In an impressive display, Arsenal overcame Watford with a 5-1 victory in the FA Women’s Cup fifth round.
The three Arsenal youngsters on loan at Watford did very well against their parent club.
Katie Reid was solid at the back, Michelle Agyemang put up a good fight against Ilestedt and Wubben-Moy and managed to score a goal.
Laila Harbert was also excellent in midfield with her passing and vision. Both managers were clearly happy with their performances in the post-match interviews.
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall said, “It was important for us to see that they were brave on the ball today and they can express themselves, that is why we wanted to invest first team minutes in them. I think we saw that and you can see the potential in all three of them. This was probably more of a stressful game for them, but they need that to develop.”
Damon Lathorpe, the Watford manager, said, “All three players should be proud of their performances.”
Arsenal have six youngsters on loan, with Freya Godfrey at Charlton who scored at the weekend, Araya Dennis doing well at Crystal Palace, and Ruby Doe at Ipswich.
There will be questions at the end of the season as to whether these six players might be ready to compete for the first team or if another season on loan is needed.
The Russo – Miedema combination needs some work to reach its potential
Eidevall stated, “What we need to do is between our 9s and 10s- and there is no doubt that Viv can play as a 9 as well- we need to invest time in these relationships. We can see today that Viv and Lessi have invested time in this in training and it starts to look better.”
There are many front two combinations available to Eidevall with Russo, Blackstenius, Miedema, and Maanum all vying for a place.
Earlier in the season, the Maanum-Russo combo did not work very well.
The tried and trusted Blackstenius – Maanum combination, which served the team well last season during the ACL curse, was also seen in action. “You can also see that when Stina and Frida come on, that is a working relationship and I am not rigid about which relationship should be the one we use. We should be able to use other ways, we just need to be able to spend the time on them,” added Eidevall.
Work has been done to beat the low blocks
Eidevall noted, “It is fair to say that attacking has been static at times and a little bit predictable.”
The team has been working on solutions, with full-backs and wingers interchanging positions and alternating between going inside and outside. This variety in runs and passing patterns is designed to make the opposition’s defence less predictable.
The other FA Women’s Cup results included only one upset, with National Division team Wolves defeating Championship team Reading.
Sheffield United gave Spurs a scare by taking a 2-0 lead but were eventually beaten 3-2.
West Ham also took the lead against Chelsea, but were defeated 3-1 in extra time.
All of the results across the #AdobeWomensFACup fourth round 🤩
Did your team progress? pic.twitter.com/IrC5Jw3m6U
— Adobe Women's FA Cup (@AdobeWFACup) January 14, 2024