Arsenal women report so far: Not good enough | OneFootball

After a demanding start to the campaign, Arsenal Women’s first block of fixtures has exposed worrying signs in both the WSL and Europe, leaving plenty of questions for Renée Slegers to solve after a faltering opening stretch.

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Arsenal have now finished their first block of games and clearly it has not gone to plan: the club is currently in fifth place in the WSL table and in ninth place out of 18 in the UEFA Women Champions League table. In the WSL three wins, two draws and one defeat in six while in the Champions, the results are one win and one defeat.

For a club aiming to win the five competitions they are entering, this is clearly not good enough. Two draws against Aston Villa and Manchester United coupled with a defeat at Manchester City means the title hopes are compromised already. In the Champions League, direct qualification to the quarter-finals will probably need four wins in the four remaining games or maybe three wins and a draw to reach 13 or 15 points out of a maximum of 18.

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Clearly the team is not firing on all cylinders and this is disappointing to say the least. There are players that are not performing individually as well as they did last season where they were simply exceptional. It does make a difference, when those players ( van Domselaar and Caldentey) are performing well but not brilliantly.

What is clear this season is Arsenal is now facing a problem when opponent press them high on the pitch. Under Jonas Eidevall the main problem was attacking low block, under Renee Slegers, it has become beating the first line of press. It is quite obvious that opponents have analysed the way Arsenal build up play and are countering it with their pressing. It is up to the coaching staff to prepare a game plan that the players can use and up to the players to apply it properly and find solutions on the pitch, something we are not seeing enough this season.

In term of players used, Renee Slegers makes 3.14 starting XI changes per game and 4.88 substitutions per game. She has used 19 players in eight games. Six of them have started all eight games and are the core of the team: Daphne van Domselaar in goal, Emily Fox and Steph Catley at the back, Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey in the middle and Alessia Russo up top.

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19 years old Katie Reid has been installed as a starter in Leah Williamson‘s absence due to injury, she has started six of the eight games missing one for tactical reasons ( Manchester City) and one through injury (Benfica). Lotte Wubben-Moy has played those two games from the start.

At left-back Katie McCabe has started all the League games, while Taylor Hinds has started both Champions League games. It is a clear indication that the Irish captain has competition for her place and that Hinds has added important depth and quality in that position that allows McCabe to be rested without problems.

In the four attacking positions, Alessia Russo is the anchor, as mentioned she started all eight games and the seven other players are rotated Olivia Smith has six starts and two subs appearances, Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead have four starts and four subs appearances, Frida Maanum as four starts and three subs appearances, Stina Blackstenius has one start and six subs appearances, Chloe Kelly has two starts and five subs appearance with one game missed through injury, Vicky Pelova has two starts and two subs appearances.

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In midfield Kyra Cooney-Cross has one start in the last game of the block away to Benfica and three subs appearances. Her limited game time is due to Little and Caldentey selected ahead of her in the double pivot, while in defense Laia Codina has played five minutes against Benfica,

The other players have no minutes so far. Leah Williamson is coming back from injury and should be on the pitch before the end of the year. Manuela Zinsberger has just done her ACL and is sadly out for the whole season. Anneke Borbe is the third choice goalkeeper and has been in and out of the squad

Jenna Nighswonger has been out of the players squad in the League the whole season and has been in the squad for the two Champions League games. The coaching staff does not count on her it is quite obvious, we saw the same thing with Laura Wienroither last season.

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The other unused players so far are two Academy youngsters Sophie Harwood a right-back who should promise in pre-season and might get a few minutes during the season, when Emily Fox needs a breather and goalkeeper Amy Liddiard who was called up for the Benfica game when the other two goalkeepers where injured.

The second block of games will be decisive in the League and in the Champions League: away to Leicester, home to Chelsea a must win game, away to Bayern, away to Spurs and then home to Real Madrid. Basically five must win games to be able to stay relevant in both competitions.

Hopefully no player will come back injured or exhausted from the two weeks international break and Renee Slegers will be able to make the changes needed to get the team to perform at the highest level and get back into the winning groove otherwise it could become a very long and difficult season.