Arsenal Women have been playing well and putting on great performances; even Leah Williamson has hinted at this while acknowledging that it is the results that haven’t gone their way. That said, if there’s one major reason our Arsenal Women have struggled to achieve results, it’s their inability to unlock teams that play with a low or even middle block.
These are teams that don’t intend to go toe to toe with Arsenal Women, so our Gunner women, yes, may enjoy possession, but a lot of the time they just pass the ball around, failing to unlock these teams and failing to win games (like the 0-0 draw with Everton a few weeks ago).
Whoever takes over at Arsenal Women as their new head coach, as we have previously mentioned, must be someone who can make the Arsenal attack click. To achieve this, they must devise a strategy to unlock these teams who choose to frustrate them by simply sitting back and defending. While conducting research on potential managers for the Arsenal Women team, I stumbled upon Nick Cushing’s remarks. Those remarks made sense of the rumours that he could be the ideal candidate for our Gunner women.
The New York City men’s head coach, who is widely considered one of Arsenal’s top targets to replace Jonas Eidevall, revealed his intriguing style in a conversation with Hudson River Blue.
He was questioned about whether he favours his team as a pressing team, as many believe they are, or if he wants to favour them as a possession team.
Cushing acknowledged that he wants his team to be both a pressing and a possession team, allowing them to function effectively in every phase of the game. He implied that in order to score more goals, he always requires his team to both press and possess the ball. Of which he further added that if they’re to play with a team playing with a low block, he expects nothing else but his team to unlock them.
The former Manchester City Women’s boss said, “Without giving away all my secrets, I think if you want to score goals in every phase of the game, you have to have the ability to be able to play in every phase of the game. So, if we play Colorado and they’re going to sit low, we have to unlock that team.”
Cushing’s words, if they can be implemented into tactics, could be just what this Arsenal Women team needs when playing against teams like Leicester, West Ham, and Spurs—those teams that just want to sit back and frustrate our girls.
What are your thoughts Gooners?
Michelle M
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Michell M,
What planet are you on, you say Arsenal women have been playing well without getting the results.
What games have you been watching, not the same games as me.
Get real and take off your rose tinted glasses.
Playing well! Really?.
C’mon Derek, don’t the women usually have 30 shots on goal and draw 1-1 and weird numbers like that? They are worse than the men with converting chances into goals, and that’s saying something!
Admin Pat,
The women play at such a slow tempo game after game, and are always coming out with the same old rubbish about facing teams with low and mid blocks.
They act like its something new when it clearly isn’t. They face it most games, and although it isn’t easy to break down, they should have at least worked out a better way of combating it.
Here’s a suggestion:
1) Play at a higher tempo.
2) One and two touch football.
3) Better movement.
The times that the tempo is slow, and it takes them to the second half to work out that the tempo needs lifting. Are these player’s really that stupid that they need the manager to tell them to lift the tempo and they can’t work it out for themselves.
And as for your 30 chances created in games, that’s a thing of the past, I’m afraid. I don’t know what games you’ve been watching, not the same ones as me that’s for sure.
hi Derek, your suggestion points 1, 2, and 3 seem certainly worth working on in training and once our Gunners play together well as a team we can shoot down any opponents … in England or Europe
What was really the issue that costed Jonas Eidevall the job? He just didn’t have a clue of unlocking teams with low block. Of course teams playing with such a defensive mindset will always want to play on the counter but if you unlock and score don’t you think it’ll open up the game as they may opt to also hint for a goal.
The greatest let down for Jonas Eidevall was his team wasn’t scoring goals, weren’t quick enough and kept passing the ball around. They weren’t that poor that’s why some results like the loss to West Ham and Tottenham last season left many of us stunned…
Derek do you want to say the loss to Chelsea we were that poor?
Ashley,
While the team have the odd good game, the pattern that has been happening even from last season in most games is the lack of tempo to their game.
Arsenal are at their best when playing high intensity football. They keep on bleating on about these low and mid blocks and how hard it is to break down.
Well to a point I agree, but they act as if its a new tactic that they face, when it clearly isn’t. They should have come up with a better way to at least combat it, a well organized side are very happy for them to be playing in front of them and passing from side to side, your not hurting them.
Surely the best way to combat that tactic, is to play high tempo, one and two touch football, and we need better movement from the attacking players.
They also need to get some extra finishing drills in training, because their finishing or lack of, are becoming a real problem.
Also is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that certain players are certainly a shadow of their former selves at the moment.
The players I’m referring to are:
Kim Little, whom I’m afraid it looks like time is catching up with her, the times she slows the play down is really damaging to the team. And remember she’s the club captain and should be driving the team on, something that I’m not seeing from her. So as good as she’s been for the team, it shouldn’t guarantee her a place if she’s not performing to the levels required.
Beth Mead, she’s just not doing what we know she’s capable of ie: Taking on opponents, getting crosses in, and getting on the end of crosses from the other flank at every opportunity.
Lea Williamson, she looks nowhere near the player she was, now I know her and Mead have not long come back from big injury’s but I think that the performance levels of these two should still be better than they are. And if anyone say’s that they aren’t fully fit yet, then I’m afraid they should be nowhere near the team until they are. It’s that simple.
I got a little bit sidetracked there, but it is connected in some ways also.
His team is also struggling to score goals in MLS, what’s the point of that?
well Pat, Michelle and Derek sound much more smart than me, but imho i will list a few thoughts for what they re worth…..but firstly, it was one of you ladies who suggested putting Arsenal men s set piece coach on duty with the women s team too, this might help, secondly yes a new manager may know how to unlock a low block, but it seems simple in theory at least, figure out how to stop counter attacks and have 2 players ALWAYS back to stop that but then push the rest right up field … thirdly have Daphne play long balls up left to Foord more, she is on fire these days, she can go for the corner then centre therefore beating offside, and beating the low block too, Emily on right can do the same thing.. fourthly until Russo returns to her brilliant top goalscoring form, always start with Stina up front, practice getting her to lay off balls to Mariona on the left and Beth on the right, if she herself isn t in a position to shoot … fifthly get all our forwards practising clinical finishing, angular shooting, in training and sixthly, most importantly, we have the key and don t use it, put Katie Reid in for many more minutes and play her as centre half, she will turn matches round for us…. we saw her skill in the USA preseason games, if we control the midfield we can give our forwards more scoring opportunities …. i reckon with Katie Reid at centre half and Stina as centre forward,our other players will benefit too and we can win all matches including against United, City and Chelsea ..oh try playing Laia Codina as an attacking midfielder instead of a defender… final thought, please don t ever drop Lia Walti or Beth Mead from the starting line up
Evan Potts,
A well put together article there. 6 good points well made.
Spot on.
Many thanks !
Wrong needs to be a female coach try Carla ward ?
i agree with Lucy
this is women s football and it seems clear to me that a woman coach can have an advantage over a man, not only in dressing room presence, but in empathy, encouragement, training and possibly even ACL issues …. of course there are good men coaches too, experienced in the women s game but, ceteris paribus, i mean all other things being equal, i would always pick a woman for the job…. i hope Renee continues her winning run and gets it
Derek yes, lets practice ‘upping the tempo’, let s commit players to attack !
i don t like to admit that some of our fantastically talented players are not at the top of their game atm, but you are right to ring alarm bells, i would add Russo to your list in that respect.. the fact that there are a number of apparent underperformers, compared to their own very high standards, suggests to me it s a club issue as much as a player issue … b/c it was said before Jonas had lost the dressing room, so now lets see someone, Renee, MOTIVATE the dressing room.. find and correct the problems . with 3 players is there slower post injury recovery, or is it uncertainty about the manager or is it something else ?.. Renee you ve had 2 great results so far, you deserve to exude confidence, let it spread, encourage confidence, in your players to respond well to constructive criticism and competition,,i d like to see the fans being supporters not detractors … imho our players are far too talented to give up on… eg. Meado was the best player in the world in 2022, then even after her injury she came back well , and has scored beautifully since then, remember how she lobbed a defender, turned and almost broke the net ?… if now she seems more hesitant, why ? Renee pls ensure there s nothing else holding her back.. maybe she s taken some setbacks, but we need her displaying her full magic again, and she loves football, doesn t she, i think she CAN and WILL get back to her 2022 levels especially if everything is done to help her … as for Leah, my favourite defender, i sense she didn t demonstrate full commitment , even before the international Germany match, i mean in that press interview … maybe Sarina can help her, , Leah said it was refreshing to train with England…, so does that mean it s onerous at Arsenal ?? Renee find out what s wrong and help her, motivate her again, if there s something wrong pls fix whatever it is ,,,,,