Arsenal Women August Mailbag

Hey Tim, I was wondering about the squad limit on foreign players. It seems to me that if we sign Kafaji and don't sell/loan anyone we'll have 19 foreign players on our books and, since the maximum allowed is 17, we'd only be able to comply with the rules by not registering Pelova and Ilestedt for now and revisiting the issue in January. Do you think that that's what we're most likely going to do? Cellys in São Paulo

Suspect we will see some outgoing business yet. Nothing in the Miedema category that will shock anyone, it’s just natural during the summer that players come and go.

Are Arsenal fans sleeping on Lina Hurtig? If she is back to full fitness could she be "like a new signing" (TM) for us? She has not had a consistent opportunity to show her talent at Arsenal and it feels like she could offer us something different to Foord on the left wing. Or do you think it will be Foord vs Mariona for that left wing spot this season? Clive B

I think it is quite possible, yes. She has only made two WSL starts since her move two years ago and her appearances so far total 328 minutes in the league. This is not nearly enough to build up an impression of what she is actually capable of. I hope her issues are behind her and we get to see the real Lina Hurtig because, in my view, we have not seen that whatsoever yet. Personally, I have no real sense of her quality because I just don’t think we have seen enough to make a determination.

Surely Jonas has to seriously challenge for the title this season after being backed in the transfer market? Not sure a couple of Conti cups really cuts it and letting Viv leave on a free was a massive call Adam Krahn

Yes I think everyone knows this from the club, to the fans, to the manager himself. I don’t think anyone is under any illusions. Generally, I do not believe in people who sit in press boxes lecturing fans on how to think and behave but I guess my advice (which people are free to disregard, of course) is not to obsess too much over Eidevall this season or whether you like him or dislike him. I think either Arsenal deliver, which would be great, or he will probably go anyway. So I just don’t think it’s necessary to make every single game a referendum on the manager or to make that the lens through which all analysis or emotion is filtered. We are going to get answers one way or another this season.

Last season Arsenal struggled to score against deep blocks, and also managed to concede a ridiculous number of goals from a small number of opposition chances. You have written about what you think Arsenal are doing to try to become more unpredictable against deep blocks, but I'm curious as to what you think will be done to clean up a ridiculously leaky defense? ML

Arsenal had the lowest XG against in the league last season so I don’t think the defence is that leaky. They had an XGA of 17.9 and conceded 20. 22 league games is a small sample size and you often get statistical anomalies in the league. Liverpool had a goal difference of +8 from an expected goal difference of -1, if they had tracked anywhere near their actual defensive performance they would have finished a long way from 4th place.

‘Luck’ is not a satisfying answer but that doesn’t mean it is not a significant factor but it’s also not the only one. I do also think some of this was also down to a defence that had little in the way of stability. Williamson and Wienroither are injured at the end of last season, Rafaelle leaves, then Noelle Maritz is swapped with Emily Fox in January. It’s a lot of defensive upheaval but the data still shows Arsenal defended pretty well and were punished more harshly than their actual performances. Williamson coming back is probably the most significant improvement we could ask for at this stage. At the moment, I don’t think we will sign any other defenders (at least I have yet to hear any suggestion that we will).

Hi Tim! Quick question on Rosa Kafaji, do you think this signing (if it happens) was always planned or a response to Pelova's ACL injury? Alastair Wood

The honest answer is that I don’t know! I don’t think Arsenal or Jonas Eidevall only suddenly became aware of this player so I doubt it represented a major pivot. My understanding was always that Arsenal would try to buy a younger winger but I no longer think that to be the case- which could represent a pivot from Arsenal but it could just as easily mean that I over indexed information from conversations I had. Both are perfectly plausible, club’s plans are often fluid.

Look at the men’s team, their first target this summer was Benjamin Sesko, which did not work out and, from what we can see, they haven’t targeted another striker since. Arsenal and Eidevall recognised the issues against deep blocks last season and, in my view, they often lacked craft and movement and I think Mariona and Kafaji are moves to make Arsenal’s attack a little more fluid, to have players that make short combinations, can operate in tight spaces and pop up in different areas. I am not convinced Kafaji is connected directly to Pelova’s injury though.

Is it just me; I feel like the AWFC camp has been particularly quiet. Im not really talking about the transfer front. It feels like the backroom staff and the manager have deliberately kept a low profile. And if that's the case, I sure hope it's because they are working out how we become a lot more productive in attack! Dara Oke

I would class Arsenal as a quiet club, in general, but I also don’t think you’re wrong with this observation. I think everyone knows it’s delivery time and we can’t have another season of caveats. My own view is that there have been justifiable caveats in the last two seasons but Chelsea winning the league despite a big injury crisis and integrating a lot of new players in the winter window puts that somewhat in the shade. There is no hiding place any longer. The sense I get is that everyone at the club understands that.

The manager has to do press conferences before and after games, so it is impossible for a manager to not speak but, during the summer, engagements are voluntary and I do think it’s not an accident that there has been little noise. Patrick Winqvist’s departure was not announced and neither was Mel Phillips’ arrival, I think you are right Dara to note that Arsenal are making a conscious decision to be ‘quiet.’ However, when they go to DC in a few weeks, that will probably change because they will have to be more forthcoming in terms of media engagements.

Big question - but your thoughts about the main contenders in the WSL. Chelsea going through significant manager and player transition. City signing Viv (but do they have the right size and balance of squad?), and Utd - well enough said.

Arsenal should be favourites but will that pressure, and the (hopefully) additional Champions League games, be a possible drag weight on the team this season?

Basically, reasons why Arsenal might not win the league this year. Ken P

Great question, Ken! I think context is missing from so much WSL analysis. City definitely need their squad to get bigger before they can be heralded as favourites, in my view (I also don’t doubt they know that and will try to make it so). City were really unlucky to finish 4th in 2022-23 but a lot of people looked at the final league position and wrote them off.

They signed one player last summer, in Jill Roord, and went within a whisker of winning the league. The quality of the players they had did not change, the context changed. Some of the metrics that show you that City were unlucky to finish 4th evened out last season but, most importantly, they didn’t have Champions League or Champions League qualifiers.

In summer 2021 and summer 2022, City had UWCL qualifiers off the back of major tournaments. They lost them on both occasions and it hugely damaged their league season. Last season they did not have this distraction. The players didn’t get better or worse, the context just changed. Last season, Arsenal had lots of new players and had the truncated preparation time off the back of a major tournament and the shock of not qualifying for the UWCL and, what do you know, they have a season similar to the ones City endured in the exact same situation. City now have UWCL football (so long as they go through their qualifier) and that changes the context for them.

I am not saying they cannot handle it, just that it will be a very different challenge and too much analysis is guilty of survivorship bias. But they will certainly be dangerous in terms of the title as I would always expect them to be. Chelsea are the great unknown with so much change, at managerial level, as well as within the squad. There is such a range of possibilities with Chelsea that they are impossible to assess currently save for the fact that the team that has won the last five WSL titles has to go in as the favourite.

However, I do think that Arsenal have to consider this to be a big opportunity. They are (or ought to be) more settled as a playing squad now, their UWCL qualifying round is happening in far more preferable circumstances this time around and if they cannot challenge seriously for the title this year, there are simply no more excuses or caveats. Last summer I wrote that I felt this season was really the opportunity for the title for Arsenal.

Hi Tim, I was wondering about our set-piece coach. I remember you mentioned that our last set-piece coach had left pretty early after the season ended, and was wondering if we've appointed a new one yet or if there's any word on that that situation? Set pieces were obviously a weak area for us last season. I'd love to hear your thoughts on if you think any new signings (or potential new signings) could help improve that situation. Cappi.

I am not aware that a new one has been appointed as yet (it could have happened and I just don’t know about it). But I think there has to have been some sort of reshuffle in the coaching staff. Mel Phillips is joining to head up the Analysts Team and I am not aware of that being a role that existed in the same way before. Winqvist left but Rene Slegers extended her contract, I don’t yet know whether that means the parameters of her role have been revisited.

Last season, she dealt with individual player coaching (showing players clips of their performances and where they can improve, for example) and she was the communication line between Eidevall and the analysts. Slegers would communicate with the analysts and relay the sort of information Eidevall wanted to focus on in his half-time and post-match team talks. I am not yet clear on whether Phillips’ role will swallow up some of that work and whether it will mean Slegers focusing on other aspects. It is something I will certainly keep an eye on.

What do you think of our current midfield situation, with Pelova out? Little and Walti are excellent, but have had injury problems the last couple of years and aren't getting younger. Cooney Cross has talent, but is definitely a step down from Pelova, at least for now. The 10 is also interesting with Maanum, possibly Caldentey, and maybe Kafaji if she signs. Donald Falmer

I think this whole area is fascinating. Little and Walti is such a strong partnership that I cannot see anyone starting ahead of them unless it is injury related. If Arsenal do decide to pay big money for Keira Walsh that sets the cat among the pigeons too, while Kafaji is very much a more advanced midfielder, positionally. Cooney-Cross has only shown flashes of her talent so far, even in the minutes she has played. I would like to see more from her this season because the talent is clearly there.

I think the talent is, and always has been, in midfield in abundance (maybe even an over abundance) but how it is used is the big question. I think there is a fine line between rotation and confusion and I think you need continuity but also not to freeze players out too much. In short, I have no idea how I would actually handle this area were I Jonas Eidevall. Rotating without lacking cohesion and having continuity without freezing players out is an incredibly delicate balance that I am not smart enough to figure out in this scenario.

For international players the summer schedule seems ludicrously broken up. After the end of the domestic season a couple of weeks holiday then internationals then another break before more internationals then another break before pre season. Throw in the Olympics and players will be coming back with very different levels of preparation. Is there method or is it just FIFA madness? Peter Lukacs

The schedule is clearly absurd but we have to soldier on with it through this cycle to 2025. UEFA have already committed to getting rid of the mid-July international window from then on. The difficulty with the Olympics is that it is not really a FIFA tournament and I think football is such an awkward fit for the Olympics, both in terms of logistics and venues. But I also just don’t think it works as a football tournament.

12 teams is an awkward number, the need to have it all wrapped up in a fortnight makes the schedule strange, games clash because of the need to squeeze everything in and most of the games are poorly attended because they need to be held well outside of the host city. The decision to play extra-time and only permit squads of 18 are both things that need to be revisited urgently and have created an undue welfare question for players this summer.

That said, international football during the summer is not necessarily a bad thing for players. The WSL finishes in mid-May and starts again in late September and that is a long gap that doesn’t help players much either. I think the scheduling in elite women’s football is less about actual loading and more to do with rhythm.

I think Catley/Foord have underperformed in a way last season just because they really have been overworked for Australia as well. Australia has had a major tournament every year since 2017, and both had injuries from overuse going into the Olympics this year (Catley with a foot injury, Foord with a hamstring/quad injury and then had a taped ankle for the entire tournament). I don't want them to only be super subs going forward, because they're talented and consistent and deserve more than 30 mins. If we're in several different competitions, I'd still like to see them start. And I'd be particularly interested in a Foord/Mariona LW/10 combo. The Foord/Frida LW/10 combo was great, but Mariona brings a similar quality that Foord looks for in Sam Kerr at national level and that is where we see her shine. James W

I think you are quite right to point to their respective workloads, as well as the travelling, with their country over a number of years. I look around at the core of that Matildas team and I see players like Carpenter and Raso also not quite at the level I thought they were a couple of years ago.

Personally I haven’t seen a lot of issue with Steph’s performances. With Caitlin, I think she has suffered from Hurtig being unavailable which has meant Arsenal have had to overload her. I also think Arsenal’s wide players were given a very difficult assignment last season because the attack lacked fluidity and the wide players would typically have the ball gently rolled to their feet on the touchline where they would need to beat three players before they could make any impact.

I don’t believe Lacasse performed better than Foord on the left and I don’t believe it’s really a quality issue but an issue of a lack of movement and spark around them. They weren’t fed the ball in areas where they could be dangerous. Close your eyes and imagine a slipped ball behind a full-back last season to Foord or Mead or Lacasse on the touchline and behind the defence. Difficult to remember too many times where it happened, isn’t it?

I think the signing of Mariona and the interest in Kafaji is about promoting greater fluidity of movement and spark and that will, I am certain, help the wide players. I think people misunderstand the player Foord is. She is a support player, I think she plays very well off Sam Kerr as more of a second striker for the Matildas and I think she did that very effectively when playing off Miedema too.

In 2020-21, she had her best season in terms of output (10 goals and 5 assists in the WSL) and that was when Miedema played the whole season upfront. Prior to Kerr’s injury, Foord’s record for the Matildas in 2022 saw her score five and assist one in six starts. In 2023 and 2024, when Kerr has largely been injured, that has dropped to two goals and three assists in 13 appearances.

She needs to work off a strong striker that occupies defences. The good news for Arsenal is that Alessia Russo is becoming a much bigger penalty area presence and the more that happens, the more I expect Foord to show her best form again. If Hurtig can become a more regular contributor that would help too.