I am eagerly anticipating Mariona Caldentey’s debut as a Gunner. Everything suggests that Mariona Caldentey is the missing piece in Arsenal Women’s attack.
According to Caldentey’s stats last season, she outclassed our forwards.
Shots on target
Clearly, if you want to get them goals, you must at least get them shots on target, and that’s what Caldentey will bring to the team.
In the league’s Liga F and WSL, if you’re to compare shots on target among Caldentey and the current Arsenal forwards, the Spanish world champion outshone all our players with a 45.2 per 90 minutes shot on target rate; the closest Gunner was Beth Mead, who had a 40.0 per 90 minutes ratio.
Expected Goals
Teams that score plenty of goals tend to outperform their xG stat. Arsenal wasn’t one of the teams that outperformed their xG last season. In fact, we were among the four WSL teams that failed to exceed their xG. So the fact that Caldentey, with a +1.7 xG, comfortably beat our entire squad’s -4.0 xG should give us hope that she’ll come next season and help us outperform our xG.
Assists
To score more goals, you need plenty of assists. Well, interestingly, last season no Gunner had more assists than Caldentey; the Spaniard had nine in the season, and the Gunner with the most assists had four for Arsenal last season (that was Beth Mead, Alessia Russo, and Caitlin Foord).
Goals
To score plenty of goals, you need a source you can tap for goals.
In the domestic league, only Alessia Russo in the Arsenal squad, with 12 goals, had more league goals than Caldentey, who had 10. 10 goals in the league is promising; it just hints she may be a player who averages double digits of goals a season.
Clearly, with Mariona Caldentey, Arsenal’s attack will be stronger, and I’m so looking forward to seeing some of that Spanish football flair up front for our Gunners next season.
What do you think Gooners?
Michelle M
Follow JustArsenal’s Gooner Women on Just Gooner Women on Twitter for regular updates on the Arsenal Womens Team!
Do you want to read more about the Arsenal Women’s Team? Click here….
I’m looking forward to seeing Mariona in our colours. But I’m not sure it’s insightful to compare her achievements in the Spanish league with the wdl, as the wsl is much more competitive, with few really weak teams.
I definitely think Mariona can add some positive things to our squad tho.