Fern Whelan spoke about the state of play in the Women’s Super League, and is backing Manchester City to win the title after being impressed with their progress in recent weeks.
Fern Whelan Assesses State of Play in the Women’s Super League
Fern Whelan: ‘Manchester City the Team to Beat’
The former England international has tipped Gareth Taylor’s side to leapfrog Chelsea at the top but is also expecting Manchester United and Arsenal to come back strongly after their recent blips.
She said: “It’s really unpredictable at the moment, especially when you look at some of the WSL results recently and the way that some of the bottom clubs have taken points off the top sides.
“I wouldn’t rule out United or Arsenal just yet and I think they’ll stay competitive, but after watching the last couple of games and seeing the way Man City have played, they are my favourites to go on and win it.
“They’re so threatening and are very cohesive as a team. I think it’s between Chelsea and Man City, but you can’t rule out the other two, with the way the results have gone. But City have come into some really good form and look like the team to beat.
“I really like the new signing Abby Dahlkemper, she slots in really well at the back with Steph Houghton. They’re looking a lot stronger at the back and are now much harder to beat.
“Going forward, they’ve got an array of players that can score goals. It’s not usually one or two players that they’re relying on, as they’ve got the likes of Caroline Weir and Chloe Kelly on the wing, who’s getting assists left, right and centre.
“Then Steph [Houghton] is coming up and scoring from the back as well. They’ve got goals that can come from anywhere. They are so direct in their play, but Gareth Taylor is very tactically astute and has got them playing some really good football – it’s quick one-or-two-touch play and they’ve always got runners in advance. They’re in form and are an exciting team to watch.
“It will definitely be a close-run thing though. Chelsea have Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder in excellent goalscoring form, and I’m sure it will be an exciting finish to the league if they can keep both of them fit and in form.”
Whelan Picks Her Stand-Out Players
Whelan picked out two Man City stars that have impressed her the most this season and also highlighted a number of other players that have delivered the goods for teams competing at both ends of the table.
“If I was to pick my stand-out players, both Caroline Weir and Chloe Kelly have been fantastic for Man City. I would’ve included Weir before that goal she scored against Man United. She’s unbelievable and can play with both feet, although her left is the dominant one. She’s very attacking minded and good in defence too. Also, Kelly is brilliant and is someone that will go very far.
“Leah Galton for Man United has also impressed me. When she’s in the side they look like a different team, and Mana Iwabuchi has made a big impact down at the bottom of the table for Aston Villa. She’s very clever in the way she plays.”
The Battle at the Bottom
The ex-Everton, Liverpool, Notts County and Brighton & Hove Albion defender turned her attention to the fight for survival and paid tribute to one of her former clubs for their recent resurgence in form.
Brighton had lost six out of their previous seven games before recording back-to-back victories over Chelsea and West Ham United, and Whelan feels those two results will propel Hope Powell’s side to safety.
“If you had asked me about the relegation battle a couple of weeks ago, I would’ve said Brighton would be right down there scrapping to survive – especially looking at the fact they had played more games than the sides below them.
“But those six points have really lifted them up the table, they’ve now got some confidence and players returning from injury. They’ve also signed Emma Koivisto, who looks a decent addition at full-back. There are players scoring goals now, and they were hard to come by earlier in the season. I think they will be safe and can hopefully finish higher up the table than in the previous campaign.
“To go down, I would’ve said Bristol City a couple of weeks back, but Matt Beard has got them into some great form and there aren’t many points between them and West Ham now. Bristol look the livelier of the two at the moment, so I’ll tip West Ham to go down. Everybody wants to see a comeback!”
Making Women’s Football More Competitive
The gap in quality between the top four sides in the Women’s Super League and the rest has been well documented, but Whelan is optimistic that this will slowly decrease in the years to come and praised both Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur for laying the right foundations for success.
“I think it’s a process [making the league more competitive], and not something that’s going to happen overnight. The top three or four clubs have definitely got the funding and the money.
“But if you look at Brighton, they have got a brilliant set-up and a plan in place – they don’t want to rush things. You can see that teams are slowly starting to develop, but it’s not going to happen overnight and people don’t want to see their teams go bust.
“You’ve got to have that sustainability in first. The up-and-coming teams like Tottenham and Brighton are doing it in the right way and are not trying to rush it.”
Leicester City Flying High in the Championship
Attention turned to the Women’s Championship, with Leicester City and Durham competing for top spot and the solitary promotion place in the division.
Whelan hopes that the Women’s Super League will expand to welcome more teams into the division, and feels it can only have a positive overall impact on the progress of women’s football in England.
“The Championship has become more competitive this year. Leicester City are flying at the moment and you want teams to come into the WSL and sustaining themselves in it. Tottenham didn’t come up long ago and have done really well.
“You look at Man United, who have not been in the league for long and are challenging near the top of the WSL.
“Personally, I would love to see more teams in the league and as long as the quality of the Championship stays as it is, I don’t think it will be too long before the size of the WSL increases.
“But it can’t be rushed or done on a whim. Otherwise, you’d have teams winning by double figures constantly, and that wouldn’t look good for women’s football.
“In the long-term though, we have to think about increasing the number of teams in the WSL because that can only increase the quality of the league and benefit the national team too.
“It will be interesting to see what happens.”
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