Home » Back Three Backfires, as blunt Arsenal blow season opener

Back Three Backfires, as blunt Arsenal blow season opener

FA WSL, Football, Sports / By / / Arsenal, Liverpool
Miri Taylor scores a Barclays WSL opener goal for Liverpool against Arsenal.

Miri Taylor scores a Barclays WSL opener goal for Liverpool against Arsenal. Photo credit: Liverpool Women via Twitter.

Arsenal were left stunned by Miri Taylor’s second-half strike as Liverpool claimed an impressive away scalp in the opening weekend of the WSL. Despite a record attendance and new signings Alessia Russo and Cloe Lacasse making their WSL debuts for Arsenal, the Gunners were well below par in a sluggish, laboured display.

With the World Cup and the failed UWCL qualifiers now in the past, this was the occasion every Arsenal Women’s fan had their eye on. The long-awaited return of the WSL. Arsenal were making every effort to push and promote the home tie against Liverpool at Emirates Stadium, with ticket sales progressing up to an incredible 50,000. Fat Brass were once again on the scene, playing their music as the fans marched on Emirates Stadium. The local Arsenal pub, the Tollington, was filled with Gooners, excited for the new season, and the prospect of seeing some of their new heroes make their bow. And for some lucky few fans, an invitation to the The Avenell Club was awarded. It was the first time the Box had been opened up for a Women’s match, and Teyah Goldie was present to sign autographs and take pictures. There was a real sense of positive anticipation. And then the team sheet dropped.

For all of the good moves made in the transfer market, the glaring failure was the inability to sign a right back to cover for Wienroither as she recovers from an ACL. It left that area of the squad rather exposed, and when it was announced that Maritz was only fit for the bench, Arsenal found themselves with a problem. The team sheet looked to be indicating a return to the Lotte-Beattie partnership, with Catley on the left and McCabe as the ‘wrong-side’ full back. But it wasn’t. Arsenal had instead reverted to the back 3 that they were forced into the see out last season. Catley was in fact the LCB, with McCabe and (bizarrely) Lacasse operating as the wing-backs. It was a tactical plan that backfired badly.

The back three’s strength is in defensive numbers and the stronger use of the width. But the trade-off is the lack of numbers in the midfield. England rode a back 3 to the World Cup Final but were never able to gain a foothold in the contest, as Spain overwhelmed them in the centre of the park. Here, Arsenal’s midfield was Walti and Little, with Frida supporting Foord and Russo. However, rather than being overwhelmed like England were, Arsenal instead lacked sufficient numbers to break down Liverpool’s low block. The attack became badly lopsided. Foord would drift left to work with McCabe on the left, but Lacasse was left isolated and starved of possession. Arsenal became very left-centric, and in doing so, very predictable. Liverpool set themselves up to force Arsenal into the channels and were quite content to deal with the aerial threat, their approach helped by the poor delivery from the flanks. Arsenal racked up 19 corners in the match, but only once looked like scoring from them, a Jen Beattie header that forced Laws into a superb reflex save. As the first half progressed, the play became slow and laboured, lacking the creativity and intelligence required to find the crucial breakthrough. Passes soon became overhit or astray, as the frustration grew. Arsenal weren’t able to sustain any semblance of pressure or momentum.

The fear at half time that Arsenal were at risk of being sucker-punched by Liverpool, who had weathered Arsenal’s blunt attack with relative comfort. The only surprise was how early in the second half the goal came. Foord and Catley lost 50:50s in their own half, Höbinger slipped Kearns in behind the defence. Her cutback left Beattie on the deck, Lotte flat-footed, and Manu scrambling across her goal line, unable to prevent Taylor, unmarked, slotting home at the back post.

Arsenal were struggling to score one goal, now they needed two. It was a task that was beyond them. Ilestedt, Hurtig and Pelova were thrown on as Jonas shuffled his team, but apart from a few nice touches, had little impact on the game. With 15 minutes left, Blackstenius was brought on for the infective Russo, but the narrative didn’t change. Arsenal played the same card continuously. Run the left channel, play back into midfield, circulate possession, run the left channel again, until either the ball goes out, a corner is won, or a deep hopeful cross is tossed in, that ends up going straight out on the full.

Eide-ball is built on high intensity, high pressing, forcing turnovers in mid transition, and scoring lots of goals. This was not it. Arsenal had devolved into a toothless, predictable quagmire of possession circulation and aimless crossing. By 65 minutes, I was convinced we weren’t going to score. Chances were minimal. Beattie and Hurtig had scrambles in the box but lacked composure. Foord had a looping header bounce onto the bar. Pelova dragged a cutback wide after food play from Hurtig. The crowd were lulled into a stupor by the tedium on display, the only roars coming when the attendance was announced (54,115, a WSL record) and when 10 minutes of added time were declared. But Liverpool were in control, killing the game with a superb example of game management. Added time saw little difference, Arsenal could have played for 200 minutes and would never have broken down Liverpool’s impressive defensive rear-guard. The final whistle brought about the end to a tortious afternoon in North London. Arsenal had blown their big day and were left with even more questions about their season.

The scariest thing about the performance is that we had seen it just weeks earlier in Sweden. Against Paris FC, Arsenal laboured through a goalless first half, struggling to find the ingenuity to crack Paris’ defence open, just like they did here. Liverpool’s goal was also a replay of Paris’ third in extra time. Arsenal had the kick-off, but they lost possession immediately on a long punt forward. From that, Liverpool were able to build territory and their goal, like Paris FC’s, featured a cutback that bypassed the entire backline. This time, however, there would be no late heroics. Jen Beattie was once again became an emergency auxiliary forward, a trend that is becoming worryingly ever-frequent. She may have been able to take two games to extra-time through her heroics, but this is not a viable solution in the long term. Arsenal should not be finding themselves in this position, yet for the second game running, they found themselves hurling Hail Mary crosses at Beattie in a desperate attempt to save the match.

Arsenal have little time to dwell on this, as they now travel up to the LSV for a Friday Night showdown with Manchester United, a fixture was already loaded enough as it is. Changes to the team must now be a major consideration. The back 3 has to be discarded. It served a purpose last season, but we aren’t struggling for numbers now. If Maritz is fit, she has to start at right back. As Beattie cannot play in a back 4, Ilestedt will likely come in for her. Hopefully, this will give Arsenal more numbers in midfield and attack. Lacasse had some nice touches on the right on the rare occasions she was given the ball. She explained post-match that RWB was a position she had played before, but if Arsenal want to get the best out of her, she needs to be further forward. The other position in question is Manu. Throughout the international break, she committed two ghastly howlers, and did not look comfortable today. She fumbled a routine cross in the first half which Arsenal were able to fortunately scramble away, and then for Taylor’s goal, gave the impression of running through treacle trying to get across her goal line. Manu is a world class keeper, who has been brilliant for us the last two seasons, but something is inhibiting her individual performances, and bringing in D’Angelo for a spell might work out the best for all parties.

The end result is that Arsenal now find themselves firmly on the back foot in the title race. A season which has become fully focused on domestic success now finds itself on even shakier ground. Arsenal, Jonas, and the team are all better than the displays we’ve seen in Sweden and against Liverpool. They need to rediscover the energy and tenacity that served them so well in previous seasons, and fast. Manchester United and Aston Villa are next, fixtures they lost last season. A repeat of that this time around and Arsenal’s season will be over before November. Time for everyone to step up, starting on Friday Night.

 

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Adam Salter
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