Here’s a team of the week for Matchday 16, comprising the games played on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of March 2024. Maybe time to separate the wheat from the chaff? To kick this into the higher gear? As we approach the home straight, how many horses are in this race?
GK: Becky Spencer (Tottenham Hotspur)
LB: Leila Ouahabi (Manchester City)
CB: Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea)
CB: Niamh Fahey (Liverpool)
RB: Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City)
CDM: Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
LM: Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)
CM: Ceri Holland (Liverpool)
CM: Jordan Nobbs (Aston Villa)
RM: Jessica Naz (Tottenham Hotspur)
ST: Lauren James (Chelsea)
All winners this week, and the most numerous side, Manchester City, can count themselves unlucky that only four of them made it on — it could have been the whole team. Khadija Shaw, Jess Park, and Mary Fowler are all desperately unlucky not to be in the eleven, but their various positions were hotly contested, with Lauren James playing her part in playing Arsenal off the park to unseat Bunny, Ceri Holland and Jordan Nobbs putting in masterclasses to keep out the influential Park, and Jessica Naz showing up when it counts to hold Fowler at bay. The Citizens that can count themselves included count the two wing-backs, Ouahabi and Casparij, who drove the game ever-forward for their side, and if ever it dared to go back, Hasegawa would meet if halfway to repel. And when you’ve got one like Lauren Hemp having yet another game of her life, the more time you spend up the pitch, the better it is for everybody — bar the opposition, of course. Elsewhere in the eleven, Niamh Fahey fits into the defence thanks to her commanding displays in both box, and she partners Kadeisha Buchanan, who made Arsenal look as if they simply weren’t there. That leaves the custodian, and despite a hearty second-half display from Arsenal’s Manuela Zinsberger to keep the score respectable, it’s Becky Spencer who makes the cut, keeping a clean sheet in a narrow victory over mid-table rivals Leicester.
As for the rest of the honourable mentions, Lucía García and Maya Le Tissier continued their battle for The Red Devils’ Player Of The Season award, and Jayde Riviere even threw her hat in the ring this week during a scrappy match against Bristol City. Liverpool also impressed, and can count first-half sub Missy Bo Kearns, as well as Jasmine Matthews among their impressors. Elsewhere, Leicester put forward the ever-fantastic Jutta Rantala, Everton have their Player Of The Season Megan Finnigan on form again, Chelsea have Ève Périsset and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (of course), and Aston Villa have Adriana Leon and the magical Kenza Dali to round us off.
All the H-words are up for Player Of The Week — Hasegawa, Hemp, and Holland. The former for Man City got things moving, and the latter Citizen delivered many a killer blow, but I’m gonna have to go for Ceri Holland as she commanded the dancefloor against West Ham, constantly driving through to seal victory. Liverpool also have a contender for Goal Of The Week, with Sophie Román Haug reaching for a volley into the far corner. Her competition includes Lisa Naalsund’s well-crafted and finished first, Kenza Dali’s sweet arrow, a Mary Fowler finish that followed some tight passing play and sumptuous cross, and a lovely Spurs counter going back to front. I’m a big fan of Sjoeke Nüsken’s pair of deflections, but I’d need to combine them to give her the award for ’em, so I’m gonna go for Spurs and their slick move that saw Spencer kick out to Bizet, who went on to Spence, then Naz, and her cross found Matilda Vinberg to score her first goal for the club.
Keep it streets ahead,
C.L.R.
