Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall says that the signing of Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius is not linked to the future of Vivianne Miedema. Miedema’s contract expires at the end of the season and the Dutch striker has still not decided whether to sign a fresh deal with Arsenal or to move on.
Eidevall says that 25-year-old Blackstenius, signed from Hacken in Sweden, is not a replacement for Miedema ahead of time and he envisages a scenario where the players can play together. Asked about that by Arseblog News on Friday afternoon, Eidevall said,
“I hope so, yes. That’s definitely one of the scenarios that I am seeing but against some opposition, maybe even a game like Birmingham last week when space gets limited in the initial phases of possession, it could be a good idea to have a player like Viv deeper maybe playing as a 10 to help us to create.
“But when we created against Birmingham on Sunday, we had nobody in the box to finish the attack so that’s definitely something I am seeing as a possibility but also they can play as 9s.
“For me, the arrival of Stina has nothing to do with Viv’s future. To sign Stina and add her to the squad is the right way to go in any of the scenarios, if Viv stays, which we hope she will, or if she is not staying then we will need to go and find a replacement for her and for that type of player too.
“I am looking at both scenarios where they can play together or where they can play at different times and that depends a lot on how we set up the team and also with the games, the minutes and the player load and how we structure that.”
Arseblog News also asked about Blackstenius’ qualities as a player, highlighting her ability to press from the front as one of them. ”
“It is a big quality of hers, I also think a standout for Stina is, especially when you see her in the national team, is her ability to score goals in the really, really big games. That is down to a lot of factors but I think the main factor is that she’s an excellent player running in behind when there is space.
“If you look, for example, at the Barcelona games, I think we missed that quality in the squad to punish teams who play with a high defending line. So she can help us with that as well.”
I guess signing a player of Blackstenius’ quality was inevitably going to lead to speculation about Miedema’s future, but who’s to say they couldn’t become Arsenal’s answer to ‘Kerrby’? Here’s hoping!
‘Stinema’, perhaps? I may be getting ahead of myself here with excitement!
Blackstenema?
Eidevall is daft, frankly. He seems to want to make Miedema a 10–and, first, while Viv is good with the ball and a talented passer, she’s not a 10, not really; and 2nd, why would a coach want to make the most clinical finisher in women’s soccer and a player who is excellent in the box and very likely to break the sport’s all-time goal-scoring record, and perhaps with ease, and who has led the WSL in goals twice…a 10? It makes no sense. Fran Kirby is an ideal 10. Van de Donk is a 10. Miedema is a 9.… Read more »
Well said. But if Miedema is going to be convinced to stay Jonas is going to have to figure out how to play both of them in the team. And that means a change in formation which he’s so far not seemed capable of.
Very, very good points. I was at the cup final and the Emirates and every thing you say is true 😐
You would like to think that doing so well this season, being top of the league, in the CL and still adding further world-class players would show Viv how much ambition we have now and therefore she would want to stay!
I think it’s a smart signing cos it works either way. It either helps convince Viv and we have two top class 9s with some flex to play them together, or else if Viv does go, we have already gone some way to replacing her and without the direct pressure of Blackstenius arriving and Viv leaving in the same window.
Is Blackstenius cup-tied for the champions league?
According to Articel 47.01 in the Regulations of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, she may not be cup-tied!
”47.01. As of the quarter-finals, a club may register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the current competition. Such registration must be completed by 17 March 2022 (24.00CET) at the latest. This deadline cannot be extended.”
Agreed, amazing signing either way, but oh how I hope this will be part of what convinces Viv to stay.
Why would signing someone who plays Viv’s position convince Viv to stay, especially given what we’ve seen from the team recently? I would suggest this signing will do the opposite.
It is called psychology, mate! Viv is testing the club’s ambition. Relying on her to play in all games and score all of the necessary goals is not demonstrating ambition. Bringing in someone who is of a similar class to help out and spread the load indicates we want to win. No one disagrees that we need to sort out the defence and get the mid-field back to how it was earlier in the season but if a player of the quality of Blackstenius comes along on a free transfer saying she wants to play in England you cannot allow… Read more »
I think your theory is silly. Nobody gets in a huff because another team signs a good player–it happens all the time. There are a lot of good players around, and they sign with different teams: That’s how pro sports works. Could Blackstenius have helped Arsenal beat Barca in either of those CL game–or Chelsea last game? No, as the forwards hardly saw the ball. I’m not sure that asking the game’s best goal-scorer to switch positions is “showing ambition,” because that’s the only way I can see the two of them on the field at the same time–or else… Read more »
Please never become the Arsenal Women’s Team Manager!
What would be smart is to figure out why the back four and the midfield are playing so badly. The centerback play has been a major issue, the outside backs are quite overrated and the midfield is not helping to create chances. Bringing in another (very good) 9 when you’ve already got arguably the best 9 in the game and have obvious problems elsewhere in the squad is…a bit weird.
Why would the classiest target center-forward in the game want to stay when the team has looked terribly for weeks and, now, the coach wants to make her a 10?
looked ‘terrible’, not ‘terribly”….
I think that’s exactly the ambition from the club that viv wants to see. To be better and never settle. There have been so long the team depends on viv’s performance in offence. There have been no one who can really challenge her position as an FW or has someone share her duties as a 9. Think bringing in competitions and more formations will be good to the performance of both the team and viv. Hopefully.
Testing. I’ve posted twice, got the message “waiting for approval”, and then my message disappeared.
Success! Very brief recap: a front line of Beth, Keats, Stina, Viv, Caitlin and Tobin looks somewhat overloaded! Some departures in the not-to-distant future?
I’d like to know more about Rafaelle. YouTube clips look pretty good but can’t really judge her pace. My guess is that she’s a definite improvement on our non-Leah CBs. Left-footed which is a plus. Anyone got any more info?
I think it’s important for teams to have larger squad these days for covid and cup competitions. Ofc it’s most ideal to have all players to be healthy and fit for the entire season but it’s nearly impossible. We can see how thin our squad was for the game last week. We basically didn’t have any attackers on the bench due to covid / asian cup and injuries. Things can change rapidly these days so it’s important to ensure we are ready for any players’ absence. Also, it’s normal for top teams to have two top strikers in the team… Read more »
Happens to me sometimes. It seems if I take too long to type the message or refer to another website while completing the post I get the “approval” message and the post is not visible until “approved” presumably by a moderator despite being a regular contributor as you are and not writing anything contentious.
Winning multiple trophies would be the best way to convince Miedema to stay. Adding quality players to the squad helps this effort.
Exactly right!
even you sign ada hegerberd, if your cm maanum and your cb jen beattie. it doesnt help anything. i dont wanna see maanum in midfield anymore and jen beattie as cb.
I just hope its a good fit for Viv and encourages her to stay with us 🤞