Arsenal Women Arsecast Episode 170: Analysing Arsenal’s summer transfer business

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0:41Hello and welcome to the Arsenal Women Ask, arseandaskblog.com with me your host Tim Stillman. Our usual co-host Jamie Spanger is away this week sunning herself in Queensland. I presume sunning herself. I don't actually know what the climate is like in Queensland at this time of the year. But we felt that given that Arsenal have now announced five signings in pretty short order and in pretty quick succession, and all of that has happened since we last recorded a podcast, we felt we really owed one this week, kind of looking into some of those arrivals in particular. And in Jamie's absence, I thought, who better to talk to?

1:22And we've been trying to make this happen for a while with with regards particularly to particular specific games between Arsenal and Real Madrid and the Champions League um recently um than to speak to Yash now a lot of you will I'm sure know Yash from Twitter uh where his handle is I'm going to try and nail this no I can't nail it a Drizzia light um Pokemon based uh kind of handle but Yash writes for ESPN It's written for Opta Analyst and The Cutback, one of the best, in my view, women's football analysts around. And we're going to run the rule over Arsenal's summer transfer business so far.

2:01Yash, an absolute delight to finally make this happen. Yeah, very, very happy to be here and very excited to be here as well. And I've heard you struggling with pronouncing my username in previous episodes as well. I've had my friend send me that at times as well. So, yeah, it's nice to be here. And hopefully, like, this is the first of many appearances here. Yeah, absolutely. And Yash, and we'll put this in the show notes as well, but Yash wrote a really, really good piece for the cutback on Georgia Stanway in particular and how her game has evolved since moving to Bayern Munich. And we'll get into some of that.

2:41We'll go into each of the players individually. But Yash, I'm going to talk quite generally about these five signings as a group, as a bit of a recruitment strategy. Now, I think Lisa Baum, in particular, almost belongs on her own as a different kind of slipstream of Arsenal's recruitment, given her age. Although the league she's come from, that's definitely a theme we'll pick up on. But I think what strikes me first and foremost, Yash, about particularly Churchy, Badier, Stamway, Reuteler, three of them are 27 years old. One of them is 26 years old. And when you look at the players Arsenal have lost this summer, Beth Mead, Katie McCabe, even Laia Kadina and Victoria Pilova, all very experienced players.

3:27Arsenal definitely had an objective to bring the average age of the squad down. but some of those big players you can't replace them with kids right they've they seem to have shifted to early prime in terms of age category yeah uh and i mean like this is a team like this just happens you like funnel out some of the older players you know we've left a while ago now beth mead has left and last uh last season you brought in like olivia smith as well so this is like a kind of a mini rebuild that is going on but it's not like an entire rebuild where you know you have lost your entire spine and now you're trying to build it with these young players these young players are being brought in and they have the time to settle in and gel in with the squad while they are developing and while they have the presence of veterans in the squad as well so you've got now supremely experienced players in the WSL like Russo you know Blackstinius has been here for a while you've got Kim Little still there Leah Williamson still there Lotte Boobin Moye still there so you've got all these players who have been here for a while and in contrast to that you've got like Emily Fox who has like come in recently you've got Smilla Homburg you have got Olivia Smith and you've got Lisa Baum as you as you mentioned like these young talents as well who are then now going to be nurtured and potentially, you know, do well.

4:55These young bets, one of which is Lisa Baum as well, Arsenal have taken those in the past as well. You know, you have seen it with Catherine Kuhl. You've seen it with Kyra Kuni-Cross as well coming in. So these bets are like, I think, calculated risks that they want to take. At the same time, bringing in some proven veteran talent like Georgia Stanway. Like she has been playing around for so long now and she is in her peak. She is an England international, has played at the highest level for a while. And then you have got Rauteller as well, very experienced once again. Churchy as well has been playing at the top level for a while.

5:37And Ona Bache comes from like Barcelona and has experience in the WSL, has experience winning the Euro. So you're bringing in talents that are not just good, but also have the experience to make this transition that is happening from losing some of the spine much more easier and at the same time improving the quality as well. and in terms of issues Arsenal are trying to fix I guess from last season you know I think we've had Renee Slakers in charge long enough to know she has a bit of a type with players and versatility is a big part of that so quite often under Renee Arsenal assign a player and they'll be able to play three or four different roles and you won't immediately be able to predict which one it is.

6:24But one of the issues I think last season, Yash, was maybe in terms of attack, Arsenal scored nine fewer goals than Manchester City. They have to make that up. They drew six games. That's too many. They have to break games open. And so versatility has always been a feature of Rene Slager's signings. But it feels to me like in attack, as much as anything, dropping players like Churchy and even Reuteler it feels to me like that versatility, particularly in attack, that Arsenal are maybe aiming for a little less predictability in the final third. Yeah, definitely. And I think this is a team that has begun with Mariona Caldante signing itself.

7:09She's a player who is positionally versatile, can play on the wings and can play in the middle as well. But I think the issue last season was, as you mentioned, in attack, it wasn't like working and then you did not have many options to bring on the bring on the field and try to change it but if you look at the options available now and we saw it last season with how Olivia Smith was used as well at times you know she can start on the right wing but she was then deployed to start up front and make runs in behind as she did against against City as well as an as a as an outlet uh the issue now is like now lisa bomb comes in she can play on both the flanks and you can replace caitlin food as well who can at times be you know not as effective against certain defenses and certain kinds of uh teams and can be uh limited in how she uh attacks and last season as well like wasn't the most productive and now you've got the option to have a player a left-footed player uh which you know that the squad lacks as well in in lisa bomb so she comes in fills in an important gap and this whole thing about you know versatility that you mentioned is is very interesting as well because it allows uh renis legates to adapt to the opposition they are playing if you want to set up a back five you can do that while retaining you know while playing one of while playing both of smilla homebug and emily fox as well if you want if you want you can start smilla homebug up front uh on the wings and she can put in some great crosses you can have left footed right footed combination on the flanks you can have a a winger who comes in narrow from the right hand side just like beth meath did when she operated you know all these years ago when she started on the right she would come inside and operate from the half spaces you can still have that but at the same time you would have in baum you would have somebody you know who can put in the crosses with her left foot from those half uh those crosses from the half spaces which are very dangerous above uh the defense and at the same time we'll have smila homeberg overlapping so this is just me brainstorming to what renes legers can do uh you have got uh who can play on either flanks uh who is again uh supremely talented once again we all know what she can do we've seen it in WSL we have seen it in the Champions League and we have seen it uh seen her do it for Barcelona for a while now so you know all these players again I think it's it it just gives you that little bit more flexibility that is needed and in particularly in attack now it gives you multiple options you have Churchy as you mentioned uh you have now three options wherein you can start with Blaxtinius up front you can start with Churchy up front you start with russo up front all three offering different things uh to deal with different kind of opposition you can start russo and black seniors together you can start russo and churchy together so there's a lot of combinations it's a good headache to have uh for rinness lakers and you know coming up finding the best 11 finding how she wants to play i think will uh take a few uh tries in in the beginning but i think once she settles in and everybody knows their role in the team because i think this is something that i think they should adapt from michael arteta's arsenal as well where is where there are a group of players who are starters and a group of players who are finishers so you know i think having this kind of depth there is really going to help because arsenal will be able to finish games strong as well now it won't be just like we have this very strong starting 11 but then no quality coming off the bench whereas now you guys have really good quality and like experience as well coming off the bench so I think yeah it's going to be a very interesting thing to observe and then see how it develops next season because now this squad feels much more tailored to what Rennes Lakers wants to have in the team.

11:18Yeah definitely and I I think reducing dependence on a few key pillars in the team is a big part of that. Russo playing every minute of every game, Mariana playing every minute of every game, and we kind of, you know, we squeeze them very, very hard. But just a final, I guess, quite general thing that binds a lot of the business is that four of the players, of the five players, have come from the Bundesliga. And I have to think that can't be a coincidence. and one of the, I guess, issues I had again mainly with Arsenal's play in the final third is I don't think Arsenal have been clinical or ruthless enough in transition moments.

11:57I think particularly Reuteler and Lisa Baumer are players who can be really interesting in these moments but why do you think Arsenal have... I'm not sure they sat down and said let's target the Bundesliga but a lot of the players they've targeted have come from there. What do you think it is about the Bundesliga with relation to where Arsenal are trying to get better? And, you know, how do you see that scaling up to the WSL? Yeah, so a couple of things there in regards to like what Front Bundesliga plays out as and what you observe in that league as well, because that league is slightly more open.

12:38you see a lot more like bigger score lines there is a clear like hierarchy where you have buy-in which is like levels above everyone else right now uh there's this middle pack of teams uh i would say only like three teams probably like who are battling it out for the top four then uh which is wultzburg hoffenheim and frankfurt at times and hoffenheim to like slip in and out and then you got like the bottom of the table where you know the quality gap seems like uh too big of a jump uh so in in in a league like this when games pan out what happens it's because like there is quality gap as well and because of the way they want to play uh the score lines like get very big very quickly at times uh and there is space on offer this is not to say like bernersliga teams can't defend but there is like a serious quality gap from like when you start from the bottom to comparing to you know players like who play in the top four right and uh that is why i think this is one of the aspects that allows the uh attackers there to thrive in in these situations and to have like some uh ridiculous numbers as well at times which is like you have to fact that in that maybe those numbers won't directly translate there uh but the the other thing is like these players are trained on those like transition situation on maximizing those uh those spaces as well uh so yeah i think in the way that it translates to wsl is uh like you mentioned that arsenal weren't that good weren't that clinical when they got the opportunity on on a turnover on a transition situation so i think that will change because of the speed of play there from like one end to the other was was quite quick so these players know that but i think more of it is about like uh synergy and that different having those different kind of uh weapons to to attack because you know arsenal as a team dominate the ball right like so they are in in control of the ball and and the opposition have sat back and then you're trying to deal and find solutions to get through them so uh while those transition opportunities are important it's always like very difficult to like continuously capitalize on them and then keep scoring off of them what you want is you want a skill set that is repeatable right so you you want players who can do different things you know you can try crossing with with a couple of players you can you can have some players who are very good between the lines you can you know provide you shot uh link plays uh right in front of the box and find their way through so now with this like the group of players that have come in from from mundusliga are not just like transition players but are also like very good technically so if you look at you know georgia stanway as well we know uh she can a take long range efforts we have seen that at city we have seen that with england and we have seen that at bayern as well that is one solution when you're facing a deep block to have a good person who can test from range right uh the other is like she can she has a very good switch of the ball so she can she can switch play very quickly so you're dealing with a with a side that is trying to cramp you up on on one side you can switch it georgia stanway offers that solution slightly deeper uh on the field then you look at like rau teller baum and and churchy if i have to say these are players who like can fit in in different situations they can play off the other players they can uh you know be the focal point i was just checking like rauteller's number as well like she has started on the right flank mainly but has played as the sentiment has played on the left side and this is all like last season she has even played as the as a defensive midfielder a few minutes so you know this is a player who can pick up different zones on the pitch and create an impact the same goes for churchy she can you know drift out wide she can try to stretch some some of the back line and does open up space for somebody else to attack and then you have all these group of players who can make those runs as well so you know it's it's it's like these solutions are being offered by churchy and and route teller then you come with uh to bomb right and i'm answering this individual player because these qualities are like often overlooked with with bomb you have this directness you have olivia smith on one flank and bomb on the other who are consistently going at the uh at the fullback and trying to force an engagement try to trying to win the ball back and imagine that like you're defending it's nervy final few minutes one harsh challenge and you have have a penalty and that that's these are game-changing qualities that these players bring to the table and you know it's i think it's a it's a happy coincidence that all of the all of them at the same time played in in the bundesliga as well uh but yeah it's it's definitely a league that has that harbors talent a lot you know because of the way the the league is because of the way that you know the good talents usually get picked up a lot of the minutes goes to like very young players so players who have just played the under 17 world cups or the under 20 world cups are immediately in the first team and getting serious minutes so their development is slightly accelerated and then once they are good you know teams come in and they're like okay we we saw your development and everything and those things happen so it's it's a good league where you know you they get to harbor talent as well and harbor talent in like these different ways making them versatile uh and that has a lot of value in in modern football i think yeah definitely and that's that's a bit of a blockage in the wsl at the moment the number of players under 24 getting exposed to minutes is is a lot less um and i imagine in a few years the german national team might benefit for that even if the bundesliga doesn't whereas the wsl will probably benefit where the england national team doesn't um what we'll do there is we'll just take a quick break and in part two uh we'll go over each player a little bit individually um in terms of how they fit into renee slager's jigsaw we'll be right back after this break

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20:07Okay, welcome back to part two of the Arsenal Women Asked cast with Tim Stillman and Yash. Looking over Arsenal's summer recruitment so far, I'm hopeful of a little bit more. We might touch on at the end what else Arsenal need to do. But yeah, she wrote a really good piece for the cutback on Georgia Stanway. And I think what's interesting about this signing is I think a lot of Arsenal fans will be very well acquainted with Georgia Stanway in the England team and her partnership with Kira Walsh, which has been a mainstay of the England team for several years now. But I think what your article in the cutback did really well was flesh out how her game has evolved in her few years at Bayern Munich.

20:49And, you know, the midfield context for René Slager's Arsenal is they don't really play with a recognised six in the way that most people would suggest. Kim Little spends more time there than anyone else. But really, it's a fluid double pivot between Kim Little and Mariana. um Leo Valti has gone there isn't really what you'd call a recognized six in the Arsenal squad and my limited kind of exposure to Bayern was that they played in a fairly similar way in terms of Georgia Stanway partnering either Sara Zadrazil who I think is a very very underrated player uh Sydney Lohman before she moved to Manchester City and you kind of and you were mentioning in the first part as well, that crossfield pass, which I don't think Arsenal always have from the left-hand side.

21:42They have it from the right when they play Aliyah Williamson or Lotte. From the left, I think that's lacking, that crossfield pass. But how did Georgia Stamway kind of really evolve her game in her, I think, four seasons at Bayern Munich? Yeah, I think those four years in Germany for Stamway have been brilliant. I think I I dated her when she was at City, but at City, the problem was that she was always playing second fiddle to somebody else. It was Kira Walsh, it was Caroline Weir during that time, and she was always the player that would slot in wherever the gap is. And there was a running joke that it's only the goalkeeping position that she hasn't played on the pitch because she was being played everywhere.

22:31and going to Bayern she had that role cut out for her in the early years she was playing alongside Saki Komagai and Sara Zadrazil who are like more known ball winners so she got to develop the the passing side of her her game a lot more she the team relied on her to provide that progression to be that metronome to receive in the first phase to progress the ball out wide to progress the ball through the middle and have time on the ball and that is that is what allowed her to you know play alongside uh kira walsh in the england team as well so you know that comfort came from them playing alongside a recognized ball winner she knew her responsibilities very well now this season coming into this season those things slightly changed in the first half because you know overdorf was was injured again so they needed a recognized ball winner somebody who can you know stay back and allow others to to move forward so what they did was like they made georgia stanway kind of that player so not entirely a six i i wouldn't call her a six at all she's not like a complete destroyer kind of kind of player and they coupled her with momo katani cover was again an attacking player but momo katani cover had a lot more freedom much like arsenal's double pivot itself so now she in in this season in particular she was like the first pass from the defense to uh during the build-up phase and she was always like getting on the ball a lot she turned into a what you would call a metronome what you would uh you know refer to uh kira walsh as except like a little less uh defensive ability i would say uh so that is that development has gone really well and then in the second half of the season once they signed like Amani she got again a recognized ball winner so she could like move up of up the field a lot more so this development I think has helped her passing game a lot now coming to like the the responsibility she had in that buy-in system and I've alluded to to this as well previously like she was the first out ball from defense so you know you now allow when with Georgia Steinway in the lineup you allow somebody like a mario nakal then there somebody like a kim little to play slightly further up behind the opposition's first line of defense so like there is that out ball uh georgia sun were regularly dropped uh in the back line on the outsides and you know would receive and they would uh always create this like numerical advantage situations uh where one of the player would always be free and you know give given time on the ball georgia stanwick and pick her passes really well those long diagonals so So that is what she did a lot more.

25:17And I think at Arsenal, this quality will translate again quite well because you have the ball a lot. You create that advantage in the first phase of play. You get these very good players on the ball. You imagine you have Steph Catley, you have Leah Williamson, and you have Georgia Stanway in your back line who can swing the ball upfields and start an attack right from there if you want to go direct. and these very comfortable ball players who can carry the ball into the midfield as well and push the opposition back. So Georgia Stanway will add to that definitely. But I think one of the biggest positive impacts of Georgia Stanway's inclusion in that lineup will be the fact that she will be freeing up some really good attacking players to go forward further.

26:05And, you know, we saw what Carlton Deick could do in her first season, But then she was restricted a little bit because Arsenal's hands were tied and they needed somebody to play that deeper role who was also press resistant. So, you know, here comes Kalden Tae-hoek and who can step up. But now she will be allowed to play further up. Kim Little as well. I think over the last couple of seasons, we haven't been able to see the attacking best of Kim Little, who, you know, is known for operating in between the lines and then stitching play by forming these triangles out wide or being that link player in the in the final third we haven't seen that so I think that we will see a lot more of because Georgia Stanway and given her availability as well this is one factor that I think a lot of people don't consider she rarely you know gets injured or anything and touch wood I think I hope that continues because that is a big factor she's always available she's always at your disposal and she can play in multiple roles like we like we mentioned she can be paired alongside a natural ball winner she can be paired alongside a more attacking player and take up some of those responsibilities so i think that that is what like georgia stanway will bring the fit i think comes in naturally because by and played a similar formation and and sort of a similar style not not like as uh just the just the same as slaggers play because uh there there is like a lot more structure here whereas barkala like uh goes for a lot more fluidity among among his side but I think the responsibilities of a player like Stanwy at Bayern and Stanwy at Arsenal are going to look like fairly similar next season.

27:48Yeah definitely when Arsenal played Bayern in November I noticed her pulling off into that kind of almost left back position quite a lot to receive and you know like the the angles of pass from there and again I think on the left side that's That's probably something Arsenal have missed. And speaking of Arsenal's left side, another player they're bringing in, who a lot of us will know reasonably well in Onnabadie, who can play right and left back. I think most people would probably be quite familiar with her qualities as an overlapping fullback. Obviously, she has an existing relationship with Russo from their time at Manchester United, and that's maybe something Arsenal haven't leveraged.

28:32Russo's aerial power, Selena Churchi has that a little bit as well. But I mean, I'm guessing that she's going to come in and play left-back because Arsenal already have two right-backs. They only have one left-back. We might see her on both sides, but I mean, this looks like a left-back signing to me and Honour's played there quite a bit. You know, what do you think of the idea of Honour Badier? I guess as a direct replacement for Katie McCabe? I mean, you know, when the rumours started of like ONA signing for Arsenal, I was a little confused because Emily Fox was there and they had literally just brought in Homburg as well.

29:15And I was like, that doesn't make sense. But then the whole piece of the puzzle was like, OK, maybe McCabe is moving. So, you know, that is where it all falls into place. so i think it makes complete sense that she'll play on the on the left back that is how i view her as well uh and you know even though she is more effective on the on the right hand side because she is right footed a lot but her left foot is like not not a complete waste so i think like it's as a one-to-one replacement compared to mccabe uh mccabe is one of the best chance creators from fullback position we have seen in in the wsl i think uh and in terms of that about how much you will get from uh on apache in terms of chance creation i i think like uh subduing some of the expectations would be better uh to you know instead of expecting those swinging crosses that mccabe could offer from out wide from half spaces or dropping in uh you know cutting inside coming narrow and operating as that uh inverted left back we will see a lot more of that like we will see a player who is very comfortable in possession uh but that creativity that you would get from a cave on the ball at all times uh i think there will be a slight drop off in that which is like fine because then you have a very good crosser of the ball on the on the right hand side if smila homebugs gets to play we have seen like uh what whatever little we saw of her uh we have seen that she's an excellent crosser of the ball so i think that is going to be compensated what what will be improved i think and this is like taking nothing away and saying uh from katie as a defensive player but i think uh ona bachie is a much more like well-rounded uh kind of full back no matter what side she's playing on she's very active like her style of defending is very active which is what like arsenal also strive for i think they want to uh step up they want to be at their opponent's heel and try to like deny them time and space and that is where like she's comfortable as well she's very good in in one v one duel situations she's quick so you know dealing with fast forwards uh fast wingers is also really good her recovery uh pace is quite well and playing at barcelona uh like she's ingrained with these like uh tactical elements regarding her positioning in different phases of the play how she can support the the ball progression how she can support in the creation phase she has that uh down very very well and like you mentioned there is an existing relationship between uh bathye and russo so that will be something that uh you know will be interesting to watch as as it develops as it unfolds but i think like uh over the time Russo has also developed into a much more complete kind of forward so you know it's it's something that we will have to observe about how that happens but I think a definite boost will be in the first and second phases of play with the inclusion of Batier there might be a slight drop off in terms of like what she'll offer on in terms of like creativity because it will also be it also remains to be seen uh who plays on that flank right like if it's if it's caitlin food then she approaches the game slightly differently she would pick up the ball out wide and then in that moment you would want your fullback to be slightly narrow and then uh food has a tendency to like drive inside and then try to cut cut and uh take a shot that is what like she tries to do a lot of the time so those synergies of uh will depend on who plays if you have like Baum starting there.

33:00She's a left-footed player. She can go on the outside, so she'll naturally offer some wit there. So you would have Bacchi operating from those half spaces a lot more. So there are a lot of variables that we will have to figure out as the season begins and the games start happening. But I think there will be definite improvements in the first two phases of play for Arsenal in possession with Bacchi. Yeah, and it'll be interesting to see over the season whether we end up with fullback pairs. For example, that can happen sometimes. I tend to think you're right, it will probably depend on game state and opponent.

33:38And another quite interesting and I think quite curious signing is Selina Churchy from Hoffenheim. Now, you know, you spoke about the Bundesliga, perhaps there are bigger gaps. And so, you know, on one hand, maybe her goal tally, 16 goals, 32 goals across the last two seasons, 16 each. You know, how that translates remains to be seen. on the kind of plus side you'd say she was not playing for Bayern Munich or Wolfsburg she was playing for a team who finished fourth and sixth so maybe that evens out in terms of how this translates but I think what most Arsenal on one hand Yasha really see a direct line through to Beth Mead Arsenal's lost Beth Mead Beth Mead is a consistent producer of end product and Arsenal had to replace that they haven't replaced it with the same sort of player really I don't think and it's kind of curious because Churchy I think usually plays as a centre forward for Hoffenheim and Arsenal already have at least two of those and there's still the question of Michelle Ajamang she does play off the sides for Germany quite a bit so this one feels like a mystery maybe in a good sense how do you see uh selena church's qualities translating into the arsenal team yeah her her fit is something that like puzzled me a little bit i was i was expecting somebody might be walking out but it doesn't seem so uh but i think with churchy and i've been a fan of her for a very long time now she used to be at post time she has never got her big break uh into this big size but she has been consistently producing numbers unfortunately did her acl a while back and was supposed to move to buy and those were the talks and that move collapsed after that and even at pots them uh she was scoring like nine goals and the thing is like yes it is it is absolutely fair to be skeptical of that tally not translating entirely to to wsl uh and and that is a fair uh skepticism of it but i think what we have seen from her over the years is that she can produce in like any sort of setup and it's not just that she is scoring against the minnows or or anything like that she's scoring against brian she's scoring against wulsburg she scored against wulsburg when she played at potsdam she scored against wulsburg when she played uh against bion when she played for potsdam so you know she has scored those big goals now coming to the to the fit of it uh at hoffenheim as well they started with they played with like a two forward system they shuffled around a lot they played a back three at the back four a lot of those formations and uh i think one of the key things in that formation in terms of like the compatibility of the front two or the way the front two operated was like they used to be melissa costler who is now in the nwsl and uh churchy so these are both very mobile forwards so they would adapt to where the uh other player or their colleague was operating in the zone so if costler is dropping deep churchy would stay high up if you know church is drifting out wide costler would stay as the focal point of attack so there was this dynamism that is there that exists that allows churchy to you know uh have that freedom to drift out wide and which is what she does quite frequently you would find her drifting out on the left drifting out on the on the right hand side to receive the ball and then carry a little bit and get the shot off she's very good at doing that carrying the ball and getting the shots off uh she generates her own shots a lot and i think that is where she comes in as well you know like uh she can replace that uh that caitlin food kind of thing maybe she won't offer the same uh volume of ball carrying and the same effectiveness of ball carrying but the action after the ball carry like you know taking a shot or taking uh which is what caitlin food prefers to do as well she would carry the ball and she would uh and end it with a with a shot that is what the final action after the carrier like a shot would be better uh i think like churchy has those instincts plus like when she this working alongside another uh forward thing will help her at arsenal because you know you have somebody like alicia russo who will probably still be playing almost every game would still be starting almost every game so having somebody who can come in and offer a little bit more dynamism uh up front wherein you know this striker is drifting out wide unlike like you know maybe uh blackstein is who likes to stay on the stay between the center backs and or in between the fullback and the center back and push the line back you have another striker who is you know kind of drifting out wide linking up and then making the the run in behind or like picking the ball up and carrying it herself into into space a little bit so there is that other dimension and having worked with like in in a two forward system i think that is going to uh help churchy a lot in terms of what she can bring and what she can offer i think like you have to expect goals and i think she will bring those goals because she's such a talented forward to be honest like in the box she has every kind of of finish you know she can finish it with her weak foot she can finish it with a strong foot she can she's good in the air and she can get shots from like all sorts of areas as well uh but she understands like how to get into good good zones uh too so yeah i'm i'm i'm personally like looking forward to how she fits in this uh rennes legers puzzle big puzzle but uh i think for sure i think she'll be contributing goals and those goals that you talk about with meet leaving those goals leaving the squad i think those will be compensated at least a fair amount uh in her first season by by churchy because i think she's that talented uh player has has everything in her locker as a as a forward to to you know score effectiveness out wide is slightly like questionable but it as you mentioned we talk about like finishers and starters i think she would be a great finisher if not a starting role player in the squad.

40:13And she would bring in different qualities which you need when you're maybe chasing a game, when you want something to happen, when you want somebody who can create her own shots and take those. I think Churchy will definitely help there. Yeah, it does make me wonder if we'll see Arsenal go to two strikers if they need a goal. Again, talking about turning some of those draws into victories. and um you know when you talk about churchy creating her own shots to me that was always bethmead's superpower that bethmead didn't need service really you just give her the ball and she'll find a shot or find something out of nothing and i it's interesting with churchy i see the qualities and the profile i see it all i just don't know where she's going to show up on the formation graphic that's that's where i think the mystery is and and and finally i mean talking a little bit of mystery you know i like i said i think lisa baum belongs to a separate part of the recruitment strategy this isn't replacing one of those big players we've been talking about this is one of those bets uh to use your word and and and actually i mean arsenal have taken a few of these bets all big clubs do this they'll take some of these bets and the the error bars are noisy on buying young players.

41:29And we've seen with Gio, that didn't work. Catherine Kuhl just couldn't get the minutes that she needed to develop. Rosa Kofadji, that hasn't really worked either. At the same time, Smilla Holmberg's come in at the age of 19 and that looks okay. In fact, that looks more than okay. That looks very good at the moment. So I think there's probably an acceptance that this is a bet on Lisa Baum. I tend to think that Arsenal's success or hit rate is probably roughly similar to, let's say, Chelsea and Manchester City here. Maybe slightly lower. But I mean, I guess, how do you see Lisa Baum and maybe some of the areas where she'll have to develop and what she'll bring to this Arsenal team?

42:14Yeah, I think like player development is always a tricky spot. and I know like the general consensus is that Arsenal are not great at it you know it's like okay these young players come in they don't develop and then they leave but it's like people have to understand that you know playing for a club like Arsenal or a Chelsea or you know playing like Barcelona a lot of things have to go right for you to get those minutes it's not just like purely talent if somebody senior is ahead of you and playing at a very good level you are likely to get lesser minutes but if that senior player gets injured suddenly you are thrown into the pit of fire and you uh basically have have the have the test and you develop right like it is this chicken and egg situation where how how can you develop without minutes but then uh when you get those minutes and when you're not getting those consistent minutes you can't produce good performances either so it's like uh it's it's a tricky situation to be in and of course like there have been uh some names that have come come to arsenal very young and haven't like succeeded at making it to the the first team squad which is always difficult uh i think like lisa baum comes in as as one of those bets uh like like we say uh i think that the unique quality for Baum and I think the biggest selling point for her is that she's left-footed I think this is something that you know people underrate a lot getting a left-footed player completely changes the way the ball moves on the on the field you have different angles open and with the way Baum operates she's a phenomenal ball carrier she's phenomenal at taking on players loves to do that and does it all the time all the all the time and that is where like i think this all comes in she is she's very comfortable on on both feet is dominantly left-footed can go inside can go outside of the player and she opens up a whole new avenue for for the team right like you receiving ball high up the pitch you don't have these like slightly one-dimensional approaches wherein you're running at the fullback at the same angle she can change the angle and she has she's very quick uh for her age and she has great vision for her age honestly like she she has a has an eye for the final ball she'll play it and most of the times last season it did not turn out well like uh you know because the players weren't on the same uh wavelength as her but i think that will improve as she's playing with with slightly better quality of players and i think having a dribbler in your in your squad is extremely important when you're consistently dealing with like low blocks uh which is where like her effectiveness again comes in and having that variety to either go on the outside go on the inside and do it equally well and at almost similar speeds is something that is like very very valuable as to where she can improve she's still like 19 so there is a long long time ahead of her there are various areas one of which is like her her positioning against the ball which is where you know like she can over commit at times she can you know not get back into position which are things that you know you pay highly for when you're playing for a for a bigger club right like you make a mistake and everything is in spotlight right and arsene wenger used to like say these things as well where and if i'm playing a young player and if he's costing me like nine goals or something over the season i think those are like growing pains that you have to deal with right like because at the end of it if you trust in that player that player might turn out to you know save you nine goals just a couple of seasons uh after it so it's it's a there are also areas though which are probably easier to accept you losing the ball and i'd say out wide is one of them i think one of the problems for rose kafadji was she wanted to be a number 10 really but if you're losing the ball in that area perhaps if you're losing the ball high up and out wide i think that's sometimes why it's easier to integrate a proper wide player yeah and this is where like i also wonder where what side she would be playing on because you know if she's playing on the left and you have ona behind her she covers a lot of ground on abachi so you know she can rest assured a little bit okay you have got a very good uh this thing emily fox again a solid uh one-one defender as well so you know she has these like uh safety net behind her uh on on both flanks so i think like it's a good platform for her yeah expecting her to like produce some extreme numbers or anything i think would be like uh dishonest to like what player development actually looks like and calling her a failure or anything but i think in terms of what she will do is like she will give arsenal an option to change uh to approach games differently at different game states especially when they're chasing because i think you look at city for example you look at their flanks you have caroline and you have uh lauren hemp right both extremely direct can pick the ball up can beat you and can drive to the byline and put the uh cut back in and that is very very dangerous kind of move right and that is what you want your wingers to to be able to do on their own to produce these moments to you know beat a marker and find that space and then create something lisa bomb has you know that vision for the final ball she can see those passing lanes she can identify the correct options execution seems pretty good to me honestly like if you if you look at the kind of ball she played in the in the bundesliga uh i think the fact that she has lesser uh assists or like fewer assists is down to the fact that uh the teammates weren't like always on the on the same wavelength and could not like match it because a lot of it depends on how good the synergies are between these players but i think like she has progressed through the ranks quite well like she was playing in the third division went into the second and now in the first has done well is developing still very very young and you know that's the that's the thing like if it doesn't work out you still have a player who is fairly young and there would be teams who would want to get a dribbler like that get a ball carrier like that for their system so I think this as a move for arsenal overall this is quite a safe bet you get a talented ball carrier who you know if it works out for her if everything goes well you have an excellent winger uh who can play on either flanks who is left-footed first of all and can offer you a lot of solutions but if it doesn't work out you still probably like uh make decent money off of her so you know it's i think in terms of the risk profile of this signing for arsenal it's pretty low i would say uh but the upside of this is is quite high and i'm honestly like i'm excited to to see the upside uh especially when coming up with that lack of space uh in the in the wsl and how she approaches does she get frustrated because that that element you can't really like predict uh from watching them when you're constantly getting offered space when you're constantly you know being able to push the ball into space and then run to it and beat your marker you won't always have that with arsenals you will have to use that flare of yours or use that trickery or combination play in the final third to find those and create those spaces i think that is where uh she needs some development as well you know playing off of the other player and finding that space or making those diagonal runs in behind without the without the ball to be able to receive.

50:21I think that is where a lot of it will come down to. Besides that, I think for her age, excellent physical profile as well. Very agile, very athletic. So, yeah, I think I'm excited to see her develop at Arsenal next season. Yeah, I think that's something Olivia Smith had to learn as well coming from Liverpool where you're attacking bigger spaces because you're playing on the counter and it maybe took a few months for her to properly see how to operate in tighter spaces. I think you're right about the low risk as well. Even Gio and Catherine Kuhl didn't work. Arsenal got paid for both of those transfers from quite good clubs.

51:00The same thing's almost certainly going to happen with Rose Kofadji this summer. So from a club perspective, I think you're right, it's low risk. Yash, that was just as fascinating as I thought it would be and hoped it would be. Thanks so much. for coming on. And we'll speak again when Arsenal inevitably draw Real Madrid in the Champions League next year. Yeah, looking forward to that. But honestly, like our squad this season looks like it's all over the place at the moment. But yeah, it's exciting. We have a sort of a small rebuild going off on our own. So yeah, hopefully like we get to meet each other again in the Champions League and this time get the better of you guys.

51:45Yeah, well, we'll see about that. If you're not already following Yash on Twitter, what on earth are you doing, quite frankly? But like I said at the top, Yash writes for the cutback, has done work for opt-analysts for ESPN as well. Most of it really, really good analytical kind of work from across women's football as well. Yash, thanks so much for joining us. And Jamie and I will come back with a pod maybe in a couple of weeks or so when perhaps part two of the summer really kicks off in earnest when perhaps we get some departures and maybe hopefully we hear... 33 days, 33 episodes, no off switch.

52:26From the goals and the glory to the politics and the problems of the World Cup. If you want soccer analysis from a podcast that's been overanalyzing the game for more than 20 years, then this is it. Join me, Max Rushton, and our expert team of soccer journalists every day of the tournament, can England end 60 years of hurt or will this be another year of falling just short? Probably. World Cup Daily, listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch full episodes on YouTube. There are about another player or two coming in, but until then, thanks so much for joining us. Do leave us a review or a rating on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and we'll speak to you again very soon.

53:06Thank you.