Rita Guarino

I'll tell you what, Tom, not many of us will have seen this coming, particularly after their loss to Brighton last weekend.

How were Rita Guarino's side able to finally find their shooting boots?

Really, really pleasantly surprised me.

I must say, I thought this was the best performance I've seen from them in many a month, maybe even in a season or so.

Rita Guarino has had a bit of time now to get some of her ideas into the team.

And I think... we're really starting to see them look a bit more coherent and fluid.

Asai was fantastic, clearly, as she often is.

I'm Leanne Simonson.

A team I want to come on and talk about, a team that has been good enough this year, that turned the corner, West Ham, under Rita Guarino.

I mean...

Getting that result against Liverpool, Luz, like, I saw you as a player we give a lot of love to on this show.

You know, they created enough to make an impact, but again, wasteful in front of goal.

How frustrated is Rita Guarino going to be about the manner of this defeat?

Yeah, very.

I mean, Brighton, I think, are a much more invested in team, a much more developed squad, but West Ham have a decent squad there.

And to be fair, West Ham made a lot of mistakes in the back line trying to play out, which then cost them.

But Rita Guarino, you can see what she's trying to do.

She's a possession style type of coach.

having played for her at Juventus.

Um, so it, it, it might be quite a similar kind of-- that they're quite similar i- in that sense.

And yeah, I think Rita will certainly be wanting us to-- Rita Guarino will be wanting West Ham to take their chances in this game because I think they could be few and far, far between.

And I think if, if Brighton can really utilize the wings in the same way that they've done recently against City, against Charlton, then I think they could be, um...

Then I think they'll win here.

And look, we can overcomplicate these things sometimes, Leanne, can't we? But it is a good thing that Serena Vigman's sticking around.

She's England's greatest ever head coach.

She has transformed that team.

She has transformed the sport in this country with the success her and her players have had.

Why haven't you extended? All those sort of questions.

They're all gone now.

She's an experienced enough coach and an experienced enough team that those questions wouldn't have been a massive distraction, I'm sure.

But the fact that it's now not there at all, maybe that gives them an extra 5% or 10%, which could be the difference next summer.

[laughs]

They switched to a five at the back, um, I think to try and... 'Cause I think Rita had said in pre-match about, um, uh, Chelsea's wide play-

Mm

... and wide areas.

Yeah.

But when she's been having such a good relationship with Katie Zelem in that midfield area, and that's been probably your, the basis of your foundations from the last few games, um, having to change that.

Ir- the i-irony around it is that Rita Guarino spoke about thinking about themselves and focusing on themselves.

Mm.