Jonas Eidevall, our Arsenal women’s boss, got practically everything he wanted last summer. He added two top defenders, Amanda Ilestedt and Laia Codina, as well as a superb midfielder, Kyra Cooney-Cross, and two top forwards, Cloe Lacasse and super striker Alessia Russo.
However, one deal fell through: that of Manchester United and Lioness’ goalkeeper Mary Earps. Eidevall urged the club to go to any length to bring her in, and the club obliged. However, Manchester United refused to sell their star to us; even with a record offer the club was willing to pay United for her, making her the most expensive goalkeeper in WSL history.
In three games, the UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Paris FC and the two WSL games against Liverpool and Manchester United, there have been questions about our goalkeeping; we’ve conceded five goals, some of which have been sloppy, and many say a good keeper could have saved them.
Fara Williams, a former England women’s international, believes the club unknowingly failed itself by failing to sign a great goalkeeper. She claims the club knew they wouldn’t sign Mary Earps all along, but our recruitment team didn’t have a backup plan, and they didn’t look at other choices and brought in other quality goalkeepers, of which many would have jumped at an opportunity to play for Arsenal.
So if the goal was to sign a good goalkeeper, she suggested we should have looked for these modern-day goalkeepers who are also comfortable playing the ball. She implies that we lack a good goalkeeper, which could stymie our title bid because it may be too late to improve our fortunes even if we recruit one in the winter transfer window
Speaking to Boots Balls and Bras, Williams said, “They tried to get Mary Earps early, even before the World Cup. So they were in to try and get Mary. Right. It’s not just about outfield players, and we’ve seen that with Mary, both for England and for Man United.
“How important having a goalkeeper that is competent that is good enough to not only stop the ball going in the back of the net, but can play football? Right. Because you need them both.
“They knew they weren’t getting Mary, so they knew throughout the World Cup they had what, a 6 to 8-week period where Mary Earps was not going to Arsenal. Yeah.
“So you can push, you can try, and players can put in a transfer request and all that. We’re not like the men’s game. These transfers don’t get put through. He should have gone and found a goalkeeper. Hannah Hampton has signed for Chelsea as a third-choice goalkeeper. She could have gone to Arsenal and been first choice. Yeah.
“Domselar has signed for Aston Villa. Are you telling me if Arsenal go for Domselar, She’s not running for Arsenal? She’s down the M6 bruv. She is not signing for Aston Villa if Arsenal are going in for her; that is a fact. These are facts. Yeah.
“So what am saying? Who is your recruiter? Who’s doing your recruitment? Now we are still seeing Manuela Zinsberger at Arsenal. And I’m not saying she’s a bad goalkeeper, but she’s not world-class. Yeah.
“And if Arsenal want to go to the next level, you need a world-class goalkeeper. And they’ve missed the boat. They’ve missed it. Do you think this season could be done for them by January?”
What do you think of Fara’s assertions about our goalie situation? Could not buying a new keeper cost us the title?
Michelle Maxwell
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