The Arsenal Women Journal – Gunners pounce on rivals' slip-ups [LIV 0-1 ARS]

Today at 10:25 AM

Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!

What a weird afternoon in Liverpool: we should have won comfortably, we could have dropped a couple of points, and we ended making ground up on both Chelsea and Manchester City, who drew against Leicester City and lost to Everton, respectively.

When Alessia Russo scored her sixth goal in the last five games, it looked like we did the hardest part and would have won comfortably, but instead we allowed Liverpool to force us into a frantic, end-to-end transitional game that really didn't suit our strengths. Mariona Caldentey hit the post from the spot after Alessia Russo was tripped inside the penalty box, but then Katie McCabe almost scored an own goal and Liverpool threatened to score an equaliser until the very last moments of the game.

While a draw would have been very unfair, we allowed them to stay within reach by not controlling the tempo of the game and being unusually sloppy on the ball, which could be down to having played several games close to one another and having only two days to prepare for this tricky away game.

A fourth consecutive clean sheet helped brining the three points back to London, where the team will work on preparing for the final game of this calendar year, and possibly Renée Slegers' last game in charge of this team. Bayern awaits now, and our girls will have to squeeze every last drop of energy if they were to win the game and qualify for the UWCL knock-out phase as group winners.

RENÉE'S WORDS

Renée Slegers sounded happy and mostly relieved when speaking to the press after the game, which is fully understandable given the pressure generated by playing three important games in one week. Speaking of pressure, she said something interesting when asked about playing games in quick succession:

"It is hard. We got so many signs during the weekend on the men's and women's side in different competitions of teams losing points. Somehow it was good we got those signs and we play a little later in the weekend so we can be very aware of it. We have been messaging that with the girls as well. It is hard because the WSL is a tough competition, every game is hard to win, especially when you play with a quick turnaround."

"[Chelsea and City dropping points] didn't impact the preparation, not from a tactical perspective or how we schedule things or how we set things up. We saw Chelsea got the 1-1, I didn't know the City result coming into the game, I knew the half-time score. There were signs we need to be on it, you see with these schedules with a lot of games and champions League so it is an easy slip to make. It was a signal that we need to be on it and that is what we, for the most part, over the 90 minutes achieved because we get the three points".

By the time we kicked the first ball in Liverpool, the players knew that Chelsea rescued a point in Leicester and Manchester City unexpectedly fell against Everton (despite what Renée Slegers was saying about it…), meaning that a win against Matt Beard's team would move them significantly closer to both.

Taking the three points back home would have been massive, but fatigue could have hindered our performance, so the players had to be smart, brave and ready to fight. Obviously, they were well prepared to do that.

LESSON LEARNED

This team is solid, very solid. Tactically, technically, mentally: this team is very well-organized and prepared. Renée Slegers managed to reset the culture, put players on the same wavelength and make them work as a unit. That's probably the biggest takeaway from the win in Liverpool.

It has been a while since I saw this group of players playing with such intent and being so animated during every phase of a game. Gone are the apathy and passive body language on display at the beginning of the season, now these players are very much alive and passionate. Every run, every tackle, every shot carries a higher degree of intensity, compared to a few weeks ago. Even in difficult circumstances like those we played in against Liverpool, the players showed the urge that is quintessential to back their own ambitions.

That's a platform we can build on; that's the baseline to achieve greater results. The league table looks much better today, with Manchester City only one point ahead of us in second, and while Chelsea looks still far away, this is an Arsenal team they need to count with. If anything, Renée Slegers would have succeeded in bringing the players back to life, give them a new purpose and put our season back on track. If you ask me, that's more than enough to keep her place at least until the end of the season – but we'll see what the club decides: from a scheduling perspective, the winter break is the last chance to appoint a permanent manager already this season without derailing it, but I would be more inclined to do it in the summer, instead.

Another important point from Sunday's win against Liverpool: Katie McCabe is enjoying the form of her life. The Ireland captain created several chances for herself and her teammates, including the corner kick from which we scored the winner, and overall looks at her sharpest best. I believe this is down to two factors: one is playing regularly at left-back, rather than being moved here and there on the pitch, and the other one is playing a more advanced position.

Ever since Renée Slegers decided to use Steph Catley at centre-back next to Leah Williamson, the team found new ways to progress the ball down the left channel and in the left half-space, which allows Katie McCabe to push and attack relentlessly on the touchline.

Although Steph Catley remains one of the finest left backs in football, her ability to defend in one-v-one and her superiorly educated left foot are becoming increasingly important for the way we want to build from the back, so it makes sense to deploy her in a more central role and allow Katie McCabe's natural attacking instincts to flourish in the final third.

Back to the initial point, I believe that Katie McCabe has finally found her identity on the pitch, with a role that seems tailor-made for her strengths. A wide forward by trade, she was asked to cover both full-back positions and both wings, but she rarely nailed her own spot and role in the team. When played on the left wing, she was often asked to drive infield to make room for Steph Catley, which nullified her ability to drive to the byline and deliver one of her trademark pin-point crosses or a dangerous cut-back into the six-yards box; in the new setup, she is tasked with doing exactly that, while also taking away an opponent for a right-footed winger (Caitlin Foord, Lina Hurtig, Alessia Russo) to drift inside on the stronger foot and have a sight at goal.

When played on the right-hand side, in the past, she struggled to have the same impact, especially from a right-back position: while higher up on the pitch she could dribble inwards on his strong left-foot and unleash a fierce shot from distance, when deployed deeper on the pitch she would struggle in the build-up as she would mostly play on her weaker foot, with passing options and angles significantly reduced, as a consequence. Surely, she would be an asset when inverting but her body position would make it very easy for our opponents to understand where the next pass would go and setup pressing traps in the middle third. We've also seen her deployed as a hybrid number ten in a sort of advanced double pivot, in the past, but the experiment didn't truly work out and she was not given the correct platform to use her skills and strengths.

In conclusion, Katie McCabe is steadily becoming one of the best left-backs in Europe and has finally found a home at left-back after years of travelling across the pitch and filling-in for her teammates, and we are reaping the benefits of this welcome change of trajectory.

Last season, for example, she started 19 out of 21 games in the WSL, but only 8 of those came at the starting left-back, while also playing as a centre-back, right-back, central midfielder, left midfielder, left winger and right winger (data from fbref.com, below). This year, she started every league game and did so at left-back, with a more expansive role since Renée Slegers took over from Jonas Eidevall.

FBREF Data

NEXT'S UP

The final game of 2024 is scheduled on Wednesday night, when we will face Bayern at Meadow Park for the final matchday of the UWCL group stage.

Anything but a win would see us finish second in the group, with Bayern grabbing the top spot and a more favourable draw in the quarter finals.

All the participants to the quarter finals are already known, but only Olympique Lyon enters the final matchday as a group winner, meaning that it is hard to make a prediction about our potential opponents, in March.

The list of our potential opponents includes Bayern Munich, Olympique Lyon, Wolfsburg, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City, but since UEFA is yet to confirm the draw procedure, I cannot tell whether we could face Bayern Munich again, or if we could face another English club – something that was forbidden at group stage.

If the usual limitations apply, it means that we could only face four opponents: Olympique Lyon, Wolfsburg, Barcelona or Real Madrid, which complicates the proceedings since both Spanish clubs will face English clubs, meaning that results could create a situation where the runner-up of group A should face the winners of group B, but both clubs are from the same country.

We can expect UEFA to make a decision once the final standings are confirmed, and the final standings will probably dictate how the quarter finals will be played, rather than a proper draw. For it to work, UEFA needs Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City to finish in the same position, either as group winners or runners-up, but it is fairly long shot. In every other scenario, the draw becomes a real nightmare.

Let's say that Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City finish in the same position, they could play these opponents:

ARSENAL v Real Madrid, Barcelona or Wolfsburg

MANCHESTER CITY v Wolfsburg, Bayern or Real Madrid

CHELSEA v Barcelona, Bayern or Wolfsburg

We are very likely to be paired with a Spanish club in the quarter finals, so let's hope it's Real Madrid rather than Barcelona.

We shall see, then. Let's focus on winning the group and say the best possible goodbye to 2024. A win under the lights at Meadow Park would also be the perfect farewell to Renée Slegers, shall the club decide against making her our permanent head coach, and she deserves the best possible farewell, it is meant to be one.

Speak to you soon!

The post The Arsenal Women Journal – Gunners pounce on rivals' slip-ups [LIV 0-1 ARS] first appeared on Gunners Town.