Even before the new WSL season, Arsenal women already struggle with injuries. Leah Williamson and Laura Wienroither may miss the start of the season due to injuries. Unfortunately, it was recently revealed that their teenage defender, Teyah Goldie, ruptured her left leg ACL.
This injury is disappointing, considering back in March, she raptured her right leg ACL while on loan at Watford. Her latest injury happened just at the end of last season, at the beginning of the summer off-season.
The club released a statement confirming the defender’s situation, in which they revealed, “We can confirm that Teyah Goldie has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Teyah sustained the injury earlier in the summer while away from the club during the off-season, with tests and assessments subsequently confirming the extent of the injury. Teyah has undergone surgery and begun her rehabilitation at Arsenal Training Centre.”
Teyah’s injury isn’t pleasant news for Jonas Eidevall. The Arsenal defence already had issues with Leah Williamson’s injury and Rafaelle’s departure. Teyah could have been an excellent defensive backup for new arrivals Amanda Ilestedt and Laia Codina (who’s expected to join soon).
There are still about eight days for the Arsenal women to recruit for their defence if they feel it is not strong enough for the title charge. Even so, all the best to Teyah Goldie! Get well soon and come back stronger.
But the good news is that we are expected to have Beth Mead back in the squad before the WSL season starts. She said last week: “I’m almost there,” the 28-year-old said when asked how her recovery was going. “I’m eight-and-a-half months in to a nine month rehab, so it’s been a long one.
“It’s been tough, but fingers crossed I should be ready for the start of the season and ready to go.
“That’s the plan, so fingers crossed it goes to plan.”
We all hope she can be back very soon.
The England Captain Leah Williamson has only been out since April, so we won’t expect to see her back on the pitch until the end of the year to be honest, although she has been relaxing in Australia watching the World Cup, so may be back earlier, if all goes well.
Beth Meads partner Viv Miedema has been out since December, so will hopefully return in the next couple of months, but right now Arsenal have a lot of new forwards and she may have to take her time to get back into the first team.
The Arsenal defender Laura Wienroither was also sidelined with an ACL in early May, so yet again we will be lucky to see her back before Xmas.
So the Gooner Women are looking like they are unlucky with ACL injuries, but it is a growing concern within the Women’s game. And Teyah Goldie’s SECOND ACL in a year can only accentuate the dangers that all WSL teams face every year.
All the injuries to our top players destroyed Arsenal chances of winning the title last year, but maybe they will be luckier in this coming season…
Michelle Maxwell
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Any news on our captain, Kim Little, who seems to have become the forgotten player of Arsenal after pulling her hamstring & missing the end months of last season? She was expected to start this new season, but I’ve yet to see any updates on her injury progress.