Designed to project an image of unity, togetherness and collective purpose at the Emirates, the post-match huddle suggested it was completely none of the above. Arsenal’s squad stood in a circle in apparent shell shock. Some of the older players avoided looking each other in the eye. The season is not yet two months old and Arsenal are out of the championship race, a painfully familiar acceptance, increasing pressure on Renee Slegers.
“Arsenal” has had its worst start in the Women’s Super League. They are now five games without a win since beating Brighton on the opening weekend, adding to the club’s longest winless streak in the league. There was resentment at the Emirates after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with newly promoted Birmingham left the Gunners eighth in the table, already 12 points behind leaders Manchester City.
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It is approaching eight years since Arsenal’s last title win, a lackluster performance at odds with the club’s historic success and at the forefront of the game’s development. They have finished second in the last two seasons, but have paid the price for dropping too many points in the opening weeks without causing any real trouble. Two years ago, former boss Jonas Eidevall left just four league games into the season, which saw the Gunners five points behind leaders Manchester City at that stage. As the wheels fall off and supporters turn, many of the problems facing the Swedes – inconsistency, struggles in front of goal and defensive weakness – are now glaringly apparent.
Renee Slegers led Arsenal to Champions League but two seasons marred by slow starts (PA)
Still, Slegers is under pressure less than 18 months after leading Arsenal to the top flight, a former Eideval assistant who led the club to a Champions League triumph over dominant Barcelona in his interim charge. Having set the standard off the pitch, with Arsenal’s average attendance at the Emirates standings, England’s highest for men and women, they have stood the next steps. The Dutchwoman was right to support Arsenal Slegers after winning the Champions League at the age of 36. But if they had to rely on their own eyes – observing the tactical excellence of their Champions League win and the reaction of their players during an unexpected run – the same performance assessment might now conclude that Arsenal need new ideas.
Perhaps this is unfair to Slegers. In the WSL this season, Arsenal have scored just 5 goals from 121 shots, with just 14 percent of their shots on target going through the net. But while they are guilty of poor finishing, the Slegers team also continue to struggle against the lower blocks. Not only did Arsenal lose against what should have been their closest rivals, champions Manchester City and rivals Chelsea at the Etihad and Stamford Bridge, but Crystal Palace, Manchester United and Birmingham found it too easy at the Emirates, meeting possession and shots but then coming away with a point. Slegers and his coaching staff took a full international break to prepare for the trip to Birmingham, but then couldn’t find a way to break them.
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Arsenal’s return to where they were two years ago has drawn others into the line of questioning. If the Champions League winner was to act as a springboard, their recruitment, led by director of women’s football Clare Wheatley, was to play an important role. Arsenal have deliberately tried to lower the average age of their first team squad. The signings of 22-year-old forward Olivia Smith, 20-year-old right-back Smila Holmberg and 19-year-old winger Lisa Baum in successive windows contrasted with the departures of long-serving Katie McCabe, Beth Mead and Lia Waltin after they all turned 30. Selina Cerci, Geraldine Reuteler, Ona Batlle and Elise De Almeida, but not all together yet.
Arsenal have the highest attendances in the WSL but have failed to win any of their three home games this season (Getty)
Despite the departures of McCabe and Mead last summer and a focus on reducing the age of the first team, there should still be no lack of leadership on the pitch in a group that still includes Kim Little, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Steph Catley and Alessia Russo. But the disconnect, so palpable after Saturday’s draw with Birmingham, added to Arsenal’s poor early-season performance, suggests patience is wearing thin and frustration is mounting.
Defeat at Tottenham will leave the Gunners seven points behind their neighbors in Saturday’s North London derby, with Arsenal having lost 11 of their previous 13 meetings. Such a position would be embarrassing enough, considering how far away they would be from the current top three of Manchester City, Chelsea and the London City Lionesses.
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This was not the ambition Arsenal wanted to project as they basked in the glow of the Champions League in Lisbon 16 months ago. The Slegers could still turn the ship around and salvage the season by reaching the FA Cup final or another European promotion, but they will regret another wasted WSL campaign. As it is, the club is running out of time to hold on to the idea that they need to do much, much more.