After an underwhelming 2023-24, Arsenal will be expected to achieve far better things as the new campaign gets underway
There is a cliche that while teams can't win titles in the first few weeks of the season, they can certainly lose them. Last year, Arsenal's early results might not have fitted that exactly, but when a shock elimination in Champions League qualifying was followed by an equally surprising defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium, it absolutely set the tone for an underwhelming campaign that the Gunners will be eager to bounce back from this time around.
A faster start will be imperative for success in 2024-25 because the schedule Jonas Eidevall's side are working with is unforgiving. On Sunday, Arsenal begin the new Women's Super League season against Manchester City, last year's runners-up. Four days later, they need to overcome a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their Champions League second round qualifier with Hacken to reach the group stage. A couple of weeks after that, Chelsea, champions of the last five seasons, will make the short journey across London to visit the Gunners.
Straight out of the blocks, there will be little room for error for an Arsenal side that, as the most successful club in the English women's game, is always under pressure to deliver. Five years since a last WSL triumph and eight years since the Gunners lifted the Women's FA Cup for a record-extending 14th time, can Eidevall's charges live up to expectations this season?
Getty ImagesMood around the club
There is a lot of positivity surrounding Arsenal ahead of the new WSL season. Though Vivianne Miedema has departed and the strong links with England star Keira Walsh didn't result in a transfer, the club had a great summer window, strengthening the squad in several areas with some impressive signings. Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Laura Wienroither, who all suffered ACL ruptures during 2022-23 and thus returned midway through the last campaign, have all got full pre-seasons under their belts and the first round of Champions League qualifying saw the team put on impressive displays against Rangers and Rosenborg.
However, amid this positivity there is a sense of expectation. While Arsenal have been steady in the last couple of seasons, winning back-to-back League Cups and securing European football through top-three finishes, this team can achieve more. The Gunners haven't sustained a genuine title challenge since the 2021-22 campaign and last year's Champions League exit in the first round of qualifying was hugely disappointing.
For some supporters, this feels like a make or break season for head coach Jonas Eidevall to prove he is the right person to take this team forward. They want a title challenge, they want to win more than the League Cup and they want to be in the UWCL proper again. That said, it is unlikely the club view things the same way, having handed Eidevall a new long-term contract last September, just days after that shock European elimination.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTransfer business
It's fair to say Arsenal's summer didn't start in particularly positive fashion, when it was announced that iconic forward Miedema would be leaving the club. While she has since explained that her departure was a mutual thing, rather than the club simply not offering her a new contract, it was still understandably disappointing for fans to see such a talented player leave, not least because she has now joined WSL rivals Man City. With the two giants going head to head on the opening weekend of the league campaign, it seems written in the stars for Miedema to come back to haunt her old club.
Cloe Lacasse's departure wasn't particularly popular either. Many felt the Canada international didn't get the chances she deserved in her only season at the club, especially given how well she played when granted them. Her exit also means Arsenal lack natural depth on the right of attack.
However, there is plenty for fans to be excited about when it comes to Arsenal's signings. Mariona Caldentey is a world-class operator who played a key role in Barcelona winning a first-ever quadruple on the women's side last season, while the versatile forward also has a World Cup title to her name after helping Spain to beat England in last summer’s final. Rosa Kafaji, a thrillingly creative talent who is still only 21 years old, further bolsters the attack following her arrival from Hacken.
Further back, the Gunners have also strengthened the goalkeeping department by recruiting Netherlands international Daphne van Domselaar. Eidevall has brought in, and let go, a whole host of shot-stoppers during his time in charge, seemingly searching for the perfect fit. This summer has been no different, with Sabrina D'Angelo joining Aston Villa, Van Domselaar's former club, while the Dutchwoman has arrived in the capital. Aged 24, she has her best years ahead of her and Arsenal fans will hope she has them in north London.
USA TODAY SportsPre-season performances
Due to Arsenal's participation in the first round of Champions League qualifying, pre-season was pretty short and sharp compared to some others in the WSL. The Gunners flew out to the United States for games against the Washington Spirit, of the NWSL, and London rivals Chelsea, faced Championship side Southampton at home a week later and then went straight into European qualifiers against Rangers and Rosenborg.
Because a good handful of players were involved at the Olympic Games, which ended just eight days before Arsenal's match against Washington, it wasn't a perfect pre-season campaign. It was longer than last year's, when most of the squad needed a break after the Women's World Cup, but still involved late arrivals, the management of some players' minutes and slight injuries to Lotte Wubben-Moy, Beth Mead and Steph Catley, which limited the group's ability to work on building relationships.
Despite that, there were a number of positives to take away, not least the fact that players like Williamson, Wienroither and Mead got proper pre-seasons. Katie Reid's performances were encouraging as the teenager prepares to have a squad role this season, covering for Amanda Ilestedt's maternity leave, while Alessia Russo had goals to her name, boosting her confidence going into the campaign.
Arsenal certainly looked sharper as pre-season moved along and that continued into their European qualifiers, with the performances in victories over Rangers and Rosenborg largely positive. That said, some cold water was poured on such optimism earlier this week, when the Gunners lost 1-0 to Hacken in the away leg of their second round qualifier. They'll need to beat the Swedish side by two goals or more when they come to London next Thursday.
Getty ImagesTalking tactics
There is one main tactical talking point when it comes to Arsenal and that is how they struggle to break down opponents that defend in a low block. It cost the Gunners on several occasions last season, with defeats to Liverpool, West Ham and Tottenham leaving Eidevall's side on the back foot in the title race for the whole campaign.
Two signings made this summer could be particularly valuable in trying to solve this problem. Caldentey knows the challenge well from her time at Barcelona and, more recently, in playing for world champions Spain. When GOAL asked Laia Codina, formerly her club-mate and still her international team-mate, if Caldentey will help Arsenal in their struggles here, she was certain. "Yes, 100 percent, with her movements off the ball or with the ball," she replied. "She's a player that is very smart, very intelligent and trying to understand what the games will ask."
Kafaji could be a real asset, too. A creative midfielder who is full of flicks and tricks but also has convincing end product, she is a joker in the pack that opponents will struggle to predict. When combined with an "evolution" of the team that he spoke highly of, perhaps it's no wonder that Eidevall has expressed no concerns about low blocks this season, then. "I’m super confident that if we come up against a low block then we have tools and qualities and processes on how to play against that," he said at the WSL season launch media day last week. "I have full belief."
Something else that will be particularly interesting to track as the season begins is what the right of Arsenal's attack looks like if it doesn't involve Mead. The sale of Lacasse means the squad lacks natural depth in that position, though there was an incredibly encouraging performance from Caitlin Foord on that side against Rangers this month, when she scored four goals. Usually more effective on the left, it would be a huge boost to Eidevall's options if the Australia international can find consistency on the opposite flank, too.
