Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!
Was it a cross? Was it a strike? Does anyone care?
Beth Mead’s second goal will go down as one of this season’s finest, the icing on a truly exquisite cake baked by Renée Slegers and her players.
The four-nil win away to Crystal Palace ensured that we could prepare the all-important UWCL semifinals against Lyon with a light heart and optimism aplenty. Moreover, we have increased our goal difference to +36, which is 9 more than Manchester United, who are currently tied with us on 42 points. With four games remaining before the end of the campaign, we seem well placed to hold on the second place and finish as runners-up to Chelsea, who threw away a two-goal lead in the second half and were held to a home draw by West Ham but should cruise to the title very comfortably.
Team Celebration " data-image-caption="
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
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Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
It’s time for international football now, with several players called up by their respective national team across the world.
RENÉE’S WORDS
Professional. This is the word chosen by Renée Slegers to describe the performance of her team, and it fits so well because other teams (Chelsea, ahem…) have slowed down after a tremendous comeback win the UWCL, but the Gunners didn’t.
“*We had a great performance against Madrid. There was a lot of effort going into that performance. We celebrated a little bit that evening straight after the game. Then we had to prepare for the next one. I think the way everyone, both staff and players, turned that around and got the team going into this game with the right mindset was very good, so big credit to the players. I’m very happy with the win today”.*
Renée " data-image-caption="
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
" data-medium-file="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Renee-1-780x467.png" data-large-file="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Renee-1.png" class="size-medium wp-image-49090 lazyload" alt="Renée" width="780" height="467" data-sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" src="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Renee-1-780x467.png" srcset="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Renee-1-780x467.png 780w, https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Renee-1-200x120.png 200w, https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Renee-1-768x459.png 768w, https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Renee-1.png 814w">
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Facing bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace, away from home, after such a memorable night at the Emirates Stadium could have been tricky, especially as this was the last game of a very intense block and the final one before the international break, but the players showed great focus and professionalism. It is not six wins in a row in the league, 24 goals scored and 7 conceded, something Renée Slegers is very proud of:
“*We have such great quality in our team. Of course, the players that assist and finish, but also the other players behind building those attacks and setting it up the right way. There’s so much quality. For us, it’s always about trying to get those players in positions where they can play to their strengths. I think in general we play with some more fluidity and freedom, which means we try to we have certain spaces and certain things we want to set up and we can enter from different directions or with different passes and I think that’s hard for our opposition. It can come from all directions and they all the time need to make decisions and need to scan.”*
Finally, Renée Slegers spent a few words for some individuals who are seeing their opportunities limited, mostly because their direct competitors are thriving:
“Jenna (Nighswonger) has only played a fullback two years, two and a half now, maybe, and so, I think it’s very impressive and you guys have seen her quality that she can bring, and I thought she was very determined today. Jenna played as Katie McCabe would have been on the pitch, she would have played the same role for us. We would have asked the same thing because I think in possession, they are quite similar. Her attacking quality is on a very high level, so she recognizes spaces really well and I think her combination of play in wide areas and crosses is really good, so we put her in that situation many times today. […]
“*She (Rosa Kafaji) wants it very badly, she wants to play, and she wants to get involved and I think it’s always hard when you when you get little time on the pitch, you want to do everything all at once and maybe that’s what you saw a little bit today. She wanted to do so much but she’s working really hard in training as well, and I think you saw all the potential she has”,*
In Jenna Nighswonger and Rosa Kafaji, we have two terrific young players, who need to be patient until their opportunity comes. While the US international is already quite accomplished, the Sweden playmaker needs to work on rounding the edges of her game and strike a good balance between flair and reliability. Time is on her side, so I won’t worry too much about her development and her role in the squad.
LESSONS LEARNED
Katie McCabe is a wonderful player, one of the most complete full backs in Europe, and yet her absence went unnoticed against Crystal Palace. The Ireland captain was suspended for the game and replaced by Jenna Nighswonger, who started her first WSL game since joining from Gotham FC and excelled at both ends of the pitch.
From the left-hand side, the US international was instrumental in progressing play through a nice mix of carries and passes into the attacking third, all while leaving space for Chloe Kelly to attack. For someone who is new to the team and the league, Jenna Nighswonger is adapting very quickly to her new surroundings and will soon challenge Katie McCabe for a starting place. The Ireland international has been sensational all season, but if her form drops the former Gotham FC player will be ready to pounce.
The most intriguing aspect of the away win at Crystal Palace was the simultaneous use of Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead: so far, it was often a case of either or, but on Sunday they played together and combined wonderfully through the game, at times switching sides to keep Crystal Palace guessing about where the threat will come from. Both our wingers successfully alternated between “hugging the byline” and coming infield, which created havoc in our attacking third and resulted in three of the four goals we scored.
Beffi " data-image-caption="
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
" data-medium-file="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beffi-780x472.png" data-large-file="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beffi.png" class="size-medium wp-image-49091 lazyload" alt="Beffi" width="780" height="472" data-sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" src="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beffi-780x472.png" srcset="https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beffi-780x472.png 780w, https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beffi-200x121.png 200w, https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beffi-768x465.png 768w, https://gunnerstown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Beffi.png 819w">
Photo courtesy of Arsenal.com
Chloe Kelly created our first and our third by outpacing the Crystal Palace defenders on the outside, while Beth Mead scored our fourth by stretching the field on the right-hand side and beating Yanez with a cross-cum-shot from a wide position.
In between, they both created dangerous situations by moving inside, either by going directly for goal and missing narrowly or by opening channels for overlapping runs from their teammates. They were both very good off the ball, too, when helping to force very dangerous turnovers from Crystal Palace by blocking central passes lanes, although they were never asked to track back or help our full backs, given the hosts’ inability to find attacking solutions throughout the game.
A final word on Rosa Kafaji, who was introduced with ten minutes to go and the team already three-nil up: signed in the summer to bring flair and unpredictability to a rather static team, she showed her talent and skills in flashes but failed to establish herself in the starting XI. The quality is there, but with the team now much more fluid and efficient when creating chances, her opportunities became scarce, and her high-risk/high-reward approach not needed anymore.
At 22yo, Rosa Kafaji has plenty of time in front of her to develop into a wonderful player, but she would need to adapt her game if she wants to make it at Arsenal: not quick enough to play wide, not disciplined enough to play through the middle, she will have to make a choice and then hone her skills in order to break into the starting XI.
The most natural choice would be to become a number ten, where her vision and passing skills could be extremely beneficial, but she would need to get stronger and more durable to oust Frida Maanum and become a valid option for Renée Slegers. Until then, she could be a wonderful game-changer off the bench and an excellent pick for the stubborn locks we could find along the way. Whether she will go from there to an automatic starter, it is entirely down to her.
NEXT’S UP
It’s international break time, ladies and gentlemen. Our players will fly all over the world and hopefully come back in fine form for the first leg of the UWCL semifinals, against Lyon, at the Emirates Stadium.
From that game onwards, it will be a non-stop ride until the end of the season, with six games (or seven…) to be played between April 19th and May 10th. We will have two league games rescheduled to accommodate the UWCL games against Joe Montemurro’s side, meaning that the race for the top three in the WSL could get very messy therefore very exciting.
Speak to you soon!
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Italian living in Switzerland, Gooner since mid-nineties, when the Gunners defeated my hometown team, in Copenhagen. I started my own blog and podcast (www.clockenditalia.com) after after some experiences with Italian websites and football magazines. Covering Arsenal Women with the occasional rant about the boys.
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