Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!
If there were doubts around Arsenal Women’s level of concentration and focus for the home game against Leicester City, sandwiched between the UWCL semifinals against Olympique Lyonnes, those were blown away on Wednesday night.
While the men’s team was fighting hard for an away draw in Madrid, Renée Slegers and her players thrashed rock-bottom Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium to close in on Chelsea and Manchester City at the top of the WSL table.
With two games on hand against both sides, Arsenal Women are now two points off the second place and eight points off Manchester City, making this an unexpectedly close title challenge.
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
Should Arsenal Women win both games in hand, they would be only two points off City with two games remaining, which is closer than anyone would have thought a fortnight ago. I still expect Manchester City to win the title, given that they play two teams currently in the bottom three but Arsenal Women have the opportunity to make it difficult for the front runners and see by themselves if the elected champions have what it takes to push it over the line.
Granted, winning away at Brighton won’t be an easy task and this might become a non-argument by next Wednesday, but I would like to salute the team and the staff’s ability to keep going and keep chasing even when everyone was writing them off.
FRIDA BACK FROM THE COLD
After weeks on the fringes, Frida Maanum made the home game against Leicester City her comeback moment, pulling the strings in the advanced midfielder role and leaving her mark on the scoresheet with a goal and two assists.
The Norwegian, who at times looked like the team’s main driving force, has fallen back in Renée Slegers’ pecking order and has been the primary victim of the head coach’s preference to use Stina Blackstenius upfront and Alessia Russo behind her, which de facto removed Frida Maanum from the starting XI.
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
Her tactical anarchy and the lack of technical security made her a non-option for any of the midfield double-pivot slots, which also restricted her opportunities to make it in the starting lineup. In Renée Slegers’ eyes, Frida Maanum became one the strongest finishers off the bench, a role that might not satisfy the soon-to-be 27yo, who is entering the prime years of her career.
This campaign, she has been restricted to only twelve starts in all competitions but still contributed to nine goals ad assists; in the WSL, her last appearance was the North London Derby on March 28th, when she played the whole game but couldn’t really leave a mark.
With six games scheduled in the next fourteen days, Frida Maanum could become a pivotal figure and play a big role in the immediate future of the Arsenal Women and hopefully rediscover her best form to help her teammates with the final push in Europe and in England.
HOLMBERG’S HOMECOMING PARTY
When she signed from Hammarby, there was a sense of anticipation about Smilla Holmberg’s ability to impact the game as an attacking right-back, and the Swede didn’t take long to make her mark.
Despite being limited to a support role for the best part of the last three months, she showed glimpses of her power, technique and attacking instincts when called upon, but the home game against Leicester City took that to a whole different level.
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
Deployed as a right winger, in front of Emily Fox, Smilla Holmberg scored a brace and provided the assist for the seventh and final game of the night, with a beautifully taken corner kick. Since joining, she registered two goals and four assists in six appearances (only three were starts), confirming that she can be a very powerful threat down the right flank, in place of or alongside Emily Fox.
BUILDING BLOCKS
After a week of speculations about the future of Beth Mead and Katie McCabe, who are both close to a surprising move to Manchester City in the summer, a sense of anxiety started hovering around the club and the immediate future of the team.
While losing both players wouldn’t be much of a surprise, especially Beth Mead whose departure looked imminent last summer already, seeing both joining Manchester City would be a blow, as it simultaneously makes Arsenal Women weaker and Manchester City stronger.
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
More importantly, though, both are veterans within the squad and have strong personalities and tons of charisma, so the repercussions in the dressing room could even be bigger than those on the pitch.
In that regard, the club announcing that both Steph Catley and Leah Williamson signed new contracts calmed the nerves, because those are also big characters and strong voices in the group, and their presence will be vital to keep the group going and improve the allegedly bad atmosphere in the changing room.
With Kim Little, Stina Blackstenius and now both Leah Williamson and Steph Catley committing to the club, the Arsenal Women looks in a good place to continue their progression and build on the foundations laid since Renée Slegers took over from Jonas Eidevall. Their experience, paired with the quality and exuberance of young players such as Olivia Smith, Smilla Holmberg and Michelle Agyemang within their ranks, make a great mix for a squad capable of competing now, as well as in the future.
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
NEXT UP
Arsenal Women are travelling to France on Saturday, where they will face Olympique Lyonnes for the return leg of the UWCL semifinals. Olivia Smith gave the Gunners a small advantage by scoring the winning goal at the Emirates Stadium, last weekend, but we can expect a tense, close affair when the teams will take the pitch.
Olympique Lyonnes posed all sorts of threat during the first leg and will surely start on the front foot to turn things around. The Gunners will have to be up for the fight in Lyon, and be prepared for an opponent ready to use their power, strength and experience to overcome the deficit. There will be space for the Arsenal Women players to exploit, so focus and execution will be key.
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.
No comments yet.