Chelsea fans begrudge Cech the move but they don’t like the idea of him going to a team that might press them next season.
http://www.chelsea-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/cech_is_a_gooner_864449/index.shtml?
Class experience a winner welcome petr
Fully agree Guvna. The ladies game has made great progress over recent years and this England team show great skill and practical nous. I would much rather add Karen Carney to put forward line than a few fellas we have been linked with.
– put
+ our
It was quite amusing listening to Robot Wars flirting with Sue Smith on commentary.
Cheers H. Lovely post.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the WC so far. The standard is much higher than I have ever seen. The attitude of the players in relation to diving and the way they react to tackles has been a breath of fresh air. It is a pleasure to watch an England team that is not filled with people I am predisposed to think of as scumbags. I have supported them with a genuine goodwill that I do not remember feeling for a long time.
So for me this has been a great competition and one that has convinced me that the standard of women’s football is better than ever and improving at a rate of knots. I hope they maintain the attitude and integrity as the standard rises. If so then there is hope for the future of international football- and the way the men’s game is going I am more than thankful for that.
Go Lionesses!
Cynic. Spot on about the commentary ‘banter’. Bloody painful listening to him try to elicit advice/guidance about fashion and hairstyles. The hopeless longing in his voice as he makes lame jokes and wishes his life had fallen out differently borders on depressing.
Unless, of course, this is the beginning of a beautiful romance. Which alone would be worth the license fee for this year…
I am so uninvolved in twitter and the rest of “social media” that I have no idea if the current is for or against the Cech move. And I don’t really care.
But what does Holic think? Now that I would like to know…
bt8. ‘Jill Scott’s one woman party in the corner near the end.’
We saw the same game. Wink.
Now, where is cba to help me out? Otherwise it won’t be long before I’m assisting myself for the half-century…
Women playing football ??
Call that football,
Give me a break. !!
The minute they let them out of the kitchen,and acceded to their request to have some help filling the family coal bunker when the truck delivered your winter quota,the world went to hell in a hand basket.
Now the genie is out of the bottle,we’ve got women running Global Corporations,even running Countries for fuck’s sake. !!
A bloke used to come home after a hard days work and a few beers down at the Pub, to sit down to the hot dinner little wifey had cooked for him,followed by a couple of hours watching telly before bed.
Nowadays he comes home to a cold, dark, empty house and has to cook his own fucking dinner [ fat chance !!] because wifey has a high powered job and is burning the midnight oil on some mega merger deal with her big knob Banking/Financial/Global hedge fund Perrier drinking partners.
And they are all fucking female as well. !!
Bollocks to it all.
You can stick progress up your arse.
Personally I rarely get dinner cooked for me by a woman. Years of working as a chef tend to intimidate them out of the idea. Which has probably saved me from some pretty awful fare down the years. So that’s fine with me.
But not once have I received help filling the family coal bunker. I am outraged. Progress? What bloody progress?
Family coal bunker always gets filled by the missus over here Clive. 😉
bt8. The missus always does it at Clive’s too. He just cleans up afterwards. That’s why he’s the Sweeper… wink!
Interesting analysis of Arsenal’s finances from Matt Scott, one of the more knowledgeable and sensible journalists about Arsenal ( and a Gooner to boot! )
http://www.insideworldfootball.com/matt-scott/17285-matt-scott-can-henry-persuade-wenger-to-spend-200m-says-he-should?
The hopeless longing in his voice as he makes lame jokes and wishes his life had fallen out differently borders on depressing.
We’ve all got that chapter in our autobiography. For some of us it’s the entire book. 🙂
Heh!
You sir, you cynical wotsit, have once again made me grin from ear to ear.
I hope my book ends well. *crosses fingers and toes and thinks of Dennis*
A Chelsea friend?
Reliable Chelsea website?
Man, this is too kinky, even for me.
Oi, John…
From your link, Ttg … “The 33-year-old will end his 11-year tenure at Stamford Bridge on July 1, the day after his contract with the Blues expires.
That being the case, why are we paying a fee for him? I thought his contract still had a year to go, no?
Your link also had him as “second only to Bonetti” I don’t think so…
Öskar
I married a woman once. Actually I married two (at different times), but the one I’m thinking of encouraged me to get hugely into debt building a new house and buying her a cherry red Jaguar (I had a company car) to do the shopping. What did she do then? Promptly fell pregnant and never worked again till the divorce!
Women!!!
Worryingly I do find myself watching women’s sport occasionally. Takes me back to lunchtimes in London in the ’60s and young nubiles playing netball with their skirts tucked into their undies. Anyone else remember that?? I hope it’s not just me… 🙁
Öskar
Hello Young Oskar. I hope all is well.
I have never subscribed to the idea that an important factor to consider in the transfer window is the possibility of weakening a rival by purchasing their good players. My reluctance to weight this scenario heavily may be due to the fact that I have spent a decade watching all and sundry, rivals included, nick our best players.
Now that the boot is (possibly) on the other foot I must admit I like the idea of Chelsea having to look for a backup keeper. Because he won’t be anywhere near as good as Cech. And if, Heavens forbid, the translator’s voodoo starts waning and Chelsea actually have an injury to a first team member then there is a one in eleven chance of them being up a well-known creek, having lost their shiny new Belgian paddle and having to watch us pass by serenely, propelled by the experienced and sturdy paddle they just sold us and now wish they had back.
I know, I know, if metaphors could win the league…
..or possibly a totally incapacitating injury to the chav owner’s finances, GSD, should Putin decide oligarch’s aren’t such a good idea after all. Imagine the fire sale!
Imagine Moaninho’s sad little face… Awwwww.
Öskar
I don’t do twitter and I’ve only seen a few highlights of the wwc on the news but I just don’t understand the apparent criticism.
I like women.
I like football.
Throw in a pizza and a few beers and it sounds like the perfect way to spend a couple of hours.
What’s not to like?
UTA.
For what it’s worth, in the last drinks Ttg and Lars pointed out that the QPR goal scored by Austin against Ospina was the one at Loftus Road so I had another look. I could do an Oskar and argue with Ttg who was an eyewitness and said there was general agreement in his area of the seats that Ospina was at fault, or with Lars who was probably watching his TV in Sweden with a magnifying glass at his disposal. But I won’t. 😉
Just as well 8ball, or you could end up 2balls short. 😉
Öskar
SSY,
I am a faithless tart. I accept gifts and hospitality from Chelsea fans and many years ago found myself seduced by an evil woman from the other end of the Seven Sisters Road. All the way through I thought of Herbert Chapman
All the way through I thought of Herbert Chapman
Blimey was it that long ago? Did you sweep her off her feet with a ride on your horse and cart and an evening at the local ninepins tournament, followed by a return to your place so she could look at your slides of the General Strike?
She had no chance.
😉
Well Oskar, now that you mention it …
Ospina did what he could to react to the shot and although Lars criticisms him for jumping upward rather than to the side, it all happened so quickly I see it as a situation where the keeper found himself in a very vulnerable position and decided he had to anticipate and he simply anticipated wrongly. Not so different than the situation on a penalty kick then.
criticisms = criticises
It is such strong emotion to watch beautiful ladies football .
First , many of them are really beautiful ladies , strong , youthful and their joie de vivre , this joy to play football and you can see this candeur , innocence in their face .
They play football with passion , there is no dive , no sneaky kicking , no shirt pulling , they play football as football should be played .
This Saturday will be a game of Canada-England , a game of caliber Arsenal-Man Utd and we all should find time to watch .
If you are missing this — and may I ask what’s wrong with you if you are not? — then tune in later tonight/early tomorrow as Chile takes on Uruguay in Copa QF.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgaYbjnR9FA
Arsenal have signed Romania Under-16 captain Vlad Dragomir, news agency Reuters report.
—————
Always wanted a Vlad.. has a certain ring to it..!
Dragomir isn’t bad as well…
😀
Which presumably makes him Vladomir Dragomir. Awesome!
“What becomes of us, Gooners,
When we have finally been stripped of,
The handbags and the VladDrags
That Dick Law had to sweat so we could buy?”
Sorry. It leaped into my head and won’t go away. So I thought I’d share. Sorry again.
Dr. Faustus. The women’s world cup seems to have grabbed my attention more than the copa america for some reason. More women and more summer-like (despite the blasted fake grass) are two of the factors at work I’m sure but on your suggestion will try to see some of the Chile game against Uruguay. I will probably be cheering against Uruguay as much as anything else though despite the presence of Alexis.
I’ve not watched any of the Copa America because it’s on Premier Sports, which I don’t normally have, so it’s a channel I never go to. Channel 551 is not programmed into my brain.
If it had been on Sky Sports, habit would have made me watch some of it.
Have we signed the next world-beating 16 year old Romanian yet?
Oh.
Sorry, I meant to be whingeing in jest. 😉
I wish to make no grand pronouncements on the Copa America as I have watched little of it. However, I took the Doc’s advice and stayed up for this one (Chile v Uruguay). The attitude of the players at the end has been shocking. Absolutely disgraceful. No more of that for me, I’m afraid.
I will stick to the WWC in which the participants behave like adults.
Schneiderlin bets went our way Wednesday. Wonder if it means anything.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-transfer-news-odds-slashed-on-morgan-schneiderlin-joining-gunners-after-heavy-backing-10343141.html
bt8b@39: The only certain thing to be said is that it means more people are putting more money on Schneiderlin joining Arsenal so the bookmakers shorten the odds to protect the potential profit on their book.
Morning buffs:
I have come across the following quote, apparently coming from Morgan Schneiderlin, as follows:
‘Talks are on going and should be completed in the coming days’
‘I hope that it will occur before pre-season begins next week.’
There were rumours in the January Transfer window that he had permission to leave this summer and wanted to play Champions League football. He has been linked with a move to both Arsenal and Manchester United, as well is Sp@*. However, the latter never, ever, hardly play in the CL.
So…
Make of it what you will, if you choose.
#what are they smoking over at Anfield!
Still cechinggggggg on the official website and not seeing anything which says cech ceched in at Arsenal football club.
Yesterday’s game between Chile and Uruguay was a battle of the thugs. Well Uruguay definitely played it that way and the tackles were crunching loud and clear. The one on alexis nearly knocked me off my seat for it was vicious. Cavani sending off and the scenes that followed were ridiculous but then the better team won. Cavani would have got no brownie points for his performance as well and should lay to rest any chance of him playing for the gunners.
Schneiderlin will be an upgrade to coq and i say it will respect to the frenchman who had a great second half of the season. We need a dm and all though morgan may not be classified to be in the traditional mode of dm’s, he does fit the bill in more ways than one.
Frimino being compared to sanchez and pool fans believing they have got the better deal, well if they think so then i also believe i will date salma hayek one day.
Last part of today’s rumour had me in splits. Real want kos for 21 million. A joke called luiz for 50 and a proper cb for 21??? Get a life rafa. We aint selling him for anything. Here is an offer, diaby+ flamini and you give us benzema, now thats being fair alright.
Haha! Classic Vinay!
I must admit to not catching the game yesterday, but it sounded like a game worth watching.
I would be happy if we signed Schniederlin for the reasons I gave last week. Good quality depth at DM. Anyway, I’ll leave the rest to the back office.
Liverpool again are showing their cl-ass! When will they ban Brendan from the coffers? I don’t know.
As for Kos to Real? Haha, cough, cough – Fa-cough! How about that Rafa?
Moving along…
Nice one ‘H.
Barring the odd Arsenal Cup Final and a couple of games during the London Olympics, it’s the first time that I’ve really taken any notice of the Women’s game.
Have watched England’s games, and 2 or 3 others, and have enjoyed what’s on offer. Derogative comparisons with the men’s game seem to me to be redolent of the kind of lazy analysis that plague women’s sport generally, and more particularly women’s tennis, given the contentious equal billing it enjoys with the men’s game. As exposure of, and interest in, women’s football grows, expect more of the same. The “Serena Williams would struggle to win a game against any of the top 100 men” school of thought morphs easily into “This lot couldn’t beat my local pub team” and seems to me, whether true or not, to miss the point. So what! Any comparison is essentially meaningless.
It is what it is, and you either enjoy it for it’s own sake – the best in their field playing for the highest stakes that their Sport has to offer – or you don’t. Any football match in which the outcome really matters to it’s participants, and where i have a vested interest in rooting for one particular side, will always have me looking on with interest.
That’s not to say that there haven’t been minor irritations ;-
– I can do without the hyperbolic “the nation will be on tenterhooks” stuff from Jacqui Oatley, when clearly “the nation” is anything but. Present it as it is – an as yet fairly niche interest that will only grow as increased professionalism raises the standard of the product on offer – and not as an embroidered fantasy of global significance, the falsity of which will have as many turning off as on.
– Oatley herself. I’ll admit to a bias here. Don’t like her. I have neither forgotten nor forgiven her relentlessly reductionist interview of AW after the Hull draw, and the shameless playing of the “fairer sex” card afterwards when AW was moved to mildly pull her up on it. Even with that prejudice acknowledged and set aside however, it must be said that throughout, she wears the permanently startled look of a skittish impala who knows that any slight lowering of the guard will be met with unmitigated disaster. Surely the far more experienced and relaxed Gabby Logan should have got the gig?
– The England Manager. He has the accent and diction of Pulis. Talking about “yer Carneys, yer Kirbys and yer Nobbsss” is a capital offence in any branch of the game. He combines this unpardonable crime with the tactical tinkering of Smelly Brendan and the caution of Mourinho. Bronze, Carney and Williams amongst others have all shown that they can play. Remove the straitjacket and let them play. If it turns out that they’re not good enough, so be it. You ain’t gonna win the thing with a midfield combo of Chapman and Moore.
Still, these are but small vexations on what is generally a pleasurable watch. Rachel Yankey continually puts her fellow pundits – including the woefully undercooked Sinclair – to shame with her Smiling Assassin routine, there has been some excellent play and great goals (none better than Lucy Bronze’s winner), an almost complete absence of diving, referee intimidation and other Dark Arts that continually disfigure the men’s game, and an exuberant joyfulness of the winning teams which only a hard heart would disparage .
And the draw has opened up whereby England have an outsiders chance of making it through to the Final. Sounds good to me. Probably playing for the privilege of getting soundly tonked in the final by the effortlessly superior Germans but hey ho, plus ca change…
Oh and Cech? Absolute no-brainer. Go get him Arsene.
Firmino: I joined Liverpool for titles
————–
Some players are not very bright.
On another note, am not convinced Alexis is not some sort of genetically enhanced mutant (in a good footballing way..)..most of the kicks he received from the Urukhai would have broken or seriously damaged other players…!
I do hope he gets his month’s rest.. even if it means he misses a few matches…!
King – I heard that Brendan has sweetened the offer for Morgan Schniederlin by including in the compensation packet a life-size painting of himself along with the deal. Hard to compete with that….
If only….
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Hope Summer is being good to holics far and wide.
Cheers.
Homer & BB, there’s nothing quite like a belly laugh when it comes to the scousers! 🙂
i dunno , kGT
in my experience
scousers take everything seriously
no seriously, they take everything
.
*already has coat on *
Headline of the day : Edinson Cavani sent off after ‘finger in anus’ row – video
http://www.theweek.co.uk/64141/edinson-cavani-sent-off-after-finger-in-anus-row-video
Err… Up The Arse!
😀
reminds me of phil cool
describing keith joseph
as having the face of a man
whose finger has just gone through the toilet paper
.
one for the junior gunners there
😉
*hunts out beasley street*
for north bank ned
.
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=hkH9BHS-ph4
.
🙂
a matchday ‘holic journey from sweden ?
.
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=pB3NlOUg-ps
.
😉
japanese chickens
.
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Kz3wDnqKQtk
.
think i’ll retire fer a while
.
gettin corny
😉
cba@53: thank you.
From time to time
The clouds give rest
To the moon-beholders.
GSD @ 38: Uruguay national team lived up to their infamous reputation, sorry your interest was rewarded with that meltdown. I have not been watching any match other than Chile’s, but would watch the Argentina-Colombia QF and then the Semis.
I am really enjoying Chile’s performance. Not just Alexis, the entire team. Exhilarating, adventurous, high-tempo yet dogged and determined football. Man-to-man they are not technically as good as the sublime Spanish side of the last decade (with a few exceptions, like Alexis, of course), and they share the same passing philosophy, but tactically they are so much positive with relentless forward movements. Valdivia has played some tremendous football as #10.
I recommended the Chile matches because it is good football.
No idea how reliable this is.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/101-great-goals-rank-the-most-reliable-english-sources-for-transfer-news-video/
The BBC would be at the top as most of their transfer gossip is trawled from across the web. It’s a bit like saying the man with all the world’s money is the most likely person in the world to be able to afford to buy the moon.
Good morning rumour mongers (You know who you are)!
The meedja are stating that Man U is leading the race to sign Schniederlin!
Leave them to it, I say! Plus it’s Friday! 😉
cba – Boom boom!
However on the bright side:
David Ornstein
✔ @bbcsport_david
Chelsea gk Petr Cech will undergo a medical today ahead of completing his proposed move to Arsenal. Fee & personal terms agreed #AFC #CFC
If I was Ospina I’d be spitting chips.
Woj goes out on loan hopefully. It’s no use him sitting on our bench (or worse) for the next two, three or four years. He’d be better off leaving actually.
Cynic,
yeah that situation with Ospina is very unusual, he did little wrong during his spell in the goal and selling a player after just a year in our service is very, very un-arsenal-like. So Woj going on loan to have some play-time kinda makes sense while Ospina would stay.
On the other hand, I am very much with Blogger in the opinion that Woj really could use working with Cech on daily basis to iron out deficiencies in his game, which might prove to be much better in a long run that to simply go on loan.
If ..and that is a big if, Cech also brings his goalie coach , Mr. Lollichon, who is kind of a mentor to him since the days he worked in Rennes with him (and the recent departure of Tony Roberts to Swansea kinda suggests that we might be very open to fill in the position of GK coach), that it might be also a huge factor for Woj stay as Cechs understudy.
Beware of engagement peeps. We wouldn’t want another summer like 2014, now would we?
#youknowitmakessense
i would refer those women’s sport haters
to katie taylor
she may speak like she’s garglin’ peanut butter
but she’d knock the livin’ bejaysus outta ye
.
mornin’ ‘hol
mornin’ all
happy nearly weekend
🙂
.
UP THE ARSENAL
Cech Mate chelski next season!
Time to put the chavs in their place…
One or two more players for depth and we’re on our way!
64 pan G
I get what yer saying
https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=G4NRTks2M50
but
forgiveness is divine
and
the ‘holicnation is a big broad who goes to church or something
and on that
another ivor
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VcKg3lOoAzc
cheers ned 56
top man
anyhoo
i’m off
one from wiltshire’s second finest
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d2fEkHCZFxU
.
*brown noses ‘holic – the fecker ;)*
I had a very pleasant day at Canterbury yesterday watching the Aussies, despite the fact that my hosts were Tottenham season ticket holders ( I’m a terrible tart when a chance to watch a days cricket is at stake!)
The two chaps got very exercised about when Wenger was going to retire. I wished I had taped their agonies of despair as they discussed how he had ruined their lives! Blissful stuff!
This bar is one of the few places that gives the man the credit he deserves. It would do a lot of his main critics ( of whom I have occasionally been one) good to hear how highly he is regarded by the opposition. At the same time I received an email from an Arsenal season- ticket holder bemoaning the fact that he has heard whispers that Wenger may extend his contract. Just goes to show you can’t please all of the people all of the time
You just can’t get rid of the man:
A Fifa statement confirmed a report in Swiss newspaper Blick, which said Blatter told a party: “I did not resign, I put myself and my office in the hands of the Fifa congress.”
http://www.blick.ch/news/politik/blatters-erster-auftritt-seit-dem-abgang-ich-bin-nicht-zurueckgetreten-id3908498.html
congratulations to the united states. the supreme court did the right thing.
Cheers cba, and now for Ned! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
great the articel is very good succes always for website