The WSL team give their verdict after England booked a place in the Women's World Cup final by beating Australia 3-1 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
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00:00 Welcome back to a special edition of the Women's Super League show with myself, Susanna Seely,
00:05 National World and Scotsman writer Graham Falk and National World writer Georgia Golding.
00:09 We had to jump on just for 10 minutes to talk about what we've just witnessed. England,
00:15 for the first time since 1966, have reached a World Cup final. Let's go. Now, I would
00:22 like to point out, before we get onto it, both you guys have some explaining to do.
00:27 No, no. I always back them. I don't know what you're talking about. I said England. No,
00:34 no, I didn't. I said two names. But Georgia, what have we just witnessed? Magic. Absolute
00:41 magic. I mean, I'm humbled. I will hold my hands up and say I'm humbled. I didn't think
00:45 England had enough in them to do it. But God, they did. And I don't think you can say much
00:49 else. Just, I think everyone thought without Lauren James, they wouldn't be themselves.
00:53 But they've come out and just put in an absolute masterclass and just, I can't say anything
00:57 else. Just wow. Wow, wow, wow. Graham?
01:00 Yeah, same. You know what? I don't want to kind of concentrate on it too much, but there's
01:06 no Williamson there. There's no Kirby there. There's no Meade there. There's no spine to
01:10 that team. And people have, we've criticised them at points in the Nigeria game. We were
01:16 like, "Oh." And then Columbia was like, "Oh, well, that was tough." And then we were like,
01:20 "But when we come against Australia, what's going to happen?" We were just fantastic.
01:24 But I really, really, really, I did this to show the other day, but I'm like, give her
01:28 the freedom of the country for me, Lauren Hemp. Outstanding. I think I put that in my
01:33 play rate and just give her the freedom of the country no matter what happens here. Because
01:36 what is she, 21, 22? The leadership that she showed from the quarterfinals, it's just been
01:44 outstanding. Australia couldn't live with it today. And I don't think they could live
01:48 with us at points. The notes there is Sam Kerr, inevitable, you know, worldly. They
01:53 were never in it because we were just so good. And that's not like anything against Australia.
01:57 They're a good team. They've got world-class players in all sorts of positions. But like
02:02 Caitlin Ford, we were really worried about Georgia. Did she play?
02:06 Oh, you're asking?
02:09 I didn't say it.
02:12 No, I know. Like I said, I'm humbled. I will hold my hands up and admit I got it all wrong.
02:18 Should have had the belief, but I went off what I've seen. And then they go and pull
02:22 out an absolute masterclass. And just, bravo.
02:26 By the way, I said Lucy Bronze, the weak link, soz, wrong about it. Absolute mountainous
02:32 performance today. She was amazing. And I think like that's Lucy Bronze, isn't it? That's
02:38 what she brings. And I said like you can't drop her because of her experience and the
02:41 fact we don't really have anyone else in that position. But I'm talking about Caitlin Ford
02:44 and the reason that she didn't get a look in was that right-hand side of Jess Carter
02:49 and Lucy Bronze. Jess Carter as well. Look, I'm going to say something here. Played with
02:53 the tournament for England. She's been outstanding.
02:57 Over Lauren Hemp, you're giving that.
03:00 Yeah, full tournament. And I think, you know, Jess Carter's tackle today on Sam Kerr, just
03:06 after they got the first one back. That goes in the back of the net. It's a different game
03:08 no matter how well England played. And there was like a 10 minute period where we were
03:11 under the cosh. And that's saving at the end for Mary Earps where like, you know, it was
03:16 a great save for Mary. But then if someone comes in and blasts that in the top corner,
03:19 you go, oh, well, who's there to make sure it's cleared again?
03:23 I think, look, Millie Bright, outstanding. And she does such a good job. But for the
03:27 first time ever, Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter have probably been the standout defenders
03:32 for us. But I think Jess Carter has been outstanding. And I was never someone who thought she shouldn't
03:36 be in the squad. I'm not 100% sure she should have been in the starting XI at the start
03:40 of the tournament. I'm an idiot. I know nothing about football. That's why I'm a like pundit
03:45 and quote unquote, and a person that writes about it as opposed to coaching it. And anyone
03:50 who doubted Jess Carter, well, yeah, you can't doubt her anymore. She's outstanding.
03:54 There's one other player that obviously we haven't mentioned just yet, but Ella Toon,
03:58 because we spoke about her recently as well. Similarly to Lucy Bronze saying not really
04:03 sure she just hasn't really been in it. And well, I was about to say something that I
04:09 won't say on recording. But she then just produced one of the most spectacular sort
04:13 of openers of goals. So yeah, what on earth was that? But like, thank God that she as
04:18 well has like finally got into the tournament. Graham, what did you make of her performance
04:21 today as well?
04:22 Graham: Oh, hello, it's Nan. No, hello Nan, it's Ella. Sorry, wrong way around. Same thing.
04:29 Hello, it's Nan. Well, to be fair, that could work. I'm just excited. I thought she was
04:38 great like, big person for the big moments. Hello, Graham, you're an idiot. Just big person
04:48 for the big moments. Like, you know what, we're only going to do this like a 10 minute
04:52 section or so and I feel like I don't want to miss anyone out. I thought Merps was outstanding,
04:57 made those saves. I think the big thing about Merps today as well, that communication was
05:01 so important. Like yes, she made like a couple of good saves and nothing you can do about
05:05 Samka's goal. But the communication when she was coming out to catch things and get things
05:09 was great. And like, Toonie will be remembered for the goal. But defensively, she was great.
05:16 She pushed us a bit higher up. And I don't know if we would have got that with Lauren
05:19 James. And that's not like, that's just not Lauren James's game. And it's nothing against
05:23 Lauren James like, and that's for me why Toonie plays in the final, like even though Lauren
05:29 James is back. I just love Toonie though, to be honest. I know that she's been like
05:33 a bit average before this game. But I just love her, like just a good northern lass.
05:41 And I like that. Like just something about people from the north. What can I say? I'm
05:45 not biased, but I am.
05:47 We should also, sorry, just to interrupt, we should point out that if Georgia has to
05:51 suddenly run off at any point, she is awaiting a call from Lucy Stanforth, which we will
05:57 then be plugging. So please everyone go and watch that as well, whenever that comes out.
06:02 So yeah, if we suddenly lose Georgia, it's because she has got a better offer.
06:07 Because Lucy Stanforth wants a chair.
06:09 Yeah, just to point that out. But yeah, one of the questions obviously was going to be
06:15 coming ahead of Spain on Sunday. Graham, you've made your position clear with Alatoon. But
06:20 Georgia, what are you thinking for the Lauren James conundrum?
06:24 Well, she's back, isn't she? For that. So I don't know. It's tough because they did
06:32 really well today. So it's, I don't know, maybe keep her on the bench, bring her on.
06:39 I don't know why. Because I saw people kind of roll in their eyes saying, oh, it's another
06:43 unchanged Serena lineup. But then they went and bossed it. So I don't think, I don't know.
06:49 They're doing really well at this formation that she's got at the moment. And I wouldn't
06:53 really mess with it. Yes, LJ being back is huge, because she's been standout. And she'll
06:59 definitely be a threat off the bench. But I personally wouldn't mess with what's going
07:02 on at the moment. It seems to be clicking quite well. And yeah, Toon just really showed
07:08 up today. Brilliant. Hopefully she'll do it again. Do her Nan proud. But that's what I
07:14 was laughing at before. I can't get hello, Ella, it's Nan out my head. I think that's
07:18 absolutely cool. But Graham doesn't look too impressed. But yeah, I'm always impressed.
07:24 I personally, and as controversial as it sounds, because she has been the best player, I'd
07:28 keep Lauren, I think, on the, Lauren James on the bench. And if we need her, she's there.
07:33 She's a huge threat. No one wants to see Lauren James come off the bloody bench, let's be
07:36 honest. That's very true. But yeah, I think what happened today was brilliant, faultless.
07:44 And Alex Greenwood has been just superb as well as Jess Carter.
07:48 Yeah, she has been a phenomenally sort of understated player throughout. Like she's
07:51 never someone that is going to hit the headlines necessarily, but she has just been constantly
07:56 there. So turning our attention now that we can to Sunday. There are obviously several
08:06 players that we're going to stress about coming up against Spain. But Graham, what are your
08:12 thoughts? Well, I think Bon Marti is probably one that you'll be wanting to talk about.
08:19 So yeah, what can we do to sort of like help quell that pressure?
08:22 And I said, you asked me in the show earlier in the week, you know, how do you stop Sam
08:28 Kerr? And I said, you don't. And I was right with that, to be fair, you don't. And I don't
08:32 think you can necessarily stop Bon Marti. The form she's on is phenomenal. And I think
08:37 with Pateas being out, Bon Marti's like changed her style as well. She's also managed to,
08:42 which is kind of effective, has been a little bit because Bon Marti and Pateas are amazing
08:45 and arguably, well, they are the best two players in the world at the moment. Sorry,
08:49 after Lauren Hemp. And I think regarding those two, they are obviously fantastic players.
08:56 But I think Bon Marti is, you know, the way she plays the game at the moment,
08:59 just kind of taking on that Pateas role as well in terms of carrying stuff forward.
09:03 And I don't know whether you can stop Bon Marti, to be honest, but what you can do is
09:08 look at England and what we have, like we did today. I think, you know, Sam Kerr didn't lose
09:12 the game for Australia today. We didn't stop her. She scored an absolute screamer of a goal.
09:15 But so do we, we scored three. I loved Serena's comment, by the way, you know,
09:20 why was England better than Australia today? And she was like, well, we scored three goals.
09:25 But I think, you know, like, there'll be a plan in place then if you want a good tactical manager.
09:34 And look, this might come back to bite me on the backside, but I'll tell you who I'd rather
09:37 have in the dugout for multiple reasons on Sunday, and that would be Serena.
09:40 Tactically, being one of the main ones. But Bon Marti is outstanding. I also think
09:48 Pateas is just, look, she's coming back to full fitness, but like, she's won the Ballon d'Or twice.
09:56 I don't really need to add much more to that. And Spain have a lot of good players, you know,
10:00 across the pitch. Parola, I can never say this, Parola Uello is obviously great. She's been
10:07 probably the best young player at the tournament, especially in the knockout rounds. So there's a
10:11 lot to be worried about there. But for the first time in my life supporting England, be it men or
10:17 women at the moment, actually, I look at our strengths first and foremost and think, well,
10:21 you might not stop Bon Marti, but you know, stop Eletoun, stop Lauren James, stop Les Urusos,
10:26 stop Lauren Hemp, stop Lucy Burns, and try and get past Jess Millian. And Alex, if you do that,
10:32 fair play, but that onus is on you. We've got so much strength.
10:37 Yeah, and actually ahead of Sunday's final, most likely sort of whenever strategies come in,
10:44 how important do you think Lucy Bronze and Kiera Walsh are likely to be
10:47 sort of in the preparations and potentially in that match on Sunday, Georgia?
10:54 Sorry, I was too busy warning you. We had a couple of minutes left. I didn't get the question.
11:00 How good is Kiera Walsh and Lucy Bronze?
11:03 We're running out of time. But yeah, how important do you think Lucy Bronze and Kiera Walsh are
11:07 going to be, firstly for strategies ahead and for preparations and on Sunday's final?
11:12 I came back in the room. Lucy actually said in her post-match interview, like, her and Kiera have
11:16 that upper hand because, you know, they know the majority of those players quite well. So that will
11:23 bode well. And I think the Spain camp will also be like, damn it, like, they kind of find us out
11:28 and they know how to defend. And also just quickly before we do wrap up, I think it is worth saying
11:33 that regardless of what happens, if Spain do go on and win, I'm saying this on my behalf anyway,
11:39 it's in spite of their manager, not for him. It's a very touchy topic. Everyone, I think,
11:47 is in the same boat in terms of why they're there and what happens, happens. But if they do win,
11:53 it's for themselves, not for that back room.
11:56 Absolutely. And obviously, you've got to ask the final questions before we do wrap up.
12:00 Scorelines. What are we doing?
12:04 I'm going to drink far too much Jack Daniels to calm the nerves and be sick come half time.
12:10 You know what? I think we can do it.
12:13 Jack Daniels at 11am, that's good going. I'd be on the mimosas by then.
12:18 10, 11 and 12, to be fair. So I thought Spain were the better team against us in the Euros and
12:25 would beat them and had their full side there. And I know we could go into a different podcast
12:29 entirely about why the full side isn't there. But I would prefer England's team to Spain's team.
12:36 Spain have the best two players in the world after Larenheim. But I think we can do it. I think it's
12:45 tight. But I think we're going to see a very similar final at the Euros. So 1-0, 2-1, 2-1.
12:54 No, 1-0. Change my mind. 1-0.
12:56 Georgia?
12:58 I'm going a repeat of the Euros over 2-1. Let's go Russo to be on the score sheet again and then
13:06 surprise move the second.
13:07 Who do you want to see score the winner? And then I realised that the answer was already there. And
13:18 then you said the answer before I thought about asking the question. My brain didn't connect
13:22 enough to ask. I'd love to see Lucy Bronze get the winner.
13:27 Yeah, that would be pretty good. But we're going to have to wrap this up. And I'm sure
13:32 Monday there will be a lot to talk about. But yeah, the final is taking place this Sunday
13:36 morning at 11am. It's available to watch on BBC and ITV. And after this, please also go watch
13:42 Georgia's interview with Lucy Stamford whenever that comes out.
13:45 I'm very, very sad you didn't end this call conversation.
13:52 Tony from Australia, from Neighbours, you guys took one hell of a beating. But
13:57 fine. That's fine. We did it all in front of you.
14:00 You should know the reference, but there's our age difference showing.
14:04 And that's a perfect way to end the show. I'm old, Susanna is not.
14:08 [END]