Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!
Arsenal Women played their first friendly match of their US tour and defeated hosts Washington Spirit, who currently sit third in the NWSL table after the first half of the season.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Given the difference in fitness levels, the performance on show from Jonas Eidevall’s player was very encouraging, although the hosts were growing as the minutes went by and deserved more from the game, overall.
The friendly game gave us a first taste to Rosa Kafaji’s technical ability and vision, with the Swede setting up Alessia Russo’s winning goal and another golden chance for Michelle Agyemang, who couldn’t convert after being sent through a 1v1 against the goalkeeper.
It’s very early but the former Hacken playmaker looks like a real gem.
JONAS’ WORDS
Jonas Eidevall wanted his team “to start the season fast”, and he got his wish, with Alessia Russo slotting the ball in from close range within ten minutes, reacting first on a loose ball in the penalty area. The players weren’t anywhere near their best, obviously, but kept up well with the tempo set by the hosts, who were well ahead in terms of freshness and sharpness, although they were caught backfooted on more than one occasion when Ouyleye Sarr ran behind the defensive line.
The head coach gave their chance to several youngsters, with Vivienne Lia, Katie Reid and Freya Godfrey starting the match and Naomi Williams, Madison Earl, Michelle Agyemang and Laila Habert coming on in the second half. Asked about their performance, Jonas Eidevall stressed the importance of getting them ready for first-team action and getting them up to speed on “how we communicate, how we work together, and what our togetherness looks like on the pitch”.
Credit: Arsenal.com
The most important takeaway from the game and from the tour so far, though, was the application and dedication displayed by the players. During his post-match interview, Jonas Eidevall said that “the players have been phenomenal. I think they’re putting real intent and real focus into every single minute of every training session and every meeting. Let that be our standard. We can’t drop.”
The tone is set, let’s see how we evolve from there, as a unit.
LESSON LEARNED
Jonas Eidevall chose a 4-2-3-1 formation with Kathrine Kühl and Kim Little playing as a double pivot, rather than the 4-3-3 with a lone six. That freed Frida Maanum to drive forward and latch onto some over-the-top passes behind the defensive line, as seen in the action that led to Alessia Russo opener.
Given how our squad is built, this could be our main setup, with Lia Wälti alongside Kim Little and either one of Mariona Caldentey, Frida Maanum or Rosa Kafaji as a more traditional number ten.
The diversity in our midfield unit will allow Jonas Eidevall to adapt his system to our opponents, which is very exciting because we rarely had so many unique profiles in our squad. Rather than going for player-to-player replacements, Jonas Eidevall will be able to change the setup to make it more aggressive or more conservative, depending on the game state. The biggest change could be how we setup against teams defending in a low block, something we struggled a lot with, last season: by fielding several players able to play in pockets of space, such as Kim Little, Mariona Caldentey or Rosa Kafaji, Jonas Eidevall could be able to pin the opponents in their defensive third and apply continued pressure on their defensive line while creating rotations and overloads. That could be the key to avoid losing points against lower/lesser teams.
Speaking of players who excel in tight spaces, Rosa Kafaji had a very positive debut against the Washington Spirit and showed glimpses of the skills that made her one of the most coveted young players in Europe. As already mentioned, she setup Alessia Russo’s second goal with a sumptuous first-time through ball that served as a primary example of her innate anticipation skills: in the split-second between seeing the loose ball rolling towards her and connecting with it, she already saw Alessia Russo running in behind and adjusted her body shape to release her with one touch – which to me is the mark of superior quality.
Most of the other players, even the good ones, would have required a touch to control the ball and turn, but that hesitation would have resulted in Alessia Russo getting into an offside position and the opportunity getting wasted.
As a team often in need of a little spark or someone capable of upping the tempo, we will benefit a lot from Rosa Kafaji’s skills.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Finally, a thought about our goalkeeping situation as Manuela Zinsberger didn’t exactly cover herself in glory during the match against the Washington Spirit and gifted the hosts the temporary equalizer with a mistimed and missed high catch. The Austrian, who was replaced by Naomi Williams after going down with a muscular issue, will soon face tough competition from Daphne van Domselaar and didn’t truly make a positive impression in the 62 minutes she spent defending our goal.
The goalkeeper still produced a couple of good saves when facing Sarr in one-v-one situations, which remain her strongest point on level with penalty saving, but appeared hesitant of crosses and corners, which didn’t transmit much confidence around her.
It’s early days still, but the feeling is that Manuela Zinsberger and Daphne van Domselaar are starting the race for the number one shirt at the very same level already.
COMING UP
Our beloved Arsenal Women team will take the field again on Sunday, 25th of August and will face reigning Women Super League champions Chelsea, now under Sonia Bompastor tutelage after Emma Hayes become the manager of US Women national team.
The match will be played at the Audi Field Stadium in Washington DC at 4pm (UK time) and will give Jonas Eidevall another chance to test his team’s fitness and readiness for the real football, which will start in a fortnight, when we will play Glasgow Rangers in the UWCL qualifiers.
That’s it for today, stay tuned for more episodes of the Arsenal Women Journal.
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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