What should be Arsenal Women’s attacking line-up against Everton this weekend? | OneFootball

Arsenal Women on the attacking front as we go into the WSL this weekend By Michelle

Jonas Eidevall was very blessed at the start of this season, with a profusion of riches at his disposal.  Early season continued well with Arsenal achieving a run of consecutive wins, reaching the no.1 position in the WSL table.  Indeed Jonas had a balancing act on his hands in terms of players jostling to be in his starting XI.  None more so than the battle between Vivianne Miedema and Frida Maanum for the no.10 role.

Stina Blackstenius is no doubt the No 9, Foord and Beth Mead were both in sensational form down either wing with Lia Walti and Kim Little making up that midfield three with either Maanum or Miedema, although in different positions.  Kim Little will be out of action with a knee injury until the New Year and Beth Mead is sadly out with a longer term ACL injury.

So where to use Maanum & Miedema?  And also we mustn’t forget about Lina Hurting, Jordan Nobbs and Mana Iwabuchi who can also play in those attacking roles.  Jonas has been regularly starting Jordan Nobbs as captain in midfield (in place of injured Kim).  Lina Hurtig too has been out of action with injury in recent weeks.  And Mana Iwabuchi struggles recently to get off the bench under Jonas’ command.

Jen Beattie came off the bench to replace Nobbs against Juventus when Arsenal secured a 1-1 draw in Turin, in their latest Champions League match last week with Jonas Eidevall praising her performance I think it’s important as we get in Beattie from the bench: she provides us with a lot of calm, she provides a lot of leadership on the pitch, great decision-making with the ball. That’s how you can often change the game in the second half – with substitutions. I think we used that well today. I’m very happy for Jen and she played a massive part in us coming back in this game.

How do Arsenal translate all of this into silverware this season? They have not won a trophy since the 2018/19 season when they were crowned WSL champions under Joe Montemurro. For a club of this calibre with the players at their disposal, there are surely no excuses as to why they cannot win a trophy this season.

Consistency is the key and they must maintain that over the coming months as they hopefully reach the latter stages of many competitions, not least of all the WSL and WCL.

Jonas can’t use a lot of rotation to keep Arsenal competitive at the moment (currently being down to a choice of only 15 first team players.  While Maanum and Miedema may have been the focal point a number of weeks ago, Jonas choices have been squeezed somewhat since then..

With the choices Jonas has (notwithstanding any new Team News on current injuries) this is the attacking team we’d put on the pitch this weekend:

Blackstenius

Miedema & Foord

Maanum, Walti, Nobbs (C)

We would also predict, being a big fan of the calming influence, leadership on the pitch and great decision-making with the ball that Beattie can provide, that she will come out to play, but more likely in the second half.

What are your thoughts on my attacking line up?

Michelle Maxwell

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