Christmas Mailbag!

Thanks so much for all your questions! I have tried to pick some where several people asked more or less the same question and some that were interesting stand alones. I don’t want to do too much speculating on individuals, transfer wise, otherwise people will think I am hinting / reporting! Let’s crack on.

In a number of games this season, we've faced a low block and been utterly unable to break them down. Is this a tactical problem or a personnel issue and what can be done to solve it? Teams seem to be cottoning on to the fact that this seems to be how to stop us? Chris Garrett

What do Arsenal need to do so that opponents can stop almost guaranteeing points against us by just playing a deep block to frustrate us? ML

I think this is largely a team cohesion issue, not least adjusting to a new striker in Alessia Russo. I think Arsenal both need to get her in more advanced positions more often and / or players need to learn when to run in behind when she comes short to link play. Under Joe Montemurro, Miedema would drop deep to link play and van de Donk and Jordan Nobbs would run in behind and fill that space. I think that is a run Arsenal have been missing (though Mead’s return has made a big difference because she is so assertive in the final third).

I think the emerging cohesion has also seen Arsenal panic a few times in losing positions. Against Liverpool and for long spells against Aston Villa, Arsenal were too keen to spam crosses into the area. At Spurs, they were too keen to spam shots from suboptimal angles. I think as the team cohesion improves and newer players gel and a stronger sense of rotation takes hold, that issue will reduce. That said, when Eidevall was appointed, I spoke to Swedish journalist Mia Eriksson and she told me this was occasionally an issue with Rosengard, Eidevall talks a lot about the time he lost the league on goal difference in Sweden. Mia also talked about the time Rosengard lost the league because, essentially, they drew 0-0 with the bottom team. Arsenal lost the title in Eidevall’s first season because they lost 2-0 to the bottom team. But we will come onto a possible theory here later in the questions…

Roughly how many players do you see coming in and leaving in the jan transfer window? Elise

I certainly see a right-back and know of advanced talks with Emily Fox (though I am not yet told that is done). Gio will surely go on loan and I think a WSL loan would be great for Kathrine Kuhl too. That still leaves us with our full roster of 25 players so there would have to be a surprise departure somewhere to make room for anyone else. An issue that has not been widely discussed yet is the Gold Cup in February, if Sabrina D’Angelo is called up for Canada, Arsenal will lose their back-up goalie for a month. I guess we could see some short-term cover drafted there but I don’t think it will be Mary Earps. As far as I know, there has been no contact there.

With the transfer window coming up, what are your thoughts on the rise of fake transfer rumour accounts and Men’s Football ITKs starting to infiltrate the Women’s Game? And how has it affected your work in reporting accurate transfer activity? Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Adam Salter

Merry Christmas, Adam! It’s just a symptom of the rising popularity and interest in the game. I am not sure there are many fake ITKs yet, as it were. Sometimes agents do put things out when their client might be negotiating a contract extension, for example. There has been a trend of people making up rumours and pretending they emerge from me, for example, as a joke, which is getting a bit irritating but mostly I just have no idea how so many people fall for these pretty obvious gags.

But in the near future, transfer reporting might get harder simply because very well-resourced outlets might start throwing more resource at it. We are an independent site, I am really proud of the level of resource we put into the coverage of the women’s team and we get the information we do because, frankly, we’ve cared about it for a long time and we’ve been able to create networks and gained a good reputation. It hasn’t happened yet but there probably is a scenario in the very near future where bigger outlets put more resource into reporting and start beating us to the punch.

There has been a fallout on social media following the team's loss to Spurs around whether they should put out a public apology for it to the fans. Personally, I don't think apologies are necessary if I feel the players were giving their all (and on Saturday I think they did) but I was wondering if you feel there are any circumstances in which a public apology for a loss is necessary? Alastair Wood

I think there are two things at play here. Firstly, fans will blow off steam after losing to their local rivals, particularly when it has never happened before. I don’t like to gatekeep that too much. But I think the circumstances in which a team should apologise are exceptionally rare and not nearly covered by this scenario. I think there’s a mixture of fans of a big club like Arsenal adjusting to a world where you can lose to midtable WSL teams and, honestly without judging, a lot of people are new to the sport and adjusting to the idea that sometimes you get crap days! I first started supporting the men’s team in 1990-91 and life was pretty easy for me and then we lost an FA Cup semi-final to Spurs and I realised pain and misery are all wrapped up in the football fan experience!

How would you feel if your daughter ended up playing for sp*rs? Nick Fletcher

She has every choice in life, she can love who she wants, she can be religious, she can adopt different politics to mine and she doesn’t even have to like football if she doesn’t want to. But she cannot play for or support Spurs. Those are off limits.

From my observations (I'm in USA so I cannot catch every game), when the system isn't working, there doesn't appear to be that individual flair that there has been in the past, e.g. big player stepping up. I'm sure it's partly do to long term injuries to Beth, Viv and Leah, Frida not quite hitting the heights of last year, but I also feel that Jonas has taken it out of the team. Am I off base? Also are we watching the end of Viv's Arsenal journey? Seth Miller

Arsenal are underperforming xG against (xG for is essentially equal) and in the last two league matches Arsenal have essentially received maximum punishment in the goals they've conceded. However, for much of this season Arsenal have been unlucky in terms of goals conceded; at what point does this become no longer a matter of luck but a structural issue or personnel issue? Aidan Gibson

My question is whether the Women’s Team need a player who can play the " disruptor" role in tight games like Saturdays. Alexis Sanchez imo was the perfect example of this role in the men's team. Yes he could be frustrating as he would often lose possession but him running at defences caused havoc that opened up defenses that had the low bloc and organisation to frustrate us. If so the next question is who might this person be in the Women’s team? David Brown

I have grouped these questions because I think they really get at something that has changed with Arsenal under Eidevall. I think Arsenal are a better overall team now they are not as reliant on Miedema as they used to be but sometimes…sometimes you really do need that absolutely bona fide match winner to dig you out of a hole. Example, two years ago Arsenal trailed Spurs away in the 93^rd minute and…Miedema scored. Shortly before lockdown in 2020 there was a game away at Liverpool where Arsenal were really, really poor. But they won 3-2 because…Miedema.

I think Arsenal are a better unit but there are days when you do just need that ‘rabbit out of the hat’ player and I am not sure Arsenal have it to the same extent. Mead is probably the closest. I am thinking of Chelsea when they won the title in 2021-22 and their two most significant results were at home to Aston Villa where they struggled and in the 94^th minute…Sam Kerr happened. Then on the final day at home to Manchester United, they were shaken and found themselves 2-1 down and it looked like they might throw it away on the final day…then Sam Kerr happened. Sometimes you do just need that one ‘we are a bit rubbish today; but I am just going to win you the game because I can’ player. Or even that, ‘I will make sure that on a day when we have 31 shots and create 2.5XG, we will certainly score some goals,’ type. I guess McCabe is another who has it in her locker (Bristol City away) but I am not sure Arsenal currently have that virtuoso type who might even be woeful themselves on a given day, but can regularly win you games on their own.

To what extent has losing to Spurs negatively impacted our title race? It’s our second loss, but we have picked up wins against Chelsea and Man City. Is there still hope?

And also, if you were to point out the biggest problem in the loss to Spurs, what would it be? If you compare the Spurs game to the Liverpool game, what similarities do you see? Roos

We are banking on the more competitive WSL doing its job and biting Chelsea on the backside a couple of times. They haven’t had their Reading or Liverpool result yet this season, where they have 40 shots and somehow lose 1-0. Of course, that might not happen. It puts increased pressure on the games away at City and Chelsea but the latter being at Stamford Bridge instead of Kingsmeadow makes me feel better about it. Under Jonas, I feel more comfortable about those games. I would say we are now in a position where one more Spurs or Liverpool type result means it’s over and that can be mentally draining for players too.

In 2017-18 Arsenal had an awful start and played catch up for the rest of the season. Montemurro was appointed in November and they went on this big long winning run and got back into the UWCL qualification race. Then they drew with Yeovil in April (one of the two points Yeovil won all season). I spoke to Leah Williamson after that game and she said the mental fatigue of knowing, for five whole months, they basically couldn’t afford to drop another point, got to them.

The Spurs performance is far better than the Liverpool performance but my biggest disappointment against Spurs was the sense of panic, I think some of the substitutions caused Arsenal to lose shape and, whereas against Liverpool the team spammed crosses, against Spurs they started spamming shots. I felt good when 11 minutes of stoppage time was indicated but about three minutes into that period; I had that ‘we need a golaco or a setpiece’ feeling and that’s not a feeling you want in the closing stages. Against Villa, for example, I had a different feeling. I had a ‘keep doing this and we will break through eventually’ feeling. I didn’t have that on Saturday.

Do you think Arsenal will operate a system like the likes of Man City that allows selected fans the chance to meet players? I know it’s not realistically possible (or expected) straight after matches. Rob

I hadn’t realised that City do this. Recently at Meadow Park, Arsenal have taken to doing a lap of applause for the fans after the game and then going inside and I think that is right. Essentially, I think the demand on players to interact will fade away once fans fully start to grasp that it’s very unlikely to be successful. Maybe there could be more ‘setpiece’ opportunities, like open training sessions for members followed by a short meet and greet (which used to happen a few years ago). The Dutch National team did this to good effect when their popularity rose post Euro 2017 and they started to play in bigger stadia. It’s not just an issue of player time but there is also a conditioning angle, fitness staff don’t really want players standing out in the cold for a long time after a game either.

What was the reaction in the game to your article on diversity? Any notable responses you could share from both inside and outside the club? Adam Altogether

Not much from inside the game because I think the issues from the piece are well known inside the game and from medium-term observers. We pitched the piece far more at supporters who dip in and out of women’s football or who had noticed that Arsenal have a squad without any visible POC. We were planning on it before the social media backlash to the squad photo kicked off but clearly talking to the people we talked to took some time to line up. I always wanted to talk to James Honeyman, the Academy Manager. Generally speaking, Arsenal don’t put anyone other than players or the coach up for interview but I think it’s to their credit that they engaged with the subject and engaged with me for the piece. I think there are a lot of clubs that have 1-2 POC at the most who have avoided the kind of crossfire Arsenal got and have been happy to be quiet and let Arsenal take the flack when, in reality, they have the same issues.