Replacing the Women’s Super League’s all-time goalscorer is no easy feat for Arsenal.
Vivianne Miedema is a goal machine.
GettyMiedema will be a miss at Arsenal after her transfer to Man City[/caption]
As well as her impressive 80 strikes in the league for the Gunners, she netted another 45 times in all competitions for the club.
And she’s managed 96 goals in 120 games for her nation, the Netherlands, too.
It’s a tough ask to replicate those numbers but Arsenal will have to do that as their No.11 became Man City’s new No.6 (we’ll deal with that another time).
Head coach Jonas Eidevall already has Alessia Russo and Stina Blackstenius on his books, so he’s not totally hard done by.
But Miedema is a generational talent and a living WSL legend.
Her style and ability is almost impossible to replicate but they can replace her in the aggregate.
Mariona Caldentey, a Barcelona icon and World Cup winner with Spain represents the perfect way to do that.
Adding more goals as from a role as an inside forward, the 28-year-old could be the answer – and solve some different, defensive, problems too.
Eidevall told talkSPORT: “[She’s] not a direct replacement because they’re very different, both as persons and as players. I think they’re obviously also unique.
“I don’t think it’s possible to replace Vivianne Miedema with a direct player because she’s unique.
GettyCaldentey arrived at Arsenal as a free agent[/caption]
“At the same time, I don’t think you could replace Mariona Caldentey with the same player either because she’s also very unique.
“If we’re speaking about the players that we have here now and seeing the positive things that we get from Mariona, it’s that yes, she’s a points player.
“She provides goals and assists but she also does so much more than that.
“If you see her role both in the Spanish national team and against Barcelona, she’s the spider on the web for the team’s defending organisation but also for the attacking play.
“Of course, she’s going to have a huge role to play for us this season.”
On the back of a campaign considered her best ever in Spain, Caldentey will strike fear into her rivals.
And after winning the Primera Division, Copa de la Reina, Supercopa Feminina, and the Champions League, as well as the UEFA Nations League, Eidevall believes she will add a winning mentality to a team without a league title since 2019.
GettyCaldentey is one of the most-decorated players in the game right now[/caption]
“That’s what we hope for,” he added. That’s going to give us, together with other things, the extra edge.
“But of course, it’s so exciting bringing a player like Mariona that is still hungry. She could have taken the easy and comfortable decision to stay in Barcelona.
“It’s sunnier. They’re a team that’s been in the Champions League final for so many seasons in a row but she wants to challenge herself. She’s coming here. She wants to share her experiences but also grow as a player and as a person.
“Of course, we would like to add on those things that she has learned, the journey that she has been doing with both Barcelona and the national team. We embrace that knowledge and I think we’re all going to be better off.”
