Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal Women: Russo Rescues Us Again, But Are We Really Improving?

Arsenal have won at Anfield; we've picked up 3 points that we desperately needed, and Alessia Russo has once again demonstrated why she's one of the best footballers in the country.

I want to start by saying that I'm delighted we've won, because after everything we've been through over the last few weeks, the last thing any of us needed was another disappointing result to spend the next few days worrying about. We've beaten Liverpool away from home, and that deserves celebrating.

But there's a difference between being pleased with a result and being satisfied with a performance, and after watching what happened at Anfield yesterday, I'm not convinced we've made the kind of progress some people might want to believe.

We started well, scored a lovely early goal and had opportunities to make life considerably easier for ourselves, but Liverpool were able to get back into the game far too easily; they had a goal disallowed in circumstances that were controversial to say the least, and by the closing stages we were hanging on against a team that's had a really difficult start to the season.

What concerns me is that we've seen this before. We had similar conversations after Tottenham, when everyone was understandably relieved to win the North London Derby, and then Aston Villa came along to remind us that winning a couple of games doesn't automatically mean the underlying problems have disappeared. I'm not going to spend another article going through every one of those problems, because you've heard my concerns and I'm sure you're getting as tired of reading them as I am of discussing them, but when the same defensive vulnerabilities appear against different opponents, we can't simply ignore them because Alessia Russo has scored another couple of goals.

And speaking of Alessia, what on earth would we be doing without her right now? Two beautifully taken goals yesterday, another outstanding contribution, and once again she's the player who's made the difference between Arsenal winning and dropping points. She deserves huge credit for that, and so do Emily Fox and Lisa Baum for the deliveries that created those goals, but I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable with how dependent we seem to be on Alessia producing something special every time we need a result.

Now, there were positive things. We showed character, we fought to protect our lead, and there were some good individual performances that I'll properly recognise. I'm not going to sit here pretending Arsenal were terrible simply because I disagree with some of Renée's decisions, and I certainly don't want to take anything away from players who've worked hard to secure an important away victory.

But I'm also not going to tell you everything is wonderful because we've won 2-1, especially when we've got Barcelona away on Thursday and London City Lionesses at the Emirates next Sunday. Those are two very different opponents, but both will present challenges that Arsenal need to be properly prepared for, and the football we've been playing recently hasn't given me much confidence that we're ready.

I'm delighted we've got the 3 points.

I just don't want us confusing winning a game with solving our problems.

Anfield: What The Result Doesn't Tell Us

Let's start with the opening stages, because Arsenal actually began the game pretty well. We got in front early through Alessia Russo, who finished beautifully after Emily Fox delivered the ball into the penalty area, and for a few minutes I hoped we might finally get the sort of performance we'd been waiting for. An early goal away from home, an opponent struggling for form, and an opportunity to take control of the game without spending the afternoon chasing another result. After everything that's happened recently, that was exactly the start I wanted to see.

But within minutes, Liverpool were level, and the manner of their goal was concerning because Beata Olsson ran straight through the middle of our defence, with Leah Williamson and Steph Catley leaving an enormous amount of space between them. And I know we've talked about Arsenal's defensive positioning before, but when you watch that goal, it's difficult to understand how a team with two such experienced international defenders can allow an opposition forward that much room to attack. The ball through was good, Olsson took her chance well, and Liverpool deserve credit for that, but Arsenal made it far too easy for her to get into the position in the first place.

And something else about that moment bothered me, because Renée had spoken during the week about the work Arsenal had been doing on their pressing and defensive organisation, particularly after what happened against Aston Villa. She'd explained that the coaching staff had identified the situations where our press wasn't functioning properly and how that could leave us vulnerable, so naturally I was hoping we'd see some improvement against Liverpool. Instead, we're watching an opposition player run into acres of space between our centre-backs, and I'm left wondering how much of that work translates into what the players do during games.

Then came Liverpool's disallowed goal, and I went back and watched that sequence again because the more I looked, the less convinced I became that the officials got it right. Jenna Clark put the ball into the net following a corner, but the flag went up for offside against Vivien Endemann, who was judged to have interfered with Misa Rodríguez.

Now, having watched the replay, what stands out to me is that Steph Catley appears to make the final touch before Clark scores. If Steph deliberately played that ball, rather than simply deflecting it, that becomes relevant to the offside decision. There's also the question of whether Endemann interfered with Misa in a way that should have resulted in an offence, and from what I could see, I'm not convinced she did. But I'm not going to sit here claiming I've got a better view of every angle than the officials, because I haven't, and there are different interpretations of what happened.

What I will say is that Liverpool had every reason to feel hard done by, and Arsenal were fortunate that the decision went our way. Had that goal stood, we'd have been 2-1 down before half-time, and given the difficulties we've had when chasing games this season, that could have made the afternoon considerably more complicated.

And that's the important point for me. We can't look at the final score and ignore the situations that might easily have produced a completely different result, because Liverpool weren't some outstanding team operating at the very top of their game yesterday. They came into this fixture after some really disappointing results, and yet they caused our defence serious problems.

There were other warnings too, including Natalia Ramos's free kick that Misa tipped brilliantly onto the crossbar, and I was relieved to see our goalkeeper deal with it because it was a very good effort. And while Arsenal had opportunities at the other end, particularly through Russo, there was never a stage when I felt we had complete control of the game, despite being ahead.

And those final 15 minutes were particularly uncomfortable, because Liverpool were pushing forward, getting players into dangerous areas and forcing Arsenal to defend situations that we simply weren't handling convincingly. There were moments when I was expecting them to score, and Cornelia Kapocs had an opportunity late on that could easily have changed the result. We managed to hang on, thank heavens, but that doesn't mean the defending was good enough.

I'm not expecting Arsenal to go through every game without conceding a chance, because football doesn't work like that, and even the best teams will have periods when they're under pressure. But there's a difference between an opponent producing something exceptional that you can't prevent and your own defensive organisation repeatedly giving them opportunities they shouldn't be getting.

And that's where my concern lies. Our defensive structure doesn't convince me at the moment. We seem vulnerable when teams break through the initial press; we leave spaces opponents can exploit, and when we come under sustained pressure, there are too many occasions when we don't look particularly secure.

Liverpool didn't need to dominate possession or create chance after chance to make life difficult for us. They simply needed to recognise the moments when Arsenal were vulnerable, and they did that often enough to leave us hanging on at the end.

So yes, we won, and I'm very pleased we did. But if we're going to assess where this team really is, rather than where we'd like it to be, we have to acknowledge that we were fortunate to leave Anfield with all 3 points.

And fortunately for Arsenal, while the defence was giving me plenty to worry about, Alessia Russo was doing what Alessia Russo seems to do every week at the moment.

She was making the difference.

How Much Longer Can Alessia Russo Carry This Team?

I want to give Alessia Russo the recognition she deserves, because whatever concerns I've got about Arsenal's performances, watching her play football at the moment is an absolute pleasure. She's scored 7 goals in her last 4 appearances; she's producing important moments when we desperately need them, and yesterday she was the difference between coming away from Anfield with a victory and dropping more points. And I'm not simply talking about the goals, because there's so much more to her game than putting the ball in the net. Her movement, intelligence, willingness to work for the team, and ability to bring other players into an attack are all outstanding qualities, and I find myself wondering where we'd be in the league without her contributions.

Her first goal was a lovely finish, and Emily Fox deserves enormous credit for the delivery because she recognised the opportunity and put the ball into an area where Alessia could attack it. Fox has been excellent recently, and considering how many different positions she's been asked to play, her consistency has been remarkable. Then came Alessia's second goal, from Lisa Baum's cross, and again she showed that wonderful ability to read where the ball was going, get herself into position, and finish the chance. Two excellent goals, two very good deliveries and three enormously important points.

And before anyone asks, yes, I'm going to mention Alessia's position, but not because I want to spend another 20 minutes having the same argument we've been having for weeks. The interesting thing about yesterday was that Renée eventually changed the attacking setup, moving Alessia forward and Olivia Smith to the right after the second-half substitutions. That's an adjustment I've been advocating for some time, so I was pleased to see it, although Alessia had already scored both of her goals by that point, and it's important we acknowledge that.

I've never argued that Alessia is incapable of scoring from the 10, and anyone who's listened to this podcast knows that. The question has always been whether the team benefits more from having her as our central striker, particularly when we've got players whose qualities might be better suited to operating in the spaces around her. And while yesterday's goals don't settle that debate either way, I remain concerned about how much we're relying on Alessia to compensate for what isn't working elsewhere.

What happens when she has an afternoon where the chances don't fall for her, or she comes up against a defence that keeps her quiet? We can't build our expectations around Alessia scoring twice every time Arsenal need a result. She's an exceptional player, but she's also part of a team, and that team has to find more ways of creating goals rather than relying so heavily on one individual.

And that's why I don't want us confusing Alessia's form with Arsenal suddenly becoming a wonderfully effective attacking unit. Those are two different things. One player can be in outstanding form while the team around her still struggles to function consistently, and yesterday's performance gave me little reason to believe we've suddenly resolved those wider concerns.

But I also want to recognise Lisa Baum, because she was involved in the winning goal and deserves credit for that delivery. I've questioned some of Renée's decisions about how she's using the attacking players, but Lisa is an exciting young footballer with enormous potential, and when she gets an opportunity to run at defenders and deliver the ball into dangerous areas, she can cause real problems. It was lovely to see her contribute to such an important goal.

And the same goes for Fox. She's becoming one of the players I feel most comfortable seeing in the starting eleven, because she reads the game so intelligently and contributes so much whether we're defending or attacking. Her assist was excellent, and those are the moments that deserve recognition when we're discussing a game like this.

So there were positives. Absolutely there were. And Alessia deserves all the praise she's receiving.

I just wish we weren't having to ask her to rescue us quite so often.

What's Renée's Plan For The Rest Of The Squad?

There's another part of yesterday's game I want to discuss: how Renée is managing the players available to her, because we're now far enough into the season that we should have a clearer idea of how the squad fits together.

And this isn't about demanding that every player gets equal minutes or that someone should start simply because they arrived with a good reputation. Arsenal are competing at the highest level, players have to earn opportunities and the manager has to make difficult decisions. That's part of the job.

But there's a difference between rotating a squad to get the best out of the available players and having talented footballers who barely feature, even as the team struggles in areas where they could contribute.

Géraldine Reuteler was an unused substitute again yesterday, and I'm finding that increasingly difficult to understand from a football perspective. We've seen her start against Benfica, where she demonstrated some of the movement, awareness and technical ability that made her such an interesting signing, and we've seen her against Aston Villa, where she was taken off at half-time in a game where I didn't feel Arsenal were making particularly good use of the spaces she was finding.

Now she's back on the bench at Anfield without getting an opportunity to influence the game.

And I'm not suggesting Géraldine should be guaranteed a starting place, because nobody should be. Nor am I suggesting that her presence would automatically have solved the problems we experienced against Liverpool. But when you've recruited an established international footballer with her experience and quality, surely there's a plan for how you'll integrate her into the team and give her opportunities to show what she can offer.

What concerns me is that we're not seeing enough evidence of that plan on the pitch.

And I'd make the same point about squad management more generally, because if Arsenal are going to compete in the WSL and Champions League, we'll need contributions from far more than the same handful of players every week. We've brought people into this club because they have qualities we believe can help us, and the coaching staff's challenge is to create an environment where those qualities can be used effectively.

Renée sees the players in training; she knows things about their fitness and readiness that supporters don't, and I'm not pretending otherwise. But we can assess the opportunities players receive and the performances Arsenal produce, and it's reasonable to ask questions when those two things don't seem to fit together.

And there's something important about how we judge these decisions, because I'm not interested in deciding that a manager is right simply because we win or wrong simply because we lose. If Renée makes a change that works, she deserves credit. If she makes a decision that raises questions, we should be able to discuss it even when the result goes our way.

Yesterday, Arsenal won. Renée gets credit for that result, and her players deserve credit for finding a way to secure it.

But winning doesn't mean every decision was right, any more than losing means every decision was wrong.

And with the games we've got coming up, I want to see Arsenal making full use of the talent available rather than reaching a point where we're asking the same small group of players to solve every problem.

Which brings us to Thursday, because the next opponent is Barcelona, and that's going to tell us rather more about where this Arsenal team stands.

Barcelona & London City Lionesses: The Next Two Games Will Tell Us Plenty

There's no escaping the significance of what Arsenal have got coming up. Barcelona away on Thursday, followed by London City Lionesses on Sunday, and after watching us struggle defensively against Liverpool, I'm finding it hard to approach those fixtures with much confidence.

And I know that's not what anyone wants to hear after a victory, but look at the opportunities Liverpool created yesterday and then consider the quality of the opposition we're about to face. Barcelona have players who can identify and exploit space with frightening speed, and if we leave gaps between our defenders or let opponents run through the middle of the pitch, we'll give them opportunities that a team of Barcelona's quality could punish heavily.

That doesn't mean Arsenal can't compete. We've beaten Barcelona before, and this squad has enough talent to cause problems for anyone when we're playing well. But what we can't afford is to arrive at the Camp Nou believing that two goals from Alessia Russo and a victory at Anfield mean everything is suddenly working as it should.

And London City Lionesses shouldn't be treated as an easier afternoon simply because they don't have Barcelona's history or reputation. They've been competitive this season, they're putting together some good performances, and they've just beaten Birmingham City 4-1. They're an ambitious club with quality in their squad, and they won't be arriving at the Emirates to admire our players and politely hand over the points.

What I'd like to see over these next two games is evidence that Arsenal are becoming more difficult to play against. Not simply because we're keeping possession or creating lots of opportunities, but because we're defending with greater discipline, recognising danger earlier and making better decisions when opponents begin putting us under pressure.

And I want to see Renée using the squad intelligently, particularly with two very different challenges arriving so close together. Some players deserve opportunities, others have been carrying enormous workloads, and there's a balance to be found between keeping a settled team and making sure we're getting the best out of everyone available.

I hope Thursday is the game where we finally see all of that come together. I'd love nothing more than to be recording the next Trailblazers episode talking about an outstanding Arsenal performance against Barcelona, giving Renée credit for getting her decisions right and admitting that I was far too pessimistic after Liverpool.

Believe me, I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

But Arsenal need to give us a reason to believe the improvements Renée keeps talking about are becoming a reality, because right now we're still relying on moments of individual quality to get us through games where our overall performances haven't been convincing.