Emma Hayes Makes Case For Women's Football To Have Smaller Goals

Chelsea Women's manager Emma Hayes has suggested that the goals in women's football should be made smaller to make sure that goalkeepers can truly show off their skills.

Men and women can be quite different. I'm going to avoid most stereotypes here but as a rule there's generally a lot of differences between the sexes.

Probably the main ones are physical. Men tend to be taller than their female counterparts. There is of course plenty of tall women, and they like to let you know on Tinder, but as a rule men are more likely to be able to reach the top shelf of the cupboard.

In football though the disparity isn't catered for on the pitch with the women's game using the same size goals as the men's game.

Over the years the level of goalkeeping for the women has been one of the biggest criticisms and Chelsea Women's boss Emma Hayes thinks that it's just because of the size of the goals.

Speaking on BT Sport's State of Play film Hayes explained the women's game shouldn't just mirror it's male equivalent, saying:

"There is often a criticism about goalkeeping in the women's game, I would argue that the goal is just a little bit too big, if it was built around our physical differences then we would be talking about great goalkeepers as opposed to exposing them.

"Rather than mirror everything we take from the men's game, we have to adapt it to our own sport and our own physical expectations as well as the tactical implications.

"It's the mind-set that has to change, and once it starts to change, there is a realisation that the sport has its own differences because, more often than not, everyone coming into our game is coming from the men's game or other sports."

The move would certainly make sense and cut down on the amount of shots going in that might not do in the men's game.

There was a suggestion at the weekend that Hayes could be a future Chelsea men's team manager and the former FA Cup winner explained she'd find it hard to say no, "I have a sort of responsibility to say yes.

"At some point someone has to break that barrier to do it. The reality is that I have a fantastic job that I love doing and I'm busy being a parent, but if my responsibility is to push a door down and open it, whether I walk through it or somebody else does that for me, that I push the conversation."

Should women's goals be smaller?