Ahead of the new ladies season getting underway, we bring you some exclusive stats from the last campaign.

[Extra news at the end]

If we look at the full FA WSL history over the last four seasons, 2014 was definitely the worst statistically speaking for Arsenal:

2011 W10 D2 L2 32 pts  First

2012 W10 D4 L0 34 pts First

2013 W10 D3 L1 30 pts* Third

2014 W6 D3 L5 24 pts Fourth

*Three points deducted due to fielding an ineligible player.

2014 was the first ever  FA WSL season where the team did not win 10 games and also fell to more than two defeats.

If we look at the goals scored, goals conceded & clean sheets :

2011 29 -9 9 CS

2012 39 – 18 3 CS

2013 31 – 11 7 CS

2014 24 – 21 2 CS

Unfortunately this year’s stats are the worst in all those categories – fewer goals scored, more goals conceded and fewer clean sheets.

Although it’s worth noting that the clean sheet record is very close to the 2012 unbeaten season that registered three.

Funnily enough, the team still finished as the top goalscoring team in the FA WSL season, despite scoring fewer goals than ever.

Here are the other 2014 teams statistics over fourteen League games played in the FA WSL.

All data below provided by Opta. ( Notts and Bristol data over thirteen games only as Notts defaulted a game)

Ranked first in the following categories

Goals 24

Goals per game 1.71

Blocked shots 48

Red cards 0

Ranked second in the following categories

Shots excluding block shots 160 (Chelsea top with 200)

Percentage goals to shots 15.0% (Bristol top with 15.1%)

Tackles won 80.3 % (Notts County top with 85.9%)

Total shots faced (excluding blocked shots) 117 (Notts County top with 107)

Ranked third in the following categories

Total passes 5565 (Liverpool top with 5913)

Overall pass completion 70.9% (Man City top with 73.4%)

Pass completion in final third 57.8% (Man City top with 59.8%)

Yellow cards 11 (Everton Ladies top with 4 bookings)

Ranked number fourth in the following categories

Fouls 141 (Bristol top with 113)

Shots on faced 60 (Birmingham top with 49)

Cross completion 23.4% (Chelsea top with 33.8%)

Shots on target 46.3% (Bristol top with 51.3% )

Passes in final third 1788 (Chelsea top with 1957)

Percentage completed passes in final third 32.9 % (Notts County top with 38.6%)

Ranked sixth in the following categories

Total crosses 222 (Birmingham top with 294)

Goals conceded 21 (Notts County top with 8)

Average goals conceded per game 1.5 (Notts County top with 0.62)

Ranked number seven in the following categories

Long passes percentage 14% (Birmingham top with 20.5%)

Blocks, clearances and interceptions 644 (Notts County top with 853)

Ranked number eight in the following categories

Tackles 254 (Man City top with 339)

Conclusion

The overall analysis shows that Arsenal Ladies were a top team in term of attacking intent, they were always ranked first or second in the goal attempt stats except for a fourth place finish in shots-on-target percentage.

In term of passing statistics, Arsenal Ladies were either ranked third or fourth except for a seventh place in long passing, but that is a rather positive statistic for a ball possession-style team like the Arsenal.

The crossing statistics are average with 16 crosses per game compared to Birmingham’s 21 and a 23.4% completion rate.

This tallies up with the fact that the team played without a real right winger for the whole season by playing central midfielders or center forwards in that position and also Yankey’s influence not being as strong as it used to be.

The defending statistics are a mixed bag: very good on tackles won and number of shots faced but not good at all on goals conceded, average goals conceded, blocks and tackles.

This confirms what we already knew – that the team’s defending was the weakest point for the team this season.

Next week we will look at the top 10 players with analysis in the different categories provided by Opta

Ladies Extra

Youth teams results from the weekend

Arsenal Ladies U17 beat Aston Villa U17 5-1 in a friendly on Saturday.

Arsenal Ladies development team lost 4-2 away to Villa on Saturday, playing without a regular goalkeeper while also missing five players who were not available as they were called for the England U19 side. Goals were scored by Chloe Kelly and U17 player Rianna Dean.

Four Arsenal Ladies youngsters were called up for the England U19 4-0 defeat to Norway. The game played behind closed door at St George’s Park. Carla Humphrey and Vyan Sampson started the game, while Frances Steele and Leah Williamson were in the squad. Read our profiles of three of those players here.

Signings

Arsenal signed Victoria Losada from Barcelona.