Arsenal Women Arsecast Episode 149: Another United stalemate ...

0:13Hello and welcome to the Arsenal Women AskCastCast and AskBlog.com with me your host Tim Stillman looking back on Saturday's thriller minute 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0. given what happened between the teams in September. But quite a lot of incident around the game, in the game, a little bit. Some talking points coming out, goalkeepers wasting time. I think we're all quite used to that and every team in the WSL doing that. We'll get into all of that. Obviously, Rene Slager signing a new contract, Jodie Taylor being promoted to technical director Jenna Nyswanger. A shock January exit that none of us saw coming on loan to Aston Villa.

0:55We'll get into all of that and obviously we'll get into your questions as well in part two as we always do. And as always, here to disseminate all of that with me is our co-host Jamie Spanger. Jamie, how are you doing? I'm good, Tim. I'm good. It's been a big weekend. Not a lot happened on the football pitch, but I feel like a lot has happened around it. And I feel like history has seen us the longest, sorry, the smallest scorelines always offer the most listener questions in our longest podcast. So this nil-nil draw is going to be very interesting because the people on Blue Sky want to know what happened and this tends to happen.

1:28So thank you, Arsenal. But yeah, a lot to dissect. Yeah, definitely. And I think that's the thing. I think there kind of is and isn't consensus over or I think people can see some of the issues but don't know what the solutions are. And I have to say, if I knew what the solutions were, I probably wouldn't be sitting behind this microphone. I'd probably be on the Arsenal coaching staff, which is not going to happen. But before we get into the game, we had the news at the end of last week that Rene Slakers are signing a new three and a half year contract. My understanding is that that was basically agreed in the summer.

2:01Obviously, things happened in the summer. You know, Rene had a second child very happily in the summer. And obviously, there was transfer business to do and things like that. And obviously, we were very active at the end of the transfer window. So trying to sign players here and there. so it basically didn't get done then they kind of just had to wait for the winter break I don't think that was a huge surprise to people particularly you know knowing what you know now that it was basically already agreed but we spoke a lot Jamie about the need that we felt for you know another piece there to kind of support Renee a bit of a director of football technical director kind of role that's exactly what we got in Jodie Taylor so Jodie Taylor again my understanding is she's been groomed for this role for a little while and that this has been in the works for a little while she obviously joined the backroom well the kind of behind the scenes staff in the summer of 2023 just after she finished playing well no it was a bit later in 2023 hugely experienced very qualified both academically you know having done this role at Arsenal for a few years she's got a UEFA coaching A license she's played in Sweden she's played in Australia she's played in France, Canada, US, England, very storied England international.

3:19It's all there on paper, I think. What did you make of that appointment, Jamie? And perhaps we'll get into some of what this might look like behind the scenes. Yeah, I think same as you, Tim. I think this is something we've probably seen coming for a while now. There needed to be a position to help the backroom, help the head coach. And I think that obviously we saw a very hilarious, if you want to call it, WOSO heritage, like signing when she kind of came back to Arsenal in the end of the 2020, 2023 season. And it almost felt like, okay, what, what is this building up to? And obviously, yeah, Jodie Taylor is like, when you, when you talk about speaking to football minds, like out of the people I've spoken to, she's probably one of the, like you, you have a lot of footballers that don't actually like really care about how a football club's around.

4:06They don't really have the passion for that. They just love playing football and they want to go out there and do that. Jodie Taylor is someone that has cared about football and just really, really, really passionate about the operations, very intelligent human being, really passionate about this kind of area. And I'm surprised maybe this didn't happen for a different club sooner than it did. So I think in terms of good hands, it's interesting. And there's a lot that the role needs to be spoken about as well. I think it's very, very, very easy and acceptable for fans to kind of see this as an appointment and say, great, like this is a great moment for us because we've now got all this help in recruitment and we're going to sign all these players because there's another backroom manager here and I think it's it is important to know the role and think like Claire Wheatley is still the person in charge of that she's very much the person in charge of player contract negotiations she'll still be the player in charge of making the final call in the transfers when transfers come in when they have to reach an agreement they have to negotiate a contract for players she's the one finding those targets Jodie Taylor will influence that but she's about kind of being a soundboard for soundboard for Renee Slickers and it's about building the culture.

5:07These are the people we have in the building now. Okay, how do I help that? How do I evaluate the coaching staff? How do I make sure that everyone is performing the way that this head coach wants and the way that club philosophy does? And how do I do the tech analysis to figure that out? So I think it's a good role because that's what we need. And then if Claire Wheatley can focus on, look, this is recruitment, I'm that person kind of laying down the fist on that. I think it's good. Just take some burden off everyone's shoulders. So yeah, interesting. And And I do think for a club like Arsenal, it's probably about time.

5:36Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, you got that quote from Jonas after he resigned when he gave an interview in Sweden and he said he felt, you know, he felt a bit isolated, felt a bit alone managing all of those departments. I think Jodie has been working a lot with the data analysis team, for example. And yeah, it's a technical director role. So it's going to be day to day with Rene, which I think Claire's role doesn't allow her to do as much anymore. so I think you know Jodie very much a link perhaps between Rene and Claire for example but being that kind of day-to-day operational typeface and yeah playing philosophy academy player pathways all of that type of stuff I think and I think also when Rene moved across to be manager we lost maybe some of Rene's skills from her previous role in the player development role and having that kind of, I don't want to say human face on the training ground, but, you know, that kind of almost player, like high level player liaison type thing.

6:39So, yeah, there's a lot to it. And I think, by the way, the club would concede that Jonas was right when he said that, that he kind of felt alone, as it were. But you're right, like that doesn't mean that like Jodie Taylor is in charge of recruitment. Like Claire Wheatley's role was very much kind of managing and overseeing the departments. But obviously she has like a wider role as well, like on UEFA boards, on WSL boards, FIFA boards. You imagine all of these clubs and women's football, they want to talk to Arsenal. Of course they want to talk to Arsenal. They want to talk to Arsenal because they've won the Champions League, but they want to talk to Arsenal about the growth of the game because they're doing it better than pretty much anybody.

7:20So obviously like Arsenal's kind of advice and counsel is being sought a lot around that type of thing. So, you know, I think Claire Wheatley can't be a day to day kind of face on the training ground. So I think it's, you know, it's just buttressing that a little bit. And like I said, I think this has been in the works for a while. It led to very kind of after a break, like a real flurry of news with that coming out and kind of sorting out writing articles and trying to get information and context and stuff like that. and then I was I was working till the early hours of kind of Saturday morning um became aware that Jenna Neiswonger but Rene had already said she was about to go on loan I think there were a couple of clubs in the mix I think the Villa thing might have been a little bit on off and then I kind of got the story in the early hours of Saturday morning and obviously I wasn't going to message Arsenal at that point to tell them so I thought I'll wait till I get to the stadium to say I know where she's going and I'm going to drop the story and when I was on my way Arsenal dropped it anyway so Jenna Neiswanger on loan to Aston Villa um with an option to buy in the summer and Aston Villa have made that public by the way um I mean I think we all knew she was going to go Jamie and my information was always that she wanted to stay in England because obviously she wants to give the WSL a crack and she has not had a crack at it at Arsenal but I guess thoughts on her going on loan to Aston Villa and I think in terms of hiring a technical director this is the sort of thing we want to avoid buying players that the manager does not want I think you know having a technical director should mean that that doesn't happen anymore yeah certainly as upsetting as it is to a lot of people I just think like this is a signing that was probably just press the button in January we couldn't get our first and second choice like Jenna Nicewong is available she wants come to England, let's sign her, and she was never going to fit in the plan.

9:19It was also that in-between period where it was, okay, Renee's pretty much the head coach. She's not been awarded the contract yet, still in negotiations. Which kind of football does Jenna Nicewonger belong to? And it wasn't Yona Siderval and it wasn't Renee Slager. So I think in football, this happens, but the importance of the technical director role now is to ensure that this doesn't happen because, okay, now you've got to act as a soundboard for Renee. If Renee's saying, this is the player I want, this is the style of football I want, bring in this footballer and work with them. And that's the technical director's role to kind of relay those messages.

9:50And Jenna Neiswong was never one of those. I think if you just compare the two January windows as well, bring in someone like Smilla Holmberg. I know it was 10 minutes. We'll come on to her later. But she can almost immediately see from her style of football, she's actually quite similar to Emily Fox, but a little bit more prowess on the wing. That is a style of footballer that Renee Slagers wants to work with. So that's an optimistic moment. And it's a bit of a glimpse of positivity because it feels like that's a footballer it's been scouted very, very deliberately for this team. So that is much better than Jenna Neiswonger kind of came in last season.

10:20A lot of fans didn't know what position she played. She'd been at left back at Gotham, but she's never really been a defender. And so, yeah, I think we're seeing improvement in that way. I'm not saying the transfer business is fixed because by far, far margins it's not. However, that's an improvement. And Aston Villa, I think, is an interesting fit for Jenna Neiswonger. It feels like Aston Villa are the Fulham of the women's game for Arsenal right now. It's just kind of like the factory for the players that don't get into the starting 11. But we'll be interested to see because she does have a couple of players to compete with in that spot.

10:48So I'm interested for Jenna, but I do wish her well. Yeah, definitely. And I think also should say about the length of the contract for Rene. I think a lot of that. First of all, I kind of say, ultimately, if it doesn't work, the manager goes, regardless of the length of contract. No manager has ever been kept on because of the length of their contract if it's not working. Jonas Eidebao signed for three years. He lasted for one of those years. But I think it's because they're trying to move. Well, I kind of know it's because they're trying to move towards longer player contracts as well, both in terms of retaining the players they have and attracting players.

11:30And also Arsenal have got a huge summer ahead. there's going to be a lot of movement in and out. And I think one of the, just while we wrap up this section, I'd say pretty firmly, I think Arsenal were prepared to see more outgoings this summer just gone than we actually saw, but players were still in contract and you can't force players to leave. I think there were a couple of exits that they were prepared to facilitate that didn't happen. So it has created more work this summer and I don't think it's a coincidence that all of this has been put in place now while big contract decisions are happening.

12:07Either way, because there will be players that will leave, there will be targets that Arsenal will talk to and that will maybe, for a couple of players, it might just depend on who Arsenal can get in. And then I think there are a few who probably won't even be offered a contract. So someone like Victoria Plova, for example, obviously things can and do change. But I think, for example, that's not going to happen. I think that's quite clear we can see from the pitch. So unless something quite big changes. So anyway, that's 12 minutes before we've even got to this game. Obviously, Jamie, we had the very, very kind of sad news around Kyra Cooney Cross's mum, Jess.

12:54And obviously she's gone back to Australia. Their family have put together a GoFundMe link, which we put in our matchday vlog from Saturday and we'll put it in the show notes for this episode as well. So do please donate if you can. It's obviously a big, big shock to the whole family. But from a footballing perspective, that means Arsenal don't have Kyra Cooney cross for an undetermined amount of time, which is also a big blow football-wise. Obviously, that's very secondary. Still, Daphne van Domsla are not quite fit. Chloe Kelly, I think Renee said, hopefully not too much longer, but I don't really know what that means.

13:34So any surprises in the line-up for you? In terms of the line-up, well, first of all, for Kyra, it's so, so devastating, just a young person. And all love to her, make sure you do donate. And in the footballing perspective, I think heading into this game, Tim, I did expect it to kind of revert back to what we know well in the Kim Little and Mariona double pivot. But I did think that safety net was going to be called upon. I think when you look at this game, it's a massive game in just the place of the season right now. And I know that Spurs are kind of lingering around, but I do think it's expected that the Champions League spot is a battle between these two teams.

14:09So it did feel like it wasn't the time to kind of experiment with that midfield as much as it sounds a bit silly to say. Because these players have been around for a long time. They should be able to be like Victoria Plova shouldn't be an experimentation. She should be a big part of this squad right now. but it feels like Rene wasn't ready to make that jump, especially heading off the Christmas break. So I think for me, it was kind of like, that's what we expected, that double pivot, but it did give up a lot and a lot and a lot heading going forward and being able to control that midfield attacking wise because I think this would have been a great game for Mariana Caldente to be in the 10.

14:41So yeah, that's something that I think we'll come on to a little bit more. But in terms of the lineup, that was just the biggest one for me is yeah, this double pivot is probably going to be the fullback option until Rene gets a transfer window where she maybe brings in another midfielder. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think, again, very, very secondary, but I think the Cooney Cross-Little Mariana midfield is the most balanced one we have. And I think it's a real shame to lose that, quite frankly. Obviously, another thing we didn't quite touch, well, we touched on it actually in the last podcast, to be honest, about Georgia Stanway announcing that she's going to leave Bayern Munich.

15:19We've kind of teased it during the season really. I've said it before, but there was interest in the summer. Bayern Munich absolutely were not interested in selling because they were losing Sydney Lohman and Georgia was injured for a lot of last season. So I don't think they really, they thought 18 months, we're not selling after that. You know, nothing done in that respect, as far as I know, but you've seen all of the reports that it feels like Arsenal are the favourites. That's always been my impression. However, we've been here before with English midfielders playing abroad. So I will stay away from certainties on that, but the interest has certainly been there for some time.

15:58You know, first 10 minutes, Jamie, there's a few things we know about Manchester United. They defend their penalty area very well. They defend central spaces very well, but they're a very physical team. And I think in that first 10 minutes, they really dominate. And I really think they dominate physically. and actually as much as after that they offer pretty much nothing Annika Borba with an outstanding save from Fridolina Rolfer we spoke on the last podcast about how Annika's had an injury or a situation she's been managing anyway not like an out and out injury but she's not been 100 % but she looked 100 % when she saved that header from Fridolina Rolfer to me I'm really delighted she got a moment like that actually after what's maybe been a slightly inauspicious start to our Arsenal career.

16:50Fantastic save. Crucial moment. The first 10 minutes of this game determine a lot. I think in this fixture, we saw how cagey it is. We saw kind of Arsenal were the team in control of the majority of the possession and couldn't break through. So if that save isn't made by Anika Boba, then we're in a much more difficult position because Man United like to start strong and then they do sit back. Mark Skinner will make late, late substitutes because he wants to sit back. So I think, yeah, this is a massive moment. But I was nervous in the first 10 minutes, can I be honest? I don't think I expected United to maybe come out the gates so fast.

17:21I didn't think that they would kind of want to maintain control as much as they did. I really thought they'd sit back and almost just they played that kind of aggressive front line of obviously Mallard and Turland. I thought they were just going to be using that as a sit back and then go hit them on the counter attack. But they wanted to come out of the gates of this fixture strong. I don't really know what happened after that. I don't really know why they stopped doing that. however yeah that's a crucial save because I do think if that goes in we're looking at the worst one nil you've ever seen against like a low block and it's just it's awful football so yeah a big moment for Barbara and well deserved after yeah like you said not a very exciting start for her she's not really been applauded it's more just thank you for not uh failing when we need you most yeah absolutely and I I said in the vlog I kind of said you know Arsenal United games tend to either be really cagey or really open and that I felt that this was going to be open I said I'm famous last words I said at the beginning of the vlog I expect goals today um and then after you know this first 10 minutes I really had that feeling I was like yep United have come to play here this is not like in September I think United were very very happy with their point and you know not played for nil-nil but were happy with nil-nil whereas the way they came out here made me think I've got this one right this is going to be a very open game after that first 10-15 minutes Arsenal really get hold of the game they start to win those second balls they start to control physically and I do think there was something Renee said in the post-match press conference which which I both think is absolutely correct and I also understand why nobody wants to hear it but she was basically saying everything we did other than finishing was great like the ball progression was good physically we were good united's press after the first 10 minutes was a non-factor like all of the stuff other than sticking the ball in the net arsenal actually did really well in this game but obviously stick this is the third nil nil draw of the season sticking the ball in the net is a big problem um so it's understandable there's a focus but you know uh Olivia Smith nearly scores from a Russo cross.

19:33Kim Little hits the side netting and most of the stadium think it's gone in. Russo has a shot saved by Tullen Joyce. Arsenal, they got back into it and built the pressure before halftime. And I was feeling reasonably good at halftime. I don't know about you, Jamie. Yeah, can I be honest, Tim? I thought, I agree with what Rene said. I think if a couple of those shots go in, this is reflected on as a really, really strong performance. I think that the way the Arsenal control possession and progress the ball up the pitch is the best we've maybe seen other than the Everton game. I thought these two games is probably the most controlled Arsenal have looked because I think if you look at a lot of these performances this season, even if they are in control on the score sheet, it feels like they only need 10 to 15 minutes of a mental lapse and the other team is just going to crawl right on top of them.

20:18I did think in this game there was a bit more authority in the play and I do think I didn't feel past maybe the 15, 20-minute mark. I didn't worry about United going forward. And I think that that's a result of changes. I don't think that Mark's going to handle the game very well. Obviously, they go down to 10 players, which we'll come back onto as well. But I don't think at any stage of the game, after maybe 15, 20 minutes, I thought no Man United looked threatening going forward. I think that the way that Arsenal were able to kind of control the midfield as well. And I think that Mariana Caldente has a really big game and a really big role to play in this because she's covering so much base on this pitch because it's not Freedom Orton's best performance in an Arsenal shirt by any means.

20:55And I think Mariona plays a really pivotal role alongside Kim Little in just maintaining that control and keeping the tempo. So it's frustrating to look at games like this, Tim, because it's like one of those goals go in and we reflect on this as a great three points against a good, good team that are in the Champions League. Man United are performing well this season. It's frustrating because they had them on toast for 80 minutes and couldn't convert. Yeah, absolutely. I just kind of think again, going back to that midfield thing, when we like Mariana is such a good player. I think she's great in the deeper role.

21:27I think there's kind of a misconception. She's not, she's amazing. Go and look at the stats of the game. She's like leads everything. I think the issue is that maybe when we have to do that, we control areas that aren't dangerous. You know, it's like we control the center circle when Mariana plays there and that's good, but I'd rather control the edge of the box type thing. And that's why I think that midfield three we talked about is the best one we have on paper. I think when Frieda plays as a 10, we get disconnected, but the roles become very defined and it becomes less fluid. Actually, I do wonder if actually Victoria Pilova might have been a better choice in the 10 for this game in hindsight.

22:13But, you know, we get to halftime, it's nil-nil, and I do kind of think, okay, obviously it's going to be really cagey. Probably one goal is going to win it, but I thought we might get it. Before we get to the red card, a lot of people asked, not even just part of this mailbag, but I just saw it discussed online a lot. Olivia Smith coming off after the hour mark again, which is happening a lot recently, which is not uncommon for younger players. But what's your view on Olivia Smith coming off at this point? yeah I think in this game if we're talking about threat going forward uh I want to credit Alessia Russo for the work she did around the pitch in this game because I know she wasn't the best in the box but I think there's a lot of times late on in the game as well where she's dropping back she's gaining territory she's doing so much off the ball and she's getting the ball in deeper positions so Russo's worked really hard in this game but I think in terms of creating any sort of attacking spark and looking like you're going to make something happen Olivia Smith was was by far carrying that front three.

23:11Front four, including Frieda. I don't think there was a lot of times where Frieda gets the ball inside the box. It's so frustrating because it almost looks like she's always off balance and never ready to strike the ball properly or never ready to find the right pass. I think Beth Mead, there's so many little turnovers in this game that really are annoying because it affects the buildup for Arsenal and it really like snuffs out a spark when they're trying to go forward. A little touch that just doesn't go right. I think in this game, Olivia Smith offers the most. And I think I'm like, it's so interesting looking at Olivia Smith as a footballer because I still think she is going to, there's still a learning curve in Olivia Smith's game right now where she needs to kind of remember that there's forwards there to do the finishing.

23:49And I think that's something that she still needs to work on because there's a lot of opportunities where she really tries to run it to the goals herself and against a team that are really well drilled and set up like Man United. You're not going to get those opportunities all the time. So I think there's still a learning curve for her there. So I can understand in a certain way why you're looking at that and saying that's not going to work when they're playing such a low block. Like maybe we need to do something else. I don't agree with that though. I think that this game is the game that you keep Olivia Smith on.

24:17Ten men, you need someone to do something special. And we've seen her do that countless times already in an Arsenal shirt and countless times already in her playing career. So for me, taking Olivia Smith off made no sense because I thought if any player is going to make something happen, it's her right now, especially against a 10-player United team in a low block. So I can understand why maybe she's not offering everything, but that's coming and I still think she's offering more than everyone else. Yeah, I think there's a few things here which it's really surprising. Beth Mead hasn't scored in the WSL this season.

24:47I think Caitlin Ford's got one. Olivia Smith, she got two in the WSL. We're not getting enough goals from the wide players. I was okay. Like I could see Caitlin Ford was going to come on and it's like, well, it's going to be Beth or Olivia that's going to come off. and I was kind of okay with either at that stage. I think if we'd known that United were going to get a full-back sent off, we might have kept Olivia Smith on, to be honest, because then it really becomes low-block football and you need more of a dribbler at that stage. So I think it was probably the wrong decision in hindsight. I didn't feel terribly bad about it at the time.

25:29I think the other part to this is that we really miss Chloe Kelly and we haven't really had Chloe Kelly in any proper sense at all this season because she's either just not been fit enough to play or she's literally just been totally injured so like we just haven't seen Chloe Kelly this season and I think that's been that's been a real miss and you look at what she did away at Man City for example you know coming on and scoring that goal like we could this was a game that needed a moment of magic and and she's someone who can provide that now Jade Riviere gets sent off um you know shortly after we make that change I don't you know Mark Skinner didn't argue about it I don't think United can have any arguments about that quite a silly challenge to make I think when you're on a yellow card particularly when your first yellow card is for something very similar kind of for diving in um again the when we do the match day vlog this is really helpful for me because it really tells me what I thought at the time and I did a little bit to camera after the red card and I said I don't feel good about this because United are really good at like when they decide to go into a low block they've been weird this season because they've had a lot of open games they've won like 3-2 at Brighton they've lost 5-2 against Wolfsburg they've had a 3-3 with Spurs like they can have very open games but when they decide to shut it down.

26:56I kind of think they're the best in the league at that. I really rate both their centre-halves, Letizia and Janssen. I really rate the double pivot ahead of them in Miyazawa and who's the other? Zigiotti. Yes, and Zigiotti. That's a very solid block and you could see, by the way, that Arsenal were trying to avoid those central spaces all game. They were switching, switching, switching, getting the ball wide as quickly as possible because United defend those areas so dominantly I think their goalkeeper helps with that as well and Rene said that after the game she said they've got a really good dominant goalkeeper they defend their box brilliantly and so I didn't feel great about it because I thought this will really settle into attack v defense and a lot of that feeling was about United's defense but obviously some of it was about Arsenal's attack as well and how much faith I have in being able to break down a low block having seen United in September, having seen us play Tottenham in November, having seen us only win 1-0 against Twenter when it should have been 3-4-0.

28:04And it feels like there have been a lot of games where we've under-delivered on our dominance and it's a real problem. How did you feel when the red card came out? And a guess about how Arsenal dealt with that situation before the end. Yeah, look, I think this game is written to end this way. Like 10 minutes before the red card even happens, Mark Skinner makes like three substitutes. I think he takes off. It's Rolfo and Turland. And then he takes off Jess Park later. Like he's taking off all of his attackers. He brings on Hannah Lundqvist, Lisa Nulls, and who's a really defensive midfielder. Like there is every intention even before the red card for Mark Skinner to play a very defensive game here and kind of shut out the nil-nil.

28:45And look, that's fine if you want to play like that. I think that just as a football fan, I do get like this is completely separate to Arsenal this is just on the whole the whole game I do think that Man United need to be doing more in these fixtures I think they need to stop playing the low block and if they're going to go out in January they're going to sign Leah Shula who's a really big name player they're going to go sign the Hannah Lundfist and they're going to say like we're aiming for big things that's great like if you're going to say that but you can't keep showing up to big teams and sitting in low blocks and refusing to go forward with the players that you have because United have a very good squad in this game they're missing Elatoon but they go into this game with a very good team that's very very capable of taking on Arsenal so as a football fan I think it's disappointing because it'd be different if they weren't talking about the you know the aspirations of winning the Champions League and winning the WSL so I just thought this game was upsetting because it should be two teams that are playing great football we saw that Demeris last season in that 4-3 game so as a football fan I was annoyed by Man United as an Arsenal fan I was annoyed by Arsenal because I think this was again like I said before Jade Riviere gets sent off this is the game plan he's brought on defenders he's taken off all the strikers and he said let's sit deep Jade Riviere is their most attacking full rack most attacking defender fantastic player Jade Riviere silly brainless challenge to get herself sent off but that's another attacking player and they're only attacking defensive player and I think you can praise them because they're doing it very well I think I agree with you Tim Mirzau and Zagiotta-Olma is the double pivot of the league.

30:13I think they're so, so solid in there. They're both really good ball users as well. But at the same time, Arsenal should have seen this coming. Like, it's not like they sat in a low block in the 85th minute and said, play for the draw. They were playing for the draw almost all of the game. And that's what's frustrating about this team right now. And this is what happened at the back end of the Onus era as well. It was, you know, a team is going to approach you in this way. You know that that's going to happen. How are you then going to counteract that? Like United have sat back from the 50th minute onwards.

30:40Why is it taking red card and 10 players for you to then say, oh, we need to break down this low block? It was already there. So that's what's frustrating. They did it at Lee Sports Village. You had the exact same game. I think United were just more threatening at Lee Sports Village. They looked like they could also score. They didn't look like that in this game, bar that one challenge from Rolfo. So, yeah, I think it's frustrating because what's happening then? What's the solutions? I do think this Russo and Steiner-Blaxinius thing only works when a team is playing a high line. I think doesn't work when there's a low block.

31:09And this game, as soon as that change happens, there's no goals going in. You're not going to see Steiner score in this game and you're not going to see Russo get much air. That double pivot is locking that 10 out of the game. Frida doesn't get a touch and Russo has to drop almost deeper than Kim Little and Mariona to get the balls in the last 10 minutes. So I think that's why I'm frustrated is it's just, okay, you knew this was happening. It was already happening. Now they've got 10 players and we still can't come against it. I think it's a personnel thing. I just don't think there's the players and I don't think that there's the player that there needs to be more than one Olivia Smith, that kind of footballer.

31:39And I think it's frustrating because this is again and again and again. So what's being done to solve it? Yeah, there's just not quite enough imagination there. I think some of it relates to the number 10 position, which is kind of why I prefer Mariana there as well. And we probably just don't have that Boney Shaw, Sam Kerr level goal scorer who really, really goes and wins you this game 1-0. and that's something I think we need. And obviously there will be signings in the wide forward positions in the summer at least. And I think, you know, wide players that score a lot of goals is going to be really, really important.

32:24You know, Rene spoke afterwards, you know, like Russo had a bit, one of the places Arsenal did get a bit of joy was on the back post. They made a couple of situations going to the back post. unfortunately it fell to Emily Fox and Steph Catley who you probably didn't really want them to fall to um so Russo has a bit of a scrambled chance again after a Williamson cross to the back post um you know Meade with a low cross to Black Stenius she flicks it straight at Tullen Joyce Russo sets Pullover up straight at Tullen Joyce I mean that we Tullen Joyce did not have to make a save anywhere near the quality and difficulty of the one Annika Borba made.

33:04They were all straight down her throat. And Rene talked about this afterwards. Arsenal had 25 shots. Rene said that Arsenal generally aim for somewhere between 20 to 25 shots a game, but then their aim is kind of 40 to 50 % on target. Feels like a good return. They had six on target here, so that's less than 25%. And even the ones on target, I mean, you know, not hugely difficult saves so it this does feel like a problem a thing now doesn't it in terms of and and I think it's only going to encourage teams to go into low blocks even games Arsenal have won Jamie this season Brighton 1-0 that should be much more than 1-0 Liverpool 2-1 should be much more than 2-1 Twenta 1-0 should be 2 or 3-0 like Arsenal are struggling to score the goals that give them separation in these games.

33:58And I think that's also why we haven't won one of these big games this season yet. Certainly. It's frustrating because this team, like 12 months ago, were winning 4-5-0. They were scoring so many goals against all these opponents. You look at teams like Manchester United, it was four goals at the Emirates last time and it was a complete domination. And the 4-3 scoreline does not give any credit to Arsenal's performance on that day because they just let in some goals in the end and made Man United look better. So what's happened in the last 12 months that's gone wrong? Beating Aston Villa at the Emirates 4-0, beating Brighton at the Emirates 5-0, absolutely smacking Liverpool at the Emirates.

34:33Like this is the same team. It's not like there's been a massive puzzle piece taken out in terms of the striker. You've got your key striker. You've got your backup. You've signed a young winger for a million pounds and broken the world record signing. You've signed Chloe Kelly on a permanent deal. Obviously that one's a bit difficult because she's injured. So what's going wrong with this team right now? There was a stage at the beginning of last season when Frieda Mornem was scoring all the time, and she was probably our best player. And she's someone that hasn't scored since October. Like, it's just, it's not good enough.

35:02The output is not good enough. And I can't even explain it. I can't even, like, reason with it because, okay, what's different? The playing star, Renee's clearly got the way that she wants to play. She doesn't like to have a more defensive midfield. She wants to attack. So why are the same players that were scoring so many goals 12 months ago not scoring now? And maybe that is just opponents figuring them out. because United didn't play like they did this season. Like they didn't play this way last season. They played a lot more free, a lot more aggressive. They felt like there was a vulnerability.

35:28And maybe that's because the defence is less vulnerable. Maybe that's why. Maybe Arsenal have really put attention to that and there is a little bit more solidity at the back. So teams feel like they have to sit back because they can't really get Arsenal on the counter attack. Brighton did that in Crawley. They went forward and we saw what happened there. There was a lot more vulnerability. So maybe you have to kind of give credit to the defence because they've worked on it. They're still leaking goals here and there, but I do think maybe teams don't feel like they can counter-attack as much as they do.

35:56So they sit back and there's a vulnerability in Arsenal right now and it's frustrating because it's the same players, but you've brought Olivia Smith in. So what's getting worse? And yeah, it's annoying because that's two games against United, a game against Chelsea, a game against City, no wins against any top three teams, which is a very, very frustrating sight. Yeah, and we've got a lot of those games coming. I'm with you. I think there's something in there about maybe we tightened up a little bit because we were leaking too many goals and maybe that's come at the expense of a little bit more fluidity going forwards.

36:29You know, just getting that balance right between attack and defence just feels like that's been going on for quite a few years, to be honest. And it's an issue that several coaches probably going back to the end of Joe's reign have kind of struggled with. um let's take a break there and in part two we will come to your questions submitted on blue sky right after this

36:57okay welcome back to part two of the arsenal women ask cast and ask blog.com with tim stillman and jamie spanger answering your questions which have been submitted on blue sky uh new year we're gonna we're gonna do these as i say do these differently but basically what i'm gonna suggest Jamie is that we kind of both answer um the questions uh because basically I've been doing that anyway and it just means I end up yakking for ages and in the interests of um us both getting a bit more equal mic time and me not elbowing my way in on every single question I suggest we both have a crack at all of the questions we submit if that sounds good um how about this one first then from our friend Joe Louis Monti at Jolo Moco.

37:45Do you feel appointing Jodie in a needed structural role that it also feels we're potentially repeating possible problems in keeping such an appointment from within rather than getting a fully fresh perspective detached from the current group to help shake things up? Does it feel to you this indicates we look for the very best person or that we had Jodie in mind for a long while. I fully support Jodie. It just has a feeling those above being afraid of an outsider of handing control or wanting to put more effort into the search. What do you reckon about that one? It's a very, very good question.

38:23Very well thought out. I think that there's a couple of things in this question. I think that I can understand the sentiment of like, it does feel like for the last 10, 15 years, Arsenal have kind of been like, let's protect our people. We have our people. Let's go from within and work from the people in our system. I do also think that maybe Jodie Taylor doesn't get enough credit for the kind of footballer in her stature because she was almost that era in between the eras where it feels like she was never given the credit of the footballer she was. Like she was the number nine at Lyon. Like she's a very fantastic footballer.

38:56And, again, you've ratted off the UA for A licence. Like she knows a lot about the game. So I do think we kind of undervalue her because she came at a weird time of women's football where it was the peak. There were some massive names kind of dominating the English skate. So in that regard, I do think she's a very qualified decision and I do think that there's importance in the way that Arsenal kind of made this role for her and knowing that she was the person in mind. And I don't necessarily think that that's a bad thing because I think if you've got a person that can clearly relate to the players and that is where we've seen this team and this group play their best football.

39:30It was when Renee came in charge and this was a manager who was so good at relating to the players. Obviously, she played a massive role in that one-on-one player management. And that was when the group started to respond. So I think I completely understand sentiment. And I think there's truth to the sentiment as well. Like it's not a perfect appointment. I don't think anything is. We won't know that yet. And I think that with a big appointment like a technical director, you're going to have to wait a couple months to maybe see that payoff or fail. However, I think that if we've seen anything of this group in the last few years, it's that they respond to the personalities and they respond to the people that can offer them the most outside of the lines of the football pitch.

40:05And I do think in that regard, it's a good appointment because if you can get someone else to kind of shoulder that load a little bit, Renee can also be a manager. She can be a coach and she can do the coaching, but you still have someone else to go and talk to. And I think a big issue, and we've seen in that athletic article, is a lot of people are saying Claire Wheatley is not reachable And a lot of players were maybe saying, we can't speak to her. We don't know if she's there. And if there is truth in that sentiment, it's really important in my eyes that there is another personality that is similar of that Renee Slager's kind of stature where the players know her.

40:36And clearly she's going to be doing a lot of one-on-one time with the coaching group and the playing group. I think it's important that there's a reachable presence that's not the head coach. And maybe that is something that gets his group going because, yeah, I think this is a group that rides off of the confidence wave of being able to have those conversations. So while I completely agree that there's truth to the sentiment, Joe, I think it can be both and we won't know yet and we might not know for a couple months. yeah definitely I think there's a few things to this I think first of all um I think Claire Wheatley I think it's necessary almost for her to have distance because she has to make unpopular decisions um she has to make unpopular decisions with players she's negotiating transfers negotiating salaries and stuff like that um she has to say no to a lot of people basically and that's not an easy thing to do and it doesn't make you very popular sometimes and you have to be able to wear that basically um so i i do think it's probably necessary for her to be um a little bit removed um and for jody i guess to be a little bit like what they did on the men's side with edu edu was kind of on the training ground and he was a quite recent player and all of that i i do i do definitely understand that do we want more of an external perspective I'd also say this is quite common actually so Katie Chapman at Chelsea for example when she retired she moved into like a backroom role like this you look at Izzy Christensen at Manchester City at the moment and she's been you know coaching the under 21s a bit and she's someone who I think is very highly rated as a thinker in football I think also we look at Jodie a little bit as ex-Arsenal but actually her two stints at Arsenal were two of the shortest of her career um so it because Arsenal was her last club it's almost like our former player she only really played for us for two months in that spell um but obviously that was nearly three years ago now so she has been inside the club ever since like I said I'll just repeat what I said which is I think she's been groomed for this role for a while and one of the things that was attractive other than like her literal on paper qualifications just the varied experience she had in her playing career and being at places like Leon for example and playing all over the world um I think and she's thought very carefully about her post career she decided I think at this stage coaching's not for her but this kind of thing's for her the proof will be in the pudding so something I definitely like about it off the bat is that I like that Arsenal are investing in two fairly young women to kind of lead the club in Rene and Jodie.

43:20Obviously, they've had time to evaluate that relationship internally as well. They've had time to evaluate whether these two people can work together, whether they can challenge each other constructively and all of that. I've got no insight on whether that's gone well or not. I've got no idea and ultimately proof will be in the pudding. What about a question from you then, Jamie, that we'll both answer? I have this one from Dick Byrne. Given this team has stalled this season, Spurs have won more games. FFS. Very upsetting. Is that down to Wheatley's time being constrained from a heavier workload, so a diluted focus in our responsibilities, or relying on the bulk of a squad that is just past its use-by date?

44:08um i think that potentially after you win the champions league there could be a at least initially a slight psychological drop-off i think that's kind of natural in athletes and then you add that we had players who then went and won the euros again on the men's side per mertzak spoke about this very honestly when he was a player when he won the world cup and halfway way through the subsequent season he came out and just said I have to be honest I just wasn't as motivated because I had the biggest moment of my career and then I was back in pre-season training with Arsenal two weeks later and he said I just didn't have time to absorb what had happened and it took him a while I think that's that's relatively natural in a lot of athletes and in a tough division like the WSL you will get punished if that happens like Barcelona win the Champions League like maybe their appetite falls off a little bit but who would know because they'll they'll they might win 4-0 instead of 7-0 in the league you know I think the WSL will punish you very very severely if if that happens and that's me speculating I don't know whether that really happened I don't think anyone other than the players themselves can know that I do think there is something about the squad being a little bit frozen in amber and that perhaps we could have done with, I think we certainly could have done with another player in the summer.

45:36I'd still like to see another player in January to freshen things up a little bit like Chloe Kelly did last year. I think Chloe Kelly, aside from just being a really good player, I think she really freshened things up for Arsenal to come in and challenge people for their places and you know just bring something different to the environment I think we could really do with that again to be honest just to kind of lift some of the the sense of tactical staleness um maybe so I think there's quite a few things going into it to be honest what do you reckon Jamie? Yeah I think look I think if this was any other team this season it would be easy to kind of sit back and be like let's look at all these external and internal factors of why everything's kind of stalling.

46:20But this is something that's just happened for too many seasons now that I do think there's an issue with. It has to be an issue with the squad. At the end of the day, like it gets to this point of the season. Adam Salter wrote a really good article for the Halfway Line about this kind of post-Christmas blues. And since the WSL became a winter league in 2017, Arsenal have won, I think it was four of nine post-winter games. And none None of those wins came against teams above sixth in the table. So I think that there is a, there's something, and it's not just at this point of the season. I think it's at all points of the season.

46:52Two years ago, we weren't in the Champions League and we kind of won the League Cup and that was all forgiven and we moved on because it was the Conti Cup win. I just think there's something with this squad that has gone stale and you have three, like in Joe Montemuro came in and he's an interesting one because you kind of look at his stint in Leon and you can't really say Arsenal should have done better under him. And Jonas Eideval, I think, really got the side ticking at the start. And then Rene's come in and won the Champions League. So these are managers that should be able to do enough to get this side to at least a title fight on the final day.

47:21And we've seen that very, very far and few between right now. So I just think we're at a stage team where the squad is stale. I think that there is a stage now where these players are the same players we've seen for so long. There was like the only changes against Man United, I think, were like Smith and Bourba. And it just feels like those are forced changes as well. like Bulba wouldn't have been starting if Daphna was fit and that's fine but I do believe like whether it's Claire Wheatley just having too much responsibility and that affects recruitment whatever it's going on in the back room I still think this squad is it's expired and I think that the summer needs to be big because it keeps happening there's something with the motivation of this team when things aren't going to plan it happens and it happens and it happens and we can't have this kind of thirst for a massive catalyst and a big drama in order to to save the season again so I yeah I think a few things go into it but I do think the squad's stale and I think that there needs to be a massive massive revamp and turnover you're a mate sorry about that um yeah and I think that will happen because the the contract situations kind of demand it and at this stage players will essentially have no say in whether they stay or not um you know unlike last summer um but yeah i i'm i'm with you on that and i think i i guess the worrying thing is that arson are probably going to have a lot of new players next year and a lot of you know some long-serving players coming out of the team and that might be a transitional season and this feels like a transition like it feels like we've been in a transitional season for like three or four years and it does feel like when the average age of your squad is 29 30 at the very least you should be winning now you know it should be like this team's been together for ages they're challenging for the league maybe there's some pain coming because you know there's going to be a big turnover all at once but actually it doesn't feel like that it doesn't look like that it's like it feels like we're going to swap a transition for another transition um i'm quite keen to have an arsenal season when we're not in transition um what about let's let's do a couple on the mid field because um i think that that's always been an area of uh of curiosity for people myself included this one's from uh amelia dash lexi what's your opinion on mariana's plus one which is the club have triggered um the uh year option in mariana's contract which they've also done with carrie cooney cross's contract shouldn't we sign mariana on a long-term contract instead of just drawing her plus one, replacing her would be almost impossible.

49:58I mean, that obviously still could happen. The reason plus ones are triggered in the new year is to stop that kind of, it's just to give you more room to negotiate and to take out, because otherwise clubs from abroad can start negotiating on January the 1st. That is why you always see plus ones activated late December, early January to take out the fact that other teams can start talking to them. So, you know, there's still time for that. But what do you reckon? Like we've got Mariana contracted for another 18 months. She's 30, I think. What do you reckon about that, her contract situation more long term?

50:39Yeah, plus ones make me nervous, to be honest. I think like especially in the women's game, I get nervous about it. And I think it was last, I can't remember what point of the season, but when Man United triggered Grace Clinton's plus one. and that just felt like riding on the wall, like this player does not want to stay. They just need like... That's about getting a fee. Yeah, they need to get a fee. So I think because of the women's game and the way that we've seen that kind of transpire the last couple of years, it makes me a little bit nervous because I think there needs to be a thirst to extend these players.

51:09And I think that might come. It might come with the revamp and with the men's team. Like you look at someone like Sacco still in contract and Arsenal have gone, no, we need to sign you on for another five years. And same with Saliba, same with Gabriel. It's Louis Skelly. how do we commit to these players because we know that we want them and sign them on long-term deals? With Arsenal women, it's always been very short deals. We've never seen a long one. Leah Williamson, there was a big hype over her contract extension and that was obviously a very short one as well. So I hope that this club kind of changes that philosophy because I do think it's important to, okay, we're going to commit to this player because if Mariana Caldente leaves the club, I don't think there's really a way to replace her right now with the state that Arsenal are in.

51:48I don't think there's a player in the world that you're realistically going to bring in that is going to replace her. And I don't think we're kind of, I think we're taking that for granted a little bit. So in terms of Mariona's contract, I think a big deal is so necessary. And the same thing for Kyra, both of those triggers kind of make me a little bit nervous because they're two players that I think maybe their future is a little bit ambiguous. And yeah, a big contract would be nice. But again, I don't think that's just a personal personality thing for Mariona. I think that's just how Arsenal women have handled their contracts for many years now.

52:20So maybe that can change in the future. And I hope it does because give her five-year deal and lock her, chain her to the fence of Colney, please. Yeah, there definitely is a desire for the contracts to get longer. I think Smilla Holmberg, who we haven't discussed actually, who's a very, very positive cameo. Well, actually, no, you talked about her a bit, but very positive cameo from her. But I think that might be a four plus one or something like that. I think there is definitely a desire to move to that, more to that length of contract and something closer to what we see in the men's game. Obviously with Mariana, there's the fact that she's 30.

52:57So I think this keeps her to she's 32. So I'd love to see another year on top of that and go from there personally. But I don't know what her ambitions are. Maybe it's one of those things where if Arsenal ever do win the WSL again, if they win it next season or something, maybe she'll go, won the WSL, won the Champions League, going to go somewhere else. Don't know around that. But yeah, I think that's just about giving a little bit more room to negotiate. I think also for her, she probably won't want to play in the double pivot, you know, going towards her mid-30s. I think she's going to want to play higher up the pitch and the Arsenal are going to have to sort things behind her a little bit.

53:39Which brings us on to, from at Lucy566, six what are your opinions on the stanway links personally i dislike the way renee wants the midfield to be i like a double pivot i don't like using um central midfielders and attacking midfielders instead of specialist dms i get renee wants physicality but whether it's georgia stanway kyra koon across mario or victoria pilova they all need kim next to them so i don't think it's a great plan what i mean what would you think about um georgia stanway i think the best part of this question is Lucy saying they all need Kim next to them. And I think that that is – no, I think that's completely true though.

54:19Like I said on last week's pod, I think Georgia Stanway is a phenomenal player, same age as Victoria Pilova, has won basically everything there is to win bar a couple of big ones. So I just think this is a player that comes into a side and automatically raises their ceiling. And I do think there's a familiarity thing when we watch the Lionesses. People almost like devalue how good they are. And I don't know why maybe that's just an outsider's perspective, but looking at it like these players that are so good. It happens to Lucy Bronze as well. And Lucy Bronze, I think, has gone into that Kim Little thing where people look at her age and have stopped looking at the level of performance.

54:57And it's like that across the board, though. I think we forget how good these English players are because we just watch them all the time. Like Lauren Ham, Lauren James. Georgia Stanway, for me, is at that level. I think she's a ceiling raiser in the Linus' squad. So for me, if Georgia Stanway wants to play for Arsenal, I think you make it work in the midfield. But I completely agree with the fact that if she comes in, someone has to go. And it's like Victoria Plover and her are probably the most similar of player, although Stanway is a little bit more physical and Plover is a bit better with her feet than Stanway is.

55:24But I think that the biggest solution is like you bring in Stanway, is Kyra Koonie Cross then your Kim Little replacement? Because Mariana Caldente can't be in the pivot. She has to be your 10. And I know that Renee really, really values freedom on them as well. So she clearly has a spot in this squad. Mariona has got to beat the 10 in this equation. And then is Kyra Cooney Cross defensive enough to play with Georgia Stanway in the double pivot? I don't think so. And I don't think that's a very foolproof plan as well. So I completely agree. You're relying on Kim Little to be at her best for a few more years.

55:55And to be honest, Tim, every time I watch Kim Little, it is kind of crazy because I think she's just nowhere near retiring. hiring like she's performing well every single game so I think I understand that like there's frustration for me it's just the injuries because she does pick up an injury every season and then Arsenal are in this really precarious position but you can't rely on her forever at the same time I don't think it's over as soon as everyone maybe thinks it's over I hope it's not so I'm kind of undecided on this I think Stanway if she wants to come to Arsenal I think you bring in Stanway I think she's an incredible midfielder that we for some reason underrate but at the same time I agree there needs to be someone that compliments it defensively because you can't have Georgia Stanway and Kyrie Cunycross because the level of discipline in defence there is not great at all.

56:38Like Georgia Stanway is a very, you're going to have her and Frida kicking it to Rosie when things get hard every 10 seconds. So you have to bring in a measured presence. So I agree with Lucy. Yeah, there needs to be a more defensive plan. But at the same time, I don't think that means we should shut the door on Stanway. I think she's a great, great footballer. Yeah, I think more than one midfielder is going to be needed, basically. that's that's kind of what I think so it kind of depends on what that other midfielder might look like um for example I I do know that Arsenal do want to up the physical profile of the team a little bit and I think central midfield and probably centre-back are going to be uh because obviously like Steph Cattley's not going to be able to go on forever um in that position I I think her contract is up I I imagine that's one that's going to get renewed um maybe a year or a one plus one or something like that I don't think that would stop Arsenal from going and signing another centre-back but I think of the players who have contracts up I feel like she might be on the safer ground I like the idea of Georgia Stanway just because I think she's really good and and I kind of think it's difficult because I don't know what an Arsenal midfield without Kim Little looks like because there isn't another Kim Little we're not going to be able to go and get another one because it doesn't exist so we're gonna have to reimagine when that day comes gonna have to reimagine the midfield a little bit and i don't i don't know what that's going to look like but my sense is that georgia stanway is 27 she's won the lot um you know really good player knows the league all of that like definitely like get that done um and uh and i hope we do um continue in the direction of travel at the moment with that um let's do uh your turn to ask a question I think I might have asked two in a row there sorry I have a more positive one okay this one is from Lexi M 1987 speaking of Smiller Holmberg so Holmberg made a massive difference for attack and it felt like the changes should have come earlier what type of games slash teams do you see Holmberg being more suited to than Fox yeah that's an interesting one I actually obviously it's a really small sample size I I've said this before I think we'll see in the full back but what we started to see in the left back position a little bit which is Heinz and McCabe game sharing so I think Emily Fox will come off um a bit more and there'll be a bit more rotation at right back so that we end this thing that we needed to end of Emily Fox playing every single minute of every single game um and Smilla Holmberg I mean her pace and her directness from you know just that little cameo I think that's going to give some defenses some problems um in the last 20 minutes of games um I mean actually looking at it it might just be because United were a player down I kind of looked at it and thought I wouldn't mind both of them on the right hand side at the same time actually like Smilla Holmberg looked like she could play as a right winger to me because like obviously the difference when you're a winger compared to a fullback is you've got less space to work with you get crowded but it looks like she's really got that push and run type thing and maybe she's slightly more direct than Emily Fox.

59:53So for me, it's about the combination of them, who starts and who finishes. Because I think we're going to see that now that it will be reasonably rare that any of the full backs play 90 minutes. I think Katie McKay played really well in this game, which probably counted against Taylor Hines coming on. But I think we are going to see those kind of rotations. So I'm really enthused by what I saw. I like the profile of the signing um because you know hopefully emily fox will renew her contract i really hope she does um because yeah i think there's minutes to go around there but obviously i think most right backs wouldn't come to arsenal while while emily fox is there so getting a young player like that strikes me as a really really good deal it's just it looks to me like a really good signing um actually and i'm probably the sort of signing i'd like to see a bit more of to be honest.

1:00:47But I think it's a good direction of travel as well to get quite a young player in because obviously the age profile of the squad needs to come down. Let's do one more. Sorry, sorry, I didn't give you a crack at that question. You've said everything I need to say. I just thought, yeah, great, great, great player. Again, you're bringing in a player for the future. And the biggest thing, I think we spoke about it last week, what Liberty Simon said in a bit of a profile piece for the Gooner was she's so good at crossing the ball and getting in those areas, and we saw that almost immediately. More expected assists in this game than Olivia Smith in her seven minutes.

1:01:21So, yeah, a really good player that I think can break lines, so I'm excited for the future. Absolutely. Let's finish on this one then, which is we saw Victoria Pilova come on on the right wing, which I think was about numbers, really, and just not having Chloe Kelly. And obviously there's a bit of redundancy for Pilova in terms of the midfield. So I can see why it made some sense to put her on out wide and she's played there for Arsenal before. I kind of think with Holmberg as well, because Pilova's instinct is going to be to come inside a little bit more. So having like a proper overlap, overlap like Holmberg, I could see the vision there.

1:01:58But this is from at Ariella W. Given how tightly the opposition was playing in the second half, why do you think Slagers chose to bring on Pilova out wide and not in the middle? I couldn't help but feel that we could have used her small space control centrally. Yeah, I think this is a good question. I think that this is because Stina Black-Sinnias comes on, sorry, and Russo doesn't want to, sorry, Slagas doesn't want to sacrifice Russo being on the pitch. So I just think Russo has to go in the 10 and then you bring on Victoria Plover and you can kind of have both. So I really think it's as simple as we know that Rene Slagas doesn't want to play a team without Alessio Russo on the pitch.

1:02:37And that's why I think this happens in this game. and it's not bad. I think it does open up space for Holmberg to kind of come down that right side and Plover's a really smart player in that way to kind of pick up the pockets of space but I don't think it has anything to do with Plover. I just think Slagers wants Russo on the pitch in this moment and that's what happens. Yeah, I agree. I think I'd look more at the starting XI. Maybe they didn't know the game would go this way in terms of United being quite cagey but I think in hindsight, I think Plover might have been a better pick than Freedom Ornam.

1:03:09We did have a question about Freedom Ornam, which I kind of think we covered from Jimbo at Jamie Zedmuck. Freedom Ornam has zero goals and one assist since the start of October. Is anyone else seriously worried about our end product from the number 10 position? I mean, yes. I think it's the short answer to that. But I think in hindsight, Pilova might have been a better pick in the number 10 because of her movement, because of her small space ability. I do think that probably would have been a better fit. And actually when we went down to 10, sorry, United went down to 10, I think it would have been, but I think you're absolutely right, Jamie.

1:03:43I think they just didn't want to take Alessio Russo off. And actually when it got to 11 v 10 and it was clear that crossing was going to be a big part of our strategy, I really think we should have just gone too upfront, to be honest, and had Russo and Blaxtonius playing as a front too. And like, because then Mariana can play a bit higher, you can just kind of leave Kim back, I think, to tidy up the bits and pieces of which there weren't many. So, yeah, I think in hindsight, I can't pretend that I was thinking that before kickoff. But I think given the way the game turned out, yeah, I think Plova should have played centrally and probably started there.

1:04:26Is that enough on that game, Jamie, do we think? I think we've done all we can with that nil-nil, Tim. Yeah, there was quite a lot to get to. so I hope you enjoyed that thanks for your questions as ever we will be back with another episode I'm not sure exactly when we're going to record because I'm off to Milan for the men's game against Inter on Monday morning on Flying so we might have to do a Sunday evening record for that Jamie but we will get you a podcast don't worry and yeah we'll kind of go from there as we said during the show we have dropped the GoFundMe link for Jess and Cairo Cooney Cross's family in the show notes if anyone feels that they can and would like to donate.

1:05:12It will be in the show notes, but thanks so much for listening. I'm going to draw it to a close because I'm about to have a coughing fit. So until next time, see you soon.

1:05:34Thank you.