Is Phallon Tullis-Joyce the best goalkeeper in the WSL right now?
United Women's new starting goalkeeper kept her fifth clean sheet of the season across all competitions during the weekend visit of Aston Villa.
Sunday evening was a hard watch.
Aston Villa arrived at Leigh Sports Village and dominated, totally belying their position as bottom of the WSL prior to kick-off. In truth, Villa haven’t been anything like as bad this season as that would suggest – manager Robert de Pauw had previously spoken about his team consistently playing well but lacking killer instinct, and that was evident as they were left lamenting it wasn’t three points.
But for a Manchester United team with ambitions to finish in the top WSL’s top three and higher, any 0-0 draw at home, especially against an opponent so far below them in the league standings, is always going to be a hugely disappointing result.
Villa had never taken so much as a point at LSV (or Old Trafford) before Sunday’s game and had conceded 40 goals over 11 previous meetings stretching back to 2018 – a 12-0 United win in the club’s maiden league game since reforming a first-team squad remains a historic moment.
Here, United lacked attacking cohesion, with key passes going astray and players not on the same wavelength. There was a brief spell of pressure midway through the first half when Celin Bizet’s cross found Melvine Malard’s head in the box. But it wasn’t until 72 minutes in that Villa goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo made her only save, while 10 minutes of stoppage time at the end didn’t deliver the kind of relentless banging on the door that fans would have hoped for and expected.
Scoring only two goals across the last three games and reasons for it is something to address.
On the other hand, United are more defensively robust this season, still only conceding twice in six WSL games (seven games across all competitions). Patterns appear better but chances are still being conceded, also making goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce a major reason for that resurgence.
Against Villa, it was four saves from the American and a standout moment midway through the first half when she beat away a low cross into the six-yard box with a diving punch at the feet of striker Gabi Nunes, and instantly back on her feet to spectacularly tip Jordan Nobbs’ follow-up shot over the bar. Cat-like reflexes is an old goalkeeper cliché, but it’s an apt description.
Tullis-Joyce was hardly troubled on the opening weekend of the season against West Ham at Old Trafford, but United can look back to each WSL game since then and pick one or several moments in which she came up big to contribute in a meaningful way to the final result and the team ultimately remaining unbeaten into the middle of November.
She stopped Everton’s Katja Snoeijs equalising in a one-on-one situation at Walton Hall Park, spreading her body to get enough on the ball to divert it off target before Maya Le Tissier hooked away. Charging down Martha Thomas early in the visit of Tottenham when Spurs negan brightly was vital to that win, going to command the penalty area extremely well and make a great low save late on to preserve the clean sheet even after the result was long sewn up. At Brighton on her birthday there was an outstanding diving save to deny Madison Haley an equaliser before the Seagulls eventually did get back level. Against Arsenal, it was good handling across 90 minutes that breathed confidence into the team in front of her, always so crucial to solid defensive displays.
The early part of the summer transfer window that saw Mary Earps finally move on after a year of uncertainty was portrayed in the wider media as a disaster. United were losing England’s number one, the reigning Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper and perhaps the most globally famous female goalkeeper since legendary but divisive United States stopper Hope Solo. Earps wasn’t directly replaced either, which brought even more sensationalised reaction.
But it felt planned for. United had recruited Tullis-Joyce, spending a substantial sum on an established NWSL player with prior European experience from a spell in France, in 2023. She didn’t immediately take over from Earps at that time, although there were growing calls during the campaign from sections of the fanbase to make the switch. With the England star arguably losing some of her edge in 2023/24 amid unsettling circumstances and Tullis-Joyce showing her ability in a handful of League Cup outings, many regular matchgoers and avid supporters from further afield weren’t unduly worried when the inevitable Earps departure was confirmed.
Things aren’t absolutely perfect. Tullis-Joyce is an incredible shot stopper, is aerially dominant in the box thanks to her height, reach and willingness to risk injury, a reassuring vocal presence and a popular off-field character. But her possession-based football needs improving. She almost lost the ball a couple of yards from goal under pressure from Villa’s Nunes when involving in playing out from the back, while it her own slightly awkward and hurried pass that led to the Nobbs chance.
Earps wasn’t the best with her feet either and United have landed someone who ticks the core goalkeeping characteristics. And, nn current form, she might also be the best in the WSL.
I wouldn’t swap her any other keeper