Arsenal Women finished the season four points behind Man City, reached the Champions League semi-finals, and lost Katie McCabe to Chelsea on a free. Roberto Revilla gets into all of it. This is the first proper episode of Arsenal Women: Trailblazers, and Roberto does not ease you in gently. This is a full-length season debrief covering everything: Renee Slegers’s first complete season in charge, the squad depth problems that injuries brutally exposed, a transfer window that is already producing results and a few open wounds, the tactical picture and where it needs to evolve, standout performers, the moments that defined the campaign - and what a realistic ambition looks like going into next season. Roberto calls it as he sees it. No spin. No hedging. No corporate podcast clichés. Just an honest account of a season that had real highs, a few painful lows, and a summer that feels absolutely pivotal. Man City won the WSL with 55 points. Arsenal finished second on 51. Chelsea were third on 49. The gap at the top is small. The window to close it is open. But it will not stay open by itself. In this episode: Season in one breathRenee Slegers: her first full season, the Arteta parallel, why patience is earned not assumedSquad depth: what the injuries to Reid, Kelly and Williamson actually revealedTransfer window: McCabe to Chelsea, Mead to City, and the incoming names to knowTactical identity: the high press, the set piece problem, and the counter-transition riskStandout players: Russo’s 24 goals, McCabe’s farewell season, Fox, Wubben-Moy and Olivia SmithDefining moments: London City, West Ham, and what Lyon showed usLooking ahead: the WSL title, the Champions League, and why Arsenal should be the most attractive club in the world for players right now Takeaways: •Renee Slegers is the right person for this job. She inherited chaos, won a Champions League, and spent last season learning at pace. The Arteta comparisons are legitimate — back her, give her time, do not panic. •The squad depth issue is structural, not accidental. Two or three injuries and the options ran out. That has to change this summer. Laia Codina and Victoria Pelova deserved more than they got. •Losing Katie McCabe and Beth Mead to Chelsea and Man City respectively, both on frees, is a recruitment failure, plain and simple. The club’s contract renewal process was too slow and it cost them two world-class players who went directly to title rivals. •The incoming business looks promising. Ona Batlle (Spain international, free from Barcelona), Géraldine Reuteler (Swiss Player of the Year 2024, free from Frankfurt) and Selina Cerci (26, Germany international, striker) represent genuine upgrades if confirmed. Georgia Stanway links would address the midfield steel problem directly. •Alessia Russo scored 24 goals in all competitions, 13 in the WSL. If you only watch the ball, you miss half of what she does. The Champions League goal against Chelsea was one of the finishes of the season anywhere in European football. •The Lyon semi-final was a reality check, not a disaster. Arsenal were technically excellent and tactically coherent. They were physically outmuscled. That is a solvable problem and the transfer window is the place to solve it. •The WSL title is the target. Chelsea are rebuilding. Man City have so far added only Beth Mead (aged 31) to a title-winning squad. Arsenal, if they get this window right, should go into next season as favourites. Subscribe to Trailblazers for twice-weekly episodes — match reaction, transfer news, player profiles and more. New episodes every week throughout the summer and into the season. Arsenal Women: Trailblazers is a twice‑weekly fan podcast dedicated to Arsenal Women and AWFC. Join host Roberto Revilla every Monday and Friday for news, match previews and reports, tactical talking points and the stories that make Arsenal Women true trailblazers. Intro/Outro Music thanks to raspberrymusic from Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
