funnily enough, not much thought goes into tghe difference between the quality of the game vs the entertainment on offer.
football is meant to be entertainment…think back on all the dross served up in cup finals over the years as two good teams cancel out each other, not in terms of quality, but in terms of cageyness and no one willing to lose, instead of someone wanting to win.
on open, less quality game can sometimes be more entertaining.
Eh, I wouldn’t trust the claims of owners with respect to the profitability of the league. Sports owners who have CBAs to negotiate always claim poverty. Besides, their new TV deal hasn’t kicked in yet. It’s worth $2.2 Billion. And that was driven primarily by the Caitlin Clark effect.
Comparing to Bird-Magic is fair, as Celtics-Lakers were a catalyst for the league, undoubtedly. The racial element certainly has parallels to the way Caitlin is treated by a certain segment of the fanbase.
But I compare Caitlin to MJ because it was about how a single player brought so many eyes on the league that it’s helped raise the profiles of so many others. Look now - it’s Paige Bueckers. Aja Wilson. Kelsey Plum. Breanna Stewart. Arike Ogunbawale. Sabrina Ionescu. Angel Reese. And on and on.
Women’s soccer isn’t that far from that kind of popularity. In the states, the USWNT has had a passionate following with several individual players becoming household names. Same can be said with the Lionesses. And then you have individual players like Bonmati and Putellas and Graham Hanson and Marta (still at it!).
Anyway, we’re going far afield here with the thread. That’s what a weekend without this club playing does, I suppose. But I just want the LFC women to succeed. And considering how relatively inexpensive it is to buy top tier talent, it would be nice to see FSG dedicate some attention to their growth.
It would be nice if they are competitive… but sustainable is more important. There will be no future for the women’s game if it is always losing money.
Thus, I don’t think their approach is necessarily wrong. Focus on development (Melwood) and operate within financial parameters.
Men need to STFU about the standard of play. Yes technically the game is behind the men’s game, but that’s what 50 years of lost development (while the game was banned by insecure men) will result in.
The men’s game owes the women’s game a leg up, whether that’s directing funds or over representing women in punditry or promo.
You probably just need to STFU generally.
Nothing wrong with people who genuinely wants to know how the standard of play is like.
That’s nail on the head. I can’t watch Women’s football at all, looks like they’re running through treacle, but that’s just me being conditioned by watching the Mens game for over 30 years now. There is a massive gap in the physical attributes between male footballers and female footballers and it shows in the play but that’s what we end up comparing it to and it’s completely unfair.
Well we wouldn’t be comparing (or talking about in here) if they hadn’t invited the comparison by having a ‘Liverpool’ team. Would much prefer if women’s sides had their own names and stood independently at whatever level they end up.
I deeply believe in women’s sport, for a wide range of reasons. But the recent WNBA labour strife is really troublesome for anyone who understands the history of the NBA. Julius Erving was one of the greatest players ever, certainly one of the greatest I saw - was he ever paid ‘what he was worth?’ Absolutely not, because most of his career was in the 70s, when the NBA was shaky at best. In today’s game, he would be commanding nine figures over his career.
I do think the club should invest in the women’s game, but by building a strong fundamental base at the academy level. Buying titles in the women’s game is easy, but it is a fool’s errand.
Thanks for taking the time to explain, I do appreciate it. I completely get your point, especially with the connection your daughter has and how younger fans can be influenced by women’s teams at other clubs.
That said, I’d still push back on the word “critical”. To me, “critical” implies a level of necessity without which the club itself would be in real danger… and I just don’t see that being the case for Liverpool, or any men’s club, financially or competitively. Yes, there’s potentially money “left on the table” as you put it**, but that’s an opportunity rather than a core requirement. Liverpool FC could survive and thrive perfectly well without materially investing in the women’s game. It might be desirable, worthwhile, and positive in many respects, but not “critical” to the club’s existence or success.
**Money left on the table? From my limited research, women’s football is growing fast, but most clubs still operate at a loss. Even with prize money in the Women’s Champions League now at around €2 million, that’s still tiny compared to the transfer fees and wages already being spent. Many of the bigger women’s teams that generate healthy revenues also end up spending more than they bring in.
So while I don’t disagree that investment would probably be a positive thing, I’m only picking up on the word choice — nice to have, but not “critical”. Anyway, I’ll happily agree to disagree and leave it there.
I genuinely hope your daughter gets as much joy from following the women’s team as the men’s side has given me over the years.
maybe ‘critical’ in the context you put it is a bit overdramatic, as yes, LFC without a womens team is still viable…
its critical to the sport maybe…maybe…maybe even not as the mens game wont die if the womens game remains trailing behind the mens counterpart
the choice of word can be debated but the overriding point is that it would be great to give young females a relatable team…i mean, my daughters not even that bothered if they are successful, she loves the mens team so theres an admission of relevance right there…but the point is, all they need to be is semi competitive for her…for others who are just begining their football journey, they need to see a viable female option to support.
its actually a really exciting time for the womens version of the sport as growth in quality is low hanging fruit…my wife does a small podcast and she interviewed a matilda allumini, who can still recall having to use the mens used strips to play for the national team…thats in recent memory for her, not some story from the seventies…
so massive jumps in quality can be achieved by relatively small sums invested…not marginal gains.
I’m not advocating for FSG to do a Chelsea and sell the women’s team back to themselves as a way to get over FFP rules.
But it will be better if there are opportunities for sponsors to only sponsor the women’s team if possible. There can be common sponsors etc as well as shared resources but it’s probably better if the women’s team was delinked from men.
Would allow FSG to dedicate more resources to the women’s team if they are so inclined.
Since we have a women’s team, and since FSG have proven themselves to be excellent long term owners/custodians, I would like them to cast their gaze at the women’s team.
If it wears the name “Liverpool” I want them to be the best.
At that point I don’t know what is needed to get it there, but presumably facilities, training, youth coming through, sponsorship, investment, etc. All the things they have been so adept at harnessing in the men’s game. Not a fast track injection of unsustainable funds, as a ‘cheat code’ but a mid-to-long term plan to grow it, and then be the best.
Again, I’m not a huge fan, and I’m from a generation when it was mostly a man’s game. That’s what I know and love. With that said, I’m very happy we now live in a more egalitarian age.
Perhaps there is an opportunity for FSG to be a little more intentional and strategic, to develop a plan to take the women’s team to the very top? I’m not sure how long it will take, but since they wear the Liverpool name, that’s what I’d like to see.
How about continuing this discussion in the LFC Women’s thread? Then some of you might also notice that the first steps toward positive change have already been taken. Firstly, they’ve hired an experienced manager ( Former ManCity Manager Gareth Taylor, whether you like him or not) who has the task of successfully implementing a style of play that suits Liverpool, with the necessary time to build something up step by step. Secondly, there were several deadline day signings, some of them loans, a good mix of youth and experience, which should help the manager.
Just saying
They have their first game tomorrow at Anfield against Everton btw
Probably best to take it somewhere else rather than here, as long as I am not forced to read the entire thread 
I am sure that the quality of posts there are no different to the quality of posts elsewhere. 
Maybe the LFC women thread is not the place though as this seems to have morphed in a woman sports thing, and I blame whomever referenced the WNBA first.
My parting shot is a very simplistic view on being entertained, which at the end of the day is all I care about. I want to watch woman’s football/basketball as much as I want to watch guys doing floor routines in gymnastics. It’s irrelevant that a sneak a peek at both.
How many of them have Kerr, Catley or Foord shirts?
Or are they having Arsenal and Chelsea Men’s names?
most dont have names.
plenty of kerr aussie shirts around the club though
Hopefully not being worn by people who are stupid and white.
Another Aussie bogan we’ve gifted to the world.
A great piece here about just how formidable we are as an organisation now. (free to read)
Free to read here : https://archive.ph/yZjHq