Arsenal know better than most what a difference a week can make.
Seven days ago Renee Slegers’ side were basking in the glow of a remarkable 4-1 away victory over Lyon that sent them to a first Women’s Champions League final in 18 years.
Fast forward to Monday and Arsenal are investigating exactly how they lost 5-2 and 4-2 to Aston Villa and Brighton respectively in back-to-back league games.
While the defeat at Villa Park was unexpected, it was perhaps somewhat understandable.
Slegers made seven changes from the team that beat Lyon, and the result was a shaky and disjointed performance.
Worringly, the side that collapsed against Brighton was similar to the one that conquered one of Europe’s great teams.
“We wanted to bounce back and turn that game around, and the same thing has happened to us again,” Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord told Sky Sports.
“It’s not good enough all round and we need to take a look at ourselves individually and as a team. We can’t let that happen again this weekend.”
While Fran Kirby and Jelena Cankovic both scored stunners for the hosts, Brighton’s third and fourth goals came directly from defensive lapses.
Arsenal have shipped nine goals in their past two WSL games after conceding 14 in their previous 19 outings.
While they forced Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley into 10 saves, they couldn’t recover.
“In the last two WSL games we conceded nine goals in and we said as a team we don’t think it’s acceptable,” Slegers added.
“We of course don’t want this to happen. There are different reasons. The Villa game was different. We came from something else and the goals we conceded were different.
“We need to learn two very tough lessons coming off a big success. We have to learn. It’s part of being a top team. This can’t happen to us, so we have to find solutions and move forward.”
