Category: Women’s Football

Homophobia in football, and the lack of openly gay footballers

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Most Recent, Women's Football, World Football

In October 2021, Australian footballer Josh Cavallo came out as gay. Cavallo became the first openly gay footballer since February 2013, when Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers came out. After the American's retirement in 2017, the men's football scene was without an open member of the LGBTQ+ community for four years. Cavallo's bravery paved the way for 17-year-old Jake Daniels, a Blackpool youth product who came out as gay in May 2022. With hundreds of thousands of professional players worldwide, the fact of the matter remains that more LGBTQ+ members of the footballing community remain in the closet, unwilling to come out.

Washington Spirit 1-1 Chicago Red Stars – Match Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Match Analysis, Most Recent, NWSL, Women's Football, World Football

As often happens in a tightly contested affair, Washington Spirit's encounter with the Chicago Red Stars saw one team outperform the other in the attacking third, and the other come out in wonderfully matching that intensity in the defensive third. Washington should have claimed victory, having hit the bar twice and dominating much of the play, but Chicago held their own, accumulating chances to put the game to bed themselves.

Why there’s an abnormal amount of centre-backs taking set-pieces in the NWSL

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Centre Backs, Most Recent, NWSL, Player Analysis, Women's Football

In quite fantastic fashion, there is an abnormal representation of centre-halves on set-piece duties. Normally associated with banging in the goals from free kicks and corners, several NWSL teams instead have one of their centre-backs as a key taker of set-pieces. This begs the question we should always be asking in analysis - and that is...why?

Chelsea 3-2 Manchester City – Women’s FA Cup Final Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Match Analysis, Most Recent, Women's Football

What a game. If you missed this one, seriously, go back and watch the explosion of emotions and hard-felt performances across the pitch in Chelsea's narrow 3-2 win over Manchester City. The Citizens were dominant on the day going forward, yet Chelsea kept pushing and probing to take the lead not once, not twice, but three times. Their relentless goal-scoring when the odds seemed stacked against them ensured City always had an uphill battle to climb, and eventually became too big of a task for Gareth Taylor's team. Here is our match analysis of the 2022 Women's FA Cup Final between Chelsea and City.

Washington Spirit 2-1 OL Reign – Match Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coach Education, Masterclasses, Match Analysis, Most Recent, NWSL, Women's Football, World Football

The enthralling back and forth encounter between Washington Spirit and OL Reign was full of non-stop energetic thrusts, between two high pressing, quick transitioning teams.

Angel City FC 2-1 North Carolina Courage – Match Analysis

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Match Analysis, NWSL, Women's Football

The NWSL is back! This season, TheMastermindSite.com aims to bring more coverage to the NWSL and the women's game, including tactical analyses, player profiles, and as much as we can pull off within the scope of all the other exciting football around. So with that, let's kick off the NWSL season in style, with our match analysis of the very first fixture in this league for Angel City FC, as they secured a fashionable win over the NC Courage.

32 Greatest Canadian Women’s National Team Players of All Time

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Podcast, Women's Football, World Football

Rhys is joined by Canada Soccer expert Sam the Man to discuss the 32 greatest players to ever play for the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team. For the first time ever, the winner is declared before the show even begins, but Rhys and Sam still go through the bracket to see how everything will play out. Players discussed include the likes of the illustrious Diana Matheson, Sophie Schmidt, Charmaine Hooper and of course, the one and only, all-time great Christine Sinclair.

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 – Team of the Tournament

by Rhys Desmond, posted in Women's Football, World Football

Despite much of the attention of the tournament surrounding VAR, the FIFA Women's World Cup in France was a large success and saw record viewing audiences around the world. The Americans ultimately came out victorious for the fourth time in their history but they weren't the only nation to shine at this summer's tournament. Here … Continue reading FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 – Team of the Tournament