Filed under: Football
The temptation when watching women's football is to be politically correct and patronising; to tell them how good is their game and how plucky their players, especially with the dedication they show for rewards incomparable with the best in the men's game.Actually, England's exit from the World Cup in Germany, beaten on penalties by France in the quarter-finals, revealed that the women's game in this country has progressed little in recent years and that they performed poorly, a famous victory over Japan apart, and with insufficient tactical awareness.
Against the French, England were simply outpassed for long periods, even if it took a late goal in normal time to deny them a semi-final place. Indeed, England were seen to be too much of a predictable long-ball outfit to see off a more technical side who have made huge strides in recent years by becoming more comfortable on the ball. Sound familiar?
Too often, it was sad to see England's best player Kelly Smith forced to come deep from her central striker's role to receive the ball off the back four. She then proceeded to hit too many diagonal long passes to wide players, the ball either cleared or running out of play.
Instead, we wanted to see England working to ball to the woman who could have inflicted damage on the opposition higher up the field and in areas where she could more dangerously use her skills to create and score goals.
In the event, it was like watching a schools match for teenage boys where the captain and best player has to be on the ball all the time. For decent opposition, it is not difficult to negate.
It now looks likely that the England manager Hope Powell will step down and so she should - to take up a developmental role in the women's game.
For the establishment this year of the Women's Super League has given the game a huge chance to improve itself and it needs a figure as a technical director who can go around the eight clubs, who will now begin the second half of their seasons, to oversee best practice in the development of young players.
A couple of months ago, I went to watch Doncaster Rovers Belles take on Chelsea in the new league. I was disappointed by how physical the game was, how the reliance seemed to be upon strength rather than finesse.
While great progress will continue to be made in fitness and conditioning, the women's game should not forget its own traditional assets that come with less power, notably in making use of the greater space that a slower game affords to demonstrate a more skilful approach.
Too often the women's game is compared to the men's. You hope it is not the women themselves - or the men who coach them - who want it to be a similar product. Hope Powell should not be lost to the game but instead be deputed in a supervisory capacity to implement the lessons of the World Cup exit.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/07/11/england-women-world-cup/
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