Gunners boss Jonas Eidevall is confident that the Lionesses' No.9 can be a 20-goal striker and her recent improvements certainly support that belief
When Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall was asked last month if Alessia Russo could develop into a 20-goal-a-season striker, he gave a simple, assured, one-word answer: “Yes.”
On Sunday, the England star netted her 10th for the current campaign, a match-winning effort against Tottenham that not only gave the Gunners revenge after a first-ever defeat to their north London rivals in December, it also meant her team stayed within three points of Women's Super League leaders Chelsea.
Russo will struggle to hit that 20 mark this season as Arsenal have a maximum of just 12 games left on their calendar. But the four goals she has netted in her last five outings for club and country have supported Eidevall’s belief that she can get there over time.
And if the Gunners can work to get more out of their marquee summer signing before the campaign is over, then it could help them have a successful end to a season that has stuttered and stalled, but still sees them in with a chance of a Continental Cup triumph and an unlikely WSL title.
Getty ImagesNot your typical No.9
On the face of it, for a striker who was the subject of a world-record bid last January, Russo's 10 goals in 22 appearances so far this season is underwhelming. But that Arsenal tried to prise her away from Manchester United with such a huge fee six months before they snapped her up for free shows just how much belief Eidevall has in her potential, as well as what she can bring to the table right now.
The England star has never been ridiculously prolific. That, though, is because she’s not a natural fox in the box, a classic poacher who gobbles up opportunities in and around the goalmouth. Russo likes to drop deep to get on the ball and brings a lot to the table in the build-up play with her ability in possession, clever movement and how that opens up space for others.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesDeveloping as a goal-scorer
But any team that wants to win trophies needs their No.9 to shoulder their share of the goal-scoring burden, and Arsenal and Russo are no different. “As a No.9, one of your main roles for the team is to score goals,” Eidevall said on Sunday. “Our forwards are point players, they need to contribute with points. That’s for our No.9, for our 10, for our two wide forwards. That’s never going to change.”
And so it’s important that Russo develops her goal-scoring instincts, too. “We spoke about that in the last block before the international window, that’s an area to improve,” the Arsenal boss admitted. “I think she was doing that very, very well today and she gets her reward as well. It looks like an easy goal to score, but it’s an impossible goal to score if you’re not in that position.”
Getty ImagesBig steps forward
You could say that about many of the goals Russo has scored in recent weeks. The strike against Spurs, which Eidevall describes, was an emphatic finish inside the six-yard box after the ball fell kindly to her from Beth Mead – but she’d anticipated play well to be in that area when it did.
While away with England in the international break, Russo was on the scoresheet with a brace against Austria, her first a simple tap-in after she’d charged into the six-yard box to pounce on Mead’s spilled shot, while her second was another case of being in the right place at the right time, as Georgia Stanway pressed high and created a one-on-one opportunity for Russo in the box, which she took with an assured and clinical finish.
The goal that started this purple patch came just before that England camp, against second-tier London City Lionesses in the quarter-finals of the Conti Cup. The header wasn’t as simple as the trio of goals that have followed it, but it was her play in the build-up that Eidevall appreciated. “We create a really good crossing situation and Lessi is great in that whole attack,” he told . “She has 60 seconds of perfect positioning as a No.9. She only touches the ball once and that’s when she scores.”
GettyRight structure
But there have been games this season where Russo has cut an isolated figure, one lacking the necessary support to really perform at her best. It feels like getting players around her who she can link-up with is key to maximising her talent, and her performances in the 3-5-2 formation with England at last year’s World Cup were a good example of this, the 25-year-old combining very well with Lauren Hemp in that front two.
There were positive signs earlier this season when Russo bounced off Stina Blackstenius in a similar shape, but absences in defence – most notably with Leah Williamson recovering from an ACL injury – have limited Arsenal’s ability to use a back three. It has often been a case of Russo or Blackstenius, then, rather than playing them together. This could change as Williamson returns and it could be one option for the Gunners to get more out of Russo, with Eidevall admitting that they are still in the process of figuring it all out.
“We have a lot of options for players who can play in offense who have various strengths,” the coach said last month when asked about the structure around Russo. “That is really nice because we have a lot of tools in the box, but we look at how do we use them and how we use them together and what relationships do we build?
“You are onto something really interesting there in saying, ‘How do we play to a player’s strengths and what does that player need to have around her for that to happen? What situations are our preference to set up?’ That is where you can see we are not a fully mature team in that yet. That is the process we are in and working with. It is an exciting process and I can see how we are developing, but it means we haven’t reached the heights of our offensive play yet.”