Arsenal Women need to keep possession, have discipline in positioning and score goals! by Michelle
The Women’s Super League is not a walk in the park, and the Arsenal Women know it well. In 2023, Jonas Eidevall’s side has failed to register a single win in the WSL, having drawn 1-1 with Chelsea, then 0-0 with West Ham, before being beaten 2-1 by Manchester City. This 7-point loss for Arsenal could be costly; it has already cost them the title contender tag, though that is debatable given that they have a game in hand over 1st-place Manchester United and 3rd-place Manchester City though Arsenal are trailing Man United by 6 points, Chelsea by 5 points and Man City by 3 points.
With nine WSL games to go, there is so much opportunity for Arsenal to get something out of this season, even if they fail to find themselves at the top of the league standings. They need to finish in the top 3 to qualify for the Champions League, meaning they have to beat either Manchester United, Manchester City, or Chelsea, whoever slips, to secure their spot in the WSL top 3.
So when the league resumes in less than a fortnight, what things does coach Eidevall need to have sorted out? He needs to have found a way for his team to score goals easily; with Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema’s absence, goals have been hard to come by for the Gunners. Not signing a striker in the winter was frustrating but now the Arsenal bosses need to work with what they have. They need to find a way to distribute goals throughout the team. Teams like Chelsea Man United and Man City thrive because they have reliable goal sources.
Next, Arsenal Women need to find a way to keep possession of the ball. In the Manchester City loss before the international break, the Arsenal boss admitted not keeping possession cost them, saying on Sky Sports, “We lost possession way too many times. Especially in very dangerous areas.”
By the time Arsenal play Liverpool on 8th March possession should be what they aim to keep. When you possess you enjoy the game and are dangerous.
To help them keep possession, Arsenal Women also need to prioritise discipline in positioning. Other than noting his team kept losing possession, the Arsenal boss noted against Manchester City that his players’ positioning was poor, saying, “If that’s the formation or if it’s the positioning at that time, we need to review that, of course. But when you lose possession in those dangerous areas, it’s going to be very difficult to win football matches.” On the pitch, players need to be disciplined, and you can’t talk about keeping possession without being well-positioned.
Anyway, there is still belief in the Arsenal camp, and Eidevall pretty much revealed it after the loss to Manchester City by saying, “The effort is there. The players worked really hard, they tried their best. Today, we didn’t win, and that’s my responsibility, I’ll look and see how we can be better.”
What do you think? Can our Gunners get back in the race for the top of the WSL?
Michelle Maxwell
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