Arsenal Women April Mailbag

Hi Tim, I hope you’ve recovered from the emotional rollercoaster of that Conti Cup Final! I have a question about our coaching setup. I can’t help but feel as though our set pieces have been absolutely rubbish this season. I can only recall 3 goals from corners in the WSL, and all of them benefited from defensive mistakes (this is obviously a huge contrast to our Men’s Team). Who coaches our set pieces now, and would it be possible for Nicolas Jover to ‘double shift’ and impart some of his set-piece knowledge onto the coaches and players? Adam Salter

Hi Tim, so far this season has had many ups and downs. One of the downs is the lack of goals we get from our set-pieces. As far as I know we have a coach taking care of that. But does he get enough time during training? Are the offensive set-pieces even a focus point for the coaching staff or is the focus more on the defensive side? Leontine Doorn

It’s Patrik Winqvist who takes charge of the setpieces. Arsenal have only scored once from a setpiece in the WSL this season if you consider first phase conversations only (Ilestedt against Chelsea), though did score a few in the Conti (Wubben-Moy v Bristol City and Ilestedt v Southampton). They have the lowest number of goals from setpieces in the WSL this season despite having the highest number of them. Some of this I think is tied into the general attacking dysfunction we have seen this season, we’ve had a high number of shots from setpieces so some of it is tied to Arsenal’s below par finishing in general.

Jonas puts a high emphasis on creating chances from setpieces so I think it has to be a big priority to improve in this area for next season. With Ilestedt and Russo and takers like Mead, McCabe and Catley I think it’s clear that Arsenal should be doing much better here. There again, Arsenal were good from setpieces in the second half of last season, Winqvist joined in January and there was an improvement initially so I think some of it might be due to the consistent changes in personnel which has impacted Arsenal in open play too.

I always find Jonas an incredibly smart football mind tactically. Whether on the BBC or after our games (win or lose) I usually agree with his observations. However, could he potentially improve his management and motivation of players? Just wondering if that's why he hasn't achieved as much yet as we'd expect from someone as smart as him? Alternatively, does he need a coaching addition who's a bit of a "player whisperer", like it's rumoured Lydia Bedford was when we had her for that half-season? Shane Thomas

I think some of the reshuffling we have seen in the coaching staff is to do with this. First Lydia and now Rene Slegers work with players on a one-to-one basis which is naturally a role given to managing characters and personalities. As well, there are safeguarding rules which mean male coaches cannot be in the dressing room, so having female coaching staff is crucial to develop that closer bond with players. I do think some male coaches in the game can struggle with not having that dressing room bond (clearly I am not suggesting the safeguarding rules be changed). Jonas has also talked about taking a more collegiate approach with his staff in the last year or so due to the resources at his disposal at Arsenal. I know in Sweden his coaching style was considered quite ‘marmite’ with players with some appreciating the level of clarity he brought and some finding him abrasive. But everyone in the squad now has either signed for him or signed a new contract under him.

What do you think is the most important thing for the team’s remaining league fixtures? Sussing out our midfield for the foreseeable future? And do you think division of playing time from here on out will give us a glimpse into who stays and who leaves this summer? Mark Bezerman

As you have said, we're castaways on the third-place island and so what happens in the rest of the season isn't going to make much difference. Our eyes then turn to next season where winning the WSL is the main priority. However, we must first negotiate qualification for the group stage of the UWCL in a one-venue mini tournament on 4th and 7th September, two-and-a-half weeks before the start of the WSL season. As we and Wolfsburg discovered, this is no foregone conclusion and, for some players, it will come soon after the Olympics. The question is, how can we best use the rest of the season to prepare for that crucially important match on 4th September? Kim Parker

I have grouped these questions and thanks, Kim, for reminding me that our likely UWCL qualifiers take place around my 10th wedding anniversary. That’s a conversation I am looking forward to….

I am dubious as to how much ‘momentum’ we can create ahead of September or next season. I think the club programme breaks for so long that any momentum is broken anyway. I would favour retaining an element of stability until the end of the season to bring greater clarity. But I think the midfield is where my eyes are, per Mark’s question. I think giving Kyra Cooney-Cross game time has to be a priority, injuries to Walti and Miedema actually give Arsenal the opportunity to settle the midfield down a little.

At the moment, we don’t know when Maanum can play but assuming she can before the end of the season, I think really getting her going and back in the team on a regular basis so she can find her way again is something I would really like to see. I thought she was outstanding in the Conti Cup Final.

My understanding is that Arsenal are really looking to develop Cooney-Cross’ out of possession game and that Walti has been working closely with her in training to help with her off-ball positioning. I think Arsenal now have valuable game time they can give to Kyra to help her in this respect.

A bit long winded but I think Hayes's teams have always been good because regardless of structure(or lack thereof) she always plays in a way that centers and enhances the strengths of her best players (e.gkerr and James). I think the organizational logic of Jonas' teams is different in that structure comes before player ability and profile. I think if may be to the detriment of the team. The example I think of is last year when there was much less structure especially in attack we saw maanum elevate to a new level cause she could take initiative in the team in ways that weren't possible before. So just wondering if as opposed to trying to perfect our patterns of play we should try to move towards tailoring our play to support some of the strengths of our players. Or maybe we can't do that because we don't have a standout talent in the same way that Chelsea have had historically (at least right now). Michael

I wrote about exactly this a couple of weeks ago and I think you have distilled what I consider to be Jonas’ biggest challenge. I think he is very smart tactically but I think resource management is where the biggest questions lie. I think Arsenal have to be able to mix things up a little so they can be ultra structured for the games against big opponents, where we have improved markedly under Eidevall but then to be a little freer against the mid and lower table opponents. We saw in the second half against Aston Villa that it is possible, that needs to happen on a regular basis and I think being able to use 25 players effectively doesn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen overnight at Chelsea either.

But we do need to see progress in this respect now. I also think we have been hurt a lot by the injuries to Wienroither and Hurtig, having four full-backs and four wingers as opposed to three of each will make a huge amount of difference, especially with how Arsenal aim to access wide areas and pull teams away from the centre of their defence. Wienroither coming back and a new winger next season will make a big difference, in my opinion.

What do you think are Arsenal's ambitions? Is third and the Conti Cup (same as last season) viewed as success for this season? If we do the same next season, is that a rousing success, good enough, or failure? ML

Has this season's performances been worse compared to last season? Yes we won a trophy (just like last season) but we have been worse off in the other competitions. What would you consider the target for next season that would show we have improved on this? Will it be the season we finally consider actually winning the WSL as the main target instead of just competing in it? Daniel Domnic

Arsenal will not be happy with third and the Conti Cup and I think Jonas has been pretty clear on that this season too. To not be in the title race next season would absolutely be seen as a failure. Not being in it this season is seen as a failure and rightly so. Arsenal’s aim is to win the league and the Champions League.

Whether this season has been better or worse than last is a question that I think will have to wait until this one is over. Objectively it hasn’t been a better season because of the lack of Champions League football. But the early part of 2023 was, I think understandably, quite poor because Arsenal were adjusting to losing Mead and Miedema. The 0-0 draw at West Ham last February calls to mind a lot of the issues we have seen this season with deep blocks. Last season was defined by losing big players to injuries but I also think having players return from big injuries creates a lot of similar issues because those players have to be reintroduced gradually and their form will fluctuate (and Williamson and Miedema have had subsiduary issues too). The chronology of a season makes a big difference to how you view it. If Arsenal win four of their WSL games well and draw with or beat City then I think you would at least leave this season with the impression that Arsenal are over a rough patch.

Lotte is playing so well now she is possibly our player of the season and now a nailed on starter. This begs the question as to whether her and Leah should be our starting CB combination going forward or whether we need that right footed/left footed combo at the back next season ? if so to make that happen do we move Leah into midfield as don't think we can drop Lotte . Of course that then requires that we can find a left footed centre back who is good enough and that is where my scouting knowledge is lacking as I don't know one - how about you Tim - any thoughts ? David Brown

There is a real dearth of left-footed centre-halves in women’s football. Lyon don’t have one, Chelsea don’t have one, Wolfsburg don’t have one and neither do Bayern- in fact, their left-sided centre-half, Vigorsdottir, was on Arsenal’s shopping list last summer. Look at how Kadeisha Buchanan has struggled at Chelsea. Mapi Leon at Barca is a unicorn, essentially and we had a bit of a unicorn in Rafaelle. Dominique Janssen is leaving Wolfsburg this summer and I would love to bring her back. She is predominantly right-footed but has a good left foot and, in my view, is one of the best LCBs around. I think there will be a lot of interest in her.

I know you mentioned not having much info on summer transfers, but what profiles and areas of the pitch do you think we might target? The squad finally seems pretty complete but I could see signing a young left back (Wienroither but left sided) since Catley and McCabe are both at or nearing 30 and a pacey winger/wide forward (Hurtig replacement). Eric Bens

Squad planning-wise: do you see lots of outgoings happening in the summer and where should we strengthen our squad regardless of any outgoings? Roos

When Arteta arrived it was clear he was ruthless in terms of outgoings, even if they were popular with fans. This season has been very inconsistent I think. Do you think some tough decisions might need to be made or is it not thar serious? I'm still not over Jordan Nobbs leaving 🤣 Ciaran

Arsenal will certainly target a pacy wide player in the summer. As I said earlier, Arsenal have been one short on the flanks all season and I think that has been really detrimental and has led to Arsenal needing to overplay Mead and Foord in particular. Jonas was very clear early in his reign that his ideal match model involves changing the whole front three in-game. They can do this at centre-forward with Blackstenius and Russo but haven’t been able to do it out wide. A goalkeeper will also be on the shopping list.

In midfield something is going to have to give, with Kuhl, Arsenal will have five central midfielders and that is too many. One of them will have to go I think. Miedema is the big question mark with her contract expiring in the summer, Arsenal have largely played without her for the last 18 months and have an abundance of players in central areas. That is where my eye falls the most. I don’t anticipate a huge amount of activity. I think January was a good indication of how things will run, Maritz came out, Fox came in and those deals were done quickly. Arsenal need ceiling raisers not floor raisers now but I also think Arsenal will want to avoid another significant turnover of players. Things need to calm down on the personnel front now in my view.

Providing this campaign finishes as is (3rd + conti cup), how do you rate it out of 10? What should our transfer strategy be to improve us for next year (let's presume we make it through UCL qualifiers)? Tom

Winning the Conti cup potentially raises it to 6/10, assuming we finish the season strongly. I don’t think you can rate it any higher than that, it’s in the 5 or 6 out of 10 range for sure. As per the last question, a small injection of serious quality, maybe one or two players leaving. But if we continually have large turnovers of players Arsenal will be in transition forever and it will mean they have recruited poorly. The bulk of the squad build should be done now and Arsenal should move into something closer to what you see at Chelsea, who tend to add high quality and low numbers nowadays (January was an exception for them due to their injury situation).

Do you think that Jonas’ job is now secure after the Cup win? And with this, will it be “make or break” next season, so we have to win the league or CL (if we qualify!) if he is to remain in the role. Many thanks, Lucy

For now, I think so, yes. I certainly don’t see any change happening before next season. Arsenal is not a reactive club nowadays, they tend to show patience and it’s steered them pretty well in recent years. Clearly next season needs to be better than this one. If we are in the same position in early 2025 as we were in early 2024, I imagine the club will start thinking carefully. I suspect results would have to be disastrous for anything drastic to happen before that.

1. Lack of merch in The Armoury specific to the Womens team, IE mugs, t-shirts, scarves. The demographic is of course different between the two sets of supporters, I think player specific merch would go down well, would love a Dr. Little mug personally, thoughts?

Yes, I think this continues to be an oversight, just look at how many personalised shirts you see at women’s games. The culture is very player focused and I think a trick is still being missed here. The street vendors are usually first to cotton on and you can see they have started to produce player scarves outside the Emirates.

2. I still believe second spot is possible, we need to win our game in hand, beat Man City and then hope they lose to Aston Villa while we don’t drop points and catch up on the goal difference. Feasible?

Feasible but I think unlikely. It has to be the target though, missing the first qualifying round is a big enough carrot to go for.

3. Who gets your vote as player of the season so far? For me Lotte, however Emily the Fox has impressed me a lot, she is a shoe in for the first team, brilliant player.

Lotte, for me. Pelova would probably be second. Lotte has taken her opportunity and turned what could have been a big issue for Arsenal into pretty much a non-issue. I think Lotte’s improvement has been one of the great stories of the season.

4. Dream signing - Which player would you love us to sign? For me - Sveindís Jónsdóttir

I really like Jonsdottir too. I think Lauren Hemp would probably be my dream signing, given Arsenal need a left winger of that exact profile but it sounds as though she is nearing an agreement with City. If we’re disregarding ‘sensible’ signings based on where Arsenal’s gaps are and we totally disregard reality too, I think Sophia Smith would be my absolute dream signing. I think she will win the Ballon D’Or in her career and it might happen pretty soon.

5. I have seen us play in 10 different stadiums, how many for you? Jeremy

I have lost count! It would be more than 50 but I don’t know how far over 50 we are talking.

My question is who are we going to let go this summer to reduce the size of the bloated squad. Or do you think squad size is ok if we get through the CL qualifiers? Andrew Wolrich

I think this is a really interesting question because I do still think 25 players is a tad too much. I still think 23 is the optimum size but I also think this is probably changing due to the demands of international football and the Champions League group stage. It’s not so much the number of games as the intensity of games that is increasing with a European group stage and the UEFA Nations League. Arsenal have three players in North America and three in Australia and that travel takes its toll too. I still think 23 is about right but it is probably better to get used to having 25 now because that is where the game is heading. Put it this way, if Miedema were to leave and a central midfielder were to leave, I don’t think Arsenal would necessarily need to go into the market to replace them.

Hi Tim, it seems like NewCo will look to run the WSL and Championship next season pretty much the same as this season, giving them time to get all their various structures and resources in place before making any major changes. But if there was one thing you would like NewCo to address or change for the next WSL season what would it be? Clive B

I think we will see little change next season, when new leadership comes in the first few months really should be a looking and listening exercise. I would really like to see the 3pm blackout for women’s games lifted though. The reality is with ground sharing with men’s teams it wouldn’t be a possibility for every team every week but I think it would be great for women’s football to have a protected slot of its own that is also accessible for match going fans. You could even insist those games are shown on free-to-air TV in the UK.

If we're holding up the second half vs Villa as the 'gold standard' of attacking a low block, how can we do that consistently next season? Which players do you think we need to hang on to, where do we need to improve, where are the weak links? And how can the team be coached to go out and play like that for 90 minutes week-in, week-out? Gem

I think having an extra wide player will really help so we can make more in-game changes. But really, I see it largely as an issue borne of a lack of familiarity (new players, players returning from injury) and the most important ingredient is time. However, when Arsenal appointed Jonas, I had Mia Eriksson on the podcast and she said Jonas’ teams do tend to run into issues with low defensive blocks so we can’t take for granted that time and patience will solve it. I think the key ingredient of the Villa game was moving the ball side to side far more quickly and stressing their defence. That holds the key, in my view, as well as having the numbers to make wide attacking changes in game so we retain freshness in those areas.

The Boreham Wood Chairman mentioned that if they get relegated this season (they are 4 points off safety with 4 games to to), they might have to restructure the club, possibly going semi pro etc... Do you think a relegation for them would affect AWFC's tenancy at the ground prior to the contract expiration in 2027? Alastair Wood

The Boreham Wood Chairman says a lot of things that tickle me. His recent statement about parting company with long-term manager Luke Garrard was a masterclass in communications! I imagine the partnership with Arsenal is incredibly important to Boreham Wood financially, I cannot think they would want to lose it but Danny Hunter was a bit lukewarm about AWFC at a recent fans Q&A which seems crazy to me. I don’t think the logistics are in place to move to the Emirates permanently just yet, so I can’t imagine it would have an impact on the relationship for next season. The partnership is a long standing one and predates Boreham Wood being in the National League. But Danny Hunter is not an easy man to second guess! If Watford Women are relegated from the Championship, it would be interesting to see whether Vicarage Road becomes a possibility as a surrogate home ground.