When Arsenal were trailing Manchester United in a crunch WSL fixture last Saturday with eight minutes remaining, the prospect of salvaging anything from the game looked remote.
The Gunners were down to ten players and chasing a goal against a resolute United side. That was until Vivianne Miedema played surely the pass of the season from deep inside her own half to put Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius through on goal.
"15 minutes before that I said Stina, keep making that run because I will play that."@VivianneMiedema doing Vivianne Miedema things 😎#BarclaysFAWSL @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/LecOk4ZzXO
— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) February 7, 2022
The clip of the pass went viral on social media and Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall admitted that, at the time, he was so consumed by the scoring opportunity, that he did not fully appreciate the beauty of the pass.
“It was a great pass but, to be honest, at the time I was really focused on the fact that I hoped we would score! It was a piece of art but the important thing was to score.
“Right at that second I was just thinking, ‘let’s score, let’s score, let’s score.’ We needed that, you know you’re not going to create many chances when you are down to ten players.
“It all came together as a really nice piece of art and that’s what makes football so special. That pass went all over the world and moments like that connect people.”
Post-match, Miedema seemed very positive about the prospect of linking up with Blackstenius more often, with Miedema in a more withdrawn role. “I hope we can see it again on Friday” Miedema told Sky Sports. Arseblog News tried to press Jonas on whether we would see Miedema and Blackstenius start a game together soon.
🗣 "I don't really care what the rest think."
Arsenal's Vivianne Miedema discusses her recent form and says she has a different role this year but believes she always gives her best 👊🔴 pic.twitter.com/OGfses7n6g
— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) February 5, 2022
“It’s almost like you’re trying to get me to tell you how we will line up against Chelsea, right?” Eidevall laughed. “Like I said when we brought Stina in, we have the potential to play Viv and Stina together and that can be a strong connection. I also think they can play as two 9s, that gives me good decisions and tools for Friday.”
“Sounds” like two 9s Friday….Vivstina. Let’s go for them👊
I think there’s a strong argument to play them both, whether it’s as two 9s or with Viv playing as a 10. We’ve got to give Chelsea something to think about and not be intimidated. Manchester City played decently enough on the weekend but didn’t quite show the same hunger as Chelsea in my opinion. A good example was when Hemp played a very dangerous ball into the Chelsea box and there wasn’t a single City player anywhere near it. On an unrelated note, does anyone else think that Chelsea’s players have a fitness advantage over all the other teams… Read more »
Chelsea players are just rough, stronger and definitely get away with it. especially Cuthbert & Carter, Erin also has a never die attitude and is willing to push against opponents(Most teams press away from the ball handler trying to cut off space, she presses the ball handler and forces her to panic and give an unintended pass). This is the same with Man United of recent, Strong tackles, rough plays, pushing and pulling players around. This is very effective against teams like Arsenal and Man City who would rather play nice football and be elegant and Soft – true to… Read more »
Yea, if Miedema has more yellow cards than Cuthbert then you know the refs are crap. My reaction to this idea of making Miedema a 10 is this: First, you’ve moved the best finisher in the women’s game away from the goal, so it’s hard to view that as a positive; and second, it would mostly seem to mean that you don’t have a good 10 on the team now. And IMO, I don’t think Arsenal gets enough out of it midfield–a little soft in the back of the group and not enough attacking creative/verve up front. That said, we’ll… Read more »
I take your point about playing Miedema as a 10 being odd given the clinical finisher that she is, but I think Jonas needs something to galvanise the team. I’ve actually been very impressed by the resilience they’ve shown in their last 3 WSL matches, but it’s hard to see them grinding out the title. If Miedema assisting and Blackstenius scoring is what sparks them and gets them over the line in the title race then I’ll gladly take it (even if it’s just a temporary thing). Interestingly, Miedema has said that she’d play herself as a 10 and she… Read more »
So, you are saying that you don’t like Miedema as a 10….
What a player!
I’ve watched that pass like 5 times. Pure class.
Can we take a minute to laugh at Sp*rs for another bottling spree
Amen
This is a news item on Arsenal women and the beauty of an assist by one of the best female ballers. There are hardly enough people commenting on the women’s news blog, let’s show our appreciation for the women team and news blog writer for the arsenak women by keeping comments on point.
What an amazing pass!!! Fucking awesome. I’ve watched it 10 times now, looks more amazing every time!!
Anyone have a video link to see this pass that works in the US? Appreciate it!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1489977634155024388
works in Colorado
Here you go, it was a caviar as Thierry used to say:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZpP2YGJzbz/