Big scorelines in women's football: a problem?

[horsechoker]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/59452221

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/59425485

England beat Latvia 20 - 0 while Belgium beat Armenia 19 - 0 and they weren't the only big scores.

Men's internationals have been criticised for the same thing but the scores rarely get into double figures. In fact, I'm not even sure a men's team would put 20 past an opponent - it would be considered disrespectful.

Is this a problem or not?

 

[Skills]

More goals, more fun

 

[TheReligion]

Yeah it is a problem and makes a mockery for the game. Someone like @GoranIvanisevic needs to be brought in, possibly as a consultant, in order to develop ways of making it an even playing field.

 

[horsechoker]

Yeah it is a problem and makes a mockery for the game. Someone like @GoranIvanisevic needs to be brought in, possibly as a consultant, in order to develop ways of making it an even playing field.

Have the goal move around if you score more than 5

 

[VanDeBank]

The skill gap is bigger in womens football because of how (un)seriously the sport gets taken in some countries.
Top athletes in those countries never get into footy.

It makes the sport look amateurish.
Us women don't know when to stop.

 

[Vidyoyo]

No problem with it, that match was one of the funniest things I've seen in ages.

A combination of the two teams being so obviously mismatched and England celebrating like every goal was a 90th minute winner

 

[sewey89]

I think that Women's football is such a fast rising sport that there is going to be huge discrepancies in quality between the top teams and the bottom ones. It's going to take a long time for the smaller teams to get anywhere near being able to compete. I don't think it's disrespectful though. I'd argue that not trying to score is disrespectful.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

No.

 

[Jippy]

Not as big but you've had Germany batter Brazil 7-0 and Saudi Arabia 8-0 in recent world cups and England just hammered San Marino 10-0.

 

[Nick7]

Skill and most importantly the money gap is massive in womens football. Womens football in the bigger nations, doesn’t get much money compared to mens but compared to smaller countries it’s absolutely massive.

 

[arthurka]

Let's just say the women's game is a bit like how the men's game was 30 years ago. Some teams just haven't really started working on the game and there is a real lack of professionalism.

 

[Hughes35]

Not really. It's basically amateur football still.

When I was 14 or 15 you could regularly win or lose by double figures. As the standard improves, the scorelines become tighter. As money starts to filter in to the Womens game, the scorelines will become more sensible.

Unfortunately, it's just a learning curve and a gulf in quality between the couple of nations that actually have cash in the game. Might be quite a long road ahead though.

 

[Stacks]

The skill gap is bigger in womens football because of how (un)seriously the sport gets taken in some countries.
Top athletes in those countries never get into footy.

It makes the sport look amateurish.
Us women don't know when to stop.

the GK look tiny in the goal so more shots could go in against weaker teams perhaps?

 

[CallyRed]

Not as big but you've had Germany batter Brazil 7-0 and Saudi Arabia 8-0 in recent world cups and England just hammered San Marino 10-0.

I watched some of the England game last night, and some of the Latvian players were technically so poor, the GK struggled to kick past the penalty area at times.

 

[2 man midfield]

Yeah but I’m not sure how it’s meant to improve. To get more women into the game they need to have a team, and that team needs to be travelling round playing games.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Football, both mens and womens, should have some sort of mercy rule like some other sports do. Maybe at the 10-0 mark they should just call it. There's no need to be going beyond that.

 

[JPRouve]

The skill gap is bigger in womens football because of how (un)seriously the sport gets taken in some countries.
Top athletes in those countries never get into footy.

It makes the sport look amateurish.
Us women don't know when to stop.

That's because its literally amateur or semi-professional for a large part. I think people compare it to men Football when they shouldn't.

 

[AndySmith1990]

I don't see the need to destroy an amateur team like that. All it does is humiliate them.

 

[Spaghetti]

Football, both mens and womens, should have some sort of mercy rule like some other sports do. Maybe at the 10-0 mark they should just call it. There's no need to be going beyond that.

Why?

 

[JPRouve]

I don't see the need to destroy an amateur team like that. All it does is humiliate them.

Going easy is condescending and even more humiliating.

 

[Sky1981]

Anything between 5-10 is fair play. But beyond that... come on... it's not even a sport.

So yeah, mercy rules should be in effect. Opponent too strong.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Why?

I don't think there is a benefit to anyone to humiliate your opposition beyond a 10 goal margin, particularly when there is a clear disparity between the professional status of the two teams. Going beyond 10 goals only adds to the embarrassment for the losing team. There is nothing to really gain for the winning team.

In college (american) football, if a team is getting hammered at half time, the coaches and referee can agree for the 2nd half to be shorter. I believe in some cases there are no clock stoppages either. I'm sure college (association) football has something similar, it might be 10 goals and it's over, but not sure.

Mercy rules rarely exist in professional sports, and are mostly at collegiate or amateur level, but if amateur teams are to compete against professionals (which is necessary for the womens game to grow) then I don't think there is a benefit to completely humiliate teams.

 

[do.ob]

Not as big but you've had Germany batter Brazil 7-0 and Saudi Arabia 8-0 in recent world cups and England just hammered San Marino 10-0.

It was 7-1 actually. No need to further disrespect a hopeful developing football nation.

In general I don't think huge score lines really help anyone, they don't exactly encourage kids in the "victim" country to take up the sport, nor are they particularly entertaining if they are a regular occurrence. But in the end these score lines are just a symptom of widely varying financial support and thus professionalism in the women's game.

 

[Jippy]

I watched some of the England game last night, and some of the Latvian players were technically so poor, the GK struggled to kick past the penalty area at times.

I remember struggling to get much beyond halfway in my own half when in goal at school, kicking a crappy heavy muddy old ball out.

Hopefully they learn from the experience and take some pride in representing their country still. The disparity in skills is certainly not limited to women't football, it's there in cricket, rugby and all manner of Olympic sports, men and women's.

 

[Jippy]

It was 7-1 actually. No need to further disrespect a hopeful developing football nation.

In general I don't think huge score lines really help anyone, they don't exactly encourage kids in the "victim" country to take up the sport, nor are they particularly entertaining if they are a regular occurrence. But in the end these score lines are just a symptom of widely varying financial support and thus professionalism in the women's game.

My bad. That game aside, it's generally not much of a spectacle if a match is regularly that one-sided.

 

[SilentWitness]

I don't think there is a benefit to anyone to humiliate your opposition beyond a 10 goal margin, particularly when there is a clear disparity between the professional status of the two teams. Going beyond 10 goals only adds to the embarrassment for the losing team. There is nothing to really gain for the winning team.

In college (american) football, if a team is getting hammered at half time, the coaches and referee can agree for the 2nd half to be shorter. I believe in some cases there are no clock stoppages either. I'm sure college (association) football has something similar, it might be 10 goals and it's over, but not sure.

Mercy rules rarely exist in professional sports, and are mostly at collegiate or amateur level, but if amateur teams are to compete against professionals (which is necessary for the womens game to grow) then I don't think there is a benefit to completely humiliate teams.

I agree with this. I think it is actually a detriment for the winning team to thump someone 20-0.

 

[Sandikan]

Anything between 5-10 is fair play. But beyond that... come on... it's not even a sport.

So yeah, mercy rules should be in effect. Opponent too strong.

You think 10-0 is fair play?
Like when England's 200k a week players play the once a week San Marino gang? That's no less farcical than the game last night.

 

[Tarrou]

Newcastle Jets under 15 boys team beat the womens Aussie national team 7-0 recently

Not really relevant I suppose but an interesting stat

 

[KingCavani]

It's an issue in lots of women sports where the good are just levels above the rest.

Most of that would be solved with time but internationally it's difficult as some countries are just not going to progress like others, but that's an issue in the men's game too.

 

[KingCavani]

Newcastle Jets under 15 boys team beat the womens Aussie national team 7-0 recently

Not really relevant I suppose but an interesting stat

It's exactly what you'd expect. They just have way too much of a physical advantage, even at that age.

 

[crossy1686]

It's exactly what you'd expect. They just have way too much of a physical advantage, even at that age.

We won't really know what the issue is until the women's game gets the same amount of funding and access to the best coaches like the men's game does from grass roots.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

You think 10-0 is fair play?
Like when England's 200k a week players play the once a week San Marino gang? That's no less farcical than the game last night.

Yesterday was far more farcical (albeit we're talking about different levels on the farcical scale here). the goalkeeper in second half was literally not a footballer.

It would have been the same thing as you or me going in net in a mens professional game.

 

[horsechoker]

Newcastle Jets under 15 boys team beat the womens Aussie national team 7-0 recently

Not really relevant I suppose but an interesting stat

Phwoar! Imagine if we played Latvia women with a full strength team!

Man United 1 - 0 Lativa Women
Ronaldo (P) 87

 

[led_scholes]

I don't think there is a benefit to anyone to humiliate your opposition beyond a 10 goal margin, particularly when there is a clear disparity between the professional status of the two teams. Going beyond 10 goals only adds to the embarrassment for the losing team. There is nothing to really gain for the winning team.

In college (american) football, if a team is getting hammered at half time, the coaches and referee can agree for the 2nd half to be shorter. I believe in some cases there are no clock stoppages either. I'm sure college (association) football has something similar, it might be 10 goals and it's over, but not sure.

Mercy rules rarely exist in professional sports, and are mostly at collegiate or amateur level, but if amateur teams are to compete against professionals (which is necessary for the womens game to grow) then I don't think there is a benefit to completely humiliate teams.

I see what you say. However, sometimes I m wondering what is more humiliating: a 12-0 scoreline or a 9-0 where the team just stops playing seriously. When I played amateur football, I was more pissed and felt more embarrassed when the other team started toying with us and not giving a damn.

 

[Bole Top]

obviously there are teams like San Marino and Andora in women's game as well, even more than in men's game for obvious reasons. you can't really change that. some countries will continue to participate as that's within the spirit of the game, but will always be shit at football.

 

[11101]

We won't really know what the issue is until the women's game gets the same amount of funding and access to the best coaches like the men's game does from grass roots.

Newcastle Jets U15s is not exactly La Masia. Technically women's football is improving but the pace and intensity of the men's game is not going to be possible to replicate.

I don't think you can stop games early as long as goal difference counts for anything.

 

[Patchbeard]

Doesn't help that the keeper in the 2nd half was about 5ft. Ideally the womens game should have considerably smaller goals because their average height is about half a foot shorter than men. But then it would make it logistically harder for them to train and play because all infrastructure has men sized goals, so it makes sense to just have it the same. But it doesn't help the game in my opinion, as it makes the keepers look shit because they genuinely can't reach some long rangers even if their positioning is fine.

 

[crossy1686]

Newcastle Jets U15s is not exactly La Masia. Technically women's football is improving but the pace and intensity of the men's game is not going to be possible to replicate.

I don't think you can stop games early as long as goal difference counts for anything.

I know it's not but those lads will have had access to the best youth coaches in the Aussie game since they were 5 years old. The ladies team will have been coached by amateurs, most likely part time so they could do paying work the other half, right up until they made the national squad.

And the Aussie's don't fund anything other than swimming and cricket. I know a couple of lads who competed at commonwealth level in Australia for running short and long distance, they had to move to Europe to get better funded and compete against better opposition.

 

[CallyRed]

Phwoar! Imagine if we played Latvia women with a full strength team!

Man United 1 - 0 Lativa Women
Ronaldo (P) 87

Thankfully LVG is no longer manager

 

[Bebestation]

I don't mean to be rude - but what do people think if the footballing time of a women's football match turned a bit shorter?

Does it need to be 90 mins? What if it was 70 mins match with 35 mins a half?

Football games would be more closer, energetic and fun to watch.

I say this because of how Cricket had turned from the longer still like beauty of Test Cricket, to things like the more energetic One day Internationals and eventually the fast paced gung ho version of T20 Cricket (I'm seeing T10's aswell).

Could turnning the time quantity of Women's Cricket turn up a bit of its quality to the eye?