February international break mailbag- your questions answered

Many thanks for submitting your questions! I had a bash at some of them below.

Any concerns over potential departures this summer. We have a lot of rotation players who could probably start elsewhere. Andrew Gambrill

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I guess that is always a concern when you have a big squad and Arsenal lost those extra UWCL games to be able to play them in this season. Arsenal had a reasonably large squad in 2021-22 but with plenty of players that were either stop-gap signings or players Eidevall didn’t really want and a lot of them left. But then it depends on what kind of offers those players get compared to Arsenal too. This sort of churn is natural though, Anna Patten, Jen Beattie, Jordan Nobbs, Noelle Maritz and Mana Iwabuchi were squad players who left in the last year and all those players went with the club’s best wishes. What Arsenal really need to avoid is losing another central pillar like Rafaelle.

1) What is the situation with Viv Miedema's contract? This is the second year of it and given most contracts in the women's game seem to be for two years, is this a cause for concern?

2) Given the stupidity of Women Football schedule how much of a boon is the fact that so many of our players (particularly key ones) will have a summer off and be able to prepare for the WCL qualifiers and WSL? I haven't seen the schedule but my guess is there'll be little more than a week between the Olympic final and European qualifiers. With only 7 of our players likely to play at the Olympics (Codina, Fox, D'Angelo Lacasse and our Aussie trio) most of which aren't "first choice.” Jeremy Cunnington

1. I suspect the injury recovery might have complicated things a little there but I honestly don’t know at this stage. I do believe that her current contract expires in the summer.
2. Well, firstly my hope would be to not have the UWCL qualifiers at all, especially not the first round of qualification. But yes, it’s undoubtedly easier to manage when fewer players are away. Arsenal negotiated the first qualifying round pretty comfortably in 2021 off the back of an Olympics when fewer players were away. I think that factor is hugely significant for a team’s pre-season. When Manchester City had to go into the first qualifying round off the back of Euro 2022, they went out and then took one point from their first four WSL games- losing at home to Spurs and West Ham and getting thrashed 5-0 at Meadow Park. Being in the first qualifying round off the back of a tournament summer (especially a tournament with long travel involved) is a situation you really want to avoid if you can. Ultimately I think City were probably better off finishing behind Arsenal last season and avoiding it coming into this campaign.

How can we beat the low blocks, Tim?!?! I saw you write recently that we’ve got better at putting goals past them, but we’re still losing more to “worse” teams than top of the table ones - or at least to ‘5 at the back’, park the bus teams. What’s the solution? Gem

Some of it is time needed to gel with a lot of new players and more options and key attackers being slowly reintroduced into the team after injury but clearly that explanation has less resonance as the weeks progress. I also think some more players are going to have to break structure every now and then to get into the penalty area. Arsenal have one open play goal from a central midfielder this season in the WSL. I also think we need Russo to stay in those dangerous areas more often and not get drawn to the play so much.

I spoke with Jonas about this before the United game and was enthused by his response (which was, essentially, that he agreed and they had been working on it together). Another option I am curious about is moving Maanum back into the double pivot for certain games. Clearly Arsenal already have a lot of depth in this area but I wonder whether it might help her to find space from deeper areas and get another strong attacking player on the pitch in these games.

I've been a big fan of Frida Maanum (I chose to have her name on one of my shirts) and I thought last season she made a big contribution to the team. This season I think she has struggled to impose herself on games though. Do you think this is due to a change in personel in the team, or a change in the role she is being asked to play? Do you think there is a way we can get her back and scoring goals and assisting like she did last season? Clive B

I think she has a strong relationship with Blackstenius, who pushes defenders back with her running and creates space for Frida to shoot. Russo is a different type of striker at the moment and I think is less suited to Maanum’s qualities. I think that has been the main issue as well as some chopping and changing in midfield where Pelova has forced her way into the team and Miedema is coming back from injury. I don’t think she has the same rhythm because there is greater rotation now. But as I said in the previous answer, I wouldn’t mind seeing her dropped back into one of the eight positions against deep blocks.

Do you think that the result against Manchester United maybe has given the fan-base and the media false optimism that Arsenal are back in the title race? I don't think Manchester United played well, our 3 goals were an own goal, a penalty, and a header that was the result of a mis-hit clearance, and we still couldn't keep a clean sheet. I enjoyed the victory on the day, but looking back I am not sure that we won it so much as Manchester United lost it. How confident should we be that we will still be in the title race until the end of the season? Clive B

I have a more positive view of Arsenal’s performance than you do, Clive. I think it was a really good example of Eidevall picking players to suit the opponent they are playing, he homed in on United’s weaknesses. However, I share your opinion of United’s performance. I don’t think it is just that they were bad but they play in a way that really suits Arsenal and didn’t do it well. I think we already knew Arsenal were more suited to the games against the teams that don’t put 9-10 players in defence. I am with you, I am looking more at the Spurs game for improvement than the United one, which I was very confident about pre-match.

Arsenal announced last summer that Michelle (Agyemang) would sign a professional contract when she turned 18. Later that summer, Chelsea and Man United signed 17 year olds to professional contracts. Meanwhile, Michelle's 18th birthday has passed and Arsenal have not announced that she has signed a professional contract. Do you know why she didn't sign a professional contract at 17 like Chelsea and Man United players did? And do you know what's happened regarding her signing a professional contract since her 18th birthday? ML

Agyemang signed a deal that automatically kicked in on her 18th birthday so I don’t believe there was any need for anything additional to happen save for some small administration. This actually happened when the men’s team signed Theo Walcott too, because he was 16 they couldn’t sign him to a first team deal until two months after the transfer and he turned 17. I honestly don’t know why the situation is different for Lexi Potter at Chelsea, I assume it involves some legalese above my knowledge of contract law and I can’t find any curiosity or explanation around this anywhere else.

Do you think the Viv and Russo attacking combo will come to fruition? (although I know it is still in a developmental phase).This is due to my observation that Viv often gets dispossessed easily as she attempts to bring the ball to the final 3rd for Alessia to finish. Is it because of Viv's lanky frame where she is unable to maneuver and shake off defenders as easily as Kim? Mia Goh

Should Viv be told to play up front and bang in the goals again and play Russo behind her as the 10 as Russo seems to like dropping deep to link play?! Amanda

I’ll group these questions. I do think there is potential in the Russo and Viv partnership, yes, but I would prefer for Russo to be the 9 (with some rotation of positions as moves develop, obviously) and for Arsenal to work on Russo being higher up the pitch for longer periods of time. Miedema protects the ball so well and spins those passes out to the flanks, I think it is telling that Arsenal were unchanged for the first two games of the year and those two played. I think that shows you that Jonas was working on the basis of those two players featuring together prominently.

There is also a misconception that Miedema is playing as a 10 because she asked to, which is not the case. She is playing there because Eidevall just has a different vision for what he wants his striker to do and felt Miedema’s qualities were more suited to a deeper role in his system. Miedema didn’t object because she enjoys playing there and did so as a youngster but she is not playing there on her insistence.

Pre-Gold Cup, Steph Catley seemed to really fall off the radar as preferred left back. Was this due to load management/squad stability for ‘bedding in’ Fox, or how would you see the fullback situation going forward?

Also, Jonas appear to have continued his approach with Foord of ‘playing back to form’, but potentially at risk of flogging her, especially when you’ve got Lacasse on the bench. Given the Gold Cup, I was surprised Foord wasn’t rested more as they’ve now fewer options for rotation. Obviously any rotation is now on hold until after the Gold Cup, but how would you see Lacasse being used going forward (or Foord haha)? She’s had limited game time recently, but really impressed from what I’ve seen! Grace Dunn

On Steph, I think we have to get out of the mindset of there being a concrete eleven or that a player not starting for a game or two means anything other than the manager can only select eleven players and that means good players will have to sit out. Steph had to go home for personal reasons during that time and missed some training and a game, so it just made sense to keep McCabe going at left-back knowing full well Fox would go to the Gold Cup and Steph would come back into the line-up soon enough.

On Foord, I think there are a few strands to this. Firstly, she did score in three games in January and won the WSL Fans Player of the Month, she wasn’t really out of form. Secondly, Hurtig’s injury robs Arsenal of their other left winger option and Laura Wienroither’s injury means they can’t play McCabe there because she is needed at full-back. They have three wingers when they need four and they have to be extra wary of not overloading Beth Mead given she has come back from a serious injury.

I am sympathetic to the idea that Lacasse could have played on the left more often, for sure. My theory here is that Arsenal played a very strong side against Watford then made no changes for the Everton game a week later off the back of the winter break. My understanding is that the starting line-up for the Feyenoord friendly in Portugal was also the same as those two games.

I think that was deliberate from the coaching staff to imbue a sense of continuity into a team struggling with deep blocks. I think Jonas wanted to give his first choice front three a fair crack against three deep blocks and, in fairness, at West Ham Mead and Foord were both subbed since they did not perform to their usual level.

How concerned should we be with the form of Zinsberger at the moment. I know that the England side is full of quality, but conceding seven goals is not great. I appreciate that we need to consider the Austria defence as a whole though. Do you think Bouhaddi will get a chance? Rob

Personally I don’t see Zinsberger as out of form. I admit I didn’t see the England v Austria game live so don’t really know what her whole performance looked like there. For Arsenal, I think she made a big error at West Ham, for sure, but it’s the only one I can really recall this season. My own opinion is that priors have not been updated on Zinsberger and her improvement has flown under the radar.

I think she has been at the club a while and minds have been made up but I see a goalkeeper with over 250 appearances for Arsenal, Bayern and Austria, who has made clear improvements in areas of weakness over the years and is still a couple of years away from her prime. I think it made complete sense to give her a new contract based on what she could become in the next couple of seasons (with the caveat that, of course, I support her being subjected to strong competition for her place).

I think she is further along than Mary Earps was at the same age and while that doesn’t guarantee she will continue to follow an upward trajectory, I think it is a reasonable bet for the club to make. People often forget that contracts are not ‘rewards’ for past performance, they are a bet on what you think you’re going to get over the course of the contract. I wouldn’t countenance dropping her at the moment. I do think Bouhaddi’s spell at the club will help her though, that is an incredibly decorated teammate to learn from.

In truth, D’Angelo made a pretty big error for United’s goal last week but she has been at the club for a much shorter time period and lots of minds have been made up about the player she is competing with, so that error was swept under the carpet- which is not to say that I think D’Angelo should have been severely criticised but that Zinsberger would have been.

Amanda is ill (hopefully not any more), Leah has a (hopefully slight) hamstring injury, Jen left, Steph and Katie are our only fullbacks during the Gold Cup, Steph on a heavy travel load + minutes with Australia, how do you see our defense? We know Katie Reid has been recalled from Watford. Does that have to do with our personnel issues? Similarly, Lacasse is away at the Gold Cup and we only have Foord and Meado as natural wingers now. Both have played loads recently, Foord with the Aussies & Meado returning from ACL. How do you see that? Roos

Yes I think the next couple of weeks might be challenging on the personnel front for the reasons that you outline but I think Arsenal are in a much better position to cope with that then they were a year ago, put it that way. This is what you have a big squad for and Arsenal experienced a much longer period of personnel turbulence last season which I hope will stand them in good stead. The schedule is reasonably kind too with a nine day break between Villa at home and Chelsea away and then a further nine days before Aston Villa away. Three games in 18 days ought to be manageable.

Expectations on Summer transfer window and Viv's future. Ki Woong Choi

My expectations would be for a pretty quiet summer overall, Arsenal have had a lot of activity in recent windows and need to calm down a little on player turnover in my view. I think we will see a left winger. Maybe Sabrina D’Angelo will view Zinsberger’s contract as a portent and depart (that is speculation not information) so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a big goalkeeper signing if that happens.

Ideally most coaches aspire to come to the stage where they only need to add a couple of players each summer, which is where Chelsea have been for some time now. My biggest curiosity is midfield, the club enormously believe in the talent of Kathrine Kuhl but I just cannot see that she will get the game time she needs unless one of the other central midfielders departs. Something is going to have to give in that area and it will be interesting to see where it does.

On Viv, I honestly don’t know how it will play out. I think her recovery took priority over negotiations but I honestly don’t know at this stage what discussions have looked like. I think she is very settled in London and loves playing in the WSL but she is going to be 28 in the summer and this will be her last prime years contract, most likely. The kind of offer Arsenal make will depend on how much faith Jonas has in that Miedema and Russo partnership because Russo is the star signing and a project the club have invested in.

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