Arsenal must keep Russo at No. 9 to revive UWCL campaign

BOREHAMWOOD, England – If Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League taught us anything, it’s that England forward Alessia Russo must play as a No. 9 if a team off to its worst start to a season since 2014 hopes to turn things around.

It was a must-win game for manager Renee Slegers and Arsenal, who before the win at Meadow Park were dangerously close to dropping out of the Champions League qualifiers. Now they’ve had some breathing room, all thanks to Slegers’ choice to move last season’s Women’s Super League top scorer (and Champions League second-highest scorer) back into her favored striker position.

In Arsenal’s previous three matches – two league draws against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur and a 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League – Russo started as a number 10, with Stina Blackstenius as the striker. Arsenal desperately needed results in all of them, but the goals didn’t come and chances were wasted left, right and centre.

In all three games, Russo was unable to do what the team wanted her to do for 90 minutes, unable to finish crosses or long balls as she dropped too deep to help defensively. This would likely have been to maintain stability in midfield with Kim Little injured and Mariona Caldentey playing deeper as a result. Nonetheless, it kept Arsenal’s main attacking threat in check, and it was no wonder they failed to score against Spurs or get a result against Chelsea or Bayern Munich.

Although Blackstenius has plenty of quality, she doesn’t fit the profile of what Arsenal were trying to do, and it was only when Russo returned to the No.9 role, usually around the 60th minute, that Arsenal had their best chances. This was evident against Chelsea. Although Russo scored late, had she started this game from the start the result – and therefore Arsenal’s league standings – could have been very different.

Slegers changed his plan against Real Madrid and it worked. The visitors struggled to contain Russo throughout the evening. Although Madrid had a confident defense, Russo’s pace and movement in the box was far too much to handle, and once she got going, it was impossible to stop her.

First, Russo headed home Chloe Kelly’s looping cross to level the score after Caroline Weir had broken the deadlock. Russo then headed to Caitlin Foord’s precise corner to seal the victory. For a player who admitted in 2023 that she wasn’t scoring with headers, her evolution is clear as day, but Slegers had an answer for that: she’s practicing headers at the end of sessions with the set-piece coach to diversify the types of goals she can score.

“You want to say so much about Alessia because she has so much going on,” Slegers said after the match. “She works hard, she gives 100 percent every day. Her role on the team reflects the way she plays on the field.

“Everyone knows how good Alessia is in the No.9, with her hold-up game, her follow-up game, her pressing game, her presence in the box, her different types of finishing; she is really good.”

Arsenal need the 26-year-old in the box if they are to play the style they are trying to adopt. It’s clear, looking at the effectiveness of their play without Russo up front compared to games like Wednesday night, that his presence in the box does more for the team than his creativity in feeding others, which rarely yields results.

Slegers admitted that it is sometimes a “headache” knowing where to play Russo, a player with so many qualities and so strong in several areas. But her praise for the England Lioness, who has been instrumental in England’s back-to-back Euro victories, provided insight into why the team has relied so heavily on Russo and why Slegers has chosen to essentially build her team around where she decides Russo is best suited for that specific match.

“There’s so much about her, not just as a footballer but as a person. She takes such good care of the team. She sets an example of all the right behavior. She sees people, she includes people, she works hard. She’s 100 percent every day. Everything about training is the intensity of the game; [she] always wants to learn things.

“She’s very respectful and humble. I think that’s how she lives her life and her sport, and her goal on the team just reflects her performance on the field.”

Arsenal have won just four of their nine league matches. Aside from four draws and that bruising defeat to Manchester City, it has been the worst start to a campaign they have had since 2014, although the result against Real Madrid leaves Arsenal with more room to maneuver in the Champions League.

But Arsenal can still turn things around. Against Real Madrid last season, they overcame a two-goal deficit in the quarter-finals of the continental competition, setting them up for success in Europe. Still, the key to reversing their poor start in hopes of replicating some of last season’s glory will lie with Russo leading the line as the starting striker and hoping some of the magic that got them victory over Real Madrid gets them through the next block of matches.