Under interim head coach, Renée Slegers, our Arsenal women look revived and almost at their best in every phase of the game. They have emerged as one of the most defensively solid teams. The other day, Steph Catley spoke about how they now defend as a unit and how their desire, apart from winning, is to keep clean sheets. That desire has paid off with 7 clean sheets in the last 11 games, conceding only 5 goals.
This great defensive record isn’t just about results; it’s also about how Steph Catley and Leah Williamson have formed one of the finest central defense pairings. As our girls go on winter break, both Steph Catley and Leah Williamson are deserving of some flowers for the run the team has been on.
Steph, who captains Australia’s Matilda’s on the international stage, is criminally underrated. She seems to have reinvented herself from a top left back to a great left center-back. We’re lucky to have her. On the other hand, we almost don’t praise Leah enough during this run. It’s like she took the criticism early in the season personally. She’s been fantastic under Renée since that October international break.
You’d want Laia Codina and Lotte Wubben-Moy given a shot in the team, but is that really possible? It would be criminal to break the partnership between Steph and Leah.
That said, what a way to end the year in style with 8 straight wins. The eighth win came Wednesday night against Bayern Munich.
When we first played Bayern in October, we lost 5-2. Jonas Eidevall resigned just a few days later. Two months later, with Renée Slegers, we’ve beaten Bayern 3-2 to top our UWCL group, we are in the WSL top 3, and we’ve gone 11 straight games undefeated in all competitions.
How positive are you feeling that our Gunners can win more than just the Conti Cup this season?
Danni P
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