Are Arsenal’s WSL title hopes over already?
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The scenes at full time brought to mind a cup final defeat. Steph Catley slumped to the ground, Leah Williamson stood with her hands on her hips, Alessia Russo looked genuinely distraught, and Olivia Smith — an unused substitute — was in a long conversation with a member of the coaching staff, perhaps discussing her frustration at not getting on the pitch.
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It was merely one league defeat in what is, for the first time in the Women’s Super League, a 26-game season. But maybe this 1-0 loss away to Chelsea was equivalent to a cup final loss: a chance of silverware slipping away.
That feels unthinkable before the end of September, especially for an Arsenal side with a deeper squad than ever, boosted by experienced newcomers and with a rare clean bill of health. At the same time, maybe that’s the problem. Arsenal’s squad is so extraordinarily deep that top-class players have been omitted from matchday squads.
Smith, the first million-pound player in women’s football, didn’t get a runout on Sunday. Another unused substitute was Swedish 19-year-old Smilla Holmberg, who had changed the game from the bench, snatching the crucial late equaliser, in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United last weekend.
Their only on-pitch action yesterday was running lengths of the Stamford Bridge pitch as Arsenal’s other players trudged down the tunnel. How can Renee Slegers keep all these players happy, especially in defeat?
Slegers’ approach here was about control. Whereas previously the head coach has essentially used two central attackers and width on both sides, here she effectively used four central midfielders to try to hoard the ball in central positions.
Kyra Cooney-Cross played alongside Georgia Stanway, with Kim Little as the No 10 and Mariona Caldentey drifting infield from the left. This meant Russo was leading the line, while drive was provided on the right by Lisa Baum, who was Arsenal’s most threatening player in the first half. Though that didn’t say too much.
Granted, Arsenal hit the woodwork twice when it was 0-0 via shots from tight angles from Little and Caldentey. But in keeping with their recent sluggishness, they struggled to create a clear-cut chance.
It’s not a huge surprise that deploying lots of midfield controllers and fewer attackers than normal means you hold onto the ball for long periods but your attacks feel like they’re going down dead ends.
One of the obvious problems with Sunday’s XI on paper transferred directly to the pitch: Caldentey and Ona Batlle, two right-footers down the left, meant Arsenal didn’t stretch the play down that flank and always wanted to come inside. When Batlle eventually dribbled to the byline and crossed, she shanked the ball out of play.
“In a game like this, where it’s two strong teams going against each other, when you have momentum and pressure, you need to score, because you know it will swing,” Slegers told reporters afterwards. “We didn’t capitalise on those moments. We had two (shots) against the post, then they got the goal, and after that it was harder for us. They got more time on the ball, and we didn’t get the pressure on.”
Arsenal let the game drift in the period before Alyssa Thompson scored the only goal of the game, stemming from a Steph Catley mistake when playing out from the back, on 39 minutes.
That wasn’t particularly typical of Arsenal’s problems here, but it was familiar from last weekend. “It was similar to the goal against Manchester United, a moment when we turned the ball over in a low position on the pitch, and the opposition capitalised on it,” Slegers said. “When that happens, it’s in your hands, it’s in your control. That’s disappointing.”
When Sleegers made a treble change after an hour — Chloe Kelly, Stina Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord on for Baum, Caldentey and Stanway — several Arsenal players had no idea what was going on. Little, the side’s captain and an intelligent tactical mind, spent nearly five minutes gesturing and shouting questions to the dugout.
Really, things shouldn’t have been so complex — and were complicated by Kelly having to deputise at right-back while Emily Fox received treatment for a head injury — but the sight of various key players being baffled by the new game plan was troubling, even if Little and Slegers played down the incident after the game.
Geraldine Reuteler and Selina Cerci, two summer arrivals from the German league, were introduced later on, but Arsenal never really seemed likely to equalise, and were particularly guilty of taking an extra touch when they needed to make a quicker decision: Fox with a cross, then both Kelly and Foord when presented with half-chances.
Things don’t get any easier for Arsenal.
On Wednesday, they travel to Paris FC for a Champions League game, having narrowly squeezed past Danish outfit Koge with a stoppage-time penalty in their opener on Tuesday. Then, more crucially, comes Sunday’s trip to defending WSL champions Manchester City, who have a 100 per cent record after four matches. A win there would cut the gap between the two sides to four points. But defeat would extend it to 10.
Arsenal often start seasons slowly, but this would represent a deeper crisis than ever.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Arsenal WFC, Women's Soccer, Women's Super League
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