Group D: ENG-SCO-ARG-JPN

[Diable Rouge]

Deserved!

[Gawpus]

Fk yeah

[Jah Womble]

Yep, Scotland have played their way back into this contest.

[longeared]

Scotland deserved that - they've played well this half. Some fine shithousery from Bronze in stopping them getting the ball back for kick off.

[Patrick Thistle]

Does mean this game could well be settled by VAR

[Diable Rouge]

Scotland starting to look spent now - maybe they'll scramble an equaliser yet, but doesn't appear likely.

[Patrick Thistle]

England have definitely lost this half.

[Patrick Thistle]

Emslie is a decent player.

England gifted a win by technology.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Cuthbert is a pocket Rolls Royce of a player.

Lucy Bronze is an admirable tank of a player.

Endsliegh was superb in the second half.

Really enjoying this World Cup. Italian Tardelli goal celebration the highlight so far. Really looking forward to seeing the Dutch play.

[caja-dglh]

England gifted a win by technology.

That is rather unfair - when you are 2-0 after 40 mins in a tournament it will completely adjust the way that you play. It seemed a relatively fair result.

[Amor de Cosmos]

England gifted a win by technology.

True, but what that decision really highlighted, and what most VAR usage underlines, is the unfairness of the penalty kick. It is ridiculous, but not against the rules, for player give away an almost certain goal from an accidental infraction in a place where a goal is most unlikely ever to be scored. That penalty should have been an indirect free kick from the spot of the foul, as should the majority of penalties given these days.

[Patrick Thistle]

That is rather unfair - when you are 2-0 after 40 mins in a tournament it will completely adjust the way that you play. It seemed a relatively fair result.

If England adjusted at 2-0 it was because they had an artificial boost from a goal that wouldn't have been given to them 4 years ago.

They were better first half and second best in the second half. I think a draw would have been a fair result.

[Janik]

If England adjusted at 2-0 it was because they had an artificial boost from a goal that wouldn't have been given to them 4 years ago.

Possibly maybe, but it doesn't change the score was 2-0 and England got complacent because of the advantage they had. Had it been only 1-0, they would have approached the second half very differently. As it was they crushed the life out of the game after Scotland got their goal back. Scotland didn't even get the ball into England's penalty area again. Suddenly the focus was back as the gap was only one.

[Janik]

That lino is in a different time zone

There have been a few of these of somewhat tight obvious offside decisions only being flagged five seconds later than expected. I'm presuming the assistants are hooked up to the VAR centre, who take a quick look and give the nod to flag it. Remember that if the game is stopped, a goal cannot possibly be given but if play continues things can be reviewed, so there is a strong bias not to stop the game immediately for all but absolutely cast iron incidents.

[ChrisJ]

If England adjusted at 2-0 it was because they had an artificial boost from a goal that wouldn't have been given to them 4 years ago.

I don't think you can be sure the ref wouldn't have seen it herself 4 years ago. I called for it immediately as did some England players. It's equally fair to argue the ref shouldn't have needed VAR.

They were better first half and second best in the second half. I think a draw would have been a fair result.

Possibly, but a bit counterfactual, as caja-dglh says. I thought Scotland played really well in patches but England could have had more. They frustrated me by zipping it down the pitch slickly then overplaying or slowing it at the crucial moment. Bit like the men's team, really.

[Kevin S]

Bit like the men's team, really.

[Kevin S]

Sorry Chris, that's probably a harsh use of the klaxon. If you were making a point that perhaps the England setup encourages teams to overplay it then that might be fair (I don't know if it does).

But we're having a house rule not to use this tournament as a vehicle for making criticism of men's football/footballers.

[ChrisJ]

Sorry Chris, that's probably a harsh use of the klaxon. If you were making a point that perhaps the England setup encourages teams to overplay it then that might be fair (I don't know if it does).

But we're having a house rule not to use this tournament as a vehicle for making criticism of men's football/footballers.

Ah, soz, newbie error. I was actually thinking of the level of development of coaching generally in England; where it had caught up and where it hadn't yet. But I shall keep future posts bloke-free.

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

With regard to women's football normalising I'm beginning to get latent ABE loyalty feelings for Scotland...

I don't normally have a huge amount of ABE sentiment to the England team. I prefer that they lose but i don't really begrudge them success.

That said, the way most of this England team treated Eni Aluko when she was being victimised by management makes me hope they crash out at the earliest opportunity.

[ad hoc]

I watched the second half today and will confess I haven't seen much of the team before. One thing that really struck me that I'd like to ask about is how white they are. Why is that? Is it just chance or is it that black English girls don't tend to play football that much or something else? This is not some kind of trick question just genuine interest.

[Diable Rouge]

I watched the second half today and will confess I haven't seen much of the team before. One thing that really struck me that I'd like to ask about is how white they are. Why is that? Is it just chance or is it that black English girls don't tend to play football that much or something else? This is not some kind of trick question just genuine interest.

See the BLT post above.

[Janik]

It's not just that. Here are some squad images for the WSL season just gone. Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Bristol City, Reading, and an unofficial shot from the BBC of West Ham. Sadly I couldn't find a shot of the Chelsea squad, which might be a bit better than the other ones.
2/23 in the England squad probably exceeds the ratio in those, so something more systemic than just the Aluko incident is going on. Or the Aluko incident is inidcative of something more systemic in itself.

[Janik]

One thing to consider when looking at those shots compared to the Men's league is where the non-UK and Ireland players originate from, which is very different. There have been more players in the WSL from Iceland than there have been from Africa (per wikipedia)!

The breakdown given (note this is all-time, rather than just current) is this:-
Australia - 8
Austria - 2
Belgium - 4
Brazil - 1
Canada - 6
Denmark - 5
Equatorial Guinea - 1
Finland - 2
Germany - 12
Iceland - 4
Japan - 3
Netherlands - 17
New Zealand - 12
Nigeria - 2
Norway - 6
Portugal - 3
Samoa - 1
South Korea - 2
Spain - 7
Sweden - 14
Switzerland - 3
USA - 10

[ursus arctos]

This has been an issue in women's and girls football here from the time of it's emergence, with one important element being the fact that there are fewer opportunities for girls of colour to play and significantly less financial support than there is for promising boys.

[Nocturnal Submission]

It's not just that. Here are some squad images for the WSL season just gone. Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Bristol City, Reading, and an unofficial shot from the BBC of West Ham. Sadly I couldn't find a shot of the Chelsea squad, which might be a bit better than the other ones.
2/23 in the England squad probably exceeds the ratio in those, so something more systemic than just the Aluko incident is going on. Or the Aluko incident is inidcative of something more systemic in itself.

Chelsea's squad's here: https://www.chelseafc.com/en/teams/women