Women's soccer in England - that's what the motherland of soccer teaches us

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Lina Magull's blog, in which she shows how to increase attention and recognition of women's soccer in Germany, has rightly attracted attention last year.

However, it received this attention not because of market-screaming slogans, not because of populist escalations. No, she described factually and with strong arguments how we can move women's soccer forward in Germany. Lina has also drawn comparisons with the Barclays FA Women's Super League (FAWSL), the first women's soccer league in England.

And it is true that the level of professionalism in British women's soccer is much higher than in the Flyeralarm Bundesliga. As a player at West Ham United, I see that first-hand. I would therefore like to try to make specific differences clear. Like Lina, I'm not interested in saying anything bad. It is about showing concrete approaches to how things can be done better, how we can learn from others.

ENGLAND HAS OPTIMAL CONDITIONS IN WOMEN'S SOCCER

Lina has rightly pointed out that the integration of men's and women's teams at German professional clubs leaves much to be desired. Many professional men's clubs do not have women's teams that play at the highest level or completely separate their women's teams from men's professional structures.

ONLY TOP GERMAN CLUBS CAN KEEP UP

The names of the associations in the FAWSL, on the other hand, make you sit up and take notice: Arsenal London, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea FC, Tottenham Hotspurs, West Ham United Eight FAWSL clubs, which comprises a total of twelve teams, are represented in the Premier League, the remaining four in the Championship, England's second division.

Membership in Premier League clubs means access to modern training grounds; some of these are shared with male professionals. At my club West Ham United, for example, we train at the Chadwell Heath Academy site. This legendary training center has already been the training ground for club greats such as Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters.

In concrete terms, this means that we train there on three grass fields, an artificial turf pitch and a covered artificial turf hall. The Academy also offers a weight room, media rooms, physiotherapy facilities and a cafeteria where the team is fed after the sessions.

In the Flyeralarm Women's Bundesliga, these professional conditions can only be found in the top clubs so far — I would like to highlight Bayern Munich, Vfl Wolfsburg, TSG Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt.

PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT

Another important factor of professionalization is the composition of the staff. In addition to a head coach, assistant trainer and Every FAWSL team has at least one permanent physiotherapist as a goalkeeper trainer. In addition, there is a team doctor, some of whom are also present at the training sessions, a full-time video analyst as well as a full-time athletic trainer.

Champions League representatives Chelsea and Manchester City don't have to hide from the male teams in this area either: the staff here comprises almost 20 employees who offer the players the most professional support. These structures didn't fall out of the sky. In particular, they are the result of the FA's licensing process. It has set standards to professionalize the league in the long term.

GPS TRACKERS, FIELD CAMS AND MORE — ENGLISH SOCCER WORKS INNOVATIVELY

FAWSL is also a few steps ahead when it comes to innovation & digitization. In England, for example, people are increasingly relying on the use of GPS trackers, in order to be able to individually control training management and thus the workload of the players. But the technology is also used on game day, so that a holistic stress profile can be created for each individual player.

At West Ham United, we also rely on video material from games and training sessions — illustrative material that helps us to work on our (individual) weaknesses in as much detail as possible. Each training is equipped with permanently installed “Field Cams” recorded and made available on the “Hudl” analysis platform, so that every player has the opportunity to watch the training sessions afterwards.

The issue of load control is also managed at the highest level here. After the sessions, each player evaluates the perceived training intensity on an app — the system is used by all teams in FAWLS.

In addition, we fill out a short questionnaire about the physical condition in the morning before the first session. The reason behind this strategy is to prevent injuries due to overwork.

The successes are clearly visible: The periodization of intensity can be made better and more individual and is a major advantage in terms of training management.

ENGLAND ENSURES MORE MEDIA PRESENCE IN WOMEN'S SOCCER

But when it comes to the recognition of women's soccer, the question in particular is how women's soccer is perceived and what presence it has in England.

Lina has rightly complained about the lack of (media) attention of women's soccer in Germany. How does that compare in England? Not everything is optimal here either, but I see developments here from which the Bundesliga could cut a slice.

In particular, a clear strategy is apparent: Commercialization and visibility are 100 percent the focus of those responsible for the Woman Soccer League.