England star Toni Duggan loves the attitude to women’s game in Spain

Catalan daily paper El Periodico’s verdict on Barcelona’s women’s team a few months back was as follows: ‘Black week. Barcelona throw away the league and cup in five days.’

And for Toni Duggan, who always carries a weight of expectation, the verdict was particularly bruising. Her player rating in last month’s Champions League final defeat by Lyon was one out of five in El Mundo Deportivo.

This is not what English players are accustomed to back at home, where the inclination to celebrate the growth of the women’s game can preclude a negative critique at times. 

England and Barcelona star Toni Duggan loves the attitude towards the women’s game in Spain

When West Ham goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse fumbled a ball into the net at last month’s FA Cup final, some reports made minimal or no allusion to it. 

Duggan wants the criticism because without it, the women’s game is patronised and diminished.

‘In Spain when we’re successful we’re on the front page of the newspaper,’ she says, ‘Every newspaper. 

‘But when we lose we’re slated, the same as the men. That’s the level the game is at.

‘In the past, we might have lost a game (in England) and you get fans messaging you saying, “Ah, don’t worry, you’ve done so well”. 

‘And it can be a bit patronising. We’ve actually played badly and people are saying, “Ah, we’re so proud”. Is it just because we’re the women’s team? Is it just because we’re girls? 

Duggan wants criticism because without it, the women's game is patronised and diminished

Duggan wants criticism because without it, the women’s game is patronised and diminished

‘If that was the men you wouldn’t be saying that. I’m not asking for all the journalists to criticise us all the time but it would be a sign (of progress).’

Though several other members of Phil Neville’s squad have taken the same leap that Duggan did when becoming the first English player to join one of the big continental sides two years ago, she remains the one with the star-dust quality: the most forthright and self-assured of the squad. 

There is a restive energy about the Liverpudlian, who reached Catalonia via Everton and Manchester City.

One of her front page appearances in El Mundo Deportivo last season was an image, strung out across the masthead, of her celebrating a decisive goal as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid in front of a world record 60,739 fans at the Wanda Metropolitano. 

Duggan found something equally significant about a less positive image that day.

‘It was of me celebrating and behind me there’s actually a man putting his middle finger up,’ she says. ‘I’m not promoting that or saying it’s a good thing but it kind of showed what it meant. 

‘Atletico supporters were giving us stick. They were booing us. You could feel the passion in the stadium.

Her player rating in Spain after the Champions League final defeat by Lyon was one out of five

Her player rating in Spain after the Champions League final defeat by Lyon was one out of five

Duggan became the first English player to join a big continental side when she signed in 2017

Duggan became the first English player to join a big continental side when she signed in 2017

‘People had bought those tickets, they were die-hard Atletico Madrid fans, there to see their team win. Sometimes you can go to stadiums and there are 2,000 people there but it feels like it’s 10,000.

‘In England, I think we get about 30,000 for maybe a cup final and there are lots of kids on the seats, which is nice — don’t get me wrong — but it’s a calm atmosphere. 

‘Sometimes we can give away free tickets and get 20,000 but 10,000 are free.’

Even England’s warm-up games for France have seen too many free tickets given away in a well-meaning desire to spread the word about the women’s game. It’s meant no-shows, empty seats and a crowd noise that resembles a youth game.

Duggan is placing herself at the centre of an existential conversation about the English women’s game here.

The 27-year-old’s ethos is what Neville was driving at, in April, when he said that PSG fans throwing flares on the turf at their Champions League tie against Chelsea showed ‘the women’s game is going places’. 

Not everyone at the FA agrees that more light and shade, both positives and negatives, would help the spectacle.

Duggan’s perspective is built on two years at a club where she has known pressure since becoming the first English player to sign since Gary Lineker arrived in 1986.

The former Manchester City star poses for a picture with Abbie McManus at Heathrow Airport

The former Manchester City star poses for a picture with Abbie McManus at Heathrow Airport

The club have invested heavily in big foreign stars like her, Kheira Hamraoui and Lieke Martens, rather than growing success organically in the traditional Barca way.

It hasn’t really worked and criticism has followed, even though reaching last month’s Champions League final was a big step despite the 4-1 defeat by Lyon. 

Duggan has seen enough of the game to view Neville’s appointment as England manager clinically.

‘Phil is in charge and I want him to make us win a World Cup,’ she says. ‘I don’t care who he is, what he is or what he’s done — with all the greatest respect to him.

‘It’s amazing we can share the dressing room with someone who won it all at Manchester United but if he doesn’t win us the World Cup or we don’t succeed as a team, what does that count for?’

She does not agree with the idea, raised two weeks ago by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, that reducing the size of the goals could bridge the ‘physical differences’ between men and women. ‘That’s her opinion but I think it’s fine how it is,’ she says.

‘If you want to go down that route you can start saying, “Well maybe the ball could be a bit lighter because we’re not as strong with our muscles or the pitch should be a bit smaller” but for me I’m happy with how it is. 

‘If the goals were a bit bigger maybe I’d score a few more goals! Make them a bit bigger!’

Duggan is the fulcrum and driving force of Phil Neville's side ahead of the World Cup in France

Duggan is the fulcrum and driving force of Phil Neville’s side ahead of the World Cup in France

But the England team’s women’s salaries should not equate with the men’s, she insists. ‘No, because we don’t bring in the money that the men do, we’re not as successful as them yet. 

‘They bring in a lot more money than us commercially and are more successful. The prize money maybe shouldn’t be the same but if you look at some of it now in some of the competitions and what it’s been previously, that is a disgrace.’

Neville has spoken of the fearlessness and the youthful energy of his squad but Duggan reveals why she is its fulcrum and driving force.

She believes England can flourish but knows the road through tournaments can be complicated. Just don’t try telling her she’s played well when she hasn’t.

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