Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!
Getting out of Leigh Sports Village Stadium with a point and clean-sheet is a good thing, all things considered. Ahead of the match, Mark Skinner’s team were top of the table after two impressive wins against Leicester (4-0) and London City Lionesses (5-1), and Melvine Malard looked unstoppable in front of goal.
On our side, we were heading to Manchester on the back of two consecutive wins, too, but made a habit of making things difficult for ourselves and didn’t look as assured as the scorelines suggested. All in all, Manchester United were slightly favourites for the game, but everyone knew that it would be one of those “fine margins” contests.
The hosts started very well and had a couple of decent chances, then we grew and got our own chances, but a draw looked the fairest result – although the game deserved a few goals, to be honest. A 1-1 draw, even a 2-2 draw would have been the right scoreline.
We travel back from Manchester still unbeaten, and while they won against Leicester, Chelsea remains within reach as they sit two points ahead of us.
A CLEAN-SHEET, FINALLY!
The giveaway season is over, hopefully. After conceding a penalty and an own-goal in the first two games of the season, we managed to shut down the shop and keep the first clean-sheet of the campaign. It took some good saves from Daphne van Domselaar and two excellent recovery runs from Katie Reid and Steph Catley, but we kept Manchester United quiet, eventually.
Once again, though, we looked nervy at the back: we could have been one goal down within 40 seconds, and almost gave away another goal when Daphne van Domselaar spilled the ball in front of Melvine Malard, but the Dutch goalkeeper quickly jumped at the feet of the forward, then blocked the second attempt from Park.
Things got better as the game advanced, especially when we managed to stop Manchester United from exploiting their right-hand channel and find Melvine Malard behind our defensive line.
For a team that excelled at shutting down opponents and restricting them to low-quality chances, Arsenal looked vulnerable so far this season, and hopefully this clean-sheet will help building some defensive momentum and restoring our players’ ability to stay compact, well-organized and solid without the ball.
KIM LITTLE FOREVER
The captain was our best player on the pitch, by some distance. Her ability to find spaces between the lines and break Manchester United’s defensive setup with accurate, incisive through ball proved vital to shift the momentum towards the final twenty minutes of the first half.
She progressively built passing lanes and movement patterns with Emily Fox and Olivia Smith on the right-hand side, pinning Manchester United back, in the process.
Ironically, we ended up mirroring Manchester United approach in attacking the right-hand channel, although we relied a lot on Emily Fox’s underlapping runs, while the hosts would rather go direct to Melvine Malard.
In a game where Mariona Caldentey’s influence from the middle of the park was somehow underwhelming, Kim Little reminded everyone that she remains a creative and leading force at the club – and in the league.
KATIE REID COMING OF AGE
A third start in as many league games was a show of faith in Katie Reid’s ability and readiness to play at the highest level, and the young defender responded with her most accomplished performance at the heart of our defensive line.
Much calmer and assured compared to his previous outings, the England youth international impressed with her reading of the game, as well as speed and acceleration. There was one moment, shortly after the fifteenth minutes’ mark, where she beat Ella Toone to a foot race to sniff out a potential 1v1 situation for the Manchester United forward.
Renée Slegers seems to have picked Leah Williamson’s deputy, for good, and both Laia Codina and Lotte Wubben-Moy have a mountain to climb of they want a place in the starting XI.
UWCL & BALLON D’OR
It’s hard to believe that Europe loves the Arsenal. As reigning champions, we have been drawn against serial-winners OL Lyonnes (formerly Olympique Lyonnais), Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, among others, in the new format of this year’s UWCL.
To qualify directly for the knock-out stage, we need to finish in the top four of the league phase table, which is composed of 18 teams and looks extremely competitive outside the usual big names such as Chelsea, OL Lyonnes and Barcelona. Winning against the other opponents we have been drawn against (Benfica, Twente and Oud-Heverlee Leuven) will be imperative, but we will need at least two big results against OL (at home), Bayern (away) and Real Madrid (home) to break into the top four.
Defending our UWCL trophy always looked like a difficult task, and the draw reminded us that it will start from day one. No rest for our heroes, then.
Speaking of Europe, last Monday in Paris took place the Ballon d’Or ceremony and Ousmane Dembélé got his hands on the top-prize, ahead of Lamine Yamal and a host of PSG players. No surprises here, as the Frenchman was instrumental in PSG winning their first-ever Champions League and a domestic treble.
The first Arsenal players in the list were Viktor Gyökeres (15th), who also won the Gerd Müller trophy for the most-prolific goal scorer, and Declan Rice (27th), while others finished outside of the Top 30. Despite reaching the Champions League semi-finals and finishing second in the Premier League, no Arsenal player was expected to break into the top 10, let alone the top 5 or the podium.
When it comes to female players, though, it is a different story. And a sour one.
Seen from the outside, the women’s Ballon d’Or looks more like a popularity contest, rather than a footballing award, because otherwise I would not explain how Aitana Bonmatí won it ahead of Mariona Caldentey.
The Barcelona midfielder is a sublime player and played a key role in Barcelona retaining their league title (once again…) and completing a domestic quadruple, but her influence was not greater than Ewa Pajor’s (43 goals in all competitions) and other players such as Alexia Putellas or Irene Paredes and many more.
In contrast, Mariona Caldentey led Arsenal to their second-ever UWCL trophy and was voted as Women Super League’s player of the season by the supporters, the media and fellow players. She also played every single game of the Women’s Euro in the summer and scored Spain’s only goal in the final – although she missed her spot-kick (same as Aitana Bonmatí). In her debut season in a new league, which is much more competitive than the Spanish league, she stood head and neck above anyone else, including players from a Chelsea team that won the title, the FA Cup and the League cup.
With 2025 Ballon d’Or assigned to Aitana Bonmatí, it is the fifth consecutive award going to a Barcelona player and the fifth time in seven occasions where a Barcelona player wins the award.
While Barcelona has been a dominant club in women’s football, it is hard to explain how Beth Mead didn’t get the award in 2022 – when she single-handedly won the Euros with England – or why Mariona Caldentey didn’t win it this year.
If players are not rewarded when Barcelona are slightly less dominant, or when their performances on a bigger stage than the UWCL (European Championships, World Cup), it is difficult to take the Ballon d’Or seriously.
Anyway, the rant is over, and we can enjoy having four players in the top 10 and two players in the Top 3: Mariona Caldentey finished runner-up, Alessia Russo came third and Chloe Kelly finished fifth, while Leah Williamson (7th) and Emily Fox (25th), Frida Maanum (27th) and Steph Catley (29th) completed the list of the best 30 players in the world for 2024/25.
Also, we are officially the best Women’s club in 2024/25, fully certified by France Football.
NEXT’S UP
Our domestic campaign continues with a home game against Aston Villa, on Saturday.
The visitors will come to North London with an extra week of rest in her legs, given that their home game against Liverpool was postponed following the tragic news of the sudden passing of former Liverpool manager Matt Beard.
The game will take place at the Emirates Stadium at lunchtime, with Renée Slegers expected to turn her starting XI again – especially upfront. It will be interesting to see whether she will keep Stina Blackstenius in the lineup, or if she will revert to having Alessia Russo upfront, and a more traditional attacking midfielder behind her.
We’ll talk again next week, to review the game against Aston Villa and try to learn something new about this wonderful team.
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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