Arsenal women flex their new depth at Brighton

Arsenal Women opened the season with a 1-0 win at Brighton, but the selection itself underlined just how fierce the competition for places has become in Renee Slegers’ squad.

The Gunners won 1-0 away thanks to debutant Lisa Baum’s excellent finish. The away fans were present in huge numbers, as always, at Crawley Town and were rewarded with a good performance.

Arsenal sit in fifth position in the table after matchday one.

For the season opener, Renee Slegers selected the following starting XI: Rodriguez; Fox, Williamson, Catley, Batlle; Little, Stanway; Smith, Caldentey, Baum; Russo.

It is a testament to the Arsenal squad’s depth that the Arsenal manager had to leave four players out of the 20-player matchday squad: new signings Cerci and Reuteler, alongside deadline-day arrival De Almeida and third goalkeeper Damm.

If we add the three injured players, van Domselaar, Reid and Agyemang, Arsenal have 27 players to be registered in a 25-player squad. It is not a problem, though, as Damm, Reid and Agyemang can be registered as part of the Academy U21 squad.

The competition for places is huge and needed, as Arsenal really need strength in depth if they want to win the Champions League, the League or the Women’s FA Cup.

So, it is very interesting that Renee Slegers left one player per line out of the matchday squad in a very balanced way.

Then, the players have to win battles to be in the starting XI depending on the tactical plan, suspension and fitness.

So, for this first game, Rodriguez was picked ahead of Borbe in goal, Fox ahead of Holmberg at right-back, Catley ahead of Wubben-Moy at left centre-back and Batlle ahead of Hinds at left-back.

With Reid and De Almeida covering at centre-back, every position is doubled up in defence.

In the double pivot, Little and Stanway were selected ahead of Cooney-Cross, as expected, and, as previously mentioned, Reuteler did not even make the squad.

Caldentey, who played often in the double pivot or on the left wing, was used as a playmaker in her best position, where she can create and make a difference in the final third.

Caldentey was picked ahead of Maanum, while Russo can play there too.

Then, on the right wing, Smith was selected ahead of Kelly, while Baum was selected ahead of Foord.

It is really interesting that the two wingers selected were the two speedy and athletic ones, a profile Slegers mentioned in pre-season as a topic around recruitment.

Up top, Russo is the overall number one choice for obvious reasons, while we know Blackstenius is a very good alternative with her profile, and they also work very well together in a 4-4-2.

Then Cerci, and later Agyemang, can be used as substitutes for those two players, as well as Smith as a back-up.

Four out of the five substitutions were attacking players: Kelly, Foord, Blackstenius and Maanum. We can actually say Holmberg is just as much a forward as a full-back with her ability.

Obviously, substitutions depend on the game state, but they also tell a story themselves.

The League table is an interesting story, with Liverpool top of the League ahead of Manchester City. In third place are Tottenham, with London City Lionesses in fourth ahead of Arsenal.

Crystal Palace also have three points, but their result is under review as they used four substitution windows against Everton, when FIFA rules allow only three.

At the bottom, Charlton are in the lone relegation place, behind West Ham, Birmingham City, Everton and Manchester United, all with nil points.

Those teams need a win next week before being dragged into the negative spiral of an early relegation battle.

Arsenal’s next game is Crystal Palace at home on Sunday, 13 September, kick-off at 2.45pm.

So, we will have another week of training to see how the team can evolve and who is selected before rotation starts coming in after the United game, as two Champions League games will be sandwiched between League games against United, Chelsea and City, right up to the international break for the FIFA Women’s World Cup play-offs.

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