January Mailbag edition

What is the plan for Codina? Unsure of what her contract length is but she isn't getting a lot of game time, and with Williamson on track to returning, Jonas is obviously keen to start integrating her into team selection for both league and cup games which puts Codina even further down the pecking order. Was she supposed to be a short-term cover for our defence while they return from injury? Or does he see her as a player who will be with the team long-term and can be a future starter? I just don't understand this signing at all. Wiz

Codina has always played on the left of the centre-half pairing so her signing was more about Rafaelle’s departure than Williamson’s injury. But I think the fact is that Lotte is playing so well that she hasn’t really had a look in and she had a hamstring injury earlier in the season too. Plus, there is the adaption time she was likely to need after coming over from Barcelona. I also think, with some of the spine changing in the team this season (Pelova, Russo) and the issue of reintegrating Mead and Miedema at a sensible pace, Eidevall has wanted continuity at centre-half because it’s lacking in other areas of the team. Codina will get her chance, football changes quickly. A year ago a lot of us wondered how Wubben-Moy could force her way past Rafa and Leah Williamson but both of those players had injury issues over the last year, then one of them left and now she’s a mainstay.

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Now that Manu has signed a new contract. Do you think, from the Club perspective (if not a rump of fans!), interest in Mary Earps is at an end. Chris Humphrey

With the news of Manu’s contract renewal what do you think that means for Sabs, Naomi and Kaylan? I personally want a young goalkeeper to bring in and develop and integrate into the first team over the next few years. Faiza

Following Zinsberger's contract extension, why do you think they did it? Lack of better talent elsewhere? Jeremy Cunnington

Let’s take this in three parts. First, Zinsberger’s contract. I am not at all surprised the club wanted to extend her contract. D’Angelo was signed to effectively rotate with Zinsberger but that doesn’t really happen any longer. Zinsberger has responded very well to every challenge she has been given at Arsenal and has been the first choice pretty much ever since she arrived. The club triggered her one-year option last spring and I think that shows what they think of her. She is 28, has over 250 senior games for Arsenal, Bayern and Austria behind her. I think the only question was going to be whether Manu wanted to extend, not whether Arsenal wanted to. If you want to know what a coach thinks of a player, always look at the number of minutes they get.

Secondly, Earps. That was never on the agenda for January. There has been a lot of noise but, as far as I am aware, one bid from the club and that was pretty much it. No club ever wants their transfer movements to be public but I think Arsenal really didn’t want this to be public given the Russo deal that preceded it. There has been a lot of noise since. I don’t know for sure, I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal did reignite their interest this summer if Earps doesn’t sign a new deal but I am not aware that they are trying to force anything at this moment in time. Arsenal like to do business quietly.

On the other goalkeepers. Kaylan is now injured but I suspect she would have moved on this summer were it not for her ACL injury. I don’t have a sense of how good Naomi Williams is having not seen her play but with Arsenal bringing in Bouhaddi on a temporary deal in February shows you they don’t think she is ready yet. A loan could be on the cards there. I guess a lot depends on whether D’Angelo can stake more of a claim in the coming months because she won’t hold onto her Canada squad spot forever without regular football. My gut says we might see some change there in the summer.

If you were Stina, would you be thinking, "what do i have to do to get a start?" Would be useful to get some goals per minutes stats. Andrew Gambrill

I would hope any player not starting regularly would be asking questions, analysing their game, as well as the player keeping them out. I think the issue for Stina might be that she is actually very well suited to this impact role when games tend to be a bit more stretched out- especially if the opponent needs a goal. I think Russo playing 70 minutes and Stina 20 is a really nice balance for the team but Stina won’t see it that way and neither should any player that isn’t starting. But these are just issues big clubs have to deal with, because we don’t support Chelsea, for example, we seldom think of how they keep their players happy, or how Jess Park is supposed to get past Hemp and Kelly for regular minutes at City.

Do you think the jump from Meadow Park to the Emirates is too big in terms of crowd size? But if the Emirates does become viable week-in week-out, what would be the impact on the team's finances? Rhys Evans

Probably but there are few alternatives. I wrote about this earlier this month. If Watford Women are relegated from the Championship, Vicarage Road could offer a neat short-term interim solution.

What do you think is causing our lack of ability to run up the goals in comparison to Chelski and City? I know they’re over performing their xG but, as we know from previous seasons, these things could come down to goal difference, and I’m a little nervous that we’re dropping the ball when it comes to that. Do you think it’s a symptom of the new attack? Do you think it’ll get better as the team settles back in with the returnees? Adina

Yes but the top four teams usually do overperform their XG. When Arsenal won the title in 2019, they overperformed their XG by 25 goals. I think it’s definitely a concern and from the conversations I have had with Jonas (which, in fairness, are directed by my line of questioning) it sounds like a lot of work has been done over the winter break to try to become more fluid and less predictable. I think in the first two seasons under Eidevall, Arsenal were moving towards being more of a counterpressing team and more direct on occasions than they had been under Joe Montemurro.

I think Arsenal are well drilled in that side of the game now and now we need to see more of that natural, instinctive play. We can see from the first two games after the winter break that Arsenal are working on greater interchange of positions and getting the ball into better areas before delivering crosses, for example.

I do think a lot of this is to do with integrating new players and that takes time. But I also think we are all quick to forget that every full season since they arrived, Mead and Miedema have been first and second for goal contributions at Arsenal and they lost both of them for a year, more or less and that has had a huge impact too.

I personally think that Zinsberger and Earps are about equivalent in terms of quality, and it's strange to me that they seem to have such different reputations (especially among some Arsenal fans who seem to think that Zinsberger is responsible for anything that goes wrong in an Arsenal game and that Earps is infallible and any goals she concedes aren't her fault). Why do you think they have such different reputations, especially among Arsenal fans?ML

This is a question I hoped would come up and have, therefore, separated it from the other goalkeeper questions. I think you hit on a really important point which is that we judge our own teams and our own players far more harshly than those on other teams. In our imaginations, our rivals are playing at full tilt every single week and, honestly, when I watch other WSL games and see the other teams goals concede, well, let’s just say I am not convinced Zinsberger’s harshest critics do the same.

I am not saying Zinsberger is perfect. I do see a lot of improvement in her game. When she arrived she gave you one heart attack per game on the ball and she no longer does that. She had a real issue with long shots a couple of seasons ago due to her footwork and I don’t see that weakness any longer. It is clear she has worked hard on her left foot and her long kicking. Basically, I see a 28 year old goalkeeper, short of her prime years, who has 250 elite appearances behind her and I really see something to work with. I see a player who has responded well to every challenge that has come her way in her Arsenal career. I am always happy to see the club invest in players like this when they are pre-prime.

Again, it’s not that I think Zinsberger is flawless but I also think there is a lot of confirmation bias floating around. The amount of people who blamed her for the defeat at Spurs was genuinely wild to me and, I think, evidence that many are no longer thinking critically (which is not the same as saying they are ridiculous for wanting an upgrade, for instance, but I do think it has gone way OTT). I am glad Arsenal have retained her but if things don’t pick up for D’Angelo before the summer, I am very happy to see another strong goalkeeper come in to challenge Manu again.

How does the back line change with Williamson back in the next month or so - I think we would all like to see Wubben-Moy keep her starting position but what options does Ilestedt on the bench (for example) open up tactically across a full 90? And how do Williamson’s strengths change how we’ll play? Gem

I think the first thing to say is that it will be a while before Leah is back playing 90 minutes consistently and players like Ilestedt, Codina and Lotte are going to be needed and re-integrating a centre-half is tricky because that is not generally an area where you like to make substitutions. But, clearly, it transforms what Arsenal can do in their build up and goes a long way to making the build-up quicker and less predictable when you have a player who can break lines with long or short passes like Leah.

Arsenal couldn’t replace those qualities during Leah’s absence because very few defenders have them and none of the defenders that do are available to buy. I also think her recovery pace would have come in very useful for Everton’s goal on Saturday, for example. The fact is, a defender like Leah can conceal any gaps in your defensive structure through individual feats. You just can’t replace that when it isn’t there. Look at what happened to the Liverpool men’s team when van Dijk got injured!

Once she returns, i think it will be a shootout between Codina and Wubben-Moy for the left centre-half role. Codina cannot get past Wubben-Moy at the moment and one of Lotte’s great strengths in recent seasons has been availability. But things can change quickly. I see that as a good competition and both players are at an age where they want to make the next step in their career.

Jonas has spoken about needing to build connections for attacking fluidity, but the WSL season is now halfway over. Some other clubs brought in new signings/had players return from injury at the same time we did or even after and were able to build those connections seemingly in a matter of weeks while for Arsenal it feels like we're still laboriously trying to build connections months later. As I typed this, Kristie Mewis just assisted a goal for West Ham on her debut! What can aid Arsenal in building connections and developing attacking fluidity when it seems like even relegation-threatened West Ham can do it in a fraction of the time that it takes Arsenal? ML

I really don’t agree with this. I can’t see that other clubs have done that, City have had the same frontline for the last two seasons. United lost Russo and I think they look a long way from having achieved that attacking fluidity and Chelsea’s first game after Kerr’s injury saw them need extra time to beat West Ham. I am not sure Mewis assisting from a setpiece points to much and West Ham are a case in point. In Asseyi and Ueki they have two top quality attackers who have struggled for service. Villa looked completely lost when Kenza Dali was injured earlier in the season. Arsenal have been reintegrating Mead and Miedema gradually for fitness reasons so they have been in and out. However, yes, I think we need to see something more soon, without doubt.

Given the Gold cup - does the squad have enough full backs and wingers right now. Hurtig fitness unreliable, Gio might not be registered, Lacasse gold cup, Fox gold cup. Leaves the squad very light in wide areas. Owen Driscoll

Hurtig’s injuries and the stalling in Gio’s development have hurt Arsenal for sure. It means they have had three wide attackers when Jonas really wants four. McCabe will probably have to go back to right-back when Fox is at the Gold Cup so that takes her out of the frontline equation. I agree the squad is light a player in wide areas and believe this will be a priority for the club in the summer. We have seen this in the Conti Cup for example. Miedema played wide left against Spurs and I don’t think that was genuinely because Jonas was curious about seeing her in that position, it was because he wanted to give Foord a breather and didn’t have another winger for the position.

The entitlement of fans who go to games and demand shirts, boots and push to the barriers to shout at the players etc, seem to be ruining the experience for lots of other fans who go to watch the football. Would the club actually ban signs and this sort of behaviour? I would happy if they did tbh. Lucy

It was interesting to hear that apparently Arsenal players were told that they were not allowed to engage with the fans (even though a few did) and yet the Everton players were signing autographs and posing for photo's before getting on their team coach at the end of the match. Do you think that Arsenal are trying to make a stand on this now? Rob

I have grouped these two questions from Rob and Lucy and they come up a lot. I think it would be too draconian for the club to ban signs and the like, especially since they are mainly shown by children. I do think it’s notable that the players have started to do a lap of applause after the game to thank the fans with fewer players stopping for autographs and selfies. There are regularly 4,000 people at Meadow Park now, it’s impossible to meet that demand. I wouldn’t be surprised if the players have adopted a kind of rota where a couple of players go and greet fans in certain areas.

There is also a sports science angle here too in the winter because the physios don’t want the players out in the cold too long after a match (if we speak to a player post-match at Meadow Park, the amount of time we have with them is closely guarded so they are not standing around getting cold muscles). Ultimately, I do think this practice will fade out once people start to appreciate, more and more, that the chances of successfully nabbing a photo or signature is unlikely.

Sometimes I do wonder why parents allow some kids to be so rude and demanding but then I wonder whether they are just not as into women’s football as their kids and perhaps they don’t see it as big an issue as repeat attenders see it.

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