Arsenal Women boss Jonas Eidevall says that getting Alessia Russo into more goal scoring positions is something he and his staff are working on together with the coaching staff.
Russo scored with a classic centre-forward’s header during Wednesday night’s 4-0 Conti Cup win over London City Lionesses. Eidevall told Arseblog News after the game that the goal demonstrated some of Russo’s qualities that he wants to tease out more.
On the night, he told Arseblog News, ‘We create a really good crossing situation and Lessi is great in that whole attack and has sixty seconds of perfect positioning as a 9. She only touches the ball once and that’s when she scores.’
At Eidevall’s pre Manchester United press conference, Arseblog News takes up the theme and asks whether he has discussed greater penalty box presence with the player.
‘Yes, we have, it’s a big part of her development to get her into goal scoring opportunities like that. That is the thing, most football players are very ambitious and want to help the team. What people generally do to help the team is to show for the ball but what you need in football, especially in the 9 position, is to create space for yourself and the team.
‘One of the best things to do to create space is to go away from where the ball is because it is really hard for the defender to see you and the ball at the same time and those are your two biggest cues as a defender. That is not only Alessia Russo, that is all 9s playing around the world.
‘But it’s a part where she is developing and that fourth goal was a really nice part of that.’ At United, Russo often had Ella Toone crashing into the penalty area when she came away from the penalty box. Sarina Wiegman also found success moving to a 352 system during last summer’s World Cup where Lauren Hemp played as a support striker.
Scoring with her first touch 🤩@alessiarusso7 heads home @FMaanum‘s cross!#ContiCup @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/q8p5TRfTzP
— Barclays Women’s Super League (@BarclaysWSL) February 15, 2024
Arseblog News asked Eidevall whether they have a developed sense of the support structure that needs to exist around Russo yet. ‘What we have, as a strength, but it requires a bit of a different mindset for us compared to some of our competitors, is that we have a lot of options for players who can play in offence who have various strengths.
‘That is really nice because we have a lot of tools in the box but we look at how do we use them and how we use them together and what relationships do we build?
‘You are onto something really interesting there in saying, ‘how do we play to a player’s strengths and what does that player need to have around her for that to happen? What situations are our preference to set up?
‘That is where you can see we are not a fully mature team in that yet. That is the process we are in and working with. It is an exciting process and I can see how we are developing but it means we haven’t reached the heights of our offensive play yet.’
Asked by the Evening Standard’s Simon Collings how to shift a striker’s mindset, Eidevall suggested the answers were likely to be more structural. ‘We work with the positioning and making sure you get into those situations more often, by having the right position and the right angle and making the most out of it.
‘The amount of touches you get as a 9 is, in most teams, the most limited amount of touches for all the outfield players. It is not about increasing those touches it is about increasing the quality of those touches.
‘That is generally what you need to work on with forward players. Everyone would like the ball a bit more, but the reality in football is that that area is going to be more restricted.
‘You will have fewer touches so it is about dealing with that reality, having fewer touches and not getting impatient and going towards the ball in the wrong moment but instead anticipating the right moment.’
Kelly Smith’s presence on the staff as an attacking coach was a part of the reason Russo opted to come to Arsenal and Eidevall says having her expertise on the coaching staff is crucial in this respect.
‘Hugely, from a mindset perspective and a knowledge perspective we are really blessed to have a player like Kelly in the building who can share her knowledge and expertise.’ The Athletic’s Art de Roche asks whether Arsenal needs to develop their more instinctive play in the final third.
‘I think it goes into that direction when you are playing into your strengths, it is more habitual and that means you don’t overthink situations, you trust the knowledge you have in your body. For us, it is about recognising how we get into those situations more often with these players.’
The final paragraph tells the whole story to me! At the moment our coach seems to worry so much about how we play to our strengths that the players’ instinct is being dumbed down. Again I say you have to trust the great players we have to deliver. You do not need to “overtrain” them to the point where they stop and think about every kick or movement!
Eidevall’s ideas about the his personnel and the 9 position are a joke and have been since he arrived. He’s had one of the game’s most prolific goal-scorers on his squad in Miedema, but she’s not good enough for him in the spot? As I say, a joke. First, he decided he needed Stina–she’ll be better. Good player, but not better, of course. Then, no, “she’s not good enough, I need Russo.” He’s got major itch for her, Arsenal spends a lot to get her—and now, it’s, well, Russo will be fine once she gets some more on-the-job training? She’s… Read more »
JE talks about getting more from Russo. Well it’s down to him and how he gets the team to play. He has taken one the top 2 strikers in league and made her average due to the plodding inaccurate uninventive football style
I think it’s more the case that he’s bought her because he sees a more prolific striker in there and he wants to develop her into a Kerr / Shaw level goal scorer. I honestly think it’s more accurate to say Russo worries too much about helping out in the centre circle and that’s made us less dangerous where it matters.
True Tim but surely this is much the same as the scenario we had with Viv playing upfront on her own. To get involved in the game she had to drop deep to pick up the ball leaving effectively nobody up front! Lessi is suffering the same fate due to this obsession with possession, possession, possession! Whoever is at No9 tell them to stay forward and instruct the others on how to find her. Lessi generally is a good finisher and she will score goals but not if she keeps running back to the centre circle just to get a… Read more »
I don’t think it’s the same because a) Viv had players like Nobbs and DvD running in behind and b) Jonas thinks Russo can be a more fixed CF and sees the potential in her to do that. That’s exactly what this press conference is about, that he wants her to run backwards less (not never, but less). This is a process most big strikers go through. Viv was a 10 who was reprurposed as a 9 by her country. It took time but it worked.
Miedema was a 10 when she was 17/18, I believe. She’s been a 9 for many years–since her days at Bayern Munich–and one of the most prolific scorers and best finishers in the game–and it didn’t take very long. If Eideall had Henry on his team he’d want to make him an outside back.
I also think maybe you’ve misread here, Jonas is not obsessed with possession, the players are a bit too focused on that and he’s trying to coach them to be less focused on this. I spoke to him about exactly this a few days ago too.
Hi Tim, it’s not what he says but it is a fan’s perception of what the players are being asked to do. The ball into feet all the time even if it means going backwards. What he does say is we need the odd risky pass but if we don’t have the overlapping runners as mentioned by Fun Gunner who does the pass go to? To me it just seems like the team are being told what to do but that is stiffling the inspiration of some world class players to create some magic moments on their own.
I think it’s the opposite, it’s a new team with new a fair few new players and return to play players and that instinct and chemistry isn’t there yet.
I’m old enough to remember Don Revie’s Leeds United team of the mid ’70s. Allan Clarke was a prolific goal scorer in front of goal but only if he got the necessary service from mid-field and alongside. That’s the position Lessi should play in so she could score more as she did on Wednesday. I’d like to know the advice that JE gave her on the pitch immediately the game finished. He was definitely telling her something.
He wants Russo to do now what he criticized Miedema for doing–the Miedema who’s always been one of the best finishers in the game.
Did he buy her Tim? I thought she was a free transfer but at that price she surely is a class bargain.
She’s not a Kerr/Shaw-level goal scorer and never will be–even with the all-star squad she’s got around her–and if that’s his thinking he’s completely delusional. She’s scored 10 goals in the WSL, once. He’s had a Kerr/Shaw level goal-scorer in Miedema–22, 16, 18 WSL goals (without an all-star squad around her), not to mention tons more goals in international play, Olympics, etc.–but she’s not good enough for him? He’s a joke—a coach shooting wildly in the dark. The whole situation at the 9/10 position has been ludicrous.
Russo was class at man utd Jonas needs to find the ammo for her to score he plays meade and her in too similar roles, one of them has to play wider and back a bit
Whatever people say this Russo player is world class and works so hard. The goals will come, have faith, not in the coaches but in Russo.
I am 100% behind Russo, Jonas can look after himself. Getting on their backs does nothing to help them.
It’s hard to disagree with JE but I can’t help wondering why he doesn’t just instruct Russo to get less involved in link-up play in midfield. She can be part of it sometimes, of course, but in that case someone else needs to be instructed to run beyond her or take the CF position. That’s not happening at the moment.
I think the answer to both PST’s and FG’s questions/thoughts are ”because we’re not a fully matured team yet”, as Jonas said.. I must say your questions #2 and #3 in the PC were just brillant Tim, and Jonas’ answers very, very interesting!
He’s saying here that he is telling her that but obvs it takes time for a player’s habits to change. If your boss tells you at work ‘be more assertive’ it doesn’t happen straight away, it takes time.
I think over half a season should be long enough. It doesn’t seem like a complicated instruction. And she starts almost every game. Also, where are the runners? There’s that side of it as well.
With you there, FG! Other teams should see Beth Mead, Lessi Russo, Cloe Lacasse front line and quake in their boots but they don’t because they know that if they are disciplined enough to have two rows of five the threat is mitigated. If it takes more than half a season to integrate a new striker and two old hands that have come back from injury then Lessi would never score for her national team as they only have a few training sessions a year and are then expected to perform on the World stage! I am glad she chose… Read more »
I watched Alessia Russo at Man U for two years. She is a great player but she is not a prolific goal-scoring striker. She probably plays best as a 10 or when she is allowed to roam freely. She only started playing as a 9, aged 20, when she went to Man U. In the States she played as a left winger and scored many spectacular goals. By the time she leaves Arsenal at the end of her contract she will be a greatly improved player after playing alongside Mead, Miedama, Williamson etc.
we are developing a #9 striker for Lionesses; nobody is filling Ellen White boots yet. But is costing us the League title.