Are Austrian defender Laura Wienroither’s days at Arsenal Women numbered? | OneFootball

Are Austrian defender Laura Wienroither’s days at Arsenal Women numbered? | OneFootball

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Just Arsenal News

·20 gennaio 2025

Are Austrian defender Laura Wienroither’s days at Arsenal Women numbered?

Immagine dell'articolo:Are Austrian defender Laura Wienroither’s days at Arsenal Women numbered?

Are Laura Wienroither’s Days at Arsenal Numbered? That’s the question Gooners are pondering after the girls’ 5-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Arsenal were supposed to kick off 2025 with an FA Cup 4th round clash against Bristol City. However, that game was postponed due to a frozen pitch at Meadow Park. This meant the WSL clash with Palace was their first game of the new year.


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Renee Slegers, newly confirmed as Arsenal Women’s permanent head coach, was keen to start her reign on a high, and she did just that. Every one of her decisions paid off, leading to that commanding 5-0 win over the Eagles.

But one decision has left Gooners talking. Some are wondering why Renee took off Emily Fox in the 82nd minute of that game and, instead of replacing her with Laura Wienroither (who is match fit after fully rehabilitating from her ACL injury), she brought on Katie Reid.

Immagine dell'articolo:Are Austrian defender Laura Wienroither’s days at Arsenal Women numbered?

Laura Wienroither of Arsenal during the FA WSL match between Arsenal and West Ham United. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

My understanding was that the right wing-back position is supposed to be covered by either Fox or Wienroither. In fact, coming into this season, we were looking forward to the battle for a starting spot between the two. So why did Renee sub off Fox and not give Wienroither a chance to show what she can offer at RB?

That question came up in the post-match press conference, and the Arsenal Women boss said, “There are a couple of different reasons. We wanted to get Foxy off the pitch; she came back to us a little bit later (from winter break). It was great we could take her off. It is about how we want to position ourselves and what quality we need, but yeah, Laura is fit, both Katie Reid and Laura are fit.”

From those comments, are Laura Wienroither’s days at Arsenal numbered? Is Reid now ahead of her in the pecking order?

Well, I don’t know about you, but that explanation didn’t leave me convinced. And I don’t want to be too harsh on Renee Slegers, but players like Wienroither, Lotte Wubben-Moy, and Laia Codina aren’t players we should be losing. If we want to compete on multiple fronts, they’re players we ought to keep hold of (how can we do that if they’re not playing; not even making cameo appearances?

I am all for giving the youngsters a chance, but with the game at 4-0 by the time Fox was being withdrawn, what would you lose by playing either Lotte or Wienroither at RB to see out the game? Even 8 minutes on the pitch could hint to a player that she’s part of the plan.

Either way, let’s trust that Renee has what’s best for the team in mind. All we want is for Arsenal Women to be the English and European powerhouse it was meant to be.

What do you think Gooners? Am I getting worried over nothing?

Michelle M

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