England ladies were magnificent !

Very good performance with two brilliant finishes. They seem to be getting into best form at exactly the right time. Hopefully they can do it in the final.
 
Tremendous game. What a second half. Heart in your mouth til Hemp scored and then again when that 3rd went in after Sam Kerr had gone so close for Aus.
Special times for women's football and Lionesses.
 
Juninhoburger said:
The keepers are much much better than they used to be.

5 years ago you might have had a point.
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Keepers are better but so many goals are scored because keepers can't physically cover the top of the goal. Shots only need to be accurate, they don't need any power on them at all. It's frustrating watching soft goals sail in consistently. Nothing will change unless goals get smaller or keepers get taller. One of those things is far easier to achieve. Height doesn't really make a difference across the rest of the pitch because it's relative to each other but the goal itself is different. The most obvious evidence of this is how many goals are scored direct from corners in women's football. It's like junior football in that respect.
 
Nano said:
Keepers are better but so many goals are scored because keepers can't physically cover the top of the goal. Shots only need to be accurate, they don't need any power on them at all. It's frustrating watching soft goals sail in consistently. Nothing will change unless goals get smaller or keepers get taller. One of those things is far easier to achieve. Height doesn't really make a difference across the rest of the pitch because it's relative to each other but the goal itself is different. The most obvious evidence of this is how many goals are scored direct from corners in women's football. It's like junior football in that respect.
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That is definitely true. The Aussie goal wouldn't have gone in with Earps was taller. A keepr of 180cm or more would have saved it comfortably.
 
Fantastic performance, full of skill,grit and determination.
Well done girls,showed the men what to do, very professional performance from a great team
 
Nano said:
Keepers are better but so many goals are scored because keepers can't physically cover the top of the goal. Shots only need to be accurate, they don't need any power on them at all. It's frustrating watching soft goals sail in consistently. Nothing will change unless goals get smaller or keepers get taller. One of those things is far easier to achieve. Height doesn't really make a difference across the rest of the pitch because it's relative to each other but the goal itself is different. The most obvious evidence of this is how many goals are scored direct from corners in women's football. It's like junior football in that respect.
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That might all be true but does it actually matter? Its not as if elite level matches are all finishing 7-5 or whatever is it? The score-lines are seemingly pretty similar to the men's game.
 
Wonderful display from the Lionesses, and absolutely the right result.

However, this hasn't prevented some of the most bilious and bitter comments (already!!) in the Oz press. Jeez - they do seem to be really the world's worst losers as well as terrible winners - no class, and terrible attitude.

The Lionesses have been accused in the Australian Telegraph (just a few minutes ago) of 'roughing up' the Matildas, 'ludicrous' tactics' and hypocrisy (England as a whole) after calling out their cheating in the Ashes ("self-appointed moral judges of global sport') and then making a few healthy midfield tackles, or deliberate and premeditated assaults, as the Aussie morons saw them.

The same newspaper hired a helicopter to over-fly the Lionesses in training and publish/pass on formations etc, coupled with the some of the most provocative and just plain nasty predictions about England as a whole and what was going to happen to the Lionesses.

Even for a tabloid, it's about as gutter as it gets.

The booing from their crowd today was a disgrace too.

After all that, beating them is just SO satisfying!!!

Wingeing poms? Pot calling kettle black methinks!

The Lionesses winning the whole thing will be just PERFECT - I reckon Oz will just melt down. As will the whole of England, but in a much better way!!
 
atypical_boro said:
That might all be true but does it actually matter? Its not as if elite level matches are all finishing 7-5 or whatever is it? The score-lines are seemingly pretty similar to the men's game.
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As a spectacle, yes, and even more so in the long run. Women's football is still very low quality but a lot of that will improve over time.

It's not just the goals though. The pitch is also too big because the players are smaller and slower. There is a ridiculous amount of space at all times which leads to more long balls into space and less penalty for poor touches/passes. More space to take shots etc.

There are a lot of sports where women use different size equipment etc than the men's game so it's not unprecedented. Tennis only play 3 sets instead of 5, athletics there are different size hurdles, javelins, shot putts etc, Womens basketball uses a smaller ball. Seems daft to insist on something that makes the game worse because it requires less skill when it would be such an easy thing to change.
 
Nano said:
As a spectacle, yes, and even more so in the long run. Women's football is still very low quality but a lot of that will improve over time.

It's not just the goals though. The pitch is also too big because the players are smaller and slower. There is a ridiculous amount of space at all times which leads to more long balls into space and less penalty for poor touches/passes. More space to take shots etc.

There are a lot of sports where women use different size equipment etc than the men's game so it's not unprecedented. Tennis only play 3 sets instead of 5, athletics there are different size hurdles, javelins, shot putts etc, Womens basketball uses a smaller ball. Seems daft to insist on something that makes the game worse because it requires less skill when it would be such an easy thing to change.
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It really isn't.
 
Nano said:
As a spectacle, yes, and even more so in the long run. Women's football is still very low quality but a lot of that will improve over time.

It's not just the goals though. The pitch is also too big because the players are smaller and slower. There is a ridiculous amount of space at all times which leads to more long balls into space and less penalty for poor touches/passes. More space to take shots etc.

There are a lot of sports where women use different size equipment etc than the men's game so it's not unprecedented. Tennis only play 3 sets instead of 5, athletics there are different size hurdles, javelins, shot putts etc, Womens basketball uses a smaller ball. Seems daft to insist on something that makes the game worse because it requires less skill when it would be such an easy thing to change.
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I really can't agree with that. Scorelines are similar to men's games, the games (especially between sides who are evenly matched) are exciting, and there are no issues with the quality of games at the top level.

The England-Germany final is still one of the best games I've ever seen live. It wouldn't have been improved in any way by reducing the size of the goals or the pitch.

I'm pretty sure I read something about the average height of male goalkeepers when football started being around the average height of female goalkeepers now. If anything, men's goals are too small rather than women's goals being too big. The main thing that hurts goalkeepers (at international level) is the lack of elite coaching from a young age in some countries. I can't remember which former England women's goalkeeper was saying it, but there was a lack of coaching on positioning and feet placement from a young age. So nothing became second nature - you can see with Earps now, she is able to get to a lot of shots in the corners due to her knowing how to position herself to anticipate the shot. Something a lot of the goalkeepers in countries that are semi-pro or are just turning pro don't have.

You don't have to like the game, but almost all NWSL and the top WSL games are very high quality. And that quality will continue to improve as the investment in the game continues.
 
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