I think it’s safe to say that forwards are the most important players in a team. This is not me trying to be obvious or make this arbitrary claim. Tons of pundits, players, analysts and fans feel this way… you need goals to win games, forwards are specialize in scoring goals. Yes they need service and all of that but as far as many people are concerned, you need goal scorers.
At the moment we have EIGHT players listed as forwards at Arsenal, and as per the order they appear on the website: 1. Beth 2. Viv 3. McCabe 4.Hurgit 5. Ford 6. Gio 7. Stina 8. Jodie. That’s bananas. As far as midfielders go, we have just FIVE. Just for reference, the men’s squad has 5 forwards and 9 midfielders. Not comparing, just for an in-house reference. So, if we assume Jonas still wants that many forwards, let’s take a look at whom I would move on, kindly and respectfully. With the arrival of Cloe we now have 9 forwards and of course the, hopefully, impending arrival of Russo means 10 forwards, so who stays and go goes?
My preference would be that Jodie Taylor, Gio and Hurtig are moved on, and I hate implying that someone has to leave and all that emotional stuff which you know I care about, but this is me trying to be as objective as I can, which is hard. I don’t think I need to justify my opinion as that would basically mean I would criticize them or point out certain things, and I don’t want to do that. Mostly because I have a terrible memory.
So, if them 3 move on our forward line would be chosen among:
- Beth
- Viv
- McCabe
- Russo
- Foord
- Cloe
- Stina
This is pretty damn great if you ask me. So, to answer the question in the title of this blog: NO, we don’t need more forwards, we need fewer and better ones.
Where I do feel we actually need bodies is in midfield. Kim and Lia are on a whole different level, Frida has been stellar and that’s where we need help. We need players that are much closer to their level than we currently have. Those 3 can’t start every match forever, and the players coming in need to offer a lot.
Curious to know if this will be addressed as aggressively as with our forwards.
d ❤
THAT ARSENAL WOMEN PODCAST on:
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APPLE PODCASTS
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A very subjective look into AWFC 
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