Arsenal Women found themselves at a crossroads in the crosswinds bellowing through East London on Sunday, and at the centre of the intersection was Vivianne Miedema.
As the gusts blew through Victoria Road while West Ham Women walked away 2-1 winners against Arsenal, the Gunners fell to third place in the Women’s Super League standings.
After scoring her first goal since 2022 last weekend, Miedema and her teammates missed multiple golden opportunities against the Hammers. The Gunners in general left the match frustrated, unable to make better use of the majority of the possession and chances against West Ham’s low block. Now the Club’s season hangs in the balance.
No WSL team has ever won the title after losing three matches, so Arsenal will need to make history if they still want to claim their third WSL title, but they’ll also need one of their most talented players back to her best as soon as possible.
It’s certainly not fair to blame Arsenal’s lack of efficiency in front of goal on a player who’s just working their way back from a serious knee injury, but the underlying statistics highlight that what Arsenal is missing this season is exactly what a healthy and productive Miedema can provide.
As of right now, Arsenal’s problems aren’t coming from the top of the table. The Gunners have already played Chelsea and Manchester City this season, beating them by a combined score of 6-2.
The issues instead come to a head against the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and now West Ham, who have stifled the North London side with resolute defending. Surrendering possession to Arsenal, and challenging them to bang down the door.
Arsenal dominated in possession metrics and the amount of shots they took in all three of their losses, but their only goal came in their loss on Sunday, the other two being 1-0 defeats. In those three games, Arsenal took 72 shots, with only 16 of them being on target, resulting in just that one goal.
This helps pinpoint arguably the largest issue with Arsenal. The squad is dizzyingly talented with a group of players that should go toe-to-toe with any club team in the world. However, besides inconsistency in the goalkeeping department, Arsenal’s inefficiency in front of goal is what’s let them down the wrong path this season.
Midfielder Lia Wälti explained it best post-game after the loss to West Ham.
“It’s one of these games where you can’t really see where the spaces are,” Wälti said. “I think in the first half we created quick counter-attacks when we won the ball in our half so I think in these moments we just need to be more clinical in front of the goal. I think in the second half, we need to train how to play against low blocks because a lot of teams play really low and it’s not easy to score goals against those opponents.”
Arsenal as a team are second in shots in the league (253), and fifth in shots on target (75), but they sit dead last in shots on target percentage (29%). They’re also one of only four Clubs in the WSL so far this season to be underperforming their xG (-1.5). They need an efficient goalscorer in the worst way, and luckily for them they have arguably one of the best in the world in Miedema.
The last time Arsenal won the title in 2018-19, Miedema was the league’s top goalscorer with 22 goals, and had an astonishing 50% shot on target percentage. The following year Arsenal didn’t win the title but the Dutch international once again led the league in goals with 16 on a 46% shot on target percentage.
When healthy and firing on all cylinders, there’s few, if any, better players than Miedema at getting shots on goal. In limited action so far this season as she’s returning from injury, Arsenal’s No. 11 has only registered 20% of her shots on target, so far, with her one goal (a stunner as well) coming last week against Liverpool. Everyone knows the talent and ability is there, it’s just now up to how soon can she regain that form, and will it be in time to rescue Arsenal’s season?
The Gunners take on fourth placed Manchester United next in the WSL, while Chelsea and Manchester City square off against each other for top spot in the league. As frustrating of a loss to West Ham as it was for the Gunners, the title challenge isn’t necessarily over with games against City and Chelsea still ahead and plenty of time for the two leaders to drop points elsewhere.
To weather this storm and get back on the right path, being more efficient in front of goal would go a long way for Arsenal. The Gunners might not be able to solve their issue in time to win the title but if they do, a healthy Vivianne Miedema will likely be the answer.
(Images from IMAGO)
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