Spooky Season

Another month has passed us by, storms have begun to roll in both literally and metaphorically, and now we prepare for the whiplash of the clocks going back.

We’re a third of the way into the season and things are starting to shape up across the SWPL, good and bad. For some teams the international break may have come at the perfect time as they look to reset from a start that has left them outside the positions they want to be taking up come the season end.

National Team

We’ll make this quick, if you want to read our build up to the upcoming round of Nations League games (kicking off on Friday) then you can get that by clicking below.

We are of course in Nations League action with Halloween’s Hampden action selling well despite the negative feeling around the national team going into this break. Last month we put in a dismal showing at home to Belgium which has ramped up the pressure on these games. Fortunately it has coincided with Martha Thomas becoming the striker we all knew she could be in the WSL. Anyone that is surprised wasn’t watching, at West Ham and Manchester United she showed that she is likely the best pressing forward in the WSL and has more than enough ability to shine at a club where she is valued. Robert Vilhalmn has given her that value and she is repaying it tenfold, fingers crossed the confidence continues as we play Netherlands because we will really need her goals.

The bad timing for us is that other than Christy Grimshaw we are missing two midfields worth of players to injury. While we are not reliant on the attacking capabilities of Weir and Cuthbert as we have a glut of options in that role, the loss of Sam Kerr will hurt. Ordinarily Cuthbert would step into that role which isn’t ideal but it’s better than no one, Chelsea Cornet’s late call up tells you all you need to know about the likelihood of Cuthbert being fit in this break.

Outside of the National Team, but, SWNT adjacent. Brianna Westrup’s Sunderland are top of the Championship and have only conceded four goals in the eight games to date. Natasha Fenton has been impressing in their midfield and was born in Aberdeen, potentially one to look out for as a potential surprise call up. Although at 25-years-old, having never represented Scotland at any level, in our most crowded position (usually), it is perhaps unlikely we’ll ever see her for Scotland. But, certainly one to look out for.

Trouble in Paradise SWPL

The international break comes at a good time for some, it’s cliché but this 14 day gap between games is a time for many clubs to take stock and reset. Across the league big characters will be asked to step up as teams come together to look at what has gone right and what has gone wrong so far this season in an attempt to come back in November refreshed. With the season so young the alarm bells won’t yet be ringing but as each week passes the urgency to turn around form increases.

Last season Gartcairn were the fairy tale of the SWPL, bouncing from their promotion season, and heading all the way into the promotion playoff. Behind the scenes the season had its troubled waters and over the summer the Airdrie club saw a lot of change in the playing squad. A managerial change already with just eight games on the board they sit on just one solitary point facing the prospect of a return to the SWF Championship. The problem? Simply put, they haven’t defended nearly well enough. 12 have gone in against them in October with only two in response. The lack of goals scored directly related to the poor defensive showing as they are often under heavy pressure and aren’t in possession of the ball to create chances of their own. Was last season an effort too far? Has their quick progress caught up with them? Is the squad turnover just taking some time to bed in? These are all questions for new manager Toni Ross to answer in the coming months, the worry for him will be they are already seven points behind the pace in SWPL 2. The answers need to come quick if they are to survive the drop.

Their rivals in that promotion playoff last season, Hamilton Accies, saved themselves on that day. Marking Gary Doctor’s last match in charge of the club one of success, albeit a position he would have been disappointed to be in. His assistant, Robert Watson, has taken the helm after eight years as deputy but is yet to find his groove in charge of the club. They are sat three points adrift having played a game more than Montrose above them (the game in hand is against Glasgow City so that’s not likely to change once it’s evened up but you never know).

To illustrate what’s going wrong this season it is their game against Montrose that highlights the challenge faced at the club. Setting up in a 4-1-2-3 their plan to sit deep and utilise quick, vertical, passing to break the lines of the opposition. In the third minute it worked to a T, a ball from front to back set Giard free in the box and she does what she does best. Conceding almost immediately after not part of the plan, and as the game wore on the gap between midfield and defence only got larger. This led to a pass accuracy of just 44% at the final whistle, you would expect a team playing longer, higher risk, passes to have a lower rate of accuracy but 44% is extreme. At home you want to have control of the game and to impose your style on the opposition, that is simply not possible if you can’t reliably find your teammate to hold on to the ball. Something that both Montrose and Dundee United ahead of them do better, as well as both playing significantly more passes, and more short passes, according to the league data. Resources mean they will likely be the underdogs in the majority of games this season, but perhaps they need to try to ignore that tag and try to exert more control on games.

At the other end of the table the top three have now all played each other as the Old Firm played out the final of the fixtures between the sides fighting for the title. After the game Fran Alonso described it as “irrelevant” in the title race, with last season seeing huge leads worn away and a dramatic finish it is easy to think that it is simply too early for a title to be won or lost, but… Celtic missed the chance to go eight clear of Glasgow City in third and five clear of Rangers which is a significant lead at any point of the season. In the aftermath Fran Alonso’s title credentials have been questioned, after going 1-0 up Celtic dropped off and allowed Rangers far too much time and space to play their game ending with Rangers taking more than double the number of shots as the home side (although only six on target to Celtic’s four). Hayes may be reliable in big moments but relying on her goals in these games is not a method that can bring consistent success (especially if SWPL defences learn to defend against her at set pieces). Injury absences added a complexity to this game for Alonso with Loferski and Barclais in particular notable absences but there will perhaps be some extra scrutiny on the upcoming SWPL Cup quarter final with Glasgow City to see what he can come up with.

It was a performance to forget and has left the Gers as the only unbeaten side in SWPL 1, something that new manager Jo Potter is sure to be happy about given the drastic new style of play that she has implemented. The game was decided late on as Lizzie Arnot made her return by doing what she does best, standing up a defender before playing a flat cross into the six yard box. A chance Rio Hardy has shown she won’t let pass her by. Rangers big problems remain in defensive areas, an impressive win at Ibrox over Hibernian papering over those cracks a little. Hibs had more than a few chances to score before a few mistakes from Katie Fraine (who was substituted at half time with an injury) and a total defensive collapse. In 12 games this season they have only recorded four clean sheets, however, they have never conceded more than one goal in a game under Potter. The hybrid centre back/full back roles that have been taken up by McLauchlan and Docherty have begun to click with the two able to create defensive overloads in wide areas by combining with the wing backs, who themselves are pushing the opposition wingers further and further back with their attacking threat. It remains a tactic that is working but does feel like it could be exploited as the season goes on.

Things we Love to see

It’s that time again as we shout-out some of our favourite content from the past month, coverage of women’s football continues to increase and we are so here for all the new content for us to enjoy.

This incredibly cold photo of Martha Thomas after she completed her hat trick against Aston Villa. We’ve heard if you look at it long enough you’ll get a boost of confidence to do the scary thing you’ve been putting off for a while…

This hype video from Western Sydney Wanderers as they head into the A-League season has us feeling ready to rush out and become Wanderers’ ultras.

Glasgow City’s series of videos to celebrate black history month, a hugely important topic and one that Linda Motlhalo and Ode Fulutudilu have spoke to the club so gracefully about the importance of.

Staying on the topic of black history month, Ifeoma Dieke spoke to Sky Sports about her career and experience as Scotland’s first black captain, you can watch that video on their website here.