The hope is that our 2-1 win over Aston Villa Women will be a turning point, since before that we had gone four WSL games in a row without a win, dating back to the last two games of last season. Luckily our star forward Beth Mead made her return from injury in that game, and she came back with a bang, setting up Alessia Russo to score our second goal in the Sunday victory.
The Women’s Euro 22 Golden Boot winner hadn’t played since November 19, 2022, when she tore her ACL in a 3-2 WSL loss to Manchester United. But now that she’s back, everyone believes she’ll revitalise us like a new signing. After the game, Alessia Russo expressed how essential it is that she is back and how eager she is to play alongside her again, rekindling the strong relationship they had developed while on international duty with England.
“I said to [Beth] after the game, watching her coming on gave me goosebumps out on the pitch,” Russo told Sky Sports. “Ever since I started playing with Beth, I’ve loved it. She’s an amazing player and person, too. To have her back in the squad was such a high.”
Our women’s boss, Jonas Eidevall, on the other hand, admired his No. 9’s ambition to return to football and expressed how much he missed her services, which always made his attack click. “Beth has worked so hard. She’s had a really difficult year, both being injured and her mum passed away,” said our Swedish tactician.
“We know that it’s been incredibly tough for her, and it’s so nice to see her being back on the pitch, seeing her being able to perform straight away.
“You never know that. You have to hope; otherwise, I would never have put her on, but you don’t know it until you’ve seen it, and that was very nice, so a special moment.
“It’s such a massive part of it to have that understanding; ‘is my shot is going to be blocked in this situation or do we need another pass to setup the teammate?’
“Beth Mead is extremely good and extremely intuitive in those moments, but that’s what I mean when I say she’s coming onto the pitch, and will she get that straight away?
“Sometimes you don’t, but she does, obviously, because she’s Beth Mead, and we’re happy about that.”
Hopefully, Beth Mead will continue to improve, find her rhythm, and play a significant role in our Gunner Women’s pursuit of the 2023–24 WSL title.
Michelle Maxwell
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Want to wish Beth and the girls well, though it would have been nice to see the group look a little more diverse.