LCFC Women 2024/25 Season

[SouthStandUpperTier]

8 minutes ago, davieG said:

A lot of Knee injuries 8/13?

ACL injuries are a scourge of the women's game.

[lcfcrinaldi]

ACL and knee injuries are just rife across women's football generally and have been for years.

Haven't looked into it, but surely there's science behind it.

[The Doctor]

1 hour ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

ACL and knee injuries are just rife across women's football generally and have been for years.

Haven't looked into it, but surely there's science behind it.

there is, but it's a hard one to study because there's a lot of likely factors.

 

We know that hormones influence ligament laxity (how loose and mobile it is), so there's good chance that it's related to their cycle, but that's an invasive thing to study. There's also biomechanical factors to consider (hip angles and running styles - this is why some male players are also quite prone to them, e.g. wes fofana). low quality pitches and training facilities are likely a major contributer as well, given how it's frequently a non contact injury but from the knee moving when landing while running. The worse surfaces are, the more likely your foot is to anchor in it and cause the ACL to tear.

[StanSP]

6 hours ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

Man City have an injury crisis (most of their best players too). There's definitely a point up for grabs if Miquel can get the line-up and tactics right...

 

Lot of attacking players out for them - Shaw, Fowler, Hemp and Miedema are pretty much regulars for them. 

 

Kerolin is really good for them on their right wing though. 

[lcfcrinaldi]

Palace loosing 3-0, looks like safety is confirmed

[Jimmy]

 

[Pita]

West Ham hammer palace 7-1. That put the ladies nice and safe 

[Spacey_Fox]

Gahhhh

[lcfcrinaldi]

Not a bad result today, was fully expecting us to be well beaten.

Rode our luck a fair bit and often gave them chances more than they created them themselves.

A draw would have been a fair result today, so we can be proud of that.

Be nice to end on a high and pick up a few points before the end of the season from the last 2 games.

[purpleronnie]

Piggin eck, Arsenal 4up at Lyon.

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Watched the game back on YouTube. Same frustrations. Basic, simple passes are still an ordeal that leave you with your heart in your mouth. Our wingers have only one tactic for beating the opposition's full-backs, which is to run straight into them in the hope they're somehow made of air. And the less said about our general lack of composure in front of goal the better.

[SK3Blue]

1 hour ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

Watched the game back on YouTube. Same frustrations. Basic, simple passes are still an ordeal that leave you with your heart in your mouth. Our wingers have only one tactic for beating the opposition's full-backs, which is to run straight into them in the hope they're somehow made of air. And the less said about our general lack of composure in front of goal the better.

Took off our best defender in Swaby, she read the game well and knocked the ball around superbly. 
Las did more in 1 minute than Chossonotte did in the 70 she was on. 
Rose an unused sub again. Took O’Brien off when we needed someone to run at Greenwood, bought on Eiriksdottir, who can’t run! 
Basic passing was atrocious, 2 points lower than last year with 6 left to play for and we had Jen Foster take half the season last time. 
I’m loathed to go to Palace but I’ve not missed a game so I’ll stick it out for the next 2 and do the lot but my god, it’s terrible!

[SK3Blue]

15 hours ago, purpleronnie said:

Piggin eck, Arsenal 4up at Lyon.

And Chelsea battered by Barca over both legs. 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

1 hour ago, SK3Blue said:

And Chelsea battered by Barca over both legs. 

I have to admit, I did enjoy seeing that the WSL's biggest bullies got a taste of their own medicine.

[lcfcrinaldi]

It's not really doom and gloom is it...

 

We're 2 points off what we ended with last season, so whilst we've not improved our points tally, we have been battered by injuries to the point of playing Takarada up front for a good chunk of the season and during that time we still had one of the best defensive records in the league.

You could very much argue that without a couple of key injuries we would likely have picked up a few points at least.

 

I've moaned about our wingers enough and I agree with points made above, directness is good, but it does need to be done smartly.

I don't think O'Brien is cut out for going through the middle, she's rarely in the right positions when the wingers do need her and being slightly built, she's just not able to stand up to players.

I've been banging this drum, but I would really like to see Eiriksdottir get a start up front, particularly against Palace she could get a lot of joy.

 

Shame we haven't seen Swaby much at all this season, assume it's due to injury? She also went straight down the tunnel when she got took off and saw her pointing to her hamstring, so hopefully it's not a reoccurring injury if so.

 

Overall I'm not too concerned about the performances recently as at the end of the day now, it doesn't really matter so much now we're safe.

The biggest worry (by a country mile) should be contract status' and the amount of key players that are out of contract at the end of the season.

That's what is effecting my optimism for next season...

[SouthStandUpperTier]

2 minutes ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

The biggest worry (by a country mile) should be contract status' and the amount of key players that are out of contract at the end of the season.

That's what is effecting my optimism for next season...

If the WSL decide to remove relegation from the equation for next season (as is rumoured), then I think that could be a green light for the club (and other clubs towards the bottom of the WSL) to reduce expenditure on the women's team.

[lcfcrinaldi]

8 minutes ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

If the WSL decide to remove relegation from the equation for next season (as is rumoured), then I think that could be a green light for the club (and other clubs towards the bottom of the WSL) to reduce expenditure on the women's team.

I might be wrong, but I am sure I read that they decided against that in the meantime.

[CosbehFox]

11 minutes ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

If the WSL decide to remove relegation from the equation for next season (as is rumoured), then I think that could be a green light for the club (and other clubs towards the bottom of the WSL) to reduce expenditure on the women's team.

 

1 minute ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

I might be wrong, but I am sure I read that they decided against that in the meantime.

1 team down, 2 teams up is the most likely format over a number of seasons to increase the league. 

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leicester-city-women-milestone-validate-10149470

 

Leicester City Women milestone may validate 'boring' approach as path for the future
The latest Leicester City Women news as they head into their final Women's Super League away game of the season this weekend, taking on already-relegated Crystal Palace

ByJordan Blackwell
17:22, 1 MAY 2025

Survival is now achieved and Leicester City Women will be spending a fifth straight season in the Women’s Super League next term.

But it doesn’t quite feel like the same achievement as it has been in previous years.

That’s partly because of the lack of peril. Even with their struggles in front of goal in the first half of the season, City have at no point been bottom of the table, sitting in the relegation zone, this campaign, a feeling they became used to over previous years.

 

And, with Amandine Miquel in charge, this was supposed to be the year they kicked on. There has been progress, but this weekend gives them the chance to confirm it.

Victory away at relegated Crystal Palace this Sunday will take City up to 19 points, their highest-ever total in the WSL.

Finishing above 10th and recording a new high in the table also looked possible earlier in the season, but Aston Villa’s recent good form has seen City slip back down to 11th.

“It’s still business as usual,” Miquel said at the weekend. “We focus on ourselves, and we said we’d count the points at the end. We have two games to go and our objective is to go as high as we can and keep this team progressing and to do that we need to keep pushing.

“We are going to do the best we can in the last two games. It’s great to know we’ll be in this league next year but we’ll keep pushing until the end.”

Reducing the margin

When analysing where progress has been made this season, there is some joy to take from the competitive nature of the games against the division’s best sides.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City have long been the dominant forces in the WSL and Leicester have been on the end of some thrashings from those sides.

In their first top-flight season, City lost all six games against the trio at an aggregate score of 28-1. The following year it was 25-0, then last season 21-4.

For the first time, City claimed a point against one of the big three, drawing with champions Chelsea in December, and with the aggregate score for the season standing at 15-3.

The weekend’s 1-0 defeat at home to Man City was a tight one. It wouldn’t have been unfair if Leicester had claimed a point.

“I think we had enough occasions to score at least one goal and we’re disappointed to not do that,” Miquel said.

‘Boring’ approach the future?

Miquel is not afraid to take an unorthodox approach nor speak her mind and she was willing to admit the deeper defensive structure against Man City might have been “a bit boring to watch”.

Leicester have 29 per cent of the ball and while only in the away game against Man City have they had less, they are used to playing without it.

They’ve not had the majority of the possession in any game this season. In their four wins, they’ve had an average of 33 per cent possession.

Taking the route less travelled, and trying something different to their opponents, may help them pick up results more regularly.

It will be very interesting to see if that’s the style City keep to next season – and Miquel does seem set in her ideas – and how they fare in their second year playing that way, and with hopefully a fit front-line to make the most of the counter-attacks.