Arsenal Women Arsecast 138: City Slicker in damaging defeat for Arsenal

0:14Hello and welcome to the Arsenal Women Arsecastcast with me your host Tim Stillman on Arseblog.com. I'm looking back on Saturdays. It was Saturday, wasn't it? Yes, Saturdays. 3-2 defeat away at Manchester City in the WSL. And we're going to go over it, all of it. I have to admit, I don't entirely have my head around this game yet. And so to probably help me make some sense of it as much as anything, delighted as ever to be joined by our co-host, Jamie Spanger. Jamie, how are you doing? Hey Tim, I'm alright, I'm good I've realised and maybe moved on in the last 24 hours That there's more to life than winning the WSL So I'm trying to find the positives Look at the sunshine There are bigger things in life than football So we'll speak about this one Because every game away to Manchester City is insane But this one came with maybe a little bit more emotion Before we go into the game And obviously a lot of the questions we have in the second half are going to be a bit more, you know, shall we say philosophical, existential maybe, which I think is completely understandable and predictable and all of that, not just because of this result, but because of, excuse me, the results that preceded it.

1:33But we're recording on Sunday evening, which we did say last week, well, Sunday evening, my time, Monday morning, your time, which I said last week we wouldn't do again. But Monday is media day at Colney ahead of the Lyon game, which is coming far too quickly for my liking for a number of reasons. But I'd like to know where you are with this, Jamie. And I'll set out where I am and where I'm not. Well, I don't know where I am. That's the thing, because I am going over and over this game in my head, which is one of my most neurodivergent traits. I overthink things. And the weird thing is, usually when there's a result of any kind, good or bad, I kind of come out with something firm.

2:22You know, I come out thinking this was the issue today, or we did this really well today, or this happened, or that happened. And in this game, I can't see the wood for the trees. I think I can in this game, Jamie. I think this game was like every Arsenal Man City game that has ever happened in the history of the world, it seems like, where it should be a draw, but somehow one of the teams always wins by one goal, which is just completely weird. There are so few Arsenal-Man City games, I really think someone deserves to win. And it's always like, that probably should have been a draw, but someone got a late goal and it ended up being a victory.

3:01And I do kind of think that's what happened this time. However, it happened the last two times we went there and it went in Arsenal's favour. So there's a bit of me in isolation, Jamie. If I take this game in isolation, I can stomach it. I don't think Man City outplayed us I don't think tactically they were better I think both teams had periods of dominance and all of that and they won it by the odd goal which is not to say we didn't do anything wrong or anything like that but Man City I don't think they defended brilliantly I think essentially they were better in the penalty area but at the same time then there's a bit of a lag isn't there from the last two results and certainly the last one and so it becomes difficult to say how much can and do I take this in isolation where are you just over you know coming up two days uh from this game like where are you psychologically in in this game and how it happened yeah I have a similar feeling on just the game in isolation I think that at this in this scenario Arsenal just on the wrong side of the nice edge I think that this is a game that was so close and was always going to be determined by results and I do honestly think we'll come to the game periodically but I do think when Chloe Kelly scored I knew there was going to be another goal I just didn't know who from I just I thought this game is not ending as a draw it's just not going to I thought it was going to be us yeah I thought there was only one team that was going to win and yeah and it seems like it's always going to follow the same script but it doesn't on this occasion and I think there are a few things that that lead up to that so I'm not saying Arsenal were unlucky I do think there is a little bit um to say about how they maybe how they did lose this game and why that was because however I do think I agree with you Tim If we look at this game in isolation, I would have moved on from it.

4:41Like this is just a game that ends in a crazy scoreline again against Man City. But it's because of the hangover from what happened against Aston Villa, the draw against Man United, where maybe I don't even think it's necessarily the same problems occurring, which is why it's a little bit hard to speak about this. But I do think that there's a frustration and a tension that's building because, OK, Arsenal haven't won a game in like three WSL games. And that's frustrating. And I think that's when you go and look at the Man City game and say, OK, there's got to be something wrong, though, because it's happened three games in a row where Arsenal haven't gotten the three points.

5:13But then you think about it and you look, OK, United just drew against Chelsea. They played well. They put up a good fight. So that's a good side. And City, of course, are going to be a good side. So it's hard. And I think when you get three games like this in a row, it's difficult to kind of contextualise one of them individually because you're so frustrated about the rest of them. But I still think there's plenty to say about this game. But I'm with you. I don't think there's a direct diagnosis. However, I still think there are maybe things that Arsenal not did wrong, but maybe just lacked a little bit of effort in some areas.

5:40And that maybe resulted in this. I think that's exactly it. I think that's exactly why I'm finding this so tough to pass. And the last day or so, I've kind of taken a bit of a step back. Just because of timing, I haven't done like an analysis piece and I haven't been able to watch the game back. I took my daughter to the circus this afternoon. that that struck me as something um was probably a better use of my time um like so i don't you know usually i'd watch a game back and it would become clearer like after the villa game immediately after i can't pretend i was going ball progression that was the problem in this game it was in the back of my mind but when i watched it back i was like oh my god that's like that's really hit me in the face sorry something's fell behind me there like that's really hit me in the face that was the problem and maybe if I'd had the chance to watch this back I'd come out but I think you have it right there like there isn't a theme for me and one of the things that's been kind of fascinating looking at like my Twitter and Blue Sky timelines and I'm looking at what other people are saying and like okay was it like there's no consensus it's not like everyone's saying the same thing and then there are some people that are kind of saying the same thing and actually I don't really agree but then that might be me and so it's like that's why I'm finding it so difficult to make sense of it's like when those defeats happened at the end of last season I think it was really clear it was like okay we're getting caught on transition that's a big problem and of course that was a problem in this game as well but it wasn't a problem really in the other two games so it doesn't feel like there's a thread to pull if that makes sense And maybe, I don't know, maybe I'm just, maybe we're all just like completely overthinking it.

7:30I don't know. But it just feels like there was a great news report a few years ago, actually on something quite trying and difficult about far right protests about 15 years ago. And unfortunately, there's still quite a lot of those around at the moment. And at the end, I just really remember the news anchor saying, everyone's angry, but no one knows why. And that's kind of not comparing Arsenal fans to far-right protesters. But you know what I mean? That's my feeling. Everyone's a bit frustrated and people are grabbing at things. It's because of this. It's because Kyra Cooney Cross only played 15 minutes or whatever.

8:12And it's like, I don't think it is. But anyway, big old ramble. I needed to do that. Let's get to the actual game itself. The line-up, Lota Wobhamoy did come in, did ask Renee about that she did say that that was connected to some of the ball progression issues we saw last week because she's a got a bigger range of passing um and then we had Victoria pull over him but not where I expected her when the team sheet dropped so she played higher up asked Renee about that she said that wasn't necessarily connected to ball progression issues they just felt that Mariana could pick up some some areas against Man City specifically so we spoke about this last week Jamie we said probably one of Lota or Kyrie Cooney Cross has to come in so I was kind of fine with it what was your feeling on the lineup and were you surprised because quite often you kind of think Rene might make some changes and the team sheet drops and it's the same yeah I was actually surprised for that fact and that fact only Tim we spoke about this on last week's pod after that similar game like saying oh we'd probably make changes but we don't think that there will be changes so I was surprised that those were actually implemented um yeah it made sense for me at the time I think obviously like like you said and we spoke about in depth the ball progression against Villa was very very hard stomach and then you bring in Lotta and then there's a new there's a new element to the game there but I also had a concern I do think this played out a little bit and we will speak about it is when Lotta is going to be playing such a direct role on Bunny Shaw is she going to have as much freedom to help the team with ball progression I think we've seen that play out she doesn't have as much time to do that because she's so conscious of the striker she's playing on and you're always going to be when you're playing on Bunny Shore.

9:51So I think there was almost like, it's almost like Renee needed two pieces to kind of figure that out. And she only implemented one. I think that was the lot of changes. Okay. You're going to help us with ball progression, but I'm not going to take into account the fact that you basically have to man mark Bunny Shore and watch her. So you're not going to have as much time. And it's often Steph Catley that actually is using the ball in this game. So yeah, I think it made sense in hindsight, but I think it was more of a band-aid solution to the problem. And I think that we did see that a little bit in the opening 10 minutes.

10:16I think it really helps but then it starts to kind of plateau after that now that's for that's for a lot of reasons but when you're playing against a striker like Bunny Shaw she almost just stifles everything that you can kind of do on the tactics board so yeah it made sense but I don't know if it if it really transpired into as much of a positive effect as I maybe would have hoped. Yeah I think that's fair enough I had a chat with Megan Faringa from The Athletic at halftime she said exactly the same thing actually as you did she said that you know and I think she watches more of Man City than I do she kind of says the thing is about bunny sure is like your center because i kind of said i thought it was about ball progression and she was like yeah but the thing is bunny sure kind of make sure your center backs ball progression irrelevant because your center back is completely occupied with bunny sure and i think it's worth maybe you know reflecting on lotter's performance and what you thought of it because that's that's the kind of thing i was getting at when i looked at my timeline after the game a lot of people seemed to think she'd done really badly and and like completely honestly that was not my takeaway at the time but I kind of looked at it and I was like but everyone's saying this so that that that could be me and and again there's a part of me that kind of says Bunny Shaw is probably the best striker in the world we were without our best centre-back again that phrase again in isolation there's a part of me that can just say bunny can do that to anyone um because she obviously has a massive impact on the game and um but then like that just wasn't my my actual emotional feeling watching the game i wasn't watching it thinking oh my god lotta's getting annihilated by bunny here like i saw a lot of in the centre of the pitch where I thought Lotta was very, very good.

12:07But what did you think of Lotta's overall performance? Did you share my Twitter timelines kind of, oh my God, she's been rubbish? Or did you come way more with my perspective? Or how did you see that? Yeah, I think she was so often used as a scapegoat in this game. And honestly, I think a few things about this performance from Lotta. The first goal, Bunny Shaw was basically unmarked, but then the goal shouldn't, the ball should never be arriving in the box because you need Caitlin Ford to track back. Like Kirsten Kasper shouldn't be in that territory. So I think if you're going to have a conversation about the centre-backs in that position, I agree there is an onus on them.

12:39But you also then have to give defensive responsibility to the players that aren't doing their job in tracking back. So I do think, yes, there's a little bit of maybe Lota switched off a little bit in this game. But I also thought she had some really strong moments. There's a couple moments in the first half where City tried to go forward and play through Bunny Shaw. And Lota just doesn't allow her to take control of possession at all. So, look, I don't think it was a disastrous performance. And I think if we're going to scapegoat Lota, because I'm with you, Tim, I've seen a lot of that as well on social media.

13:05We need to also speak about the other players. The second goal, she doesn't put her foot through it. So the third goal, the winner. But then Steph Catley allows that run to go through. So there's a lot of issues in this defence, and I don't think it should all be kind of pigeoned onto Lota, because I think there's positives in this performance. I just think you can't really be using her as a scapegoat in this moment when she's not had a run of games, heading into a 90-minute game against Bunny Shaw. And I think that's always going to be – there's always going to be a little bit of – it's just like it was almost like she just kind of lagged a couple moments and maybe forgot a couple things and then like she allowed things to slip.

13:42And that's not going to happen with the centre-back that's had a runner games. And that was the risk that Renee Slaggers had to take. And I still agree with the decision. I think, look, we're saying I'll play Katie Reid and she solves that. It's an 18-year-old against the best striker in the world. Like it's not necessarily going to be the case. I think there are other issues in this defence during this 90-minute period that isn't just on Lottowob and Moy. And I just think because we know how good she's been against Bunny Shaw in the past, we expect her to come in, be flawless. Bunny Shaw is silent, does nothing.

14:08But that's not always going to happen to a player that's basically had no minutes for the better half of six months. So, yeah, I think that there are issues with this Lottow performance, but there are bigger issues with other players in that defence. And I think her centre-back partner also struggles in this game a lot. Steph Catley lets a lot of things go through. So, yeah, I do think maybe because it was the big, big name change in the starting lineup. We're saying all of that is what failed the game. And I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think then you have to put some responsibility on everyone else as well.

14:36Yeah. Yeah. Like the two big balls over the top that do Arsenal kind of happen on Steph Catley's side. But I'm not sure they were targeting Steph Catley. I think there's so much that's kind of interesting in this game. If I'd had time to do the analysis piece, I'm not quite sure what I'd have gone for. because one of the things Arsenal do early on, they completely change the way they're playing out. They clearly had a very big look at what happened against Villa and they were kind of doing this thing. I'd love to watch it back. They were kind of doing this thing where they pushed the central mids, Kim and Vic Pilova, right onto the halfway line.

15:14And then as soon as Daphna passed one of the centre-backs, they'd rush back in. And I imagine that was because they probably looked at Villa and they were probably like, everything's in front of everyone and it was too easy to press. And if we vacate the space, then run back into it, we can play one touch and play out. The other thing that was happening was Katie McCabe was coming into midfield a lot as well. And my view, Jamie, on the first 15 minutes, when I think Arsenal started really well, was maybe we caught City by surprise a little bit. But one theme I do think there is in this game is that Arsenal weren't threatening.

15:56Arsenal got into some good positions. And I think certainly in that first 15 minutes, Olivia Smith got in down that right-hand side a lot. And it just felt like there wasn't enough in the penalty area. And again, René referenced that after the game. She said one of the things we talked about at half-time was we worked the ball into good positions and there weren't enough bodies in the box. And I felt good in that first 15 minutes. I come into these games very nervous and after 10 minutes, I was like, okay, I think we're good here. And I think a big regret for me has to be not taking the lead, not even really having a big chance in that first 10, 15 minutes.

16:39Yeah, no, I completely agree. I think in the first 10 minutes, I was sitting on my couch thinking Arsenal playing better than City and the press is really aggressive. I think they did a really good job at, oh my God, why can't I speak, isolating Leila Wahabi because she's not quick enough to catch up with Olivia Smith. I think that was something Arsenal did really, really well in the first 10 minutes is just get the ball to Olivia Smith and just drive into those spaces because you need to open up that left back. You need to make her like wary of you. And then that allows for more space in other positions.

17:08But then I don't think that was provided by anyone else on the pitch. I think Olivia Smith's getting the ball. She's driving into space. But then there's no one there to help her to be able to deliver that end product. And I think that does come with a bit of personnel. I think maybe in this game, if Freda Mornham's starting and she's crashing the box, there's more opportunity for Olivia Smith to do that. I think Alessia Russo is doing a great job at orchestrating the press. She forces a lot of mistakes from Jade Rose in the opening 10 minutes. And I think that was why I was so comfortable with saying, okay, they're getting into the right positions.

17:37It's just the end product and that will come. And I think when your city's defenders are making all these turnovers and they look really, really vulnerable at the back, I think, okay, this is going to happen. this is going to happen there's a breakthrough coming but then it also make it makes me I was a little bit annoyed because it it felt like Arsenal were like okay we've got them we've got them nervous so let's sit back and then they no longer were kind of exploiting that and making those mistakes happen and forcing those turnovers from City it's almost like they said okay they're going to make those mistakes we can sit back and hope that the ball comes to us so it felt really aggressive in the first 10 minutes and then City maybe remembered okay we need to wake up they offered more help to Leila Wahabi I think Grace Clinton drops back a lot more because she's playing on the wing in this opening period as well.

18:15So I think that they did a really good job at quick fixing. And maybe we as Arsenal fans forget that Man City, like you always say, Tim, the other team are allowed to have tactics as well. And I think they correct really, really fast in this game. And that's something that's impressive from Jair Glerc in this game. So yeah, I do think Arsenal start really fast, but then they're not lethal enough. They're not ruthless enough and they almost get complacent and then begin to sit back. And that's when City really, really can harm you with the players that they have. Yeah, I think one of the things that happened as well, particularly because it was over on the dugout side.

18:44I think City worked out how much Katie McCabe was coming into midfield. And we really saw Fugino come alive, who I think is a terrific player, by the way. And, you know, obviously I will always probably judge players more by what they do against Arsenal because I watch those games more closely and she always seems to give us an awful lot of trouble. And actually, I thought it was interesting she swapped sides once McCabe stopped inverting. inverting but I think City worked out okay she's going to go in there there's space here and they started to really whip that ball out to her and that's where the first goal comes from really they get out to Fugino great cross through the ball as well in terms of the marking of Bunny Shaw where do this is another one I just don't really know because instinctively I kind of think because Emily Fox is marking her and she is there it's just it's Bunny Shaw so she beats her to the ball and then there's a bit of me like that that instinctively that feels like that should be Lotta there but then I can see that Lotta is looking the whole time and can see where she is and and it's a perfectly natural thing to do to pass a player on as well so probably smart probably definitely smart play from Bunny Shore I think to put herself on Emily Fox instead of Lotta but how how did you view kind of the defending of the goal yeah I think Bunny Shaw this is again like we need to respect the opposition in this moment because she again like I do think she's the best striker in the WSL at least right now not we'll speak about the rest of the world in another conversation but I think that this is exactly what smart strikers do they they match themselves up with the most vulnerable defender and in this case aerially it's Emily Fox right like it's going to be so I think that this is a really good job from the centre forward I do think there is Arsenal onus to maybe clue into that and say, okay, we know that when crosses come in, we're going to need to have a centre-back, especially Lotto, who's probably the most aerial dominant player in that back four to be on Bunny Shore.

20:44So I do think maybe it's a little bit, it's like reaction rather than being proactive, I think, from Arsenal in this indication. But also, as soon as Kirsten Kasperi got the ball, I was like, this is going to be a perfect cross. And this is something she's been so good at all season. Like against London City Lionesses, She does almost an identical thing where she overlaps, she takes the ball, and then she crosses it to Viviana Midema, who basically just has to let the ball hit her head on the goal line. Like, this is a very excellent crosser of the ball. And I think because Man City have so many attacking threats, Arsenal maybe forgot about Kirsten Kasparaj a little bit because she has almost transformed her game a lot.

21:16She loves to pass the ball as a right back and she loves to be in possession, but she's not always been a player that pushes that line as much as she has recently. I think that's something maybe Arsenal were a bit complacent with in the tactics room because she's been doing that all season. She completely ran London City to the ground last week. So I think that this is maybe Caitlin Ford. She doesn't track back. Katie McCabe's kind of stuck in no man's land. And then it's a fantastic cross. It's pinpoint to a striker that's not going to miss from there, especially with her size, size, stature.

21:43And the run is perfect. So, yes, I think there is defensive onus on Arsenal. But I think it actually comes earlier. And it's maybe we're not picking out and recognising the threats that they have crossing the ball. and that comes from Kirsten Kaspari more than Fugino because Fugino loves to invert and she loves to play with the ball at her feet. Kaspari is the one that usually is crossing. So I think that that is where the laziness comes from me. I think mistakes happen in the penalty box, especially when the strike is that good. But I think Arsenal need to take responsibility from this goal because I think it's lazy in the build-up as opposed to maybe just you get outplayed by a player as good as Shaw in the final product.

22:15Yeah, I mean, regular listeners will know I'm a big fan of Caitlin Ford. I don't think this was her best game. I'm pretty sure a big part of the reason she would have been selected is recognising the danger City do pose on that right side. And you're right, it's Kaspari with the cross, not Vigino, but the kind of combination of the two down there. And then Kaspari has a goal disallowed, and I think Arsenal get very lucky there, because really Bunny Shaw should score well before Kaspari becomes any sort of figure in there. And actually, I think almost the chance was too easy for Bunny Shaw and she had too much time to think about it.

22:59And so Arsenal go in at halftime. I don't think it was massively unfair or anything. I think City were probably just about value for the one goal lead at halftime. and I was keen to see what Arsenal did differently. I think it's clear they stopped inverting McCabe so much. And one of the things I saw so much more clearly in the second half than the first half was them getting Mariana drifting out to that right-hand side, pushing Emily Fox on a bit more and getting some triangles going. And that's where Arsenal get the equaliser from pretty much straight away at the end of the half. and Emily Fox, people dig her out for her crossing.

23:45Personally, I just don't want the full-backs crossing, to be honest. I think that was happening too much towards the end of Jonas' time to pretty much no ends. But she picks out Mariana. And at that point, I thought, here we go. Now we're in business. Yes, certainly. I completely agree. I think when you get an equaliser at the Joy Stadium, you just assume Arsenal are going to go on to win the game. but it comes earlier than expected, which is a good thing always. You want to score earlier. But I do think, again, this forces Arsenal to almost just sit back. Like the goal is so well worked and I think it's so, like at halftime I think a lot of people were expecting changes.

24:21I myself, I didn't want changes. I just wanted something in the game plan to change. Like you need to change the tactics on how you break down this City midfield because I think they have got some fantastic players but their defending is not good. I really just don't agree that City have a good back line And I think you've got someone as good as Alex Greenwood. Leila Wahabi, I don't really rate her very much. Sorry to any City fans if you're for some reason listening. Kirsten Kasper, I think last season had a lot of vulnerability. She's, like I said before, she's improved those. But Jade Rose is a period of vulnerability.

24:50So I just thought, like, there is so much room to exploit this team. Like, why are you not exploiting this team? And I just think this is what happens at halftime. There's a conversation here that just fixes that and Arsenal come out a lot more aggressive. And like you said, I think the best part of Mariona when she's playing in the 10 is that she likes to drift into the channels and she just offers so much more to the style of play that Arsenal want to use. They want to get quick, short passes. Let's work the ball around defenders because right now it's not working if we're going to play the ball through.

25:16We've got Alessia Russo up top. Mariona helps Alessia Russo because she picks up the ball, she plays the ball and they can work the possession that way. So I think that, look, I'd still in this game, I think Friedemmourne, in my opinion, if you're going to play a high 10, it should have been Friedemmourne and then maybe Mariona in the pivot. I think if you're playing Mariona in the 10, it should have been Kyrie Cunha cross in the pivot. I don't think Pulova's game is very impressive at all, just because I just think it gets rid of our attacking agency and I think City did so well, so much to stifle that.

25:43So I think in the first five minutes of the second half, I thought this is great. The players are clued in. They know how. They just need to attack the City's defensive vulnerabilities and they do that and they do that very well. And I do think at this point Arsenal are going to win the game. I just then, again, think that City clue in very quickly and kind of figure out what they need to do to still exploit Arsenal's vulnerabilities rather than stifle Arsenal's strengths. yeah I think there was something about Kim Mariana and pull over together where maybe they're all just a bit too similar and again um you know Kyra Cooney cross might look at that and think oh you put pull over into the double pivot but not me and don't get me wrong I think that was more game plan oriented but if you're Kyra Cooney cross you're probably looking at and thinking well when when do I play like what what is the the magic formula of opponent and game plan where I start a game I think should be quite entitled to think that as well and then for my money like Arsenal are on top I feel good I feel like we're pushing for the second goal but City score from a set piece it's the second time in a week that Arsenal have conceded from a set piece as well again I look back at this goal and I can't massively pin it on anyone it does just feel a little bit like Bunny Shaw wins the header because she's Bunny Shaw like Arsenal kind of have three players on her you know Lotta I think is behind her which I don't love but there are like three Arsenal players there and she wins the ball which probably contributes to why when she wins the ball there's not enough Arsenal defenders to defend it coming in.

27:28I mean, how much of this goal do you attribute to bad defending and how much, again, do you just throw up your hands and say there's nothing we can do, it's Bunny Shaw? Like, where do you sit on that spectrum?

27:43You're on mute. My bad, there's a lawnmower out of my house, for excellence sake. I think as a fan you are completely entitled to feel like, okay what can my team do better to to eradicate this problem and I think that's what I always feel when these goals go in I'm like why are they not defending they need to pick it up but like upon reflection looking at this goal back I just think like these goals are going to happen when you're playing against a team of this caliber up front like Bunny Shaw wins this and then of course you're going to have like all of those defenders are thinking I'm just going to put all my energy into Bunny Shaw and then there's a loose player Kasperi finishes the goal so I do think look there is maybe like are you are you switching off when that ball hits the ground but I also just think this goal isn't the problem that I highlighted in this game.

28:26I think this is just a result of playing against Manchester City. So I didn't really call home about it. However, I also think, and I think we have a question about this in the second half, the set piece, like Arsenal having issues on set pieces. And that's something we need to diagnose because there are teams in this league, in the Champions League that can really, really hurt Arsenal on set pieces. And this is another product of that where it's hard, it's a nice edge. It's like, it's Bunny Shaw and she does a fantastic job. It's just, it's a really good, well-worked goal. But then also, this is a reoccurring problem.

28:54And I think this is the one thing I picked out of this game to say, OK, I can see this in other games. And this is something that is carrying on and it's still happening. So, yeah, look, I think that City deserve this goal. It's a good goal. But I think there's something to say about Arsenal set pieces right now. They're not cutting them out. They're not winning aerial duels. And maybe it's a personnel thing. There's a lot of things. I think even attacking-wise, set pieces are just not going well right now. So, yeah, I just think there is a problem to diagnose. And that's the one thing from this game that I took out and I'm putting in translation with the rest of the games.

29:21season I do think there's an issue there so yeah I don't really know how to how to fix it though so if you're looking for advice maybe we can have group therapy or something because I'm not sure yeah I mean like it's such a contrast to the men's team right who are just beastly on set pieces and you know on that side a lot of the attention I think understandably was on Nikola Jova as the set piece coach and and not to like dismiss his role or anything but over time I've just come more around to Saka and Rice take brilliant corners and Gabriel's probably the best at attacking them. And it's probably more that than the coaching, that the coaching obviously contributes.

30:01And I remember asking Jonas towards the end of his last full season about set pieces and he said, yeah, like they're not good enough. They got rid of the set piece coach that summer. But I kind of said like, how much do you think it's coaching and how much do you think it's just not having the right, like basically not having enough tall players to attack them. And that isn't, that's not something we addressed in the summer. That's something like a lack of height. And we lost Illestet and Hertig, who, to be fair, barely played anyway. But like that isn't something that was addressed in the summer.

30:42So I think it's understandable if people look at it and are just like, come on. At the same time, I just saw someone tweeted a really interesting XG conceded table in the WSL this season. If you're looking for a bit of copium, Man City have the least XG conceded, 4.8, but they've conceded seven goals. Arsenal have the second least XG conceded, 4.9, but we've conceded six goals. Chelsea have conceded 6.3 XG, but only conceded three goals. now it's quite a small sample size but what I'm saying is that that will catch Chelsea up they will drop points because you can't run from the xg forever so um there we go um so you know City go back in the lead um and then you know Steiner comes on at that point Freedom Mourham comes on I think those completely understandable changes Steiner goes through on goal from a Jade Rose under hit back pass and to be honest when Steiner when it's not just a first time finish I'm never quite like she's going to bury this it's good save and good bit of defending by Greenwood afterwards but then Chloe Kelly comes on now I've seen a lot of discussion about this it's so obvious that Chloe Kelly is not fully fit because Renee's always always always selected her and then since she missed the West Ham game with a knee injury she hasn't started a game she only came on with four minutes to go against Villa, I think if we'd been two goals up we wouldn't have seen her, she comes on in this game, her knee's still strapped I think it's reasonably obvious why she's not starting at the moment but the goal, the badge tap I mean it's such a shame it really came to nothing because it reminded me of when Russo scored at United last year and you're like yes oh no, no, actually it's not winner um yeah but you're you're feeling I mean I mean it's a great strike as well and in fact it's really nice football like Friedem Ornan makes a brilliant pass to Steiner all three attacking subs combining which had the result gone much better we'd be saying oh that's a theme that's something that happens quite a lot at the moment but you know in that moment it was a nice moment and I really thought it's going to lead to more for Arsenal yeah in this moment I was jumping up like literally celebrating in my apartment.

33:08I thought this is three points. They'll get it done. They'll get it up and they'll score a goal. I think like the goal here in the celebration, we need more of this in women's football. Like we need more of this. I remember when Chloe Kelly badge tapped the North Bank two seasons ago. Like she's just that kind of player. Like I just think we need to not look too deeply into this. And there's so much discourse surrounding this player. She is just fun and she brings entertainment to the league and she brings entertainment to women's football. We don't have that with anyone else. Like I said, as soon as this goal went in, I wish Riso did that at Leeds Sports Village.

33:39And she's never going to, unless Riso is not in her playbook to do something like that. But I think women's football needs more personalities like this. And the City fans are outraged. I saw more Man City fans outraged about Chloe Kelly's celebration and the fact that they beat Arsenal and got the three points. So I think that says enough. But like you just need, whether you win the game or you don't win the game, I think women's football needs more of this. And there's so much conversation around, oh, Chloe Kelly's so annoying. She's just a fun footballer. Like men do this all the time. Like, just let her have her moment.

34:06So that I was very excited about, not even just as an Arsenal fan, but I just think we need more of it in the game. It's a great goal. I think my feeling after this goal is they'll find a way to get this three points. I think the momentum was swinging in Arsenal's favour. Those substitutions, I agree, Tim. Like, I don't have an issue with the substitutions in this game whatsoever. That's something I actually didn't have an issue with. They worked really well. And I think we would have been maybe praising Rene Slagers had this gone the right way or even a draw. Like, I still think we're praising Rene Slagers.

34:30I think I have an issue with the initial personnel issues. the substitutions I think are flawless and they make an impact straight away so from this moment I think yeah it's going to go the right way and then yeah it definitely definitely doesn't yeah yeah and look and you know she got some from the City fans which is fine as well that's absolutely fine she gave some back it's all good it's all fine we don't need to worry about it um and yeah and at that point like after the goal as well when the ball's going out for a throwing like our players are sprinting for it I could see Rene doing the the swirly fingers thing like when the ball went out players to say like go and get it go and get it like Arsenal smelled blood and I really thought if there was going to be a winner it's going to be Arsenal but it's City who get the winner and again Bunny Shore is central to it I think there is a mixture in this defending Jamie of being afraid of giving away a penalty I think Steph Cattley in particular attacks that ball very very differently if it's outside the area and I personally I understand that because there's another world where she just goes for it and ends up conceding a penalty and then Lotta for me that's an unfortunate ricochet and it comes to Benet and that's the game and that was a sickness for me on many levels yeah this one really was like gut punch it was a massive gut punch I agree with what you said about um Steph Catley as well I think like more needs to be done but I'm so um I'm almost empathetic of the awareness because there's so many times in this game especially higher up in in City's defensive third where Bunny Shaw presses up and and gets draws a foul out of a player that's literally half her height so I think that there is the referees almost always giving Bunny Shaw those fouls this whole game, not even in an attacking sense.

36:19So I get it. Like I completely understand subconsciously from a centre-back. I still think there needs to be more done. And then Lota, put your foot through the ball. But then at the same time, I do understand. I empathise a little bit. Like, look, it's a bad ricochet. But then you're not – I don't think we should put the final responsibility on the last player. Like it should come earlier than that. And that's what I meant with the first goal as well. So, yeah, this is annoying. This is really annoying. I also think that Iman Benier is a great player. Like she's a young talent that is going to really take this WSL by storm.

36:46And I'm excited she did choose the WSL in the end. But it's frustrating. It's a sucker punch for Arsenal because it almost feels like, okay, you're finally maybe in the last 20, 25 minutes, Arsenal really decided we're going to win this game. We can win this game. And then you're almost punished for the fact that you want to be ruthless all of a sudden, as opposed to maybe sitting back and being a little bit more complacent, respectful of the opposition. So, yeah, this is a gut punch because, again, I'm going to speak about the hangover from last week. I think if Arsenal beat Villa last week, this game doesn't feel as horrible.

37:14Like this game feels horrible. And in isolation, I don't think it was horrible. But I think there's rightful discussion from fans speaking about, okay, are the right decisions being made in terms of the personnel starting and are the tactics there? I don't think that's really the issue in this game. I just think Arsenal aren't ruthless. Man City have Bunny Shore and she's unbelievable. However, again, I think fans have every right to be upset because of the Aston Villa result, because of the Man United result. And now you're sitting behind, you're four points behind Tottenham. Like it's a frustrating place to me.

37:42Yeah, I think also maybe with Lotta on there, I think if we're perhaps winning, maybe she does put her foot through it. I don't know how much difference it would make, to be honest, like given the proximity of the player. But I kind of think because we want the winning goal, perhaps she wants to try and keep the ball and dribble it out a little bit. But forgive me, there's one thing, just talking about, you know, whether, you know, could have conceded a penalty. that I completely forgot to talk about the incident at the beginning of the game where Olivia Smith is I actually I haven't seen it back yet but I mean it looks clear as day Olivia Smith it's a collision that stops her going through on goal I think the reason the referee doesn't give it is because she realizes that if she gives it she probably has to send Jade Rose off what did you make of that incident?

38:35Yeah I thought it was terrible terrible tackle like it's just a bad bump it's just the the thing is like it's not even the danger of the tackle I just think it's a body it's a really big body check and like it's not a good foul but the issue is that Olivia Smith's touch goes through on goal like that's almost guaranteed a goal for Arsenal and that sets the tone for this game I think it's frustrating I also think maybe the referee doesn't make this decision because it's so early on in the game if it's later it's very much easier to just like maybe give a yellow and a foul on the edge of the area.

39:01But yeah, this is frustrating to me. And I think it was like two or three minutes later, someone absolutely plows through Olivia Smith in the right channel as well. And this is something Liverpool fans were speaking about last season. I think a lot of fans were speaking about, this is a player that's not protected by the referees and she doesn't get the same treatment that a lot of other forwards do. And it is frustrating because there's no protection. She has a stud mark on her thigh that she got for Liverpool last season that is still there on her leg because there's just, and there was no foul awarded in that occasion.

39:29and there's no foul awarded here either. I think this is a player that's, yeah, she's like not protected by the referees is the way that I think other wingers are and it really, really frustrates me and that's a clear-cut example of this. I think it's maybe a little bit like cowardly seems like a strong word but it's like the referee didn't want to take the responsibility. Like you said, you have to send the defender off in that case so then you don't want to give away the foul because if you give away the foul, it's a red card because she's the wrong goal. So I think it's just like you need to take, referees need to make hard decisions and there's been hard decisions made this weekend in the WSL with penalties that shouldn't have been awarded.

39:59The fact that this wasn't even given as a foul is pretty poor. And I think it comes back to, yeah, this is a player that's underprotected. There's a few of them in the WSL that just don't get the treatment that the others do, and it's really frustrating. Yeah, yeah. And then Nikita Paris penalty incident against Liverpool in the last minute, certainly one of those. But before we go to a break and come back with questions, you know, the post-match press conference, I've got my two questions, as I usually do, and one of them was about like you know lotter and ball progression the other thing i asked renee about was momentum because the way i put the question to her was i felt personally that city's second and third goals come at times when i thought arsenal were on top and i was thinking that arsenal were going to score so i asked her about momentum and like what do you do about that as a coach because that's not tactical do you know what i mean that's not about moving players around or substitutions that's it's kind of about execution and i think that's the story of this game is that city execute better than arsenal do and i mean you know what renee's press conferences are like she doesn't give a lot away by a million miles this was the longest most detailed answer she ever gave me it's it's not i don't think i've ever had to go to two paragraphs for a post-match response to one of my questions because she doesn't you know like completely her right like She's a bit like Serena.

41:26She doesn't like to give a lot away, doesn't like to go into a lot of detail. A lot of managers don't for understandable reasons. But she bit on that question, Jamie. She really bit on it. And she said, this is exactly what we talked about. And she said, I agree with you. That's how I saw it as well. In the huddle, we talked about it. We've talked about harnessing momentum and capitalising on it. Because when you play a team like City, you're not going to have it for the whole game. So when you have it, it's precious. and you have to capitalise. And I just thought that was really interesting. And I think Rene gives so little away, but I sense maybe some frustration with the players in terms of execution there.

42:10Yeah, and I think that's completely fair. Again, I think a lot of people, the reason you said is spot on, Tim. The reason this game is so hard to decipher is there's no general consensus. Some people are saying, oh, the manager's at fault. I don't think the manager's at fault in this game in terms of tactics or personnel changes. Like I said before, I think these are the right changes being made. And I think once you maybe let the result cool off a bit, you recognise that. I only recognised that yesterday. I didn't recognise it during the game. Well, yesterday, yeah, time zones, guys. Don't worry about it.

42:36Just take my word for it. So I think, yeah, I do think that there's a complete onus on the players. And that was something that frustrated me against Aston Villa as well. I think that, yes, there's issues I have with the manager's decisions, but I think at the end of the day, the players aren't putting in the effort. And I think that's what happens in this game again, especially for most of the goals. It's a lapse in concentration. And the first goal I think is just so frustrating. I keep coming back to it. Caitlin Ford needs to do better. Like she needs to do better. And I'm not pointing fingers and saying, oh, if it was this player.

43:05But I do think maybe someone like Beth Mead is so good at that and she's so disciplined at that. Caitlin Ford is the attacking player that you kind of want to attack the city fullbacks. And then she doesn't come back and defend. She's been so good at that recently. So it was frustrating. And I think those kind of moments are the moments that Rene's talking about. and it's frustrating because I think that the players are almost just being a little bit complacent right now. And I don't know what that comes with. I don't know why that is. But I am frustrated for the manager. Again, I'm still going to come back to the fact that I do think this game is a lot of the issues that are caused.

43:35And almost like the agency we give Man City is because of the players that start the game. I still don't think – I don't agree with the starting line-up, especially with the midfield. But I think the players need to take responsibility. So I agree with Rene. I think there's a frustration there where it's almost like, yeah, I think this is something we spoke about and the players maybe didn't execute it and that's her nice and polite way of saying they didn't listen to what we said and told them to do and I think I share that sentiment yeah I just think in in the box Arsenal were like between the box I cannot say that I think Renee was out coached in this game which is not to completely remove agency from her I just think in that last 15-20 yards it wasn't there and and like I say that's these are the manager's players she could have moved some of them on if she wanted to she could have brought other ones in these are the ones she selected blah blah blah so i'm not like these things are always a spectrum right and it's never a hundred percent the players and zero percent the manager it's never a hundred percent the manager and zero percent the players it's a spectrum it's about where you sit on that spectrum and and yeah i i think but then also like execution hasn't been an issue under renee until really recently and And maybe if you look at the numbers, we've been overperforming the numbers for quite a while.

44:51But at the same time in the WSL, top teams do. Chelsea have been overperforming their XG for like 50 years, basically. The last time Arsenal won the WSL, they overperformed their XG by 25 goals, right? In a 22-game season. like it's I kind of think actually in in women's football something like xg is not as it's not as reliable it's still too noisy but like yeah they were just I think we got into good positions and just weren't kind of ruthless enough and I don't really know how we get that back but we got questions about it for the second half and we've gone quite long this half I thought we would there was a lot to discuss and unpack and there's a lot to discuss and unpack still so So we'll take a break there and we'll come back in part two with your questions submitted on Blue Sky right after this.

45:48Okay, welcome back to part two of the Arsenal Women Ask, cast on askblog.com. We might keep the questions shorter than usual. Usually that's the long half. Not that that makes sense, but the second part is usually the longer part with the questions. And the first part is kind of shorter. We might go the other way this time, just because I think we've discussed quite a lot of big kind of meaty subjects in there. And a lot of the questions kind of focus on these. But let me start with this one, Jamie. We touched on this slightly. This is from Ariella W on Blue Sky. We've been exploited heavily in midfield so far this season.

46:30while we all knew the risks of not bringing someone in during the summer feels like we're not even getting the best of the great players we do have do you think it's time for a change in system or personnel there why or why not yeah I think that I um I don't think that Arsenal needed to bring in a player I think that the players are there and they're just not being maybe utilized as best as possible and the change in system happened this I guess the change in setup happened this weekend against City like Plova drops into the pivot Mariana goes back in the 10 And I just really didn't like that.

47:02Like, I'm going to be completely candid with that. I didn't like it on the team sheet. And I didn't like how it transpired in real life either. I just think, like you said earlier, Tim, you said the players are too similar. And that's exactly what happens in this game. I think Plova and Mariona maybe just haven't played enough together. So it's less fluid. I think so often we see when our midfielder are playing with each other, there's a lot of movement, right? Like, we're not as traditional as we used to be on the Yona side of ours. Like, you play here, you play here in the midfield. That's the double pivot.

47:27Sorted out from there, there's a 10. And I think that there's a lot more fluidity, especially with Mariona in the team. And we don't see that from her and Victoria Plover in this game because they've just not played enough together. Like they don't have that yet. And I just think this is it's not really it's hard. Like I think initially I almost got a bit frustrating thought. Is it conservative? But I don't think it's conservative. I think it's almost like you have all of these great players and you just want to play them all at the same time and hope that because they're so attacking minded, they're going to cause something to to be so impressive.

47:53I just think this game, like I said, lots of women Moy is a great progressive passer, but she's going to be locked up by Bunny Short. This game, and I have been so, so on Renee's leg aside in terms of playing Kyra Cooney Cross. Like I'm not even being enraged as an Australian. I want to admit that this isn't even a biased opinion because I feel like I've been quite impartial. But this is the game that I do think it needs to maybe be considered. And I think if you're not going to trust her in these scenarios, why are you going to trust her against Lyon? Why are you going to trust her against in the WSL?

48:20Now it's important. Like now Arsenal are like, yes, the league's probably already out of sight, but there's also Champions League to contend with because City and United are both playing good football. So that's frustrating right now. And I think when are you going to trust Kyra Cooney Cross? Because in my opinion, if you're playing Pulova in the eight, you don't trust Kyra enough to start this game. And I don't believe that there's enough in Pulova that's proven in the eight. I know that maybe she's preferred to play there. I don't think there's enough that she offers there that Kyra doesn't to justify this decision.

48:47I just think it's a bit strange. and seen a lot of people say, oh, maybe she's not quite fit yet. Okay, then she shouldn't be playing. I also disagree. I think Plover's had great moments this season. I just don't think this is her game and I don't think it works as well with Mariona. Maybe if Freedom Ornum's on the pitch, it's different. Like I'm not, my issue isn't, Freedom Ornum's not starting. My issue is, I think Kyra Kuni Cross has maybe been a bit pushed to the side in this game and it's a bit frustrating because I think I can understand it when it's Mariona and Kim Little. I still see the benefits of that pivot.

49:13I don't understand it when it's Mariona in the 10 and Victoria Plover in the eight. So it's a bit lackluster for me. And I think my biggest issue in going back to the question is, yes, maybe you need a change set up. But then do you just bring Mariona and Little back into the pivot? And then do you just play Frieda or pull over in the 10? Like, what's the change of set up? Because if you're not going to trust Kyrie Kuni Kross in the games where her skill set might help you, I don't really know where she lies in this team. And I think that's a little bit of an anxiety for a lot of people. Because Kim Little, I still think that people look at her age too much in isolation.

49:41I don't think that she's a player that is ready to hang up her boots. I think she's still playing great football. She's one of the best midfielders in the league, still in that position. But I think that you still need to be looking at this player and saying, okay, we have Kyrie Pune-Cross who can work better in this starting lineup. Why is Plova playing? So, yeah, that was a long-winded answer to say. I think this is where the game's maybe gotten wrong. I just think I don't really understand the rationale of if you're not going to play Mariano in the pivot, why is it Plova in the pivot? And I think that maybe, yeah, that rubbed me the wrong way.

50:11Yeah, we get questions about and we talk about the midfield all the time. And I think that tells you something. We don't get as many questions on, like, we don't talk about who should play right back every week, for example. Yeah, I think I can, I'm beginning to understand more the interest in Geraldine Reuteler. I think that's a slightly different profile who can do a number of different jobs. I'm sure we'll end up coming back. I've got comments by the midfield as well, but I think they might come out in other questions, maybe around the attack. Do you have a question for me? I do. This one's from Elle, at Kofaji Ball.

50:52Also, Rosa Kofaji, by the way. Great game for Brighton despite the loss yesterday, so that's positive. Points-wise, we are in the same position as we were last season. That's always good. What are the key similarities and differences between this season and last? That's a really big one for you, Tim, but I would love to know what you think. Yeah, yeah. The difference is that last season, it was the end of something. And we all knew it was the end of something. And the manager resigned because he knew it was the end of something. And that's not where I am now. There are issues. And like I said, I think a lot of them are in midfield.

51:30But we're still on a journey here. And that's not to say René will definitely solve it. Maybe she won't. Maybe this time next year, we'll still be talking about it. and she'll go or whatever. I'm not saying that will happen, but it's on the table. I'm not sitting here saying she'll definitely solve it. Don't worry about it. I don't know. So the difference is that, I mean, obviously, she's a younger coach as well. She has the Champions League in her back pocket, and I agree that doesn't mean everything's magically okay and all the weaknesses and stuff go away, but it's significant for a manager both for their power within the club within with the credit and rightly so and the credit they have and obviously the further you get away from that achievement if you don't repeat it or do something else the less it kind of matters but right now it matters so like she's got the power there um one thing that is interesting is that as it stands her contract runs out at the end of the season as it stands um and i believe club want to extend it and all of that and so i i kind of think that'll happen but i don't know that i don't have anything firm on that um so so there's that to it i think the the issues are very different i think what happened with the onus was was low blocks were an issue and for a year there was just no clear sign that that was being solved basically and like I remember the end of his no about February or March in his last full season we beat Tottenham 1-0 at the Emirates Russo scored but it wasn't impressive and I remember asking him about like deep blocks afterwards and he was like yeah I think there are real signs that are improving there and I was a bit like I'm not sure I see it I'm not sure I see it you know and um whereas now like I think there are other issues to work through I think in the general run of things Arsenal will score plenty of goals under Rene that might hide a multitude of sins but I kind of think that's all right in the WSL as well so like at Yona with Yonas it was it was a soft factor thing it was the end of something and you could see that the players knew it was the end of something and that's why he left so we're not there yet like we are at an issue we are at a point where there are knots for sure but we're not at that point where it's like this manager can't solve it um like that that's the main thing for me obviously the similarity is that to win the title from here is going to be a massive effort and we're probably going to have to be like beat chelsea twice a minimum um you know and that's that's going to be really really difficult to do it's going to be really difficult to do and um so that like that's the similarity right there that like the title might be over before it started again i personally i prefer not to think about it too much at this point in the season it still just feels early um for that even if it doesn't mean it's not true but it just still i don't i don't really think about permutations that much um at this stage so i think it's like it's just much more of a a vibes thing the vibes are very different that's what i'd say and i don't i don't just mean that like dismissively like that that counts for something vibes count if you've got no vibes with your team or with your fans it's over like it's over and i don't think i think we're a long way short of that so that's that's kind of where i am with it um How about this one?

55:19Okay, so this has been from Unbiased Arsenal. So the way it's been phrased is obviously provocative. But I'll ask it anyway, because there is a question in there. Paying the price for a shit window, aren't we? Definitely got lax after winning the Champions League. Pace and power down the spine don't make me laugh. I think what our friend Unbiased is trying to say there is you know given some of the things we saw last season does it feel like we didn't really fix those in a personnel manner at all in the summer yeah um I love Unbiased I love Unbiased I was raging about Freedom Warnham in the group chat the other day because I wanted her to be on in this team sheet and someone sent me a message it was like are you is this your account I was like no it's not it's definitely not my account I think, look, I think that the summer window improved a few areas.

56:19I think getting in Olivia Smith because we were always, we've been crying out for years, every fan, me and you included, let's get a younger winger, lower the age profile, someone fast and direct. They did that and they probably got the best one in terms of the rising talent. So that's a big check. But I agree that there is a lack of, yeah, there's a lack of pace. It's just, it's hard though because I think the issues that we had at the back end of last season was, okay, there's an issue in transition. Does that come down to the pace of the spine? Does that come down to the centre-back partnership?

56:46That's not being exploited this season. So it's hard to kind of judge, is that the issue still? Or is it the case that Leah Williamson's not fit? Like, I know that we all love Leah Williamson, but maybe we still didn't realise how important she is to this Arsenal team, because that's a massive part of this game. And we've not even said her name this episode at all. Like, she's probably, definitely top three Arsenal's most important players in terms of how the games are played out without her in her absence. So, yeah, I think that maybe it's a bit – I was still frustrated a little bit at the end of the window because it did feel like a bit of a lacklustre window in the fact that, yes, you brought in Taylor Hines.

57:18I think that's a great signing, but then it didn't make sense to the Jen and I swunger. Then do we have more issues than we need to have? I still think as a club, Chelsea do it all the time. Just stock up. You're allowed to stock up, and I think that's something that separates Chelsea from the rest of the pack. So it's not, oh, they shouldn't have signed Taylor Hines because they have Jen and I swunger. It's just kind of like, okay, why did we spend that money in the January window? And then it has a full on effect to the summer window where we're saying, can we spend less money on players that we maybe need more?

57:42So I think in terms of the midfield group right now, and I said it earlier in the episode, I think those players are in this squad. I really do believe that. I think that between Freedom Ornum, Victoria Pulova and Kyra Cooney Cross, in terms of the younger players, I guess it's a bit different. Like Pulova is 26 now, but Kyra Cooney Cross is still 23, 24 maybe. So I do think there is a good quality of player there that we are maybe overseeing because of the way they're being utilised. I still think as a club, after winning the Champions League, Arsenal needed to do more in the summer window. That centre-back partnership is still my biggest issue.

58:12I still think it is an issue. I think maybe you look at Katie McCabe in this game and say you don't play the best game. But Arsenal did the work to be able to find her coverage. There's coverage there. Right-backs don't come easy. That will come. But that's not the issue right now. That's not causing losses. I see what Unbiased Arsenal is saying. There's an issue in the spine in terms of pace. But I think the personnel are there. I just don't think they're being used yet. So I do hope that Arsenal bolster the squad. I think any league champion should. They need to go and win the league. They need to improve the squad.

58:38But I don't think that these results come as a direct result of the transfer window. I just think it comes as a result of the players don't seem as eager as they should. And maybe the midfield especially, something that we continue to have conversations with, isn't being utilised. Now we've got Victoria Plova back. Why is it not improved? That's another great play added to the mix. Yeah. Yeah, and I think, you know, if you were being clear, like the question, say Chloe Kelly was signed in the summer and signed in January indeed, no problem there. Key player, you know, used a lot. Jenna Naiswonger was signed in January, not in the squad.

59:16Anneke Vorbe signed in the summer, not in the squad. Taylor Hines signed in the summer, unused sub in this game. I think it's fair to question whether Arsenal maximised what they could have done in the transfer window. Obviously, Olivia Smith, I think, is... Apart from that, I think there are reasons we bought her as well that we might go into. Do you have a question for me? I do, I do. Let me... Okay, this one is from Helen M at HXM829. What positives can we take from this game in isolation? Personally, I don't feel like we were completely outclassed and the season isn't over. Chelsea have been lucky so far.

59:56Surely they can't continue. Well, who knows? United squad depth, this person has said, is crap. And if Bunny gets injured, City will struggle. So yeah, Tim, are there positives that you can take from this performance that you're saying, oh, that's going to positively impact Arsenal for the rest of the season? Yeah, like I co-sign all of that on Arsenal's rivals. I do think that that also means that things have to be pretty perfect from Arsenal as well. Like any number of misfortunes could befall us. you know like if Emily Fox is out for three months or something like that like you know we have to uh you know we kind of have to cross our fingers and hope nothing none of those misfortunes before us in terms of positives from this game I mean I'd say I didn't think ball progression was an issue like it was um the last couple of games um I you know I I agree I don't think we were outplayed i don't think we were outcoached i thought it was even game backwards and forwards etc etc um you know we still we score two goals um there are a couple of world is and i think there's maybe something in that that like it took two really great finishes from the edge of the box and it didn't feel like we were going to score a scrappy one like man city you know got a couple of kind of scrappy goals and I think there's a conversation maybe to be had there um so I guess those are my kind of positives as it were and in terms of like I said like I didn't get too many thematic things from this that I really worry about going forward maybe the set piece thing um I don't really know how we solve that um to be honest like like Lotta Lotta is the the center a half we have that wins the most aerial jewels even even more than katie reed actually although katie reed's a much smaller sample size at this point so it's it's i feel like i i've got this feeling jamie with arsenal i i kind of had with arsenal men in the late wenger era where i just feel like if football was 12 a side we'd be great if it just feels like we've got a few players who are like half profiles you know and we veer pretty wildly between really really different players in key positions and sometimes that can be a real strength can help you change things from the bench but I'm looking at 10 and 9 and you can say this about midfield as well and I'm thinking pull over to Frieda is a wild swing of two totally different profiles Russo and Steiner it almost feels like they should get in a splicer and we get like the best qualities of both because i just i yeah i i think for me like one of my issues with midfield is actually based around one of my issues at number nine where russo is not getting shots in these games and is not getting into dangerous positions enough and i think she can do that but i love her hold up play so much I think it's so, so good.

1:03:17But then there's just a part of me that thinks, is that just because our number 10 doesn't do enough of that for her? And she's kind of having to do like two jobs. And I moved back to my six and two eights theory. I was like, where I think if we had two number eights, really taking care of that area, like would we need Russo to do so much, like so much hold up work with her back to goal, 40 yards from goal. You know, I guess what I'd say is I do think there's a way out of this. That's what I'd say. But there might be some pain finding it out because I think we're going to have to try some things out.

1:04:00And they might not work. And, you know, we don't really have time for that. Certainly not this season. What about this one then? well let's kind of stay on that theme a bit and this is from SleepyWRR hopefully not too sleepy there was a lot of talk about the need for consistency this season obviously hasn't happened so far we didn't change that much personnel wise do you still have the belief that this group can provide consistency we already know they're talented and can win big games yeah look I think my biggest question um of Rene Sager's over the summer window and coming into the new season was how does Arsenal kind of navigate this WSL season in in four or five competitions whatever you want to count that as um in terms of how do you how do you kind of go on this run of form without the narrative of what they had last season like last season it was so okay new interim manager look at Arsenal on this run they're in the Champions League they're pushing for the Champions League, they win the Champions League, woohoo.

1:05:07It was so good. And it was so like, roll, roll, roll, it's going, it's going. And there was momentum. My biggest question of this team heading into the new season was how do they, how do they carry that momentum without the narrative? And I think that was, that's maybe something they're lacking this season is, do they need, like, is it still going back to these days of Jonas Eideval where they need a crisis in order to like play really well? Like, is there, does there need to be a catalyst where something needs to go wrong in order for everything to go right? And I think maybe there's a lack of motivation here and I think that's something like Rene's not saying her players are unmotivated but maybe that that comment after the game is okay there needs to be like action from other places there doesn't need to be this massive like oh something's happened there's a new manager and now Arsenal's going on this tremendous run they need to be able to find that form without those kind of those storylines and I think that's something I've struggled with this season is it doesn't feel like the players have the same ability to problem solve but and the biggest example of that was that it was the quarterfinal at home against Real Madrid in the Champions League when Arsenal went up and they kept trying to score.

1:06:06Like Caitlin Ford was like going towards goal and they were leaving Arsenal vulnerable on the counterattacks, but they didn't care because they knew they were going to score, they were going to score. I haven't seen that this season yet. And I think maybe a little bit against West Ham, but then you look at West Ham, they've not won a game. They're on zero points, negative 14 goal difference. Like, is there a little bit of that we need to take into consideration as well? So I think that that's my biggest concern. The players have the talent and the squad has the talent to be able to go on these big runs and pick up form and get lots of wins.

1:06:34I think that is something that I completely see the squad being capable of. But I just am expecting and hoping that there's going to be something like a turn in motivation to allow these players to go on that run. Because right now I'm not seeing it. And I am still a little bit worried. It's my biggest question of René Slagas and the squad was, how do they get those results without the narrative? And that's something I'm a little bit worried about because now there's more games. Champions League comes into play. You're playing a game midweek for six weeks straight like how do you get the motivation in the run of form and maybe that comes with more games maybe that comes with you know personnel maybe being locked down I think someone asked a question I'm so sorry I can't remember who it was but said if I'd like four changes in the 10 in five games like there's a lot of inconsistency in this starting lineup that's something we saw a lot under your own side about I don't really know who's starting like I was looking I was looking the other day of some of the starting lineups against Man City and he benched like Alessio Russo on the first game of the season last season and that is something that I think now in the modern day we think is ludicrous because like a less serious of plays 90 minutes like you say Tim René Selye is once in the team no matter what so I think that there's maybe a little bit of question to be asked of this there's just a lot of areas I think Arsenal seem unsure of themselves and maybe decisions need to be made in order to allow the players to have motivation because I think that they can pick up form and I think like again what the quite Helen I think asked the question is other teams around us going to drop points I think yes and I think Arsenal can capitalize on that however I'm still waiting to see if the players can like find that within themselves and that's something I'm still a bit concerned about to be yeah a long-winded answer for a short question yeah it's the the question is does the number 10 rotate because we have options or does the number 10 rotate because no one owns it um and I think you can probably see why I think by the fact that I asked that question let's do one more each um if you ask me one and then I'll ask you one and we'll get out of here.

1:08:23I have a question from Cathan. So it's Cathike216. I think the team lacks a true player motivator, someone who throws a water bottle or shows the do or die attitude. Do we have a player like a Lucy Bronze to push for perfection? They're throwing the water bottles a little bit, Hannah. I feel like this is a Chelsea fan in disguise. Sorry if you're not. Yeah, I do in Katie McCabe for one. um yeah and maybe that's another element of leah we miss um that kind of little bit of you know the the two types of leadership the kind of that you know the fact that kim and leah like they lift trophies together they they kind kind of kim and like leah does like the team talk and all of that so you know they're almost like joint captains um i think kim would probably look at it that way um so yeah listen there's plenty we miss about leah williamson in the team i've said this before when you take a big player out usually it takes you a few games and then you really realize what you're missing but I don't have a huge problem with that I think Katie McCabe um kind of does that I think you get that from Beth Mead as well I think you get a bit of that from Caitlin um you know maybe could we use one more like that yeah I feel like these questions always come up when like results um aren't really going for you whereas when they are going for you like no one really asks about the whole leadership piece.

1:09:49So I'm not convinced that's like a massive issue. What I'd say is we miss Leah Williamson as a player and as a leader. Definitely. I think I'd say that, whether it's because Leah throws water bottles or whatnot, I don't know. She's certainly a bit more demonstrative. Okay. How about this one then? I think we've kind of done that. It was a good question from Tim Fowler about a lot of people saying there were issues at the end of last season that were maybe ignored. I kind of think we've covered that. So going to go for this one from Joe Lomoco. Where do you see improvements coming from over the next few games?

1:10:33Is simply more conviction and ruthlessness enough? Could the same setup or lineup produce much greater? if variety is needed in the setup do you feel where do you feel that comes from so i guess really looking ahead to leon like to well yeah just to repeat joe's question where do those improvements come from do you change the personnel or is it more about getting the personnel you have got to to you know have that conviction and ruthlessness yeah i think this game is the two issues the the it's a great question because the two issues I had with this Manchester City performance were the team looked a little like like they were lackluster they were toothless and a little bit uh they they didn't have a ruthlessness but also I thought the personnel issue like I said again like starting wasn't correct so it's hard to balance that I just think the changing things around is clearly not working and I think that like in the in the final third there's been a lot of movement I think that 10 position is exactly the movement I'm talking about because there's been oh we've always like we've said like Renee Slay is like things are saying that there's been an uncertainty in that 10 position.

1:11:40I think that maybe is causing a knock-on effect because when you look at someone like Alessia Russo, right, she's going to be the starting nine in almost every single game. The 10 is someone that really, really feeds her and really, really plays well with her. And she needs to rely on that 10 to do a lot of her work. And when she's having to like switch up personnel, it almost makes her responsible for a lot more than she needs to be. So I think that there needs to be a little bit more assurance there. So do you stick with the same thing and then hope that it pulls off? And then do you have to like progress with that?

1:12:06I think the biggest thing I have of Renee is, okay, where do you see these players? Because I love a versatile midfielder, but I do think like we're very uncertain of where Victoria Pullover plays football. Like where do you want her to play? Improve her in that position. Because right now, like you've got a 10 in freedom on and Mariana Caldente is a hybrid. And I think that she's just got the profile to be a hybrid. But where do the other players fit in that midfield group? So I think heading into Lyon, it's hard because you want to strike that balance of, okay, persist with the same thing that the players need to be ruthless, but then also didn't work against City.

1:12:35Like it did not work against City. And I I think the biggest issue that maybe Arsenal have heading into this is, like going back to what Armbias said, there's maybe a lack of pace in the spine. You're coming up against a Lyon side where that is exactly what they've had. They have pace in the spine. It's not the same as City. They don't have the target nine. They have the running nine. So then, okay, how do you bounce from a game against Manchester City, against Lyon, both high-profile teams, completely different setups, and they play football very differently in terms of how they attack the ball.

1:13:00So I wouldn't want to be Rene Sleggers right now, but I just think the biggest thing is that the team need to be robust and the team need to be ruthless. So I think I'd side with the fact that, yes, you just need to have conviction. Like Arsenal need to head into this Lyon game and they need to play with conviction. I think playing against, sorry, at Boromwood and Meadow Park will help that. I do think that must feel, will have a play into that. And I think that Arsenal will put on a good performance, but it's just the motivation. And it's almost like they need a bit of a shock to the system because Man City are good, but Lyon are better.

1:13:27They're a better team. Do they need a shock to the system to kind of say, okay, like let's remember who we are and just play direct, ruthless football right now. So I think my biggest thing, answering that question, Arsenal need to be ruthless. It's less, more, I don't even know if it's ruthlessness for me. I think they just need to play with more conviction. They need to say, okay, this is what the manager wants. This is the lineup. This is the tactics. Let's actually convert that and do what we need to do because right now it feels like they're just playing football and maybe the tactics are getting a little bit jumbled over and to no fault of the manager, perhaps.

1:13:54That's just a theory. I'm not saying that that's my opinion. But yeah, so playing with conviction as opposed to ruthlessness and opposed to mass changes would be my biggest thing. Just execute, just play to 100 % and execute your role. And I think that will hopefully turn some tables. Yeah, let's finish this by, I kind of think Renee answered this question a little bit. And this was part of her response to my question about momentum. And she said, momentum is really, really big in football from a psychology perspective, but from a football and tactical perspective, I definitely agree with that.

1:14:28We spoke to staff and players about that after the game and it's definitely something to look at, but it's easier said than done. I think there's positive things in the game. It was just about when we have the momentum, the pass before the final pass, do we have the quality there? Do we arrive in the right spaces? It's the assist where we want it to be, to have composure in those moments in the final third and around the box. It's small margins. So she's talking about little details when you arrive, the quality of the final pass. and to me I think there's a question of timing there as well. The first equaliser in this game, Mariana, arrives at the right time onto the ball.

1:15:12Chloe Kelly, second goal, arrives at the right time onto the ball and the pass before is excellent. It's just there were too many times where maybe the pass or the pass before the pass, the conditions played into it a little bit. It was very, very blustery in Manchester. a lot of overhit crosses from Arsenal, but the connection wasn't always good on that kind of final action. And I tend to think that's less personnel-based, actually, and something you kind of saw in training. But there's only one training session until we play Lyon. And they're really good at set pieces as well. So that's great.

1:15:52I look forward to that. Jamie, that was therapeutic. I do feel like I have a bit more clarity on what was a very confusing game. Thank you, Tim. I appreciate it. I always appreciate coming and speaking to you and getting therapised. So I'm sorry that we've had to do it so often recently. Yeah, and obviously this podcast went longer than most of them, which I anticipated would be the case because there was so much to talk about. And doubtless there'll be a lot to talk about next week as well. We'll come back not quite after the Lyon game. I might write something about that but we'll come back next week after the Brighton game with a podcast for you then until then thanks very much for listening take it easy and we'll speak to you next week