The Gunners need a strong victory at the Emirates on Saturday to breathe new life into their season as they are six points behind leaders Chelsea and out of the FA Cup.
The most successful team in English women’s football history is Arsenal. The Gunners are the only English team to have ever attained European Champions League status and have won more FA Cup, League Cup, and top flight trophies than any other team. This season, they’re not living up to the enormous expectations set for them.
Arsenal was ousted from another competition last weekend when they lost to Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round. Arsenal was eliminated from the Champions League in the first round of qualifying. Their only remaining options to win trophies are the Continental Cup and the Women’s Super League, and in the latter they are six points behind the leaders.
For the Gunners, this kind of sadness is nothing new; until they defeated Chelsea in the Conti Cup final last March, they had been without a trophy for four years. That being said, it would be devastating to have a fourth trophy-less season in five years after putting in a lot of effort to catch up to the best clubs and successfully contend for hardware once more.Arsenal has already defeated Chelsea and Man City, the two teams vying for the WSL championship, in the league, demonstrating their ability to overcome this best this year. So why do they have to face the prospect of yet another disappointing season?Few moments in Arsenal’s season have been more representative of the team than the week leading up to the holidays. When Chelsea came to the Emirates in mid-December, the Gunners were brilliant, easily defeating the defending champions 4-1.
However, after just one week, they undid all of their hard work and gave up the opportunity to finish the year tied for first place in a north London derby with the Blues. This was the women’s game’s first instance of them losing a derby. The Gunners were mysteriously undone on the counter after failing to exhibit the cutting edge that had been on show to the fullest only a week before, despite having all of the ball and all of the opportunities.
That, to put it succinctly, has been Arsenal’s season. Despite defeating Chelsea and Manchester City in November, Jonas Eidevall’s team has suffered greatly against defensive-minded opponents that have sprung from the blocks. They have lost to West Ham, Liverpool, and Spurs—the latter also for the first time ever. Why is such the situation? Well, one factor is, at least, player turnover. Over the previous 13 months, a dozen new players have entered the first team, and it is evident that this is causing the team to still come together as a cohesive one. ACL injuries sustained during the previous season have also been a factor, keeping Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Leah Williamson, and Laura Wienroither out of action for at least nine months.
All of this indicates that rotation has increased, particularly as compared to the previous season when, in stark contrast, injuries meant that consistency was unavoidable due to Eidevall’s limited player pool.
The issues caused by the inconsistent availability of players are also unlikely to go away anytime soon, as Arsenal is scheduled to lose goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo, forward Cloe Lacasse, and full-back Emily Fox this month to the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup. D’Angelo and Lacasse will be representing Canada, while Fox will be representing the United States. This has not only kept the team from coming together, but it has also made Eidevall less tactically agile. The Swede likes to alternate between a back-three and a back-four throughout games and during the season, but this year has been lacking in the right players for the former.
Sometimes it gives the Gunners’ play an air of predictability, particularly when they face opposition that set up in a low block. Although switching to a back-three would provide new options and perspectives and slightly change the image, he hasn’t gone far with it.
Only once, during an Arsenal cup match in November, did Eidevall arrange his team in this manner while they were chasing a victory over Southampton, a lower division team. That was back in early October.
Avoiding risks
However, one cannot overlook the elements under Arsenal’s control either. After all, this year’s last third has been plagued by significant issues.
The Gunners statistically outperformed their opponents in each of their three WSL losses. They had a staggering 31 shots against Spurs, compared to the opponents’ five, and a disproportionately large amount of possession of the ball, but they were unable to capitalise and ultimately lost.
Arsenal leads Chelsea, Bristol City, Man City, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Liverpool in shooting conversion rates this league season; only Aston Villa and Everton have lower “big chance” conversion rates, as measured by Opta.
It’s quite disappointing to see how good their forwards—Alessia Russo, Mead, Miedema, Lacasse, Caitlin Foord, and Stina Blackstenius—are.
