Tottenham Hotspur, Sakina Karchaoui and why Tigres are limping to the Liga MX Clausura title - your women's football roundup
It has been another packed week in the women’s game, with stories wherever fans have looked and no shortage of action for them to dissect, whether that be the FA Cup final, the quarter-final stages of the Liga MX Clausura play-offs or the latest action from around the Scandinavian divisions.
As ever, this newsletter will bring you everything that you need to know from on and off the field, highlighting some of the key talking points from different matches and suggesting additional reading and listening material for you to look through, should you have a desire to further your understanding of the latest goings-on.
3 key talking points….
Tottenham Hotspur’s men’s and women’s teams are making the same mistakes
As the current Premier League and WSL seasons have gone on, what has become increasingly apparent is that Tottenham Hotspur are embarking upon a new era, with their men’s and women’s senior sides and academy teams all abiding by the same tactical blueprint and looking to play the same style of football, which largely revolves around controlling possession, executing quick passing sequences and playing on the front foot through constant fast-paced transitions.
For a look at how clubs are looking to create a shared tactical philosophy between their men’s and women’s teams, have a look at my article on that subject for Total Football Analysis here:
For the most part, it has worked out well for them, with both of their senior sides looking a lot stronger overall and proving to be capable of producing football that excites their supporters. However, what has also become apparent is that this brand also has its limitations, as both have discovered in recent games, with them each looking a little too one-dimensional at times and seemingly unwilling to drift from what they have been doing all season.
For the men’s team, this led to them struggling to compete with a Liverpool side using their gegenpressing tactics to limit the effectiveness of their opponents desire to play out from the back, whilst the women encountered similar problems during the weekend’s FA Cup final as they too looked to keep the ball on the ground and so invited pressure, and it was one of the reasons that Manchester United ended up winning by such a huge margin.
https://twitter.com/MUWFC23/status/1790746447844905426
There is no getting away from the fact that it was a poor performance for Tottenham and that the occasion definitely got the better of them, but there was more to their defeat than that when really drilling deep into these tactical deficiencies. Introducing a greater adaptability is a must if they are to keep moving in the right direction, and not doing so will continue to hamper their efforts to gain rewards for their play in the shape of silverware.
Sakina Karchaoui shows once again her importance to PSG
When the news broke that Sakina Karchaoui would be extending her stay in Paris, following speculation that she would move on when her contract ended in the summer, there would have been plenty around the team and among the fanbase breathing an audible sigh of relief.
Put simply, retaining her is vital if PSG are to keep progressing and to keep closing the gap between themselves and rivals Lyon in league and cup, with her constantly being the difference-maker in tighter matches and someone who can generally be relied upon to inject quality in attack or defence on any given day.
https://twitter.com/DAZNFootball/status/1721985536871797053
Her ability to take games by the scruff of the neck when her teammates are not at their best was highlighted very clearly at the weekend, with PSG largely second best against Paris FC in their play-off semi-final and looking devoid of energy for much of the encounter, and they could have struggled to reach the final had Karchaoui not been creating chances and testing Paris’ defensive resolve whenever she could, with her undoubtedly her side’s best player on the day.
It is clear to see when breaking her performances down why Barcelona in particular had been heavily linked with poaching her this summer, and it would be a surprise if that speculation ended now, even with her immediate future secured at her current club. If PSG are to have any hope of challenging for honours in the future, they will have to ensure that they keep her around for as long as they can.
Tigres could be limping to the Clausura title
For much of the 2024 Clausura tournament, Tigres have been the frontrunners for the title and have looked like Liga MX’s team to beat, with their squad stacked with quality and a wide array of attacking options ensuring that they could win games regardless of what style or shape might be required on the day.
However, as the season has neared its endpoint, they have looked more and more beatable, with the last few rounds of matches seeing them struggle to compete on the whole and snatching some tighter victories or draws after not performing particularly well.
That questionable form continued into the first leg of their play-off quarter-final tie against Juárez at the weekend, when they looked uncomfortable and hesitant at times and seemed to lack any conviction in what they were doing. Juárez did enhance this by pressing and constricting the space that Tigres had to operate in, but there is no doubting that the latter were not playing with the same belief as they have been previously, with loose passes from the back and players not reacting to secondary phases both common to see.
In the end, as with many of their recent outings, Tigres did get the win to have an advantage moving into the second leg, but there is no doubting that they are a team not entirely at ease with life at the moment. It is not everyone who has dropped their levels, with a few still working hard in each game and catching the eye, but there are many who will need to rediscover the intensity that they demonstrated earlier in the tournament if they as a team are to get their hands on the Clausura trophy.
Read all about it….
Sophie Dennington’s road to the FA Cup final - so much of the build-up to Saturday’s FA Cup final was based around the players, teams and coaches involved, but it is easy to forget that the referees too have backgrounds and that it is a dream come true for them too to be involved in the occasion. Assistant referee Sophie Dennington’s story is a really heartwarming one and reminds us all that referees are human beings as well as officials, as Emma Smith details here for BBC Sport.
Vivianne Miedema’s Arsenal departure - one of the bigger stories of the week was the announcement that Vivianne Miedema will leave Arsenal this summer after seven years at the club, and it is a decision that has divided fans. Charlotte Harpur has looked at the details of her departure and what it could mean for her and her current side in this article for The Athletic.
Michelle Agyemang’s next move - one player who is rated very highly by Arsenal is striker Michelle Agyemang, who spent this season with Watford in the Championship and who made a name for herself with some of her performances. As Tim Stillman explains on Arseblog News, there are several options for her to decide between next season with regards to maintaining her upward trajectory.
Lend me your ears….
An interview with Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena - something else that was announced this week was that South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns would be taking part in The Women’s Cup in August, when they will face Atlético Madrid, INAC Kobe Leonessa and hosts Kansas City Current. They play with such an exciting and innovative style of play and are another who share traits with their men’s team, and this podcast from the Total Football Analysis archive, whilst mainly about the men’s team, does go into how that style works.
That’s all for now - back next week!!