WSL 24/25 | United v West Ham - 12:00 on Sat 21 Sept at OT

jojojo

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On the first day of the season
United will give to me
Five goals against West Ham
And a resounding victory.

Tempting fate v false modesty? Which way to go? Ok, I admit it - it's day one of a new season and anything is possible. That's my story and I'm sticking to my outrageous optimism until proven otherwise.

I like the fact that Grace Clinton is with us now. I'm interested to see if she can combine with Terland and Melville to help us convert possession into goals. I'm looking forward to seeing a bit of magic from Galton and Geyse.

A word on our opponents then. Head to head we're W7 D2 L1 and lead 26 - 7 on goals.

But enough about them :lol:

 
Got my ticket in the Stretford End safe standing, just by the tunnel. The club then moved me to the Sir Alex Ferguson stand for better atmosphere apparently... Still, looking forward to seeing a beatable team at OT for a change!
 
Unfortunately our OT performances last year were awful. Particularly the season finale against Chelsea. It should have been our FA Cup winning party - what we got was a 6-0 thrashing and a chance to watch Chelsea celebrate winning the League.

Now throw in the men's team having a less than stellar start to the season - it's just not great for building up the right buzz for a match with West Ham.

In other words - I don't think tickets are selling well. At a guess they're relocating people to fill up north strand. I suspect we may be heading for our lowest OT women's team crowd.

It's a real shame but I think that it was always a gamble when they chose to play the opening match at OT.

Doesn't stop me hoping the team will play well though!
 
jojojo said:
Unfortunately our OT performances last year were awful. Particularly the season finale against Chelsea. It should have been our FA Cup winning party - what we got was a 6-0 thrashing and a chance to watch Chelsea celebrate winning the League.

Now throw in the men's team having a less than stellar start to the season - it's just not great for building up the right buzz for a match with West Ham.

In other words - I don't think tickets are selling well. At a guess they're relocating people to fill up north strand. I suspect we may be heading for our lowest OT women's team crowd.

It's a real shame but I think that it was always a gamble when they chose to play the opening match at OT.

Doesn't stop me hoping the team will play well though!
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Perhaps if they showed some pre-season games there would be at least a possibility for some type of a buzz. You know, we could see the new players etc. Now it’s just one social media post and a report, if we’re lucky.
 
The lunchtime kick off is a killer for us unfortunately

I was planning to take my whole grassroots team to this match, but they now have an 11am kick off same day so not possible

I assume it's on TV?
 
Rood said:
The lunchtime kick off is a killer for us unfortunately

I was planning to take my whole grassroots team to this match, but they now have an 11am kick off same day so not possible

I assume it's on TV?
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We seem to be permanently cursed with the midday kick off, whether Saturday or Sunday. It mucks up the whole day as it is neither pre nor post lunch. I hate it, frankly!
 
Not on broadcast TV. Should be free to view on YouTube. Not obvious yet whether there are any geoblocks on the YouTube channel.
 
I assume it's scheduled for the noon kickoff because the men are playing away at Palace the same day (5:30 kickoff)

People won't be able to go to both matches but I'm guessing most people who go to the match at OT will watch the men on telly later. That means they can't really have the kickoff much later without getting complaints over that. Why Saturday rather than Sunday? Don't know...

It will limit who can go though - there's a lot of Saturday morning youth football. A lot of kids/families who you'd expect to want to go won't because they've got matches of their own.
 
I’m excited for this one. New season. New (or practically new) players: Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Dominique ‘Bloodworth’ Jansen, Anna Sandberg, Gabby George, Grace Clinton, Simi Awujo, Hinyata Miyazawa (I said practically), and Elisabeth Terland.

Favorite players like Maya Le Tissier, Ella Toone, Mia Galton, Milly Turner, Geyse and supersub Rachel Williams.

What kind of seasons will Malard and Naalsund get?

The sadness of losing Katie Zelem, Mary Earps and Lucia Garcia dampened, and the bitterness over Ratcliffe’s bad show has resided in favor of a belief that Ashworth and Berrada both care about this side, and there is a lot of talent in the squad. Skinner has had some good going and some bad going, but the FA cup lifted my spirits a tonne, and I’m prepered to see where it goes. I don’t necessarily expect United to be able to break into the Big Three again this season, but hope we can wint the best of the rest tournament and go in the right direction from last season.

I think we’ll beat West Ham!
 
AmarilloMike said:
We seem to be permanently cursed with the midday kick off, whether Saturday or Sunday. It mucks up the whole day as it is neither pre nor post lunch. I hate it, frankly!
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Ye not a fan of noon kick off, even 12:30pm could make a difference

IIRC there used to 11:30 kicks off in Premier League for high risk matches - thankfully a thing of the past
 
Rood said:
Ye not a fan of noon kick off, even 12:30pm could make a difference

IIRC there used to 11:30 kicks off in Premier League for high risk matches - thankfully a thing of the past
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It's particularly bad down at Leigh as it's such a ball-ache to get to!
 
Grande said:
. I don’t necessarily expect United to be able to break into the Big Three again this season, but hope we can win the best of the rest tournament and go in the right direction from last season.

I think we’ll beat West Ham!
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I agree with this - it is not an expectation, but happy to see where we go with a newish look team. At the least, I want us to look like we can compete with the big three, and not have any capitulations. I really hope Skinner has had to think differently with the new players coming in, he seems so stubborn to trying new things I hope his hand has been forced with the transfers. Excited for West Ham, and we have been moved to the AF stand too.
 
Strange… MUTV has the match live as it stands. Considering viaplay has the rights to WSL in the Nordics, I’m very surprised if they actually show it. Especially outside UK.
 
top1whoisman said:
Strange… MUTV has the match live as it stands. Considering viaplay has the rights to WSL in the Nordics, I’m very surprised if they actually show it. Especially outside UK.
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International rights are all a bit of a mystery at the moment. The same deal that made non-broadcast matches available on free to view online in the UK also made all matches available free to view overseas - except in countries where they'd sold all of the broadcasting rights.

When they added the YouTube channel that takes over from FA Player they said it would be available internationally but it didn't really mention geolocks except in the UK blocking the Sky UK matches.

Until we actually see it work or not, I'm going with "anyone's guess". Like a lot of things about United women's team this season really.
 
jojojo said:
International rights are all a bit of a mystery at the moment. The same deal that made non-broadcast matches available on free to view online in the UK also made all matches available free to view overseas - except in countries where they'd sold all of the broadcasting rights.

When they added the YouTube channel that takes over from FA Player they said it would be available internationally but it didn't really mention geolocks except in the UK blocking the Sky UK matches.

Until we actually see it work or not, I'm going with "anyone's guess". Like a lot of things about United women's team this season really.
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Yeah. Kind of the same with MUTV regarding academy games.
 
Unfortunately I can't get to this one. I'll be there in spirit, but watching on YouTube.
 
Our interim head of women’s football, Matt Johnson, met with members of the Manchester United Women’s Supporters Club on Wednesday ahead of this weekend's WSL opener.
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Sitting around a table in the Trafford Suite at Old Trafford, fans were able to ask Johnson their questions about strategy, players, finance and fan engagement.
When asked about the reason for agreeing to the fans' conference, Johnson said: “I wanted to have the opportunity to introduce myself to the fan base. It’s a chance to build a connection and a rapport with you.”
Many of the discussions centred around the summer transfer window – looking at players leaving on a free and why our new players were announced using only a wall graphic to start with.
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“It’s been a very different transfer window,” Johnson said.
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“There have been two international breaks and an international training camp over the summer which has meant we have had one or two days to fly players over and get them in to sign for us.
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“We wanted to get our business done early, it was important that we had our new signings before Marbella and we wanted to tell the fans about our signings which is why we announced the way we did without having the opportunity to capture any content with them.”

The evening was a great opportunity for the fans to hear about the inner workings of the club and whilst everyone there joked about the famous wall graphic, they all agreed that the content which has been produced since has been fantastic.
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Since taking over the role as Interim head of football, Johnson has changed the approach of signings, which he is very proud of.
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Johnson added: “I want to be clear we won’t lose key players for free on Manchester United’s choice. We have changed our approach.
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“All new signings have a minimum of two years plus a year extension or three year contracts.
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“We want to get longer control of our players and make sure we are safeguarding ourselves.”
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Ahead of Saturday’s game at Old Trafford, talk fell to where fans and staff thought the best place for the women’s games should be.

Some teams, like Leicester City, play all their games at the main stadium where as we chose to have a number at Old Trafford throughout the season.

It is a debate which will continue, Johnson agreed.

“Leigh Sports Village is an extremely important place for us. We play better there but we can’t hide from where we want to go. For me the ambition is to fill Leigh week in, week out. It’s a special place especially when we get it rocking, look at the Chelsea game last season. The players are still talking about that now.

“It’s a valid debate about where the games should be. Should all games be at Old Trafford? We are not in a position to bring all our games here.
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“The women’s game has seen a massive growth in recent years but there is a slight dip now if you look at the Championship attendances from the opening few weeks.

“If we start to grow the games at Leigh then it’s a conversation will have about moving the games to Old Trafford full time.

“Arsenal are leading on this, we are not ashamed to admit it, and we will keep having conversations with them about what we are doing.

“Arsenal have been building for a long time. We are only on our sixth season. We don’t want to be playing to a quiet stadium. We want to hear our passionate fans get behind us like they do at Leigh, that’s what makes our club special.”
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Interesting - good to hear from him since there have been questions over who exactly is leading the Womens side at the moment

probably deserves it's own thread !
 
StretfordEnd78 said:
How many tickets shifted?
Really looking forward to it.
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The assumption is that it's going to be our worst OT attendance so far - hence why fans have been moved around the stadium. I'm hearing they're expecting something around the 12/13k mark.

It's a shame, but as I can't be there for this one I'm not going to judge anyone else too harshly.
 
Old Trafford is definitely a bit much to get a good crowd in relative to the stadium size at the moment (lets not forget, a full Stamford Bridge would look like a half empty OT), but I wonder if there is anywhere further in to Manchester that we could move to in the meantime? Salford Devils rugby league team are in a 12,000 stadium for example (which they share with Sale rugby union). Same capacity as LSV, but better location and therefore better maybe better attendances?
 
There's a small buzz at the Bishop Blaize near OT, but presence here is definitely reflective of the potential attendance. Really hope the attendance at least exceeds LSV's capacity.
 
No idea what to expect from the team this season. Hopefully it’s on the right path.
 
Looks like a very attacking lineup. So many unknown quantities though - including how that midfield is going to be asked to operate.
 
Yeah there's a few ways it could go I think

(Right, left)
Janssen, Riviere
Le Tissier, Riviere
Riviere, Janssen

Outside chance of 3 at the back with Galton at wing-back... :confused:
 
Do we know if the WSL will be streaming on YouTube all the games that were previously on FA Player? It is a big improvement as FA Player was an awful platform
 
Eric_the_Red99 said:
Do we know if the WSL will be streaming on YouTube all the games that were previously on FA Player? It is a big improvement as FA Player was an awful platform
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That's the general idea for WSL and WSL Cup.

FA Player will have WFA Cup.

The unknown at the moment is whether the YouTube channel is geoblocked for some/all games in some countries.
 
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