After a dismal draw with Everton and a shocking 5-2 loss to Bayern Munich, it already feels like the north London side are one defeat from disaster
There is a feeling of deja vu about Arsenal ahead of Saturday’s blockbuster clash with Chelsea, the reigning Women’s Super League champions. After all, it is almost exactly 12 months ago that the Gunners went into another huge clash with a title rival, Manchester United on that occasion, feeling like they were one defeat from disaster. That’s very much the case again this weekend.
Last Sunday, Arsenal gave bottom side Everton their first point of the season in a dismal goalless draw. Worst of all, they followed that disappointment up with a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich in their opening game of the Champions League group stage, with some astonishingly poor defending on show in Germany.
Suddenly, Chelsea’s visit to the Emirates feels like a must-win for Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall. This time last year, he rescued a similar situation. Is he capable of doing it again?
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty ImagesLittle margin for error
It might seem dramatic to label the Gunners’ fourth league game of the season as being as important as this, but the WSL is unforgiving. There are only 22 rounds of fixtures and the top teams rarely drop points to those below them in the table, making any slip-ups particularly damaging to hopes of winning the title.
This is emphasised by the fact that, until Chelsea picked up three defeats last season, no eventual champion had ever lost more than two games on their way to the trophy. Only Liverpool, in 2014, and that same Chelsea team have ever dropped more than 10 points and been crowned champions of England. Arsenal are already at four through their first three matches, drawing at home to Manchester City on the opening weekend before that grim goalless game against Everton.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportProblem still not solved
It was a dismal display from the Gunners to drop points against the Toffees, but not a surprising or particularly new one. Breaking down teams that sit back in a low block has been a persistent issue for Eidevall’s side.
Last season, Arsenal had the best record in the league against the 'Big Four' of Chelsea, Man City and Manchester United, winning four of those six games and losing only one. The reason they finished some five points behind Chelsea, and were out of the title race before the run-in really began, was because of results against other teams. Defeats to Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham were particular lowlights, while Everton also managed to snatch a point on Merseyside in April.
Ahead of this new season, Eidevall believed he had seen an evolution in the team here. “I’m super-confident that if we came up against a low block then we have tools and qualities and processes on how to play against that, and I have full belief in them,” he said.
However, the games since have suggested otherwise. After a first-leg defeat to Hacken in Champions League qualifying, which was at least atoned for in a 4-0 second-leg victory, and a narrow 1-0 win over Leicester last month, that draw against Everton was in the post.
Getty Images'Mid-table playing style'
It must be particularly frustrating for fans because of how good Arsenal’s recent record is against the ‘big’ teams. In the 2021-22 season, Eidevall’s first, the Gunners didn’t fall to defeat in either of their league meetings with Chelsea, even beating them in a thriller at the Emirates. Yet, when the season came to its conclusion, it was the Blues that lifted the trophy, not Arsenal.
If they could just solve this problem against low blocks, then they could challenge for the big titles, right? But that that is still the case three years on is quite damning when assessing the progress made under Eidevall.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright didn’t hold back when discussing the Everton draw on his podcast, , earlier this week. “We look like a mid-table club, a mid-table playing style, the way we play, the inconsistency of the way we play, we're playing like a transitional team. Counter-attack games, that's how a mid-table team plays,” he said. “You're at the Emirates against a team that is bottom of the league and you're not controlling that game to the level that's supposed to pull Everton all over the place.”
It was a point he doubled down on when discussing that big-game record too, adding, in rather damning fashion: “It's like a mid-table team. When a big team comes, they find their game.”
Getty ImagesFailure to bounce back
Worst of all, when Arsenal got the opportunity to bounce back from that disappointment a few days later, in a meeting with a ‘big’ team in Bayern Munich, and in a game that was more open and theoretically less problematic in terms of style, they were abysmal. After a strong first half-hour, the Gunners ended up being absolutely picked apart in a 5-2 defeat.
The German champions were outstanding in that second period, with former Chelsea star Pernille Harder netting a hat-trick in a wonderful individual display. But one can give credit to the hosts while also wondering just what the visitors were doing. It’s difficult to choose the right words to describe Arsenal’s defending in the second half; it was appalling.