Could we beat the women's England team?

[vorpal blade]

Obviously there is a physical difference but if (the men out there) you think about how much practice you had playing football as a kid, I suspect that is the major contributor to any inferiority between the women's and men's standards.

Between the ages of 8 and 18, I probably played 3 times a day at school, minimum, then weekends at least once and in the evenings during the summer.

An average of 2 hours (conservative estimate) every day for ten years?

I doubt many of the women have put in anything like this level of training in in their formative years. Most of the games I played were using tennis balls and the like and I think that is better practice than the more structured classes using a proper football too.

 

[e17blade]

In a 'behind closed doors' friendly a few weeks ago, our U17's beat them 3-0 at St George's Park. This was played at the women's request as part of their WC preparations.

Given that the U17s weren't completely pedal to the floor then you'd assume the first team would thrash them. I accept some on here would dispute that if Coutts was playing....

Is that true? SUFC U17 beat England Women 3-0?

I'm not doubting you as such, I just want to be sure before I throw it back at an annoying person who has been going on and on about how amazing the women's team is, and who reacted badly when I said that the standard wasn't very good.

Having said that, good effort getting to the last four.

 

[BushBlade]

Obviously there is a physical difference but if (the men out there) you think about how much practice you had playing football as a kid, I suspect that is the major contributor to any inferiority between the women's and men's standards.

Between the ages of 8 and 18, I probably played 3 times a day at school, minimum, then weekends at least once and in the evenings during the summer.

An average of 2 hours (conservative estimate) every day for ten years?

I doubt many of the women have put in anything like this level of training in in their formative years. Most of the games I played were using tennis balls and the like and I think that is better practice than the more structured classes using a proper football too.

Do boys do that these days though? I rarely ever see kids playing on the street like we did, you can't, you'd get run over.

I see kids playing at lunch time as I live near a secondary school and that's mixed, boys and girls.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Would be a battering, double figures at least and I've actually enjoyed watching this women's team.

I watched a game similarly to what I should coco said but the cricket equivalent. England women (the world champions at the time) were playing against England U17/18's a couple of years back and were quite comfortably beaten to say the least.

That said, I have been one of the harshest critics of women's football over the last few years. But this tournament has really caught my imagination, I've actually enjoyed a few of the games.

Agreed.

For me, it's not really about where would they fit in the men's game - it's just a different game.

France Germany really caught my eye, it was just very good to watch.

The standard can only improve with more players taking up the game. Already looking forward to the next World Cup.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Locally I think Sheffield FC women's team have just got promoted from some sort of regional league to the Premier League - which seems to have two divisions.

They (Sheffield FC) are also doing well at (men's) futsal I think.

 

[1889]

Up until recently I used to regularly play 5 a side with ex England ladies captain Karen Walker. She was far better footballer than most of the blokes, in fact I'd go as far as to say she was almost at my level. She had a great touch, good vision and accurate powerful shot, but despite all that, she would admit herself that physically she was no match. For that reason alone women could never compete in the mens game.

Incidentally, as I have had to tell her on more than one occasion, its little wonder she was until recently Englands all time top goal scorer, she doesn't know the meaning of a square ball the greedy bitch!

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Is that true? SUFC U17 beat England Women 3-0?

I'm not doubting you as such, I just want to be sure before I throw it back at an annoying person who has been going on and on about how amazing the women's team is, and who reacted badly when I said that the standard wasn't very good.

Having said that, good effort getting to the last four.

For me it's just a different game. Is Paula Radcliffe crap because she's come 23rd (or whatever) in an open race.

Similarly tennis. This surfaces occasionally and it's often stated that the women's number 1 would be anywhere from 300 to 500th in the men's game. I've not checked this so it may be different these days. (Sometime in the 90s the women's game was arguably better than the men's bc that had just become all about the serve and the average length of a rally was 3.4 shots or something. )

If you watch the women's (back on football) game and try and figure out where they'd fit on the pyramid then, yes, the answer is a long way down, but for me that's not really the point.

I do think sometimes the standard of goalkeeping detracts from the overall standard of the game but generally I think it's good to watch.

 

[Jonboy60]

Not sexist. Just telling it like it is.

A bang average L1 men's side would tonk the England women's team. Would do well to keep it in single figures.

UTB

A bang average premier team would probably give the men's full England team a game.

 

[davidpinder]

Would there be shirt swapping at the end?

 

[JohnDenver]

It's an interesting issue, even though the answer to the initial question is pretty banal - any men's professional side should win by a wide margin.

No-one questions whether Jess Ennis is a special talent. She doesn't have to match Daley Thompson to achieve that recognition, partly because their discipline is altered for each sex, and partly because there's a measurable quality to the sport.

So I think people need to be more more appreciative and less comparative. The parameters of the pitch and goals aren't going to be shrunk to help artificially create a sport of equal speed or intensity to the men's game. But the standard is only ever going to improve. And the bottom line is it's football, so I'll be watching.

 

[mosbolad]

For me it's just a different game. Is Paula Radcliffe crap because she's come 23rd (or whatever) in an open race.

Similarly tennis. This surfaces occasionally and it's often stated that the women's number 1 would be anywhere from 300 to 500th in the men's game. I've not checked this so it may be different these days. (Sometime in the 90s the women's game was arguably better than the men's bc that had just become all about the serve and the average length of a rally was 3.4 shots or something. )

If you watch the women's (back on football) game and try and figure out where they'd fit on the pyramid then, yes, the answer is a long way down, but for me that's not really the point.

I do think sometimes the standard of goalkeeping detracts from the overall standard of the game but generally I think it's good to watch.

Agree entirely Fatty. To me it's an irrelevance. By the way I do think it is a genuine question from the OP but I also feel that there is a degree of 'men are better than women' in some of the answers, not in a nasty way but just there, a little bit.....

Women's football has improved massively and although in the earlier rounds there was quite a disparity in levels of skill, as the competition reaches the final stages, there is some genuinely excellent football that can be watched and enjoyed in its own right and not for just some novelty value.

I hope it continues to grow in popularity and as it does skill levels will improve further and anything that leads to greater participation, interest and understanding of the sport has to be a good thing.

 

[BushBlade]

It's not going to happen overnight. It's a relatively new thing. Only thirty years ago most 'sporty' women played netball, hockey and tennis, very few played football. Society has changed massively but it will take a couple of generations before women players achieve their full potential.

(I'll finish by leaving an open goal). After all, it took a long time for the men's game to become what it is now. When we first started, players didn't really understand the concept of passing the ball.

 

[judge]

In answer to tge op
Barcelona are the current best team in europe possibly the world and they are a bunch of girls so i dont see why not

 

[I should coco]

Is that true? SUFC U17 beat England Women 3-0?

I'm not doubting you as such, I just want to be sure before I throw it back at an annoying person who has been going on and on about how amazing the women's team is, and who reacted badly when I said that the standard wasn't very good.

Having said that, good effort getting to the last four.

Yup it's true.

They were better in the air than expected and also well drilled but our lads were just too powerful

 

[Geordie Blade]

It's pretty pointless for anyone to say that they don't enjoy women's football as much as men's because the standard isn't as good. People who say that are often the same people that say they don't like the Premier League and prefer 'real' lower league football. 'Good standard' does not necessarily equate to 'good entertainment'.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

I almost down graded my question to "could the women's England team give us a game?" But I'm not sure just being male wins this for us.
Just wondered what everyone thought

It's a good question.

You don't see the type of error the Canadian centre half made when England's women scored their first goal on park pitches on a Sunday.
Bear in mind it was also on none bobbly 3G, super smooth pitches.

Doubt they would get anywhere near the 4th tier, never mind where we are.

As for the goal keepers - this is the real big issue against Women's football - they are still way below the standard the rest of the team reach.

Still hope they win it though.

UTB

 

[AB9]

Just wanted to show you this http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/uswnt-vs-u-17-usmnt.1939180/ shows that the U17 USA team beat the USA women's team which is one of the best 8-2 so adds a little to the argument

 

[Bladesince59]

we would and so woud every other lg 1 team

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Just wanted to show you this http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/uswnt-vs-u-17-usmnt.1939180/ shows that the U17 USA team beat the USA women's team which is one of the best 8-2 so adds a little to the argument

that post actually kills the argument.

Power, strength, stamina are all attributes needed when playing sports at the highest level and when you mix sexes in the same game then the result will be as above.

There are times when reality has to be used and any fawning that the world gives to women's football should be put into context.

I still hope they win it - 100% behind them.

UTB

 

[botoble]

In a 'behind closed doors' friendly a few weeks ago, our U17's beat them 3-0 at St George's Park. This was played at the women's request as part of their WC preparations.

Given that the U17s weren't completely pedal to the floor then you'd assume the first team would thrash them. I accept some on here would dispute that if Coutts was playing....

Is there any record or mention of this actually happening anywhere?

 

[LSF]

It's a good question.

You don't see the type of error the Canadian centre half made when England's women scored their first goal on park pitches on a Sunday.


UTB

Bloody heck Fulwood, bloke your age surely remembers Gerry Young making an identical error in the '66 cup final to let in Evertons Derek Temple for (was it?) the winner against the Pigs. Oh how I laughed

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Bloody heck Fulwood, bloke your age surely remembers Gerry Young making an identical error in the '66 cup final to let in Evertons Derek Temple for (was it?) the winner against the Pigs. Oh how I laughed

The 66 cup final was the first game I ever saw on telly and can't actually remember much about it - except Everton winning. I come from a "family" of Wednesdayites, but was a Blade at that time, but jumping up and down celebrating Mike Trebilcock's double was a tad too far.

UTB

 

[Silent Blade]

Bloody heck Fulwood, bloke your age surely remembers Gerry Young making an identical error in the '66 cup final to let in Evertons Derek Temple for (was it?) the winner against the Pigs. Oh how I laughed

 

[I should coco]

Is there any record or mention of this actually happening anywhere?

Which bit of 'behind closed doors' don't you get?

It was WC preparation and United were asked to play with a similar set up to some of the teams that Ingerland women would face. They are hardly going to trumpet the fact that they lost to a bunch of spotty youths, are they?

 

[Deleted member 1486]

Which bit of 'behind closed doors' don't you get?

"behind closed doors" ≠ "happened in secret and there is no mention of it anywhere". Most of us (I suspect) don't just blindly believe "random forum guy" when he makes a claim, and (probably after checking Google) would like some further details. e.g., how he came to know about it. Did a player mention it on social media? (which would usually happen, closed doors or not). Is there a leaked report? Was it mentioned by a commentator? (etc).

If true, it is very interesting, but it sounds very suspect!

 

[I should coco]

If true, it is very interesting, but it sounds very suspect!

Well 'random forum guy' is telling you he know's someone who went down there with the squad.

I put it on here a genuine response to the OP but it's no big deal to me if people don't believe it or if it sounds 'suspect'.

Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you and all that.....

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Well 'random forum guy' is telling you he know's someone who went down there with the squad.

I put it on here a genuine response to the OP but it's no big deal to me if people don't believe it or if it sounds 'suspect'.

Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you and all that.....

Not been back through the whole thread but do we even have an u17 team?

 

[Crofton Blade]

Well 'random forum guy' is telling you he know's someone who went down there with the squad.

I put it on here a genuine response to the OP but it's no big deal to me if people don't believe it or if it sounds 'suspect'.

Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you and all that.....

I tend to believe it. I reckon a top Sunday League team would beat them, just purely on the physical nature of the game. Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised at just how far the women's game has improved over the past few years, they have the skills, they are starting to get the tactical side but even though they've made improvements in tackling, fitness, heading etc. they will never ever compete with men, physically. Just my opinion.

 

[botoble]

Which bit of 'behind closed doors' don't you get?

It was WC preparation and United were asked to play with a similar set up to some of the teams that Ingerland women would face. They are hardly going to trumpet the fact that they lost to a bunch of spotty youths, are they?

Ey up, I'll get you a ladder for you to get down off the very high steed you seem to have found yourself upon. I believe "behind closed doors" merely refers to the "doors" to the public are "closed" and "behind" those said "doors" there is a friendly.

I do not believe this means there is a media ban, a signing of a secrecy act and or the charge of high treason. Even a tweet that said enjoyed hanging out at St. Georges park with the England ladies from an under 17s player would have sufficed.

A mate of mine who visits St Georges park for Premier league fitness analysis meetings for the company he works for called Pro Football Sport that have a contract with PL. His story was when he was there a guy said that the Lionesses had played Derby County under 14's and draw 0-0 a couple of days earlier but I wouldn't post it as an argument as it could be absolute bollocks, its funny but people are slandering women's football for fun at the moment, to a degree I think the level is poor. keepers are shocking but technically they look pretty gifted.

just as a reference I'm from Huddersfield and remember seeing the result posted online of a behind closed door friendly online and in the paper in a "behind closed door friendly"

http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/stags-win-behind-closed-doors-friendly-1738568.aspx