Arsenal semi-final place secured after Palace win | OneFootball

Arsenal women defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 away on a cold, rainy Sunday to set up a Subway Cup semi-final at home against Manchester United on 21 or 22 January.

It was a bizarre day in the competition, with Chelsea winning 9-1 at Liverpool, Manchester City beating West Ham 5-1 shortly after the London club had sacked their manager, Rehanne Skinner, and Manchester United defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 after being a goal down.

Then came the evening bombshell, with London City Lionesses sacking their manager, Jocelyn Prêcheur, who had been doing an excellent job with a promoted side.

Being a WSL manager is a tough job and is as complicated as being a Premier League manager. Of the 12 current managers, one was appointed in 2021, Mark Skinner, one in 2022, Brian Sørensen, and all the others after July 2024. Sonia Bompastor, with 17 months in the job at Chelsea, is now the third longest-serving manager. Renée Slegers is the fifth longest-serving manager in post.

The Palace win is unlikely to live long in the memory. It was a mediocre performance that bore the hallmarks of squad rotation and players who had not played together for a long time. Slegers made seven changes from the team that started against OH Leuven, and it showed. She was completely right to do so, as it was the fifth and final game of the block and some players needed a rest.

All but one outfield player who had started the four previous games in this block were given a rest. The only exception was Kyra Cooney-Cross, who had not been getting regular minutes earlier in the season and was fresher than most. She is now getting consistent game time and is improving in her understanding of the role assigned to her, even if her positioning still needs correcting during matches by the coaching staff, and she sometimes takes too many touches in dangerous areas.

The main issue is that striking the right balance between rotating players and maintaining performance levels is extremely difficult. As seen on Sunday, and last season away to Aston Villa and Brighton, when too many players are rotated at once, the team struggles to function as a cohesive unit and problems emerge.

The defensive structure is disrupted, passing lanes disappear, off-the-ball movement is reduced and the passing game no longer flows. Clearly, Slegers has not yet found the right balance when it comes to large-scale rotation. She averages 2.94 changes to the starting XI per game, ranking sixth in the WSL, and 4.83 substitutions per game, the highest figure in the league.

Forward players are rotated the most, and this season she has also begun rotating full-backs, helped by the summer signing of Taylor Hinds, whose versatility allows her to play on either side of the defence.

Below are the minutes played by the 22 players used by the Arsenal manager in the first half of the season. The maximum possible total is 1,620 minutes.

There will inevitably be movement in the January transfer window, with a couple of players arriving and a couple departing. However, overall minutes distribution and load management will be crucial from the start of 2026, with 10 or 11 games scheduled in the opening block of 43 days.

Arsenal will compete in five different competitions during that period and will need to perform at the highest level, with fixtures against Manchester United twice, Chelsea away, Manchester City at home, two FIFA Women’s Champions Cup matches and UEFA Women’s Champions League play-offs against OH Leuven.