Why Always She? - A Women’s Football Podcast

After a goal-filled weekend with some stand-out performances up and down the table, Charli and Matt celebrate the heroes of GW14 with the first (and probably last, what's a format?) Why Always She Team of the Week.

With a WSL breather this week to focus on the Cups - Subway and FA - Charli and Matt look at the teams outside of the top 4 in the WSL. They rate their season so far, talk about some of their strengths, weaknesses and where they could go from here.

The mood is jubilant in the Why Always She camp this week after their beloved Leicester recorded just their second win of the season over Liverpool. Charli and Matt use this as a springboard to talk about some of this weekend's goings on in the league outside of what looks like to be a pretty sewn-up title race following Chelsea's narrow defeat of Arsenal. They then get on to the biggest piece of...

Charli and Matt are back following the return of the WSL, and what better way to celebrate than with a suitably chaotic Manchester Derby? With Arsenal and Chelsea clicking along nicely, they once again turn their attention to City and how their rigidity in system and lack of proper squad building is starting to cause real issues. That's not to take anything away from United, who took the game to t...

This week Charli and Matt try (and mostly succeed) not to be too insufferable about Leicester's solid performance and shock draw against the formidable Chelsea. They also discuss Everton's scene-stealing result against an injury-depleted City, and go in on Taylor for his failure to adjust his system or plan properly for the loss of key players. 

This week Charli has a solo session on the January transfer window: who needs to recruit and where? Who's fine? Who just needs to have a bit of R&R and rethink their life choices to insist on playing out from the back? 

The team tackle a pick and mix of topics this week: Charli starts on well-trodden ground with a rant about Manchester United and Marc Skinner; there's then a quick review of what's going on in the Championship, a discussion of what Chelsea might do with Sandy Baltimore with Niamh Charles coming back, and a quick preview of the injury-stricken Lionesses' friendly against the USA. 

After an emphatic win in the North London Derby and ahead of what was pencilled in as her "final" game as interim manager, Charli and Matt discuss the hot topic in the WSL - should Renée Slegers be given the Arsenal job permanently? That's after they give their thoughts on the clash at the top of the table - can Chelsea be stopped? They also get into why they think things might be looking a bit bl...

This week Charli and Matt give some of the "unsung heroes" of the WSL a spotlight - basically going full football hipster and picking a player (or players - Charli, you cop-out) from each team who may be flying under the radar a little but putting in some solid performances. 

This week Charli and Matt take a deep-dive detour through the bottom half of the WSL, putting Spurs, Leicester, Crystal Palace, Villa, West Ham and Everton under their part stats, part vibes microscope. How have these teams fared so far, what do the stats tell us, and what's the short to mid-term looking like? There's also a quick overview of this weekend's NWSL playoffs and what to look out for t...

In this epic-length episode Charli and Matt attempt to deconstruct the future of the England team as we look ahead towards the Euros after two less than convincing performance this international break. What does Wiegman need to prioritise? What have we learned (if anything) from the two friendlies? Will it actually probably be fine and we all need to chill out a bit? 

In this episode the WAS team take a wider view outside of the weekend's games and get into a bit of manager discourse. What does Eidevall's departure mean for the women's game generally? How do other managers of ambitious teams fit into the conversation? And does it really matter if you don't have a clear system if you're getting the results (and you have a Swedish superstar who can bang in ridicu...

A whistle-stop tour of various goings-on from this week in the top flight of European women's football. From City's commanding performance against Barcelona in the Champions League to a solid defensive display from the WAS team's beloved Leicester, Charli and Matt sum up an eventful week and of course, have to dedicate some time to the continuing woes on the red side of London. 

Charli and Matt are back from their travels and better late than never diving into the events so far in the WSL. They touch on a few things they've learned and been surprised by so far, but one thing that certainly isn't new is Arsenal's inability to break down a defensive block. Charli desperately tries to create a narrative thread between Arsenal's disappointing draw against Everton and Leiceste...

Matt and Charli are playing Fantasy WSL again this season and this episode they take you through their picks. Bag some bargains, get some hot tips (or not) and enjoy playing along with us, mainly revelling in Charli's stubborn and probably unwise decisions around forward selection.   Join our league with the code: YUGF57N

Charli and Matt are joined by WSL stat guru and friend of the pod Sam Biccarino (@stattorino) to share their predictions for the coming season of the WSL - from top 3 to relegated teams, and golden boots to signing of the season. Matt and Sam have some bold wildcard predictions in particular and we discuss our new favourite stat, xT (Expected Trying their Best). 

In this mini episode Charli and Matt reflect on the Olympic semi finals, including what the heck happened to Spain, Hayes' lack of rotation in the US starting XI and whether Brazil have the momentum and psychological advantage to stop them and claim the gold medal. 

Charli and Matt recap the group stages of the Olympics and give their predictions for the quarter finals and beyond - who will make the podium? Can Spain consolidate their status as World Champions? Can anyone get in the way of Emma Hayes when she be Hayesin'? 

This week the WAS duo chat about three of the most significant moves in the WSL transfer window so far - the confirmed move of Mariona Caldentey to Arsenal and the reportedly imminent Vivianne Miedema to City and - much to everyone's surprise - Lucy Bronze to Chelsea. What will these three moves mean to the respective teams and the players? 

Charli and Matt just had to jump back on the mics to discuss a chaotic week for Manchester United - from the lows of the continuing exceptionally poor treatment of the women's team and key players on the way out, to the (relative) highs of rumoured big signings - it's been a rollercoaster. Hear their thoughts on the situation and the potential outlook for next season. 

Charli and Matt round off on the latest international camp with their reflections on a much more positive England performance. They also recap on the goings on from other groups in the qualifiers, and speculate about how could be a threat heading into next year's tournament - with an eye on the very competitive Group A1.  

The podcast team were in attendance at the Lionesses' game against France on Friday in Newcastle, and Charli reaches a new octave in a rant about their performance and the same frustrating patterns we're seeing in every game. There's also a bit of chat about ongoing transfer rumours - it's going to be a busy summer!

This week Matt and Charli had the pleasure of chatting to Leicester legend and Scotland international Sophie Howard about the 23/24 season, her career and her mentality. They get into everything from the "Little Leicester" narrative to the most difficult player Sophie's had to defend against this season, and most importantly - did Matt get a thumbs up from her at the Chelsea game? 

Charli and Matt have a few beers and raise a glass to a thoroughly entertaining season, their first as fans and followers of women's football. They reflect on memorable and favourite moments from the 23/24 campaign, and share some of their predictions for next season, as well as some from Reddit. 

As we roll towards the end of the WSL season, Charli and Matt select their heavily caveated best XI of the campaign, with the key restriction being one player per team. That's after they give their brief thoughts on Manchester United's historic FA Cup victory, and why sometimes, you just have to Big Sam it.