Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!
Here comes the first issue of the Arsenal Women Journal for the season 2024/25.
I hope you all had a good summer and are now ready to go for what could be a make-or-break season for Jonas Eidevall and some of his players.
The official start of the season is still a month away, or so, but most of our players are already back to work and are preparing for the upcoming US tour, which will see us take on Washington Spirit first, and a Hayes-less Chelsea after.
The team will be staying in Washington DC for a week and will get their final preparations to face Rangers in the semifinals of the qualifying tournament that gives access to the group stage of the Women’s Champions League.
Just like last year, our season starts very early due to our 3rd-place finish in the league behind Chelsea and Manchester City, and will kick-off with the UWCL mini-tournament to get to the actual qualifying playoff games: as mentioned, we will first face Rangers in the semifinals, then the winner of the other semifinal, which will be contested by Atlético Madrid and Rosenborg.
Should we progress further, we will play home and away games against one of Paris Saint-Germain, Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Juventus and Hacken.
Having stumbled quite unexpectedly against Paris FC last season, the hope is that the coach, his staff and the players learned something from the experience and will manage to power through both qualifying rounds.
THE TEAM
Let’s start with the ins and the outs: as largely expected, Vivianne Miedema signed for Manchester City upon being released by the Club, and we can all pretend it doesn’t hurt to see her in THAT kit, but the truth is that she will form a spectacular pair upfront with Bunny Shaw, and her signing might have made Manchester City the most credible candidate to dethrone Chelsea at the top of the table.
The club also let go both goalkeepers Sabrina D’Angelo and Kaylan Marckese and sanctioned the sale of Brazilian forward Gio Queiroz to Atlético Madrid, the club in whose academy she spent a few years, in her teens.
As things stand, no more outgoings are expected unless new players come in, as the team looks a bit thin now. The opposite is more likely, though, with the club expected to announce the arrival of Swedish midfielder Rosa Kafaji from Hacken in the coming days and still hopeful to convince Keira Walsh to leave Barcelona and join the Gunners.
The marquee signing, so far, has been Mariona Caldentey from Barcelona: powerful, technically gifted and extremely versatile, the Spain international can play as one of the two 8s deployed by Jonas Eidevall or anywhere across the front line. Her addition brings lots of experience on the biggest stages and a fair share of creativity, something we lacked badly, last term.
Another great signing has been Dutch international goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar, who arrived from Aston Villa and will provide stiff competition for Manuela Zinsberger: the Austrian saw off several rivals to retain her place in the starting XI, however the new signing’s ability to play out from the back could prove difficult to counter and the former Bayern Munich goalie could find herself in trouble, this season. The third goalkeeper will be Naomi Williams, who came through the ranks and has been earmarked for a bright future – hopefully at the Arsenal.
Looking at the rest of the unit, our last line looks good with Lotte Wubben-Moy fulfilling her big potential and becoming a mainstay next to Leah Williamson, with Laia Codina the first change while Amanda Ilestedt remains unavailable. If she can finally catch a break, Teyah Goldie could be the surprise of the season at the back, especially if Laia Codina doesn’t step up after a mixed first season at the Club. The flanks are covered by Katie McCabe, Steph Catley, Emily Fox and Laura Wienroither, four excellent options for Jonas Eidevall and among the best in their roles in the league.
Things are a bit more complicated if we look at our midfield, though: as mentioned earlier, the arrival of Mariona from Barcelona is a major coup, but we lost Victoria Pelova through an ACL injury and we will need to replace her. The negotiations with Hacken for the transfer of 21-years old Kafaji makes a lot of sense, in this regard, and persuading her to join would be an excellent move. Lia Wälti and Kim Little will bring leadership, calmness and technical security in the middle of the pitch, with Kyra Cooney-Cross perfectly capable of replacing the Swiss veteran in the lone-6 role and Frida Maanum desperate to find her best form after a stop-and-go season last year.
Doubts remain over the future of Danish midfielder Kathrine Kuhl, who might struggle to get valuable minutes and could be loaned out, but my feeling is that she will be allowed to leave only if we sign another midfielder, on top of Rosa Kafaji, to ensure we have enough bodies to go through a busy season.
The forward line has been completely transformed over the last twelve months, and its leadership has been symbolically handed over to Alessia Russo when the club decided against offering a new deal to Vivianne Miedema. The former Manchester United player will lead the line and become the most prominent element of our attacking play, either as a false-nine or slightly below Stina Blackstenius, who recently signed a new contract with the Gunners. Expectations are very high around Alessia Russo, who couldn’t truly find her rhythm in her debut season with the Arsenal Women but showed glimpses and flashes of her supreme ability to create and convert chances.
Much of our chances to get back to the Champions League and fight for the league will depend on Alessia Russo’s ability to become the 20-ish goals striker she can be, with Stina Blackstenius as a support and backup.
The strikers will get plenty of help from the flanks, with Beth Mead finally available from the start and Caitilin Foord hungry for revenge after a disappointing Olympic tournament with the Matildas. Cloé Lacasse will be a great asset off the bench on both wings and the club recently welcomed back Sweden international Lina Hurtig, who took some time off for “personal reasons” and is ready to kick-start her Arsenal career, two years after joining from Juventus.
Very much like Teyah Goldie, Lina Hurting needs (and deserves) some luck with injuries, to finally prove her worth as a wide forward, with her combination of power, speed and aerial threat make hers a unique profile, within the squad.
THE COACH
I purposely opened this first Arsenal Women Journal with a bold statement about Jonas Eidevall, stating that the upcoming season feels like a make-or-break for the Swede, and I stand by that.
I am still unsure whether he is the right man for the job, and I struggle to understand his vision for the team and the club. Despite the changes in personnel, both on and off the pitch, and the backing he has received from the club’s hierarchy, I feel that this team doesn’t have a true identity yet and lacks cohesion more often than not.
Injuries to big players in crucial moments hampered the team’s chances to compete fair and square with Chelsea and Manchester City, but our struggles against mid-table teams were difficult to explain, especially when the team appeared slow, hesitant and flat.
All the ups and downs we witnessed during last season were indicative of a team lacking clarity and intent, something the head coach and his staff are meant to instill, and that’s probably my biggest worry: are Jonas Eidevall’s ideas and demands getting to the players, fully?
The upcoming season will be a good test to see if the “new” Arsenal, with very few players from the Montemurro era still at the club, will live up to the standards and put up a real fight in the league and, should we get through the qualifying rounds, in Europe.
Now that Vivianne Miedema is gone, Jonas Eidevall should be able to field a very aggressive team capable of defending from the top thanks to Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Caitlin Foord pressing skills, while maintaining control in midfield through Lia Wälti, Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey technical security. Both full backs can push forward very strongly from their positions, forming a five-players forward line when we are in the final third and stretching the field to its maximum width.
It’s a very high-risk, high-reward approach but we have the personnel to pull it off, if everyone is on board and ready to execute. Last season, the team was struggling to coordinate their press and players tended to jump too early, creating holes that could be easily exploited by our opponents.
A better coordination and communication between the different units is vital for this approach to work, and having vocal players on the pitch will be very important. In this regard, having Leah Williamson back from day one will make a big difference, and Lotte Wubben-Moy becoming more and more assured will help, too.
My wish, entering the new season, is to see a team with a real identity and players being played in their natural position, as often as possible: in all honesty, I don’t want to see Katie McCabe at right-back, Steph Catley at centre-back or any of Jonas Eidevall’s experiments of last season, unless we have no other choice.
My other wish, is to see a team ready to pounce if any of Chelsea and Manchester City struggles to find their feet after changing coach or personnel: the Blues hired a world-class coach in Bompastor but might need time to adjust to life without Emma Hayes, while Manchester City needs to find a way to fit their forwards in their starting XI, so both could face some difficulties in the opening weeks of the new season.
I guess that’s it for the first Arsenal Women Journal of the season, I hope this will be the start of a great season and rest assured that I will be here through the good and the bad.
More to come about transfers, the US tour, friendly matches against Washington Spirit and Chelsea and any major news about our beloved Arsenal Women team.
Also, watch out for a full team preview, next week, and a player-by-player guide.
Speak to you soon!
Italian living in Switzerland, Gooner since mid-nineties, when the Gunners defeated my hometown team, in Copenhagen. I started my own blog and podcast (www.clockenditalia.com) after after some experiences with Italian websites and football magazines. Covering Arsenal Women with the occasional rant about the boys.
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