Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!
Arsenal Women finished their first-ever US tour with a bitter although deserved defeat against rivals Chelsea, courtesy of a debut goal from Sandy Baltimore. This being a friendly match, I wouldn’t read too much into it, but the post-game words from Jonas Eidevall and the fact that we will play our first official game of the season in a week had me worried about our level of readiness.
“When I summarise this trip there are a lot of positives but I think the clear negative for us is that we have poor player availability, we see that today as well. We come away from this trip disappointed that we haven’t been able to nurture more of the key relationships that we want to have this year. We need to get players back on the pitch because to have a fast start, we need those relationships…” ~ Jonas Eidevall
I cannot tell whether Jonas Eidevall was lamenting the fact that the US Tour came too early for him to work with a full squad, including new signings and players returning from the Olympics, or if he was worried about the little injuries and niggles suffered by his players.
If we exclude long-term absentee Victoria Pelova and Beth Mead, Lotte Wubben-Moy, who were both rested as a precautionary measure, the only missing players were those who participated to the final stages of the football tournament in Paris – which is fully understandable and was foreseen. Everyone bar Stina Blackstenius and the injured players played a part in the game against Chelsea, so I am not sure about Jonas’s rant regarding players’ availability.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Being the head-coach of a big club like Arsenal means that you have a squad of full internationals, and every other year you know that pre-season will be affected by international tournaments – so nothing new under the sun, here.
The only way to have a longer, quieter pre-season is to avoid preliminary qualifying rounds, but we only have ourselves to blame for facing the same issue for the second consecutive summer.
Was he suggesting that the club should have denied permission to some players to join their national teams? I hope not.
LESSON LEARNED
Losing to Chelsea is always disappointing, but the final game of the US tour brought some positives that should not be overlooked: Rosa Kafaji, despite her defensive deficiencies, is a real player. Against a stronger opponent, she found pockets of space and progressed the ball very well, although in glimpses rather than regularly, and showed the kind of spark that we missed last season.
As a number ten, she is very different from Frida Maanum and could help greatly to unlock stubborn opponents who sit deep in their defensive third.
The other big positive is Mariona Caldentey’s debut: the Catalan playmaker replaced Caitlin Foord on the left wing and showed some of the trademark moves that made her our main target, this summer. Her ability to drive inside from the wing and make herself available between the lines helps the ball progression and allows the creation of additional passing triangles on the left half-space, which offers a new dimension to our attacking play, compared to an out-and-out winger like Caitilin Foord.
The Australian is still the main threat when running at opponents, but the former Barcelona midfielder is a superior option when implementing a more controlled, patient build-up around the opponent’s penalty area – something Jonas Eidevall seems to favour, these days.
If I had to second-guess our ideal XI, I would go with van Domselaar, Fox, Williams, Wubben-Moy, Catley, Wälti, Little, Kafaji, Mariona, Mead, Russo in a 4-2-3-1 formation that becomes very fluid in the final third and ends up looking like a 2-3-5, with Fox inverting from the right-back position and Mariona drifting inside from the left-wing, creating space for Steph Catley’s overlapping runs.
It seems obvious that Jonas Eidevall wanted to raise the technical level within our attacking unit and added players who are comfortable playing in tight spaces, who are press-resistant and can manipulate the ball and the space in the last thirty yards. By adding Mariona and Kafaji, Jonas Eidevall looks to have added control but also a hint of unpredictability, in the hope that it will prove enough to break down low blocks.
NEXT’S UP
On Saturday, the Arsenal Women team will play her final friendly match of the summer against Southampton, at St. Mary’s stadium. The Southampton Women team will start their Championship on September 8th against Bristol City, aiming to build-up on last season’s 4th place finish, seven points adrift of Crystal Palace, who got promoted to the Super League.
With only five days between this game and the UWCL qualifier against Rangers, I would expect Jonas Eidevall to test his strongest XI for one hour or so, before making several substitutions as the game goes on.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Shall we overcome Rangers, as expected, we would then face either one of Atlético Madrid or Rosenborg, three days later. Needless to say, we will need our full squad if we want to progress further and get to the two-legged playoff that gives access to the group stage.
That’s it for today, let’s see how the pre-season ends and how fast our start will be, to quote Jonas Eidevall leitmotiv throughout our US tour.
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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