THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

I watched the England Ladies today for the first time in ages in the flesh and notably, first touches/control, quick passing and controlling the game were really strong traits of their play.
Portugal were shite by the way.

Two things I've noticed in top class women's football that stand out for me. One big positive and one big negative:
1. Goalkeeping quality has improved massively in a very short space of time. There was a point where it felt like a decent shot at goal had a 50/50 chance of resulting in a goal due to basic ineptitude and that the average height seemed to be about 5ft 3in. It was the weakest part of the women's game in general for me.

2. As shown today in the game I watched, there's a lack of natural goalscorers and finishers. England absolutely battered Portugal but didn't score. It wasn't an off day, simply that there was no real quality when it came to putting it in the back of the net. (See also MK Dons' Championship season).

I will happily watch women's football because it's decent to watch and has come on leaps and bounds in a very short space of time.
It's faster, more skilful with the basics now being mastered.

Ron, as you're still firmly stuck in the 1970s, can you buy me 1000 shares in Microsoft and/or Apple please?

It's a debate that's been had many many times but I think the women's game would benefit massively from a slightly smaller pitch and definitely smaller goals. They'll likely be working a lot on foot work and ball to feet stuff - which is modern, aspirational and popular in any level of the game, but given that most girls that play are fairly small(er than men who play) in the next 5 years that side will improve drastically better than it already has.

Although, I still find stuff I watch at the "top level" to be pretty tough to watch. The World Cup is usually fun but when you see the likes of the USA play, you see how far above they are to the rest of the World and the margins are absolutely massive between countries.

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"I sometimes buy the Big Issue out of social embarrassment. I don't buy a fucking bank!"

The striker in the second half, Allesia Russo, definitely had an off day. She’s an excellent striker and scored some really good goals.

The striker from the first half however I remember playing at left back in the Euro’s, I don’t watch the club games so can’t say if that was the anomaly or if we’re just trying something different.

As for the game itself… I’ve always been of the opinion that if you take it as a separate sport you’ll find more enjoyment out of it and that’s worked 9/10 times. Yesterday’s game was just a bit of a bore draw, you see them all the time. England couldn’t find the net no matter what they did.

We were lucky to get inside for kick off though, we shouldn’t be having to queue for 45 minutes+ and snake all the way down to gate 3 to get into gate 5. It’s a wonder we get these events and comments from the people waiting in the queues were to that extent as well. I defend our club when it’s right too but there’s no defending the lack of an ability to host big events consistently.

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Cuboid of bum fluff

Certainly needs looking at. It should be quicker at a stadium with seven gates ( all with multiple turnstiles )than it was. So what was the problem ?

I also wonder if a size 4 ball would make a difference

The queue at gate 3 was only ever 15 minutes max so why didn't you go in there rather than the 'snake queues' for gate 4 and 5? I did a quick check with a gate steward that the segregation barriers were up so moved queues and also advised families with young kids around me to switch.

As far as I could tell, the long queues were caused by enhanced bag searches and confiscation of large bags (it was fairly obvious that few had read the guide sent out to all ticket purchasers), unfamiliarity with presenting tickets at the turnstiles and (at gate 3 anyway) arguments with people trying to bring in stacks of Papa John pizzas from the outside concession. A few more guide barriers might also have helped as there was a lot of confusion about where the queue end was so there were a fair number of parents dragging kids here and there trying to find the right place. Irrespective about which organisation was responsible, it didn't give a good impression of MK. I heard a few versions of ' it's obvious that MK Dons have never had to deal with more than a couple of thousand people before as they have no clue about crowd control'. Unfair but understandable.

Even at Dons games recently depending on the stewards you get they’ll send you to the gate on your ticket even if you’ve used the same (wrong) gate hundreds of times. Given the size of the queues for 4 and 5, I didn’t want to risk it when I had my fiancé there too for the first time in a long time.

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Cuboid of bum fluff