{"id":584126,"date":"2021-02-18T08:26:22","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T13:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=584126"},"modified":"2021-02-18T08:26:22","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T13:26:22","slug":"fern-whelan-on-the-state-of-play-in-the-womens-super-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/18\/fern-whelan-on-the-state-of-play-in-the-womens-super-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Fern Whelan on the State of Play in the Women\u2019s Super League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fern Whelan<\/a> spoke about the state of play in the Women\u2019s Super League, and is backing Manchester City<\/a> to win the title after being impressed with their progress in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Fern Whelan Assesses State of Play in the Women\u2019s Super League<\/h2>\n

Fern Whelan: ‘Manchester City the Team to Beat’<\/h3>\n

The former England international has tipped Gareth Taylor<\/a>\u2019s side to leapfrog Chelsea<\/a> at the top but is also expecting Manchester United<\/a> and Arsenal<\/a> to come back strongly after their recent blips.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t rule out United or Arsenal just yet and I think they\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so threatening and are very cohesive as a team. I think it\u2019s between Chelsea and Man City, but you can\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like the new signing Abby Dahlkemper<\/a>, she slots in really well at the back with Steph Houghton<\/a>. They\u2019re looking a lot stronger at the back and are now much harder to beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing forward, they\u2019ve got an array of players that can score goals. It\u2019s not usually one or two players that they\u2019re relying on, as they\u2019ve got the likes of Caroline Weir<\/a> and Chloe Kelly<\/a> on the wing, who\u2019s getting assists left, right and centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Steph [Houghton] is coming up and scoring from the back as well. They\u2019ve 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 \u2013 it\u2019s quick one-or-two-touch play and they\u2019ve always got runners in advance. They\u2019re in form and are an exciting team to watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will definitely be a close-run thing though. Chelsea have Fran Kirby<\/a> and Pernille Harder<\/a> in excellent goalscoring form, and I\u2019m sure it will be an exciting finish to the league if they can keep both of them fit and in form.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whelan Picks Her Stand-Out Players<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was to pick my stand-out players, both Caroline Weir<\/a> and Chloe Kelly<\/a> have been fantastic for Man City. I would\u2019ve included Weir before that goal she scored against Man United. She\u2019s unbelievable and can play with both feet, although her left is the dominant one. She\u2019s very attacking minded and good in defence too. Also, Kelly is brilliant and is someone that will go very far.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeah Galton<\/a> for Man United has also impressed me. When she\u2019s in the side they look like a different team, and Mana Iwabuchi<\/a> has made a big impact down at the bottom of the table for Aston Villa. She\u2019s very clever in the way she plays.”<\/p>\n

The Battle at the Bottom<\/h3>\n

The ex-Everton, Liverpool, Notts County and Brighton & Hove Albion<\/a> defender turned her attention to the fight for survival and paid tribute to one of her former clubs for their recent resurgence in form.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s side to safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had asked me about the relegation battle a couple of weeks ago, I would\u2019ve said Brighton would be right down there scrapping to survive \u2013 especially looking at the fact they had played more games than the sides below them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut those six points have really lifted them up the table, they\u2019ve now got some confidence and players returning from injury. They\u2019ve also signed Emma Koivisto<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo go down, I would\u2019ve said Bristol City a couple of weeks back, but Matt Beard has got them into some great form and there aren\u2019t many points between them and West Ham now. Bristol look the livelier of the two at the moment, so I\u2019ll tip West Ham to go down. Everybody wants to see a comeback!\u201d<\/p>\n

Making Women\u2019s Football More Competitive<\/h3>\n

The gap in quality between the top four sides in the Women\u2019s 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<\/a> for laying the right foundations for success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a process [making the league more competitive], and not something that\u2019s going to happen overnight. The top three or four clubs have definitely got the funding and the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you look at Brighton, they have got a brilliant set-up and a plan in place – they don\u2019t want to rush things. You can see that teams are slowly starting to develop, but it\u2019s not going to happen overnight and people don\u2019t want to see their teams go bust.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leicester City Flying High in the Championship<\/h3>\n

Attention turned to the Women\u2019s Championship, with Leicester City and Durham competing for top spot and the solitary promotion place in the division.<\/p>\n

Whelan hopes that the Women\u2019s 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\u2019s football in England.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019t come up long ago and have done really well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at Man United, who have not been in the league for long and are challenging near the top of the WSL.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, 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\u2019t think it will be too long before the size of the WSL increases.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it can\u2019t be rushed or done on a whim. Otherwise, you\u2019d have teams winning by double figures constantly, and that wouldn\u2019t look good for women\u2019s football.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be interesting to see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>