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Arsenal Manager Joe Montemurro: Why Change The Size Of Goals? Are Women Footballers Not Capable?

Arsenal Manager Joe Montemurro: Why Change The Size Of Goals? Are Women Footballers Not Capable?

Australian manager thinks football's rules should be the same regardless of gender.

Sunni Upal

Sunni Upal

Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro thinks making the goals smaller in women's football would be insulting to the players and suggest they're 'not capable'.

Debate on the size of the goals raged all summer during the World Cup in France with some saying they were too big for female footballers.

But Montemurro, whose Arsenal side kick off their Women's Super League campaign against West Ham on Sunday, thinks football's rules should be the same regardless of gender.

He told SPORTbible: "There's this perception of 'it's football, but it's women's football'. Once we start talking about it as just football, and that it's played by women, men and kids, then we can start to break down that barrier.

The Women's World Cup was played to a backdrop of people calling for smaller goals
The Women's World Cup was played to a backdrop of people calling for smaller goals

"That's the most important thing because we're still differentiating it as a sport.

"When I hear rule changes and making the ball smaller and the goals smaller, is it because they're not capable?

"Leave the sport the same and let's get that parity. I don't coach women's football - I coach football, simple as that."

The 49-year-old added: "I think the World Cup showcased that the goalkeeper and the size of the goals is not the problem.

"The standard is getting better, the tactics are getting better, the athletes are better, the players are technically smarter and better decision makers, they're better footballers so the standard is going to be higher.

"Six or seven years ago it was a real argument because it was difficult to find people who wanted to play in goal in.

"Nowadays, we're profiling that sort of player, they're coming up younger and being assessed as goalkeepers younger, and the reality is a goalkeeper needs to be a certain stature."


Joe Montemurro said the rules and playing conditions should be the same, regardless of gender
Joe Montemurro said the rules and playing conditions should be the same, regardless of gender

The Women's Super League kicks off this weekend with players, coaches and officials looking to capitalise on a summer of unprecedented interest for the game.

England's Lionesses drew huge TV audiences on their run to the semi-final with 11.7million tuning into their heart-breaking defeat by USA.

And Australian-born Montemurro, who has been Gunners boss for two years, thinks women's football can't waste the opportunity to grow in the United Kingdom and the buck stops with everyone.

"It's the responsibility of each club and each person involved in the game to make sure that every bit of standard, whether it's the stadium, television broadcast, a podcast, any type of information, is at a high standard.

"In women's football we get one chance and the first time it's played on a bad pitch and it's broadcast and it's a terrible game, we lose a fan and we can't afford that.

"We get very little opportunity to showcase. The more games that are televised and the more information that's out there, then the opportunity to fail is going to be minimised.

"It's just a matter of putting it out there and making sure we keep the standards very high and that's the responsibility of everyone, including me.

"It's the little things like making sure the pitch is cut right and making sure it's shot from the right angle - these are the little details that are going to keep the standard high."

Joe Montemurro was speaking at the Hardwired launch event at Arsenal's training ground, The Hardwired boot pack is available from adidas.co.uk/football-boots

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Topics: WSL, Arsenal