Continuing from Part I.
Alessia Russo arrived at Meadow Park to much fanfare.
One of the biggest names in English women’s football, Russo had made a splash at the EURO in summer 2022 and arrived a year later as the Gunners’ marquee signing, made all the more sweet by the fact that she’d joined from bitter rivals Manchester United.
Russo went on to play an important role in the Lionesses’ World Cup campaign later that summer and hit the ground running for her new club, scoring a brace in the UWCL qualifier against Paris FC.
However, questions have been raised about Arsenal’s new star forward.
The Gunners had been hampered by a lack of firepower after losing both Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema last season, and Russo was expected to fill that void while Meadema finished their rehabilitation and slowly regained match sharpness.
However, Russo has only scored four goals in ten WSL games so far this campaign, less than half what City’s Bunny Shaw has managed in one fewer game.
According to data from FBREF, Russo is only averaging 0.32 non-penalty goals per 90, which ranks in a dismal 38th percentile among all WSL forwards this season. For comparison, Shaw is managing an extraordinary 1.23 non-penalty goals per 90, which ranks in the 96th percentile, and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr managed 0.62 non-penalty goals per 90, which ranked in the 71st percentile.
Furthermore, Russo’s lack of goalscoring form is supported by underlying numbers too, as shown in the graph below.
Russo is, in fact, underperforming her xG.
Her expected non-penalty goals per 90 is 0.42, which is notably higher than her actual number. Compared to Shaw — who is outperforming hers by 0.76 goals per 90 — and Kerr — who outperformed her xG by 0.14 goals per 90, the data suggests that Russo has not taken her chances as well as the starting striker of a title-challenging side should.
However, numbers alone rarely tell the whole story. To assess how well Russo has started her Arsenal career, one must first assess what kind of player she is and what role she has been given.
While both Shaw and Kerr are known for their clinicality and sheer dominance, Russo has always been known for her well-roundedness rather than ruthlessness.
She is fast, powerful and remarkably technical, making her an excellent dribbler while her penchant for flair has seen her score some truly stunning goals, most notably her backheel goal against Sweden at the Euro and her goal from range against Aston Villa at the Emirates.
Possessing the flair of an attacking midfielder yet lacking the ruthlessness of a poacher, Russo is — funny enough — more likely to score from low-percentage chances than clear-cut ones. And unlike Shaw and Kerr, she is more suited for a supporting role, linking up with teammates rather than leading the line.
The conclusion feels somewhat underwhelming considering the hype that surrounded Russo’s signing, but it need not be, because Arsenal is not Chelsea or City.
While their title rivals rely on their center forwards to provide the bulk of the goals, Arsenal can count on Miedema for that. Accordingly, Russo does not need to be the main woman; rather, she only needs to play a supporting role and help get the most out of Miedema.
Caitlin Foord has been the better strike partner for Miedema between Stina Blackstenius and herself.
Russo promises to be even better.
Let’s break it down.
Blackstenius’ great strength is her relentless running, whether to attack the space in behind, provide a target for long balls into the channel or press opposition players to force turnovers. Foord is adept at pressing forward play as well but brings another dimension to the center forward position — that of false 9 play.
In that North London derby back in September 2022, Foord assumed Blackstenius’ counter-pressing and channel-running responsibilities. Quicker and more technical than the Swede, Foord could receive in the channel then engage in her usual wing play, running at defenders and either going for the shot or playing in a teammate.
Whereas Miedema often had to come across to provide Blackstenius a short passing option, she was free to take up the center forward position and attack the space in behind since Foord could keep the ball and create something by herself. As such, Foord’s channel running posed an even greater danger for the opposition than Blackstenius’.
Moreover, Foord also put out a vintage false 9 display that day, roaming across the final third and dropping to link up with the midfield and pick up the ball. Whereas Blackstenius would once again, look to simply lay the ball off in this position, Foord often spun away from defenders and dribbled her way into dangerous positions.
As Foord had assumed much of her link-up responsibilities, Miedema was once again able to remain close to goal and attack the space in behind like a shadow striker, netting a brace to seal a 4–0 win for the Gunners.
Russo has stepped into Blackstenius’ pressing forward role without missing a beat; at the same time, she has shown that she excels at false 9 play like Foord.
The game against Chelsea at the Emirates is a case in hand.
The first sequence begins in the 8th minute when defensive midfielder Lia Wälti receives the wall pass from Kim Little just outside her own box. Foord is in space and can be seen calling for the ball at the edge of the frame.
Wälti duly plays the pass and releases Foord into space. Russo can be seen spearheading the counterattack while (from left to right) Little, Victoria Pelova and Mead are all sprinting forward to support Foord.
Foord picks up the ball just inside Chelsea’s half and drives forward, cutting inside as she enters the final third. Chelsea center back Maren Mjelde shuffles across and looks to block off Foord’s path into the box, as indicated by the arrow.
Russo can be seen in the center forward position just outside the box, with Jess Carter opposing her. Mead is looking to make the run in behind Chelsea’s defense from the right, but the left back Niamh Charles is ahead of her.
Foord decelerates as she approaches the box to give herself more time to decide her next move.
Notice how she has drawn the attention of all three Chelsea defenders ahead of her at this point.
Foord continues to make her way towards Chelsea’s box. Mjelde has planted her studs on her ground, committing herself to Foord. Carter’s attention remains on Foord as well, and she drops slightly behind Mjelde to cover for her partner.
As a small gap has opened up between Chelsea’s two center backs, Russo spots this and looks to run into it.
Notice how Charles is still facing Foord as well, leaving her back to Mead.
Russo makes the run to her left and looks to receive the pass from Foord there. Carter realizes what Russo is up to and begins to follow her.
Foord plays the pass to Russo, but Mjelde manages to intercept it. The ball bounces off her leg and lands at Little’s feet. Russo had dragged Carter out of position with her run, and a gap has now opened up between Carter and Charles.
Pelova can be seen wide open in the central position. If the ball reaches her then she will have a free shot at Ann-Katrin Berger’s goal. (Imagine Miedema in this position!)
By the time Little gets the ball under control, Charles has realized that Pelova is free and has come across to mark her. Mead is now completely free with an open goal in front of her.
Little lays the ball off to Pelova who loses Charles with a spin and finds Mead free on the right. Charles desperately sprints across but Mead leaves her in the dust with a deft touch and gives the Gunners the lead with an emphatic finish.
Though she never even touched the ball in this sequence, Russo’s contribution to the goal was immense. She’d spotted the gap between Chelsea’s center backs and took Carter with her when she made her run into the channel. Carter being dragged out of position triggered a chain reaction that led to the all-important first goal.
Though Mead was the beneficiary here, it could easily have been Miedema if she was on the pitch.
Russo’s own goal was the result of her channel running as well.
This sequence begins in the 38th minute when goalkeeper Manu Zinsberger receives the back pass from Amanda Iledstedt and looks to recycle the ball. Ilestedt gestures for Zinsberger to pass to her partner Lotte Wubben-Moy.
The ball makes its way to Wubben-Moy and Wälti drops into the left back zone (as she often does) to give Wubben-Moy another short passing option. Arsenal now has a first line of three and Wälti can be seen calling for the ball.
Wälti receives the ball and Chelsea’s Jessie Fleming can be seen closing in on her. However, Wälti feigns to play the back pass and creates just enough separation to drive past Fleming.
Wälti hits the long ball into the channel and Russo can be seen on the edge of the frame, sprinting into the space in behind Chelsea’s high defensive line.
By the time Russo latches onto the ball just outside Chelsea’s box, she has left the near-side center back Mjelde behind her and now has a clear path to Berger’s goal. Russo drives into the box and strikes the ball with the inside of her foot, placing her shot into the far post in an Henry-esque finish to expand the Gunners’ lead to two.
This seems like a simple run in behind to punish a high line, but a different camera angle reveals the subtleties.
This frame corresponds to frame 2.2 when Wubben-Moy has just received the ball. Left back Steph Catley has advanced into the left wing position while Arsenal’s front three is positioned narrowly, with Russo dead center of the pitch and Foord in the inside-left channel.
By the time the ball makes its way to Wälti and the Switzerland captain has created enough separation from Fleming. Foord has dropped deep from her inside-left position, taking Chelsea’s right back Ève Périsset with her while Catley holds position on the touchline to occupy the near-side winger Lauren James.
This frame captures the moment Wälti struck the ball with her boot. With Catley wide on the left, space is to be found in the half-space and Russo accordingly makes her run into the inside-left channel from Mjelde’s blindside.
Notice how much Russo has already drifted to the left compared to her starting position.
By the time the ball lands at Russo’s feet, the Arsenal forward is clearly positioned in the left half-space and well ahead of Mjelde. Russo cuts inside from there and the rest is history.
In both instances, it was Russo’s run into the inside-left channel that opened up Chelsea’s defense and led to goalscoring chances. Russo is a relentless runner into the channel and as we’ve seen, this will benefit both herself and her teammates.
Compared to her channel running, Russo was not able to show off her associative play as much. A glance at Arsenal’s lineup will explain this.
The Gunners started in their usual 4–2–3–1 with their number 23 leading the line, Foord and Mead on the wings and Little in the 10 position where she’d made a name for herself as a goalscoring midfielder earlier in her career.
Now 33, Little has long evolved into a different breed of midfielder, one who emphasizes control and ball retention. Accordingly, Little would look to receive the ball to feet and either play in teammates ahead of her or recycle the ball.
Pelova stepped into Little’s usual position next to Wälti, and with McCabe having reinvented herself as an inverted right back this season, the Dutch playmaker often advanced higher and became the second 10.
Like Little, Pelova was a ball-to-feet creator who emphasized control and ball retention. And with Foord much the same, Mead was the only one of Arsenal’s front five who preferred for the ball to be fed into space rather than into her feet.
As such, the onus was on Russo to remain high and central and offer her creative teammates a target in behind. Nevertheless, the Emirates saw flashes of her link-up play.
The next sequence begins in the dying minutes of the first half.
In the 5th minute of stoppage time, McCabe intercepts Carter’s pass for left winger Johanna Rytting Kaneryd just inside Chelsea’s half. Russo can be seen in the center forward position.
The ball bounces off McCabe’s boot and Russo comes across to claim it.
Rytting Kaneryd gets back up and immediately counter-presses Russo. Russo manages to evade the pressure with a dribble. McCabe can be seen making the run in behind between Carter and Charles while Little and Mead are on either side of Russo as short passing options.
Russo lays the ball off to Mead, who by this point is completely unmarked as Charles had been occupied by McCabe’s run while Rytting Kaneryd had committed herself to Russo.
Notice Little’s position in the central channel.
Mead takes a touch and prepares to play the killer ball. She spots Little making the run in behind from Mjelde’s blind side and floats the ball in.
Little and Mjelde duel for the header and the Norwegian comes out on top, nodding it out of play.
Little — true to her name — is only 5’4 and was beaten in the air by Mjelde. But imagine if it was the 5’10 Miedema attacking that header. Chances are, the Gunners would have finished the first half with a three-goal lead.
Little, of course, has not always been Arsenal’s number 10 this season. Injuries have seen the Gunners’ skipper miss a number of games with Frida L. Maanum stepping in.
Aggressive and powerful, Maanum is in the mold of the goalscoring midfielder Little had been in the years past, and Russo has accordingly adopted a different playing style for when she’s partnered with the Norwegian, coming deep and drifting wide to get on the ball while Maanum took up the center forward position and looked to attack the box.
The game against West Ham is one such example.
The sequence begins in the 6th minute when Ilestedt receives the pass from Zinsberger.
Ilestedt carries the ball forward and hits the long ball into the channel as she enters the middle third of the pitch.
Russo can be seen at the edge of the frame, dropping deep into the inside-right channel to receive the pass from Ilestedt.
Russo receives the ball with her back to goal just inside the opposition half. Two West Ham players, Hawa Cissoko and Honoka Hayashi are closing in on her.
Notice Maanum’s position in the central channel.
Russo takes a perfect first touch and spins away from Hayashi with a dribble. Hayashi challenges Russo but the Arsenal forward rides the contact and leaves her on the ground.
As Russo has now drawn the attention of West Ham center back Amber Tysiak, Maanum is able to make her run from Tysiak’s blindside into the gap between the center backs.
As Tysiak’s attention remains on Russo, Maanum is able to continue her run undetected. As shown by the graph, she is now in the center forward position with acres of space in front of her.
One through ball from Russo would release Maanum in behind West Ham’s defense and give the Norwegian and clear run at Megan Walsh’s goal. However, Russo loses her balance and is eventually brought down by a foul.
Though it comes to naught, this sequence shows how Russo can create space for the attacking midfielder by dropping off, while her ability to lose her marker and run with the ball (her gravity, if you will) invariably draws the attention of defenders, allowing her partner to make the run in behind undetected.
Russo dropping deep also has the added advantage of giving the Gunners another reliable method of ball progression, as their number 23 possesses the strength to hold up the ball and resist pressure with her back to goal. Her link-up play is even more dangerous in the final third, as the sequence below shows.
This sequence begins when Foord receives the ball in the 68th minute of the Gunner’s visit to Brighton. As Foord has dropped off, Catley has advanced into the left wing position. Maanum is occupying the left half-space while Russo is in the center forward position.
Russo comes short to receive the pass from Foord. As Brighton center back Guro Bergsvand has stepped out to press Russo, space has opened up for Maanum to make a diagonal run into the box from her blind side.
Russo dribbles to the left, which draws the attention of multiple defenders, most notably that of right wing back Charlize Rule.
As Rule’s eyes are fixed on Russo, Catley is now left in space and the center forward promptly sprays the ball out wide. Though Rule sprints back towards Catley, the left back has received with all the time and space in the world to set up her cross.
Maanum has drifted into the center forward position at this point, and Catley promptly whips her cross in. However, she overhits her delivery and the ball floats past the Norwegian.
Once again, this sequence demonstrates how Russo’s movement opens up space for the 10 to attack. She and Maanum had essentially swapped positions with the former drifting into the inside-left channel and the latter occupying the center forward position.
Furthermore, Russo possesses this uncanny ability to hold up the ball, spin away from her marker and spray the ball out wide to a teammate in space with pinpoint accuracy. Catley is the beneficiary here and both Foord and Mead have received this pass from Russo at some point in the game.
Indeed, data suggests that while Russo has been underwhelming in front of goal, her creative passing has been excellent.
As the graph above shows, Russo is faring well in almost all passing metrics. Her per 90 numbers for progressive passes, passes into penalty area and crosses into penalty area all rank in the 96th percentile among all WSL forwards over the first half of the season, while her expected assists per 90 ranks in the 88th percentile and her key passes per 90 ranks in the 79th percentile.
Her creative passing led to Arsenal’s third goal against Brighton, as the sequence below shows.
The final sequence begins in the dying minutes of stoppage time, with Catley taking the throw-in.
Catley’s throw bounces off Rule and Russo can be seen contesting for the ball with Maria Thorisdottir.
Russo manages to latch onto the ball and dribbles down the left. Maanum and Cloé Lacasse are sprinting forward in support.
Russo fires in the cross from the byline and finds Lacasse with pinpoint accuracy. Lacasse cuts it back to Maanum who slots it into the bottom right corner.
Russo’s display here is reminiscent of Foord’s in the North London derby. She latches onto the ball out wide, attacks the byline and delivers an inch-perfect cross to pre-assist Maanum’s goal like a winger. Moreover, Russo also demonstrates her aptitude for target man play here.
Her dominance in duels is, of course, well-known, and she is rarely ever beaten in the air. However, Russo also knows when to stay on her feet and beat her marker on the ground. Rather than contesting the aerial duel with Thorisdottir, Russo stays on the ground and simply holds off the Brighton center back.
She spins as the ball sails over them and loses Thorisdottir with her turn. By the time she finally latches onto the ball, she is running at full speed. And once Russo is running at full speed, she is almost impossible to stop.
With pressing forward play, false 9 play and target man play all in her locker, Russo is a complete forward armed with every skill required of a center forward save ruthlessness in front of goal — a ruthlessness Miedema possesses in abundance.
Indeed, one only has to imagine Miedema in Maanum’s place in the sequences above to get a sense of how Arsenal’s two star forwards will work together.
The key to unlocking Miedema at 10 is simple — pair her with a 9 who can assume the bulk of her pressing and link-up responsibilities, thereby freeing her to remain in and around the box and save her legs for the final action.
Foord had done this for Miedema on that sunny afternoon at the Emirates; Russo will do the same.
Arsenal’s two star forwards complement each other perfectly, and the coming Miedema-Russo partnership could well herald a new era of success for the Gunners.
Strike partnerships are, of course, a storied part of Arsenal’s heritage.
Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp had formed one of the greatest strike partnerships of all time and together led the line for the Invincibles — the legendary 03/04 side that won the Premier League undefeated.
Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez and German playmaker Mesut Özil were mentioned in the same breath by gooners, and though the side they were part of fell well short of what Henry and co. achieved, they nevertheless won two FA Cups together and were a staple of the late Wenger era.
Blackstenius did not prove to be the Henry to Miedema’s Bergkamp, but Russo could be just that.
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You might also enjoy my previous article on Arsenal Women, The Three-Year Itch: Arsenal’s Swedish Marriage.
