Getting Leah Williamson back to her best form could end up being one thing on the new Arsenal Women’s head coach’s to-do list. I am sure it pains most Gooners to admit, but Leah is not the player she was before that awful ACL. That ACL injury she picked up in April 2023 in an Arsenal versus Manchester United game changed everything..
Leah’s ACL injury sidelined her for 9 months, a period in which she unfortunately missed the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, in Australia and New Zealand, in the summer of 2023, where her England Lionesses side reached the finals but sadly lost to Spain.
In January 2024, Leah returned from injury, participating in Arsenal’s Continental Cup match against Reading. Although the Arsenal team have given her plenty of time to recover, she’s sadly not as impactful as the Williamson we knew before the injury.
She hasn’t been at her best, in my humble opinion, as evidenced by her worrying performances in Arsenal’s 2-0 loss to Chelsea and her less than stellar performance in England’s 4-3 loss to Germany the other day..
An ACL injury is a tricky injury; it takes time to overcome both physically and mentally, and the fear of re-injury doesn’t really help. Leah needs all the support she can get, and the new manager will need to be patient with her and inspire her back to her best version.
Despite her injury, it’s possible that the challenging circumstances our Gunner stars have faced, with the recent departure of their head coach, Jonas Eidevall, have also had an impact on her, and she should gain confidence following the anticipated changes in Arsenal’s technical bench.
What are your thoughts Gooners? Can Leah still make it back to her best?
Michelle M
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She needs to believe in herself. Quality stays .. she just needs to find out where she left it.
Michelle s article is very good
Ted may be right, confidence is a key very often
probably Leah herself needs to define what is wrong, if there is a factor holding her back from her sparklingly talented former performances, or if is there more than one factor
not until the cause is known than the solution be effectively applied
however … against my own better judgement i will speculate a bit as follows
Leah is a true Arsenal player, always has been, so when she says she is ”refreshed to be training with England” i suspect there is something not up to her requirement in the Arsenal training …. IF that s the main cause then the remedy could be a new extra perceptive coach …i don t like concluding this b/c i really would like Renee to do well …watching Leah s pre match interview with Sarina before the England – Germany game she did not seem as excited as an English captain might be….against a top team, at Wembley, so it seems even Sarina s ‘refreshed’ training did not fully remedy the situation….so maybe there s another factor …she has gone from adulation in 2022 and winning an OBE to what may be hurtful criticism now …
she maybe she s hurting in motivation and body ? i return to my earlier point …Arsenal need to know the cause, before they can fix it … i only hope and pray she once again performs at her best .. club and country need her very much,,,,C mn pls Leah ! let the club know what you need to get back to your brilliant best