Kim Little reached 400 Arsenal appearances as Arsenal closed in on a Champions League London derby.
Arsenal were deserved 4-0 winners in Belgium on Wednesday at OH Leuven. As long as nothing incredible happen next week at Meadow Park, Arsenal will meet Chelsea in the UEFA Women Champions League quarter-finals.
Kim Little came on as a substitute to reach her 400th Arsenal appearance, an impressive milestone considering she spent a good number of seasons abroad in the USA and in Australia. I still remember when we signed her, because Arsenal did not announce it properly. I was looking at the line-ups in the Guardian for the Leeds away game that followed a defeat in the League Cup and there was a name, Little. I thought we had signed Stacey Little, which did not make sense at all.
Then it was all revealed later. A 16-year-old Scottish playmaker who would become one of the key players for Arsenal, a legend of the team. For me, in terms of skills and football intelligence, Kim Little is very similar to Zinedine Zidane. Her technical ability, vision of the game, passing, shooting, work rate and ability to reinvent herself in a different role are world class.
She could even prolong her career playing as a centre-back if she wants to.
For this Champions League play-off, Renee Slegers had at her disposal a squad that is becoming thinner and thinner. It does remind me of the magic skin book from Honore de Balzac. Arsenal could only name eight substitutes when you can name 12 overall. She managed to rotate a few players who definitely needed a rest and give game time to those coming back from injury or personal time out of football.
The team was Daphne van Domselaar; Emily Fox, Leah Williamson, Laia Codina, Katie McCabe; Mariona Caldentey, Victoria Pelova; Chloe Kelly, Frida Maanum, Caitlin Foord; Olivia Smith. The Smith experiment at number nine carried on and it allowed a rest for Alessia Russo.
Smith was also involved in an unsurprising yellow card offence that means she will miss the second leg of the tie at no cost to the team.
What we saw in Louvain were many high quality team goals, excellent movement off the ball that led to one touch passes and crosses. We have seen Arsenal struggle to go around opposition defences in recent times, which led to many draws in the league. It was really good to see that creativity can happen against a low block.
It was also important to see Russo, Steph Catley and Lotte Wubben-Moy start the game on the bench while Williamson and Kelly got starts after missing many games due to injuries. Of course, the injury count is starting to get worrying: Beth Mead, Anneke Borbe, Stina Blackstenius, Taylor Hinds and Katie Reid, with an ACL injury, were absent. Sophie Harwood was not there, but was surely playing with the under-21 academy team. It was also good to see Kyra Cooney-Cross getting on the pitch after coming back from Australia.
Overall, an excellent performance, allowing for load management, too. It all means Arsenal can put out their best XI in the league game away to Brighton on Sunday and rotate or rest players against OH Leuven in the second leg as well as against Bristol in the FA Cup in a week’s time.