Why Vivianne Miedema's Arsenal exit helped Alessia Russo flourish | OneFootball

Arsenal were caught in the middle of controversy after the club decided against renewing Vivianne Miedema's contract last summer.

Since then, England striker Alessia Russo has reached new heights for the Gunners, and it isn't a coincidence.

Fans in north-London were rightfully disappointed in Arsenal's decision not to renew Miedema's expiring contract. The Dutch striker remains the club's top goal scorer of all time, playing a significant role in their league-winning campaign in the 2018/19 season.

At the time, Arsenal instead chose to draw up a new deal for Stina Blackstenius, who joined the club in January 2022. After the club made a desperate plea to sign Russo in January 2023, Manchester United would ultimately have to hand over the England forward for zero compensation just months later.

With Miedema waiting in the wings amidst her ACL recovery, this left Arsenal with three top-shelf number nines heading into the new campaign.

Bidding farewell to Miedema was tough, but justified

Vivianne Miedema spent seven years at Arsenal / Richard Heathcote/GettyImages

After a record-breaking 2018/19 season that saw Miedema become the player with the most goals in a WSL season (22), fans across England were bearing witness to the greatest striker to play the domestic game.

Fast forward to 2024, and fans were rightfully disgruntled when the club decided against renewing Miedema's her contract.

Reports had suggested that former head coach Jonas Eidevall was the main perpetrator in the decision to move on Miedema, when it became abundantly clear that the pair didn't get along. Eidevall's clear ambition to secure Russo in 2023 meant that he was prepared to take the club in a different direction, with a brand new striker.

To no fault of Miedema's own, her return from the dreaded ACL injury was far from smooth. The 28-year-old had to undergo corrective surgery on her knee not long after making her comeback, and the side effects of her recovery are still affecting her to this day. She underwent another surgery on her knee in the latter stages of 2024, and has made just five appearances for Man City as a result.

As for Russo, the player is as match-fit as they come. Apart from a gruelling hamstring injury sustained in her very first WSL season, Russo has walked through her professional career virtually unscathed. The 25-year-old has pulled up unfit in just one game during her Arsenal career, when she played through illness in last season's FA League Cup Final triumph over Chelsea.

Sometimes, a club must hedge their bets on the player they deem to be the least injury prone, and in this case, that was always going to be Russo.

Management a key factor in Russo's resurgence

Jonas Eidevall resigned from Arsenal last October / Richard Heathcote/GettyImages

After all, it would be an ignorant conclusion to deem Miedema as the scapegoat for Russo's form. At the start of the 2024/25 season, the England striker failed to score in the first eight competitive fixtures of the campaign. This was until the departure of Eidevall, and after that, Russo took flight.

Since interim head coach Renee Slegers took charge in north-London, Russo has scored 10 goals in 12 competitive fixtures. Despite not scoring her first WSL goal until gameweek six, Russo is now tied-second in the golden boot race.

This isn't just a matter of a player getting along with the person in charge, but a clear tactical shift that has occurred in the post-Eidevall era. The ex-Gunners boss never seemed to know who his preferred number nine was, switching between starting Russo or Blackstenius depending on the opposition. His tactics got the better of him, with neither player able to flourish in the start-stop system he was employing.

Since Slegers took post, clarity has been provided. Russo has started every game since Eidevall departed, and Blackstenius has usually been deployed as a super-sub. The England striker has become a versatile cog in the Arsenal machine, usually dropping into the midfield when the Swede enters the game.

As far as the stats are concerned, this has worked. Russo and Blackstenius each had zero goals in the 2024/25 campaign across eleven competitive matches. Since Eidevall's departure, the pair have found the back of the net 13 times.

So why? Slegers's simplification of each player's role has allowed them to thrive. A number nine relies on consistency, it is the most confidence-based position on the pitch, so uncertainty surrounding your own role in the team will only compromise performance.

Russo now knows she starts, Blackstenius now knows her role is to make an impact off the bench. Consistency is allowing these ballers to play some of their best football in months.