Women's Football

As I sit here at my PC typing this the Women's Euro 2009 Final between England and Germany is being played and shown live on television. There is something desperately wrong with that opening sentence. To the pedant, it's not the possibly misplaced apostrophe after Women, but before 's', and, to the philistine, it's not the fact that I have associated women and football together in the same sentence. It's the fact that I'm not watching it, and have no intention of catching the highlights, and will probably choose the moment they show the goals on Sky Sports News later as the perfect time to stick the kettle on.

I have confused myself. It was never like this with Euro 2008 - I almost crashed my car racing home from work to catch games and lived on delivery food to ensure my time away from the couch was kept to a minimum. So what is it about women's football that leaves me cold and unenthusiastic.

As with any good tactical analysis, let's start at the back:

• Goalkeepers - I am yet to see an outstanding save from a female goalkeeper. I do not for a second doubt that many have been made, but that's not my point (otherwise I fall straight into ignoramus territory). My point is that I have not seen any. In any women's match I've watched there is a distinct lack of quality goalkeeping - poor handling, dodgy positioning, a reluctance to impose themselves within their box. When the last line of defence offers little confidence, it makes for a lottery rather than a game of football.
• Quality - There is clearly world-class talent on show outfield in women's football, but rarely do two evenly matched teams take the field against one another. The standard between the good and the not so good players, even within one team, can be appalling. Watching a top class man's game offers signifcant quality across the park - watching a top class women's game highlights the talented few exposing the many.
• Coverage - More important than either of the above is that I don't see or hear enough of women's football to care about it. On Football Focus at the weekend I'm confident that they will start with a review of the day's upcoming Premiership games, followed by a summary of the home nations' performances in the World Cup qualifiers, before eventually tagging on a story about how well the English team did to get to the final (I say this because I've just checked and the final score was 6-2 to Germany - dodgy goalkeeping, I expect!).

Until women's football gets closer to an even footing with the men's game, no one will take it seriously. Improving the quality and coverage go hand in hand - people will watch women's football if they have a female Messi, Gerrard or Eto'o to cheer for, but more will watch if there's a chance those players could be challenged, and even more if the games are pushed in front of their noses.