Arsenal Women Arsecast 133: Ain’t Nobody

0:00Jamie: This episode is sponsored by ZocDoc. Have you been putting off a doctor's appointment or need a dentist and you don't know where to start? We've definitely been there and that's why we use ZocDoc. Actually, over the holidays, Michael had a dental emergency and seemingly every office was closed. But we hopped onto ZocDoc, found an in-network dentist, had great reviews, saw real-time appointments available, which was key. It was on New Year's Day and booked an appointment in just minutes. It took so much of the stress out of the already stressful situation. ZocDoc makes it easy to search and compare over 250 ,000 local in-network providers across more than 200 specialties.

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1:13hello and welcome to the austin women ask cast and askblog.com with me your host tim stillman looking well trying to look ahead uh to the new wsl season which starts on saturday i have to say I think it's slightly silly that the transfer deadline is closing right before the beginning of the season. The WSL runs all these media days in late August at every club. And so everyone's putting out preview content this week, which is all getting lost in transfer deadline day, which I kind of think is quite poor planning by the league. But there we go. We're going to try so far as we can to preview, you know, preview the season and everything.

1:50and to help do that. As always, our co-host Jamie Spanger. Jamie, how are you doing?

1:56Jamie: I'm very good, Tim. No complaints on my side. Excited for the new season. I honestly can't believe it's back though. I feel like it's been two minutes this summer. Obviously, with the Euros, it's gone so far. So excited. Could not echo the sentiment more about the transfer window and WSL previewing. I'm trying to write a bunch of WSL previews for clubs, but then it's so hard to do it because they're all going to make deadline day signings and you can't really grade a transfer window without knowing if a team's going to sign a big player. So agree. WSL football, sort it out, please. Yeah, and I think there are a couple of other leagues, whether the deadline closed on the 31st, like the Men's Premier League.

2:33I understand wanting to be separate from that, from a WSL perspective, but I maybe would have knocked it back 24 or 48 hours or so. It's also quite unsettling for clubs, I think, coming in to the season, really, because LCL, for example, they're trying to sign players. They don't know what their team looks like for Saturday. Chelsea and Man City play tomorrow and they're doing business at the moment. And look, probably none of those players are going to play this weekend anyway, but I'm sure clubs would welcome a little bit more of a separation. But anyway, it's, you know, time of recording, it's midday on deadline day.

3:10Had like a domestic incident with my roof this morning. So I haven't been attached to my phone that much. Not currently expecting Arsenal to do anything. But then again, I would have said that on midday, on January transfer deadline day and stuff happens. So I don't know at the moment. Just to clarify a few things, we reported last week on Arsenal's interest in Geraldine Reuteler from Frankfurt. And essentially the story there is Frankfurt don't want to sell. Again, the Bundesliga transfer window is closed, doesn't allow them to sign a replacement. So unless something pretty drastic there changes, Arsenal were very interested.

3:47I think the player was interested, but Frankfurt just didn't want to sell. So I'm not expecting that to happen today unless there's something significant. Sky Sports reporting Beth Mead will not go to London City Lionesses. I have to admit, I did half expect them to come back after their first bid was not back. But again, I think for Arsenal, no time to replace. And I think their position was always crazy money only. It's just with LCL you can't rule out crazy money. But there's only really one place to start, Jamie. Again, we broke the news on Ask blog news last week around Leo Valti going to Juventus.

4:29Now I can say we softened that a little bit when we said that Juventus were interested. It was always our understanding that this was very, very likely to happen during this week. and sometimes with these stories, you want to respect the player a little bit. I also knew that the story was going to be broken elsewhere, which is why we did it as a joint story with Mauro, who's across everything that happens at Juventus women. So, you know, listen, what we do is not comms, but maybe a bit of warm-up comms for what was going to follow today because on the 4th of the 9th, so that's 9 plus 4 equals 13, At 9.13 this morning, Arsenal announced that Leo Valti is leaving.

5:15They've just confirmed that she's going to Juventus. And Jamie, the feelings, the emotions, all the feels. It's a sad day, isn't it?

5:25Jamie: Such a sad day, Tim. I honestly want to start it off with the fact that I don't think I've seen a player across the whole league in such a long time, if ever, get this reception when she's departing the WSL. And I've seen this from journalists and fans alike that don't follow Arsenal, don't cover Arsenal, that are saying this is such a massive loss to the WSL because she's so universally loved. Like, I don't think I've seen a player play in this league that has been loved by everyone. She doesn't have a single player that dislikes her. And I think it just goes to show the person she is both on and off the pitch.

5:57Jamie: And I'm not really a football fan that kind of fixates on players and individuals as much. I think I look at the full picture. I really just anyone that's wearing the badge, it'll do. But with Lea Bulte, I have to say she's my favourite player that's ever worn the shirt. And I think that she's brought so much to Arsenal. It was a signing that was very much, it was a bit of a gamble in the first place when she came to Arsenal. It's paid off so exponentially. So, yeah, what a classy player. Her video had a lot of people in tears. I was definitely choked up. I think the people that were around me at the time can attest to the fact it was a bit humbling and embarrassing.

6:33Jamie: but yeah team what a player what a legacy and I think when a player decides to leave a club and go elsewhere it's very rare that they get this kind of wave of emotion and support their way and that just goes to show what Leo Valti has done for Arsenal and and what Arsenal's done for Leo Valti so I wish her well I'm so excited for her and yeah it does make a bit of bit of sense but it is very overwhelmingly emotional yeah definitely I can only say my own dealings with over the years, just like everything you would expect and think is true. Just really always warm, polite, really, really kind of great person.

7:09Everyone can see the player on the pitch. And when you look across women's football and you look at like the number six position over the years, there's just been a real shortage in that position that Arsenal have never had to deal with because of Volte. And that's not the only position she's really played at Arsenal. Her role's changed quite a bit. But I also think, you know, on this occasion, this is probably more driven by the player. And I think it leaves a hole in the Arsenal squad. But I do think there are some players that deserve to go out on their terms. And Lia Valti is one of them. I'm not sure how much of a starter she would have been this season.

7:50She wasn't a starter at the end of last season. I do think they see Mariana in that kind of deeper role. I'm sure Arsenal would have preferred to have her around. But, you know, if you're her, chance to go to another league, probably the last chance of her career to do that, to go out with a Champions League winner's medal as well, I can fully understand why you might think, actually, that's a nice way to end things. And it is. So, you know, we can only reflect what everyone else is going through today and what everyone else is feeling. Wish her the best of luck. In terms of the kind of, I guess, away from the emotion of it, Jamie, it does leave a hole in the Arsenal squad.

8:31We don't have any player that's ever really played as a six in that midfield and targeting Geraldine Reuteler, who can play there, but that's not really her main position. I think it tells us about how René's legacy is the midfield. when it came down to it. She played Kim and Mariana against Barcelona, against Lyon. So I don't think she sees that kind of traditional six. But assuming no one else comes in, how do you feel about, I guess, going into the season with, at the moment, from what we can see, five real central midfielders?

9:09Jamie: Yeah, look, I think it's hard to actually take the emotion out of this situation because fans have a way to react to things and fans are going to react to things when they love a player so dearly. I think sometimes we forget to step back and look at the situation more logically because Leobolte wasn't the starter last season, right? She's just had another corrective surgery. She's at the back end of her career, and we always want her to be in her prime, snake hips, Wally in the six, but she's not at the moment. I think that Renee Slagers has not noticed that, but really just taken the midfield in a different direction, Tim.

9:40Jamie: Like you said, she plays more of an attacking brand with that double pivot, it. And I think Mariana and Kim, yes, but we've also seen in the preseason that it seems like Renee has the intent to build this team around Kyra Kuni Cross. And I think that this might just be a situation where it's like, hey, this is the player that I think we need to actually pursue and we need to start to build the team around. Because the only way Kyra Kuni Cross is going to be the player that fans trust is if she gets given the time. So I do feel like this is a, if you step back and look at it a bit more logically, it makes sense and it's not the end of the world, and I know I've seen a lot of fans say, we need to sign a six, we need to sign a six.

10:13Jamie: Which six are we proposing to sign? Because there is very little, Tim. You just touched on it. There's not many sixes in the women's game. You look at Chelsea, you've won six WSL titles in a row. They do not have a natural defensive midfielder, and they haven't during this time. They've been playing a very, very loose attacking brand. They don't really play through the midfield. That's a team that's won six league titles and dominated on the domestic front. So I think Rene is kind of trying to bring that style of football into the Arsenal midfield a lot looser and less anchored than maybe it was with Leo Volte in the six.

10:45Jamie: So if there is an available defensive midfielder that is logical and very easy to sign, I can understand the fans' frustration. But right now I think it makes a lot of sense and you need to almost give a player like that the courtesy to go on and do what she needs to do at the end of her career because I think Renee Slagers knows what she's doing. She's won the Champions League in a double pivot of Kim Little and Mariana Caldente, but Kyrie Cooney-Cross is clearly going to be that more defensive player, and I think we're going to see that this season. And it's probably her time to say, hey, look, you can't go out there and have a bad performance, and then we're going to go back to Little and Volte.

11:17Jamie: You're going to – this is your role now. You've got to flourish in it. You're 23, 24 in February, so this is your time. So I can understand the frustration, but I don't think it's a quick, easy fix where it says, okay, just go sign another DM, because there's not a lot of them. You have Yui Hasagawa. That is probably – I'd say Yui Hasagawa. Even Katrina Gori, probably not a natural six. There's not many in the WSL alone. So, yeah, it's not an easy fix. And I can see the frustration, but again, I think it's okay and I can understand and visualize the direction. Yeah, I completely agree. I do think it leaves us a little bit short numerically, I have to say.

11:52And I would have liked another midfielder to come in, whether it was a six or not. I was happy with the idea of Reuteler, to be honest, because to your point, I just don't know where we get another Leo Valti. And I really think that's something definitely going to have to address in January, particularly with Kyra Kuni Cross is going to go off to the Asia Cup in the new year. So I wouldn't be surprised if there's kind of stuff in the background and we see that addressed, if not in the next few hours, surprisingly, in January. But I think also you're kind of right, like the transition away from Kim and Wally, like it has to happen.

12:27and I just don't think those players are out there to come and bring in the exact time type of players and I do worry a little bit about control because those two bring a lot of it but at the same time we're probably just going to see Arsenal move to something else a little bit so Kyra Cooney crosses big diagonals, Pilova driving the ball forward, maybe something a bit more transitional. we've got loads of threat in the wide areas now so I think we've got like the ability to get the ball into those wide areas very quickly and we might see something a little bit more transitional and we might have to be comfortable with that Chelsea did that under Emma Hayes for example Chelsea didn't really have you know like a proper DM at the base of that midfield under Emma Hayes at their best when they had that kind of Kirby Kerr harder front line they'd get the ball forward and they'd press you to death.

13:24And I do wonder if that's where Arsenal are going. And I think a lot of the goals in the two pre-season friendlies we saw had a more transitional quality to me. It was all like three, four passes or fewer. So I think that's all stuff to stick a pin in. Before we kind of get round to a pretty light-touch review of the season, Jamie, what else about transfers has jumped out at you? Because in the last 24 hours, as always, you get a bit of drama. kind of towards deadline day. So our friend Connor Roberts at the cutback, kind of really breaking the fact that Grace Clinton and Jess Park are going in separate directions.

14:04Looks like Alyssa Thompson. I mean, she's on a flight to London, I think, as we record from LA. Grace Guiero going to LCL. I have to say that's one. I mean, it looks like LCL are going to pay very, very big money for that, which I think would probably stop any hijack. But what so far is really jumping out at you and what are you making of some of these moves?

14:26Jamie: I have to say the Alyssa Thompson one is hilarious because I've seen Chelsea fans looking at all flights from LA to London. I'm like, this is good old-fashioned transfer window. Bring it back. The game is so back. It's so funny. That photo of her in LAX looking very sad because the move hasn't gone through yet. It's just proper football. But I think the Grace Clinton and Jess Park one is juicy. It also may be like what happened to rivalry. However, a good old-fashioned swap never hurt anyone. And I think that this really opens up a lot in the WSL because you've got Grace Clinton. I think you look at two England internationals in this way.

15:00Jamie: They're both midfielders. They're very different types of midfielders. And I think this makes sense for one party. Like Grace Clinton to Manchester City makes a lot of sense to me. Jill Rourdes obviously departed the club to go to FC 20. She was playing that attacking eight role. They have signed Sydney Lohman, but she plays more of an attacking midfield role. Grace Clinton under Mark Skinner and Serena Begman has adapted into more of a Georgia Stanway role. So it makes sense for City. I think that they've done really, really well to be able to get her into the squad. She's obviously turning away from Champions League football.

15:28Jamie: However, I do think in the long term, she's a very young player. Man City will have more Champions League football than Man United will in the future. So for her and for City, it makes a lot of sense. For United, look, I'm impressed that they finally managed to get rid of a player and sign them for some sort of compensation because I can't imagine the headlines if Grace Clinton leaves next summer because from my understanding, she's basically said, I'm not extending, so do with that what you will. And United have finally said, okay, City, you can have her if we get Jess Park in return. And for United, I think that Jess Park is basically an Elatoon player and Elatoon's always going to have that starting spot, but her versatility on the wing is something that's really going to help United.

16:08Jamie: So I think that both clubs benefit, and that's something we don't see a lot in the WSL with these direct swaps, is it almost feels like one club's always losing out. I still think City win more in that situation. But United, good on them. Finally, finally doing something good with their transfer news, although it's so funny when these players walk for free. But, yeah, I'm going to say, Tim, the Grace Euro one has really, really upset me. That's upsetting me. It feels like she has been, her signature has been in the mail to Chelsea about like 19 times over the last five years. And then Michelle Kang obviously comes to play and she's connected to LCL.

16:44Jamie: I would be so unsurprised if that goes through by the end of this evening. So, yeah, that's annoying because she's another versatile player. She can play in the DM, but she can also play higher up in the midfield, sometimes even on the wing. So that's an annoying one that I think should have been looked at a lot earlier for a club like Arsenal, again, that have just won the Champions League. So some big names going on on deadline day, and that's the way we like it, although it means I'm going to have to stay up all night. So cheers, guys. Just get it done earlier next time. So, yeah, thanks a lot.

17:13Yeah, definitely. I think with the Grace Clinton one, I think the issue there is, as you say, she wasn't going to sign a new contract. United didn't want to lose her for free. But City were really the only team that were kind of in for her. I can tell you Arsenal, from what I know, never had any interest in a move there. And I don't know about Chelsea as firmly, but it really looks like... And that's quite a fascinating dynamic because we've already seen City wouldn't understand wouldn't let Chloe Kelly go there, much to our credit when we were able to do that on January transfer deadline day.

17:54But you're seeing this more in the men's Premier League as well, where the money is. And sometimes some of those kind of interleague rivalries, you kind of have to trade players. And I suspect you're right in that Man United have probably made the best of a bad situation there. But they haven't done a lot this summer. I think they had a little look at the Beth Mead thing. But, you know, again, Arsenal haven't wanted to sell there other than for massive money. So, yeah, we'll see what happens in the next kind of, what is it, 10 and a half hours or so. But in terms of Arsenal's transfer window, Jamie, we've had Anik Borba in, Taylor Hines, Jenna Nyswonger, who I now, we had a conversation about her last week and about where she fits in.

18:43I do wonder whether there's a midfield spot potentially that might well have opened up a little bit. But Taylor Hines, Olivia Smith, obviously coming in as well. How do you see Arsenal's transfer window overall? Obviously, Olivia Smith is the real headline grabber. Chloe Kelly as well, who I forgot about there because it feels like she's been here forever. How do you feel overall about Arsenal's transfer window? And I guess some of those issues that maybe we saw in the second half of last season and whether there's an obvious fix for those.

19:24Jamie: Yeah, I think that the window just started with such strong intent and excitement with that Olivia Smith signing that we were all very, very excited by the fact that, look, Arsenal just won the Champions League. They need to channel this momentum in the transfer market. They did that. They signed a very young, exciting player in Olivia Smith. So that, for me, just raises the grade of the transfer window altogether, as it obviously does for everyone, because that's a signing for the future. It's a gamble on a great player that is hopefully going to get even better. So I'm excited about that. I think you add goalkeeper depth to a player that was playing.

19:55Jamie: She played 14 games at the back end of the Wolfsburg Bundesliga season last season. So she became their number one. She did well in that spot. That's another goalkeeper. Obviously, Naomi Williams has gone out to Bristol City on loan. Manuela Zinsberg is staying at the club. So for goalkeepers, I think, again, it's a strong window. It's really good depth. And Arsenal fans really strongly overlook that goalkeeper depth. And I think if you look at any other club in the league, Chelsea's probably the only one that I think has the same on par quality. I would go as far to saying that Arsenal's goalkeeper depth is better than Chelsea's goalkeeper depth.

20:27Jamie: And purely because Livia Peng's a great young keeper, but she's not got the experience Emanuela Zinsberger does. And then Daphna van Damslaar, Hannah Hampton, you could probably just argue that one out for days. So that's exciting. I think Taylor Hines, again, you're getting a player who was the standing captain of Liverpool for free on a transfer that I think is a very exciting player. But I do have concerns at the end of the day, Tim. I think that there's a bit of, I think the reasons why we've been so excited about these signings, someone like Chloe Kelly and Taylor Hines, for example, I think on paper they're fantastic signings.

20:59I just worry that they're a little bit easy to make purely because these are two players that have been at the club before.

21:05Jamie: There's this homecoming element that Arsenal's really loving to toy with. that feels like there's not a lot of risk in there. And it does seem to me that maybe Arsenal have gotten a lot of reward for not a lot of risk because there's an element of luck in there. And that's by no means saying they're not great players that could go play at a million clubs. I think Chloe Kelly especially is that. But I don't think it's actually as ambitious as it maybe looks. And I know we spoke about this on the podcast last week and I was saying I'm not concerned about the Leo Williamson injury because I'm not concerned about lots of Wobbenmoin, Laia Kadina by any means.

21:36Jamie: I think that they're a great backup. but the left centre-back thing is still something that really niggles on me because Steph Catley has had a hamstring injury almost every season in the last five, six years except for last season. And I think a lot of Arsenal's success in that Champions League campaign relied on her fitness being pretty much perfect. And she goes away to the Asian Cup. There's not a left footer that you can really put there. And then you make a gamble. And I think when you're talking about transition and playing out from the back, we've got someone as good with her feet as Daphna van Domsala.

22:03Jamie: you lose such an aspect of the Arsenal way under Renee Slagers without having a left footed centre back and you know we've seen what Catley can do with her left foot and it feeds into Caitlin Ford in the left channel now it might be Chloe Kelly in the left channel so I worry there and I'm a bit confused why there's not been a bit more ambitious I'm not saying ambition sorry I'm not saying it's easy again it's kind of like the sixth thing it's not very easy to find a left centre back but I'm still worried about that depth I think there's a lack of a lack of yeah cover there if something is to go wrong.

22:32Jamie: And I think so much of Arsenal's transfer window has gambled on the fact that the fitness of every player last season was literally perfect for the first time in so long. So there are concerns. I still am happy with it overall. I think that there's been very big shining lights, but I'm still a little bit concerned in terms of you look at Chelsea, any player in that starting 11 gets injured, they have a backup that can stand in and play football and no one's going to worry about it. I think there are still a few shaky moments in that Arsenal squad where Emily Fox gets injured, you have to shake it around and play left back at right back.

23:04Jamie: We have to play Katie Reid. Steph Catley goes out, then who goes into left centre back, whereas at Chelsea, someone goes down, Kadisha Buchanan steps up when she's back to play. So, yeah, I'm concerned. However, I think there's an element of greed coming off the back of the Champions League. I thought, that's just a bloody sign everyone in the world. Yeah, yeah. So where I am, I'm happy with the striker situation. I think we've got two really good strikers. happy with the wide player situation think we've got four really good wide players who can interchange a lot um happy with like the first choice defense i i have some issues i i have some issues with not having another central midfielder but also having the way the squad's built there's three goalkeepers five center backs that that strikes me as there's some redundancy there to be honest and then five central midfielders you know I maybe like to shave a number off one of either the centre back or the goalkeeper and give it to midfield so I think I have some questions over balance which may be answered maybe maybe Jenna Neiswonger is a midfielder now and you know that brings us like some of that squad balance but yeah we have like it looks like At the moment, we have three left-backs and a right-back, five centre-backs, three goalkeepers, five central midfielders.

24:25It does feel a little bit lopsided to me, unless there's just stuff that we don't know about yet, about repositioning players. So I am disappointed we haven't got that other midfielder, because this Leovoldi move has been in the works for a couple of weeks now, and they have tried to get another one in Reuteler. So I think that's almost like a confession that they're short there. But I do worry about a little bit of redundancy at centre-back and in goal, to be honest. I think there's a couple of players there we're not going to see. I'm okay with the left centre-back thing because they signed Lotta Wubhamoy to a new contract.

25:06And so that, to me, is the decision made, basically. And I expect Lotta to really challenge for a starting place. I wouldn't support a sixth centre-back coming into the squad I think two would have to go if Arsenal were going to do that so I think my questions are a little bit more about the composition and the balance of the squad I'm glad we've held firm on Beth Mead for reasons we've discussed but yeah, I'm curious about some things in terms of the overall squad balance and I wouldn't be surprised if in January some of that is repaired a little bit and I know there's been interest in other midfield players during this window that hasn't materialised, which is fine, but I think that tells you that Arsenal wanted another midfielder and as it stands at the moment, haven't got one.

25:55So yeah, we'll see. I hope to see something quickly done in January because I think that's probably a live situation we know about. Let's take a break there and we'll have a slightly shorter part two for you right after this.

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28:22Okay, welcome back to part two of the Arsenal Women Ask, Cast and AskBlog.com. looking ahead to the new WSL season, which kicks off on Saturday at home to London City Lionesses. At the moment, I think it looks like around about 35 ,000 crowd. Don't have confirmation on that at the moment, but Arsenal have 15 ,000 season ticket holders next season, which when you consider Bournemouth men in the Premier League, their ground holds 11 ,000. Brentford holds about 18 ,000, I think. Like, Arsenal women have more season ticket holders than two or three Premier League clubs, which is absolutely amazing.

29:00But that's not what we're going to talk about in the second half, Jamie. Just a few kind of slightly fun questions. But which of our new signings, Jamie, are you most excited or curious about this season?

29:15Jamie: Olivia Smith, Tim. Has to be Olivia Smith. I'm so, so excited about Olivia Smith. Obviously, last season, she came into the league, she came into Liverpool, and she really, really caught the eyes of a lot of people across the league. And it's something that was so exciting. She obviously came from Sporting Lisbon, and she impressed straight away. And she's a very, very direct footballer. And I wrote a piece, a feature about her on the halfway line, and I was kind of looking at some of her stats. And a lot of the things that I saw are things that maybe surprised me a little bit. And a couple of things that came to my mind was the fact that she's got zero assists for last season.

29:50Jamie: And I've spoken about this on the podcast before. I don't think that that is down to the fact that she doesn't have ball service. I think that is down to the fact that Liverpool maybe didn't have the finishing quality. But then you look at her expected assists and it's much higher. I'm very, very excited about the fact that her trackbacks, her blocks and her interception and tackle, she's in the top 2 % for players playing on the right wing in the top eight leagues. so this is a very exciting player I think she brings a lot of directness and pace and that's two things that Arsenal will be missing in the attacking channels so Olivia Smith and also the Fat Tim she's 21 years old hopefully we have her for a long long time so yeah I guess everyone's excited about Olivia Smith but I am very very excited yeah I think it's just exactly the signing we needed as well as being like a bit of a blockbuster signing I'm gonna say uh to be different taylor heinz actually first of all a lot of it i'm curious about like i said like when um when i heard that before the end of last season i was like huh another left back and then i thought yeah she can play right back as well and we saw her there a little bit in pre-season but i was and and i have you know i've watched her pretty closely playing against arsenal for liverpool And I think she's pretty much always played really well in those games.

31:09I think particularly of the game two seasons ago now where Liverpool beat Arsenal on the opening day, I thought she was tremendous in that game. And I was looking again at that Freedom Ornham goal against West Ham, which starts with Taylor Hines forcing a high turnover in the centre of midfield. She was playing left-back, but she was very much in the centre circle. And I just think we're starting to get a sense for a Rene player, like a Rene style player, a Joe Montemoro player, a number 10. We played with basically eight of them under Joe Montemoro with Leo Valti behind them. And that was kind of it.

31:47With Jonas, he clearly he prized like physical attributes quite a lot, I think. And I think with Rene, we're seeing versatility is a very, very big thing. And I think even targeting someone like Geraldine Reuteler shows you that. And I think Taylor Hines has got stacks of versatility and not just in terms of the position she might be able to play, but the areas she might be able to pick up. And I think that's one of the ways we're going to have to rewire our brains, myself included, particularly in a future, certainly without Leo Valti and maybe less of Kim Little, where Arsenal play in areas a little bit more and perhaps where they get the ball forward a little bit more quickly.

32:26there's slight of a less kind of emphasis on control. So I'm really excited to see what Rene's kind of vision, as it were, is for Taylor Hines. And I was just really taken by her cameo against West Ham. I kind of thought, ah, yeah, I can see this now. I can see this now. I can see why, you know, I always saw the quality of the player, but I was like, ah, okay, I can see this is a Rene player. And I'm just really excited and curious to see kind of how it shakes out. But, you know, away from the new signings, Jamie, who's your real player to watch this season? Who have you really got your eye on?

33:06Jamie: Away from the new signings, am I still allowed to say Chloe Kelly? Yeah, of course. Yeah. Because I think that this is a player that we've seen a lot of like, we've seen potential, not even potential. Like we've seen the results with Chloe Kelly in her first four or five months at Arsenal. But I'm so excited by her being reintroduced as a permanent Arsenal player because we've just seen her game develop so much in such a short time under Renee Slaggers. And I think you talk about the versatility and that is nothing I would have ever, ever pinned down to being a Chloe Kelly attribute eight months ago.

33:37Jamie: I never would have said Chloe Kelly's versatile player. I'd say she's a very attacking player. She likes to play the line. She loves a really long cross. But under Renee Sleger, she's changed her form and she's become a different player because that is just what the Arsenal system that Renee is employing at Arsenal is demanding of her. And I think she's done so well to pick that up in such a short time. So I'm excited to see what more she can do with that. Like she's playing on the left channel more. She's cutting in and inverting into the 10 a lot more. She did that quite a lot at the back end of last season, especially against the teams lower in the WSL.

34:09Jamie: So I think when you look at the Renee Sleger's midfielder, you get a lot more than maybe you did see in the owner side of our Arsenal team, a Joe Montemurier Arsenal team. You see a winger that has a lot more burden of responsibility. So I'm excited because I think Chloe Kelly has the work rate and she has the ambition and she's just such a tenacious player. I think she has stacks of potential to be able to be that versatile winger. And I'm very, very excited because now there's finally four of them and that means that they're all going to hopefully play at a higher standard as well because the rotation is there and they're four very capable wingers.

34:41Jamie: So, yeah, Chloe Kelly in a new era of her career, I think it's going to be a version of Chloe Kelly. We saw glimpses of at Arsenal, a lot of at the Euros, and then I'm hoping a lot more in the future. Yeah, my player, I was thinking about choosing Beth Mead for this because sometimes like you have a player for so long, they kind of they wash over you a bit and then there's some kind of suggestion you might not have them. and then you do again. And I feel like I should refocus on what Beth brings to Arsenal. I think particularly bringing in Chloe Kelly in January, probably Olivia Smith. I want to retune my brain a little bit or retune my eye to appreciate what she brings.

35:26But for me, the player I've really got my eye on is Victoria Pilova. I'm really curious about, again, the role she plays. I liked the look of her in the 10 against Spurs and West Ham. And I think she just does something very, very different to Frieda. And I do think that's a very interesting model for Arsenal to have, to have a couple of 10s who do something very different. But with Leovoldi going and with no one kind of coming in to that double pivot at the moment, I think she'll have to play there plenty as well. And I'm happy enough with that. Like prior to the two pre-season games, I was thinking more, No, that's where I want to see her and not the 10 as much.

36:06But actually having seen her a bit in the 10, and I know she played there for Ajax, I was like, oh, no, no, actually I can see this. But obviously this is another player we basically didn't see any of last season. The season before that, I thought she was outstanding. I mean, Lotta was a very deserved kind of player of the year. I didn't think Pilova was too far behind. And if we're a little bit worried about losing Leovold's qualities, I see a lot of Kim's qualities in Victoria Pilova, slightly different kind of mould, but I think she's got a lot of those Kim qualities. And I've always had in my mind, okay, this feels like the Kim succession plan now.

36:46And obviously, I believe she's got a year on her contract as well. So we might see what happens there. I've got no idea what might happen beyond that at the moment. But yeah, I'm really curious to see how she slots in to the team this season. I'm pretty confident we're going to see a lot of her, but I'm very curious to see where we see the most of her. Do we see a bit of cross positions? Do we see a really nail down a spot like she did a couple of seasons ago? Really interested in that. Which player are you most, I guess, I've put the word worried, which is maybe over-egging the pudding a little bit, but maybe curious about, kind of worried about, maybe worried about how they fit or, yeah, the player you're curious about maybe on the slightly concerned side.

37:37Jamie: Yeah, I think I initially looked at this and thought about this question and the first player that came to my mind was Steiner and I've gone and rethought that and I think that that is absolute bollocks, to be honest, because Arsenal are playing across four competitions and this is a player. I think my biggest concern with Steena Blackstinius is she's a very, very good number nine and I worry about players like that playing behind someone for so long. But that's a problem for the future. I think heading into this campaign she's going to have a massive role to play. So I'm just going to reiterate the fact that it's Jenna Neiswunger for me because we touched on this a lot last podcast, but just saying she seems like a player that's stuck between two eras, the Yonas Ida Valera and the René Slagas era.

38:15Jamie: It doesn't feel like she's got a clear-cut spot in this squad yet, especially with the signing of Taylor Hines. Does she come into the midfield? She used to be a midfielder. So I'm a little bit worried about that signing just because I don't, I still don't see the intent. So I'm just hoping it's worry, but it's more hope that we're going to start to see what her role is. And we're going to, that's going to transpire because right now it feels like that it's going to be Katie McCabe and it's going to be Taylor Hines is the next best. So it's, I'm interested, but I'm a bit worried that that maybe is going to be one of those signings.

38:45Jamie: It's just kind of like, Hey, it didn't work out for either party. We'll move on and go forward a bit like the Chloe Lacasse one. So, yeah, that's my concern at the moment. Yeah, I'm going to say Laia Kadina for me. Because I kind of think Lotta is, quote-unquote, first reserve for both centre-back positions at the moment, left and right, which I think makes her a really valuable part of the squad, the fact that she can play on both sides. I think that's one of the big reasons Arsenal really, really wanted to keep her. You know, Kadina can do that as well, but I don't think at the moment she's ahead of Lotta.

39:22So that kind of makes her fourth choice, which is fine. But then we've got Katie Reid coming through, who again is not going out on loan. And for me, I kind of feel like that's some of the redundancy at the moment and things can change and they do change very quickly. That's one of the areas I'm wondering about redundancy-wise because I think, you know, Williamson, Catley, first choice. I think Lotta is probably first reserve for both sides, but I think she's got a chance of really pushing for that left centre-back spot. And then having Katie Reid as a fourth choice, that strikes me as quite a good balance.

40:05So I don't see exactly where Laia Kadina fits in to all of that. I'm open to the idea that she does. I'm open to the idea that she gets a minute somehow and really puts it together and makes herself a bit indispensable. But yeah, that's one of the areas where I just feel like maybe there's a little bit of redundancy. I haven't heard anything personally, like linking her with a move or anything like that. Don't know whether... But also, I don't think we really know how Renee sees her because she essentially hasn't really been fit for several months. So she's one of those players, I must admit, at the end of last season, I wondered if we'd see her start this season, but it looks like she will do.

40:46And I'm very curious about that. And let's finish on this, Jamie, because Arsenal start against London City Lionesses on Saturday at the Emirates, which I think is a really difficult game to kind of call because LCL have just got so many new players. It's very difficult to know what to expect beyond the fact that they've got a lot of quality, but how they're going to play and how they're going to fit it all together I've got no idea so it's very difficult I think to preview them as opponents beyond the fact that they're no joke and this is not playing your usual kind of you know in years past a newly promoted team at home on the first day would would have been an absolute give me in a 5-0 but that's definitely not going to happen on Saturday I don't think but how do you feel overall Jamie about LCL and kind of what they're doing and I keep referring to them as disruptors in the WSL and I mean it in a complimentary way in terms of a team that's coming up they're definitely not going down and you know they're they're kind of throwing their weight around money wise like and also not being moored to a men's club being an independent women's club having split from Millwall several years ago like how do you see that whole LCL project and what what it might add to the WSL

42:07Jamie: Yeah, it is. I think for the first time in a long time heading into a WSL season, I'm so excited about the league as a whole because I think we're going to see a campaign that is competitive across all fronts. I think every team is going to have the ability to compete with each other or at least a large chunk of the league. So LCL have been able to bring that and I'm very, very excited about it. I think in terms of facing them, this is the best time to face them. This is the best time to play a team where they have made this many signings, this many big name signings. they're not going to have their brand of football yet because they've made their transfers up until this point now and they've made starters up until this point now.

42:41Jamie: There's probably going to be more business before the end of the window as well. So I know people are kind of worried about it's the fear of the unknown because what can you face when you're facing maybe Crystal Palace come up, Bristol City come up. You've watched them play in the championship. You know this side. London City are a new team. They're a completely new entity to what they were last season. So I think that's actually going to benefit Arsenal on Saturday in the way that these players haven't played together Yet Arsenal have had more of a preseason than usual because the Euros ended a little bit earlier than, let's say, the 2023 World Cup.

43:10Jamie: So that is one thought on it. But in terms of London City as a whole, I think it's going to be very interesting to see because they've got a very tough run of fixtures in the first couple games. They play three of last season's top four in the first four games. I think they've got Leicester City to disrupt that. It's a really hard start to a season when you're a new squad that haven't played together. That's a very, very tough run because I don't expect them to pick up a lot of points against those teams. I think later in the season, they absolutely will. So it's interesting to see how quickly that squad can come together because they've got a serious transformation period that they need to go under.

43:44Jamie: And it's very, very tough for them to come out the gates and play these big sides so early. So it's going to be interesting. I think it's going to take a little while to click, but I don't think it'll take as long as maybe some people expect. And just in terms of Michelle Kang's investment, I think on a surface level, when you're looking at her investment into a women's only club, it's very, very exciting. Like the intent that she's put towards this squad in this transfer window is amazing. Like if you compare it to someone like Liverpool, who have received one million pounds for Olivia Smith, and that's gone and paid less than 1 % of Alexander Izak's transfer fee from Newcastle.

44:16Jamie: And they have gone and signed absolutely no one. I think they've actually signed one player on a transfer fee, Liverpool women, this summer, which is just abysmal for a club of that stature when they've spent over 450 mil for the men's side this summer transfer window alone. Then you look at someone like Michelle Kang who's saying, I'm investing in the women's game, the women's game only. I'm actually building a project. They've now announced their shirt sponsor is Everyone Watches Women's Sports, which is Alex Morgan's Together brand. So it's an exciting investment for women's football fans. It's a very exciting time.

44:46Jamie: I still worry about the multi-club ownership. That is something that is a big discussion point for me. It's a dark cloud hanging over it. We're seeing it with the Blue Co group in the men's game right now. It's just blatant corruption. So I worry if LCL's intent is to be a Champions League squad, that's not going to work. Like there's going to be lines there. But on a surface level as a WSL club, I'm excited. I think this is going to be a very, very fun WSL campaign for maybe the first time in a long time. Yeah, definitely. And kind of spoiler alert in this world, This season's programme I'm going to have featuring in every home programme this season, interviewing a former player, and it's Rachel Yankee for Saturday against London City Lionesses.

45:29And I spoke to her about it. And, you know, Rachel was talking about how actually this is quite a big moment in terms of other people looking at LCL, looking at someone investing in a women's team and thinking, ah, maybe I could do this. you know maybe I could buy a women's club um you know if you're a billionaire for for relative peanuts and maybe I could invest in this sport and maybe I could follow this model and because of PSR as well a lot of uh women's clubs affiliated with men's clubs probably up for selling them to be honest to balance the books a little bit on the men's side as a as a bit of bookkeeping sleight of hand so I think it's really really interesting I think in terms of like their approach it reminds me a little bit of when Man United came up in 2019 and they come up and you're like right they're not going down they're going to finish mid-table top half of the table and we went to Man United maybe the second game of the season and Man United played the filthiest deep block ever but with loads of quality players and I do wonder if LCL might start like that just out of necessity and whether they might be very difficult to break down because they'll have bodies behind the ball but they're going to have quality bodies behind the ball.

46:49We eventually won that game at United in stoppage time. Actually thanks to a goal from Daniela van der Donk who I hope doesn't score a stoppage time goal on Saturday for LCL as much as I'm happy to see her back in England but I think it's going to be a really fascinating game, really fascinating season, do buy a program. Read my interview with Rachel Yankee. There'll be loads of those this season. But, Jamie, I think we'll leave it there, shall we?

47:16Jamie: We shall. Very, very exciting, guys. Enjoy Saturday. Although, everyone commuting to the game, I wish you well with the tube strikes. I'm envious. I'm not envious. Tube strikes off for the weekend. So, well, for Saturday, it's fine. Basically, Sunday, I think it starts. Take it in. Make sure you're home. Make sure you're home from the pub before the tube strikes. Yes. Yeah, indeed. So, yeah, we'll come back with another podcast after the LCL game, just kind of looking back on it, as we always do. And we'll do that again for the new season, as we did last season. So thanks so much for joining us.

47:55And we'll speak to you very, very soon, actually, after the opening game. So cheers.

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