See Emily Play

The Fantastic Miss Fox

In January, Arsenal bought USWNT full-back Emily Fox from North Carolina Courage. Fox has played at left-back a lot during her career but with Steph Catley and Katie McCabe in the squad already, it was clear that Jonas Eidevall wanted the 25-year-old to play at right-back.

The Gunners had hoped to land a right-back in the summer 2023 transfer window after Laura Wienroither ruptured her ACL in May 2023. After the 3-0 win over Linkoping in September, Eidevall told Arseblog News, ‘We are still in the market for a right-back and one other position but it has to be the right fit. If we don’t find one, Katie can play there.’

However, it is difficult to bring players from the NWSL to England during the summer when the NWSL is in full swing. Usually, those players are more likely to arrive during the January transfer window, during the NWSL off-season. So Arsenal waited, with Noelle Maritz and Katie McCabe seen as the de facto options in the first half of the campaign. As the games ticked by, McCabe, a very left-footed player, was increasingly preferred to Maritz.

Wienroither was brought into the club by Eidevall so the writing appeared to be on the wall for Noelle. I was very much told that Eidevall wanted McCabe in the starting line-up one way or another but Eidevall also gave a tactical explanation to Arseblog News when we asked about playing McCabe as an inverted right-back after November’s 2-1 win over Manchester City.

‘In previous games against City we have been tricked into playing in wide areas where they are really strong. We felt putting Katie on the right would naturally see us play in more central areas.’ Arsenal like to switch play under Eidevall, to build on one side of the pitch, drag the opponent over, before quickly switching play. McCabe inverting from right-back helped them to do this. During the Conti Cup Final, McCabe switched to the right-wing as Chelsea tired with the aim of testing Chelsea’s tired legs. Here she switches the ball to Caitlin Foord on the left to create a big chance late on.

Ultimately, playing McCabe on the right is a useful tool to have in the tool belt but probably not something you want to do in every minute of every game. McCabe’s inclination to move into more central areas is a crucial nugget when it comes to the arrival of Emily Fox. Fox is a pure athlete in the way (stereotype alert) many American players are and that is clearly crucial in the full-back role.

When Arseblog News asked Eidevall about the signing in January, Eidevall pointed to her athletic profile. ‘She has an explosiveness that is a really key strength, both to handle one v ones and transition moments in the game.’ Eidevall also referenced her ability to play in different areas of the pitch and it’s here you can see why he regarded Fox as an upgrade in this position.

‘We need full-backs who are very comfortable going inside and outside. I think it is easy to become static if your full-backs can only be wide, that puts a lot of limitations to the way you can position and the way you can allow your midfielders to move as well. For us to create as much fluidity as possible in attack, which is really important in the way we want to play football, having full-backs that can play wide and on the inside, is a fundamental part of that.’

Fox often pops up in very central positions for Arsenal. She does this on the ball very well. What stands out from her (FBRef) data is that Fox is in the 92^nd percentile of WSL full-backs for progressive carries (any carry that moves the ball at least 10 yards closer to the goal) but only in the 24^th percentile for successful take-ons (basically beating a player). So she gets the ball closer to the goal without beating many opponents.

This is because she is often very good at driving inside into central spaces. When a full-back receives the ball out wide, the opponent usually closes off the touchline and Fox often evades this blockage by steering the ball into a more central lane. But Fox doesn’t drive from right to centre with the ball, she often pops up more centrally off the ball and receives it later on in moves. She averages just over a shot a game in the WSL, which is a remarkable number from a full-back.

I probably don’t need to tell you that she isn’t taking those shots from the touchline or the corner flag.

As Arsenal build on the left in the game against Bristol City in April, look at how Fox drifts in-field and gets a shot on target from a position where you’d more commonly find a number 10. And you can see another example in the 3-1 win away at Aston Villa here in March:

However, Fox is equally adept at staying in wide positions and allowing Beth Mead, one of the most reliable providers of end-product in the world, to drift into more central areas. Here are two examples from that same game against Bristol City.

Essentially, the idea is that Fox and Mead are rarely on ‘the same line.’ When one is wide, the other inverts. This is a significant part of the fluidity Eidevall wants to build into the team to make them less predictable against low defensive blocks. In April, we asked Eidevall about the trade-off between structure and fluidity.

‘Being structured and being static is not the same thing…If nobody moves, then everything can be the way you want it. But very seldom is that associated with good football. When we describe successful teams we use words like ‘dynamic’, ‘creative’, or ‘fluid.’ So how do you get structure with that? For me that is with the principles.

‘If the principles provide the structure and the principles make sure we are balanced in offence and defence, then we can have fluidity in the way we move. The better you understand the principles, the better you understand how your position might impact someone else, the better you are able to be dynamic and fluid.’ Fox has been a key part of moving towards this aspiration because she can be fluid in her positioning.

Arsenal’s right-side has been crucial to Eidevall’s Arsenal reign, not least the relationship between Leah Williamson (the right-side centre-back) and Beth Mead (the right-winger). Fox effectively completes this triumvirate. Arsenal did not have Willliamson or Fox for the first half of last season, so this is still a developing partnership but I expect it to be a cornerstone of Arsenal’s play next season.

After the 3-0 win over Leicester in April, Eidevall said, ‘It is an exciting partnership on our right side. They are really good football players. Obviously they need time together to play, to find out their strengths and how they want passes and how they want communicate. But today was one of the best examples in how we want to see that right side work. They are both so athletic as well as good football players.

‘There is one instance in the second half where Emily Fox is contesting a ball in the pocket, she loses the duel then she recovers 15 metres to win the other duel with the players who comes in the back. She plays the ball forward and from there on, she ends up in the penalty area and having a shot. It shows how athletic she is, she can cover so much ground. That right side for us can be really aggressive on and off the ball.’

In Mead, Arsenal have one of the best pressing attackers in the world and Fox and Williamson are able to push up high up the pitch due to their athleticism and aggression in challenging while running back towards their own goal. Fox also reduced Arsenal’s reliance on hopeful crosses, which plagued their early season play last year. She averages fewer crosses than Arsenal’s other full-backs, she is much more of a combination player.

Fox’s ability to recover into space behind her is a crucial part of why she was recruited too, she averaged 6.48 ball recoveries per 90 last season compared to Noelle Maritz 4.55 (McCabe makes 6.68). In short, she is comfortable leaving space behind her and recovering into it defensively, comfortable driving into central areas with and without the ball and she allows Mead to move into more dangerous positions.

Arsenal improved against low blocks during the spring and Fox’s contribution to that, with her ability to be aggressive and more fluid in her position, was key to that and will continue to be key next season.