Arsenal Women have little margin for error after defeat at Chelsea left their title challenge under early pressure, with a difficult week now ahead.
Arsenal were defeated 1-0 away to Chelsea, realistically ending their title hopes after matchday four, unless they win at Manchester City next Sunday and manage to close the gap, which currently stands at seven points.
Arsenal played well for the first 30 minutes, having the majority of the possession and hitting the woodwork twice through Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey.
They were more or less controlling the game and preventing Chelsea from developing their attacking gameplan.
Had Arsenal scored first, we would have seen a different game develop.
Then disaster struck.
A slip at the back, Chelsea intercepted the ball high, Keira Walsh‘s shot was parried by Anneke Borbe, and Thompson reacted to the rebound while the Arsenal defence was nowhere near her.
Conceding avoidable goals from possession is becoming a problem.
From there, it went downhill.
Confidence drained and the second half was poor. The substitutions did not work either, and the end of the game, with the all-out 3-2-5 system, was simply chaotic.
Opta have the numbers that show where one of the problems lies:
The end product is not there.
I also think the final ball is lacking. The problem is really multi-layered.
Is the game model working? Not at the moment. Changes need to happen, tweak it slightly if needed.
Does the coaching staff pick the best tactics, system and players? It does not look like they do.
Are the players performing well individually and as a team? No.
At some point, undroppable players need to be replaced in the starting XI. There are many replacement options available.
Loyalty to players is a good thing, until it becomes a problem.
Is the squad too big? If no one is injured, the squad size is 27. Right now, four players are injured, so on Champions League nights all the available players are on the team sheet.
For WSL games, however, three players are left out and, with injured players returning, more will be left disappointed.
So far, Taylor Hinds has been left out three times, Frida Maanum twice, Selina Cerci twice, Géraldine Reuteler twice, Elisa de Almeida once and Isabella Damm four times.
Managing players who train all week and are then left out is key to the team’s success, alongside what is happening on the pitch.
Next is Paris FC away in the Champions League. There is only one training session to set the team up, with recovery happening today.
Luckily, Arsenal played the French team in pre-season, so analysis and preparation are simplified, with a low block expected and fast breaks, as seen in the Barcelona v Paris FC game.
Then, it will be time for a must-win game away to Manchester City next Sunday.
Arsenal will have an extra day of rest, as City play Real Madrid at home on Thursday.
City have scored 12 goals in the league so far and conceded four. You would expect the coaching staff to try to outscore City rather than come away with a narrow win and a clean sheet.
The feeling after the weekend’s performance is doom and gloom among supporters, but two wins this week could turn things around.
Two defeats, though, and serious questions would need to be asked.
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