‘To be the best team in the league, it is really just about consistency. It’s being able to perform even on away days on the longest travel, that’s something we really need to focus on if we want to take ourselves to that next level and to win the league, is that it can just be one point.’
It has been an incredible August for Women’s Football, with the best of the best fighting it out on our TV screens for the glory of World Domination. The content has been flowing like never before, with pictures, interviews, highlights and Instagram Lives giving fans 24/7 content around their favourite football superstars. But the World Cup party is over now. The plug has been pulled. And with the WSL season not starting until October, a massive content void has opened in or day-to-day lives. Thankfully, it would appear Arsenal have swung in to save the day, as during the World Cup, it was announced that Arsenal would be releasing ‘Togetherness’, a 5-part documentary spread over 5 days, providing a behind-the scenes look at their 2022-23 season.
Togetherness.
The story of our 2022/23 season ❤️
Episode one is now available to watch for free 📺
👉 https://t.co/3KWmwJ2IZR pic.twitter.com/ujVZezHi0M
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) August 21, 2023
Ever since the hugely successful ‘All or Nothing’ documentary Amazon produced around the Arsenal Men’s 2021-22 season, demand for further peaks behind the curtain from the fans have become louder than ever. Arsenal have responded with more documentaries, albeit produced in-house. Life at Hale End and Jack Wilshere’s return as the U18 head coach have already had the cameras in and the content produced has proved to be very popular with the fanbase. Yet the glaring omission has been the Arsenal Women’s Team. It was very disappointed not to see Jonas’ debut season acknowledged at all when the Amazon cameras were in the building. Togetherness looked to be that missing piece. And with the UWCL qualifiers not starting until September, this appeared to be the perfect bridge between the World Cup and the new season.
The documentary opens with Captain Kim Little, discussing how to win the League. Arsenal had pushed Chelsea all the way the season before, but as Kim said, consistency is key. Arsenal failed to have that in January and February, poor results meant that at the end of the season, one point was ultimately the difference. After the final whistle of that West Ham game, Jonas rallies the troops in the centre circle for some parting words, promising that they would come back stronger the next season, and praising their efforts and the attacking football they had played. Then we see the title sequence, a few snapshots reminding us of the triumphs and traumas, the success, and failures, of the season we are about to experience once more, with some lovely violin work over the top. The feel is very professional, a documentary series that would not look out of place within the Amazon Sports library.
🚨🚨Arsenal women documentary.
Togetherness: Episode 1pic.twitter.com/ng1YrxvmLr
— AfcHero (@MagicOdegard) August 21, 2023
As someone who watched Amazon’s showcase of the Arsenal Men, it’s very easy to start drawing parallels between the two. The interviews with the Jonas as he drives to work Speaking with the players about their experiences of playing for Arsenal at London Colney. And of course, the narration. For the Men’s film, Academy Award winning actor (and Arsenal fan) Daniel Kaluuya was brought in to guide the viewer. Here, Arsenal Women legend Rachel Yankey is the voice of the series, who does a splendid job retelling to story of Arsenal Women’s 2022-23 season.
For those of us who are already fans of the team, it’s a very enjoyable watch. Seeing our heroes in training, or playing at the carpet, it’s easy to forget the joy we were all experiencing in September at cheering on our champions from Euro 2022 in the team and demolishing the likes of Brighton and Spurs at home. Yet the script hints at the troubled waters to come. In their season opener against Brighton, Yankey informs us that Jonas has a fully fit squad to pick from. It’s a luxury he will only have for the first 4 games of the season. In the second episode, we hear of Beth’s strong form at the start of the season. Her second goal against Lyon would prove to be her last of the season. As episode 2 progresses, we see our first 2 ACL injuries of the season, with Viv’s rupture against Lyon the closing scene.
Yet, as fun as it is to relieve the highs (and lows), there is also a sense of watching the season on fast forward. Games whizz by as we see highlights filmed from unconventional angles, with Yankey providing brief snippets of play-by-play. The second episode featured 30-60 second rewinds of our matches against Liverpool, West Ham, Leicester City, Juventus, Everton, Juventus again, and Aston Villa. Kim Little’s injury is mentioned only in passing, despite it being critical loss to Arsenal’s midfield. The main focus of episode 2 are the two Lyon games, which provide bookends to the piece, with the home loss to Man United sandwiched in the middle. The highlights for these critical fixtures are longer, with input from the likes of Steph Catley and Stina Blackstenius helping to pad it out. But these fixtures are the also where the documentary starts to fall apart.
The most glaring moment is the Manchester United game. Arsenal have had a poor first half, and Ella Toone deservedly gives Man United the lead just before the break. Yankey states that a huge team talk would be needed from Jonas Eidevall. Would we see him go full Mike Bassett, give the side the Fergie hairdryer treatment, or maybe scream about duels and lightbulbs? Indeed, it was the latter that became one of the big attractions of All or Nothing. Watching Arteta try to inspire the troops pre-game or go hell for leather at them when things were going bad at half-time (which was often) was fascinating and entertaining to witness. Yet that footage is absent here. We don’t see how Jonas attempted to change the game. We don’t see him rally the players. Instead, we just cut to the second half and more Yankey narration.
And this is the biggest flaw with Togetherness. The run time. All or Nothing ran for 8 episodes, each one running between 30 to 60 minutes (mostly the latter). Togetherness is 3 episodes shorter, and only around 20-25 minutes long so far. With about half of that run time reliving the matches, there is very little time to see genuine behind the scenes content. All or Nothing allowed us to see not only life at London Colney, but also the lives of the people. We saw Arteta and his family (and barbecue, of course). We learnt about Xhaka and Tierney. We met Ramsdale’s parents, supporting him in his Premier League debut against Norwich. These were some of the best and heart-warming moments. In the past, the players used to vlog about their day to day lives as part of the WePlayStrong Series, a feature that appears to have been cast to the wayside. None of that features here. Instead, we get a few moments of Jonas providing the occasional post-match review, or pre-match changing room chat. No brains or hearts here. No emotional speeches from club photographers. Just a few positive words and then out the team goes.
It leaves us screaming for more. The demand for insight behind the scenes is huge. Chelsea have already ran one for their Women’s Team with DAZN, and the Matildas had their own show before their World Cup. Togetherness feels like a show that had all the potential to be just like them, but instead feels very Amazon-lite. The framework has been followed, but the content feels shallow, barely scraping the surface of life within the heart of the Arsenal Women. What about day-to-day life at London Colney? We see only a few seconds of work the training pitch in the first episode, but that’s about it. What about life in the gym? Injury recovery and rehab? The canteen chats? How do the players deal with the constant trolling and abuse on social media just for being a footballer? And what about the others running the club, like Claire Wheatley, or Vinai Venkatesham? Where do they fit into the massive Arsenal jigsaw puzzle?
Now, at the time of writing, we are only 2 episodes in. It has felt like a rush to the Christmas break, but we all know what lies around the corner for the team, good and bad. It is entirely possible that greater depth is present in the remaining 3 episodes. But so far, as fun and as entertaining as it has been to consume, it does also feel like a missed opportunity to learn not just about the team, but also about the people and the players behind it and go even deeper into the world of Arsenal Women. Togetherness has been fun. I had just hoped to see more about what helps keep this team together.
Watch Togetherness on the Arsenal website.
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