Kim Little

Rory.

But what I mean by that is that we're lucky at Arsenal to have had a lot of really high profile legends in the last sort of 10 years of do you think obviously Kim Little who talked about a lot we've got Leo Williamson obviously Beth Mead left before we're very lucky to have her for Viv Miedema for a long time you know she was a massive figure for the club and I think we take it for granted that we just have these superstars and they're just a part of the club and actually because Russo despite being at Arsenal for a while now is maybe slightly newer to the clubs than the likes of your Kim Littles and the Leo Williamson's I think sometimes she kind of doesn't quite get put on that same level because, again, it's just time and all these sort of things.

But what she's contributed to Arsenal now in the time she's been here has been amazing.

And she's been such a consistent source of not only brilliant play, but goals and obviously a big part in the Champions League and all this sort of stuff.

She was one of the best when I was retiring in the NWSL.

And she played with Little.

Kim Little.

Yep, Kim Little.

And the two of them would play together.

And I really did not like playing against Seattle.

Rene Slagers made four changes from the 1-1 draw against Birmingham City, with Emily Fox, Steph Catley, Taylor Hines and Caitlin Ford all coming into the starting line-up, with Olivia Smith moving up front and Russo in the No. 10 role.

Kim Little was still among a host of absentees, but Daphne van Domselaar returned to the bench for the first time this season.

The early stages were somewhat scrappy, with neither side being able to find any sort of passing rhythm, but we curved out the first opening in the ninth minute when Lise Kopp parried a shot from Stanway that sparked a battle for the ball between Smith and Caitlin Dykstra.

Our number 11 managed to get a toe to the ball, but Kopp scrambled it behind for a corner from which Stanway had a shot blocked.

Olivia Smith leveled with an absolute rocket on 66 minutes, but we were unable to find a winner.

Rene Slagers made four changes from the defeat at Manchester City, with Misa returning in goal, Smilla Holmberg making her first WSL start of the season, and Smith joining Black Stenius in attack.

With Kim Little ill, Russo shifted into the number 10 role and Leah Williamson wore the captain's armband.

Unsurprisingly, we took control from the start and had 80% possession in the early stages, but the visitors were compact and aggressive in defence.

To Almeida partnered Steph Catley in the Harter defence, while Onabadje returned to the starting line-up, making her first appearance at right-back and Taylor Hines retained her place on the left.

Kyra Gooney-Cross and Georgia Stanway formed a now-familiar midfield partnership, with Reuteler and Caitlin Ford on the flanks either side of Rousseau, who wore the captain's armband, with Leah Williamson and the returning Kim Little among the substitutes.

That meant another start up front for Olivia Smith.

Benfica got proceedings underway and looked to keep the ball in the early stages, only to get caught in possession and give Smith a sight of goal from the edge of the area that, lucky for them, went straight to Lena Powell's.

having each other's backs when they have these accomplishments as well so yeah good shout out from you there

Fraser big credit and she Caroline Weir said in that presentation when Erin Cuthbert passed it over to her she was like there should be more Scottish recognition and I honestly think there should I don't know how Kim Little forgive me if I'm wrong but I don't think she's ever been nominated which is obscene because she's been doing crazy things in a football pitch for over a decade now and then Erin Cuthbert as well she's still got a few years left of her career so I hopefully would like to see her maybe getting a bit of worldwide recognition as well she's obviously got that recognition in Chelsea and in Scotland as well as captain of the Chelsea women's team so she's in a position that she could kick on and maybe get nominated as well but Pretty classy of Caroline Weir.

And also she's been very vocal, Caroline Weir, in saying that she would trade it all to get Scotland to the World Cup.

So absolutely love to hear that.

I have to tell you, Trailblazers, before a ball had even been kicked, I was already feeling pretty pleased with myself because when that Arsenal team sheet appeared, I started wondering if Renee had secretly subscribed to Trailblazers under a pseudonym and was listening to my suggestions.

Geraldine Reuteler finally getting her first start, Alisa De Almeida coming into the defence, Taylor Hines kept her place at left back and Kim Little was back in the squad after being unwell.

It was so close to the team I'd been calling for in my preview, although Renee clearly wasn't convinced by my suggestion of starting Annika Borba in goal and thankfully she ignored my advice to rest Alessia Russo as well.

and if that wasn't satisfying enough I also predicted a 3-0 win which, unless my memory's playing tricks on me, is the first time I've actually got the score right this season.

and that is not a criticism of the other players because they've not had the chance to develop those relationships with her yet but I think it's something worth watching as she gets more minutes when you've got someone who reads the game as intelligently as Geraldine does you've got to learn to recognize the spaces she's moving into and trust her to do something useful when you give her the ball The more I watched her, the more convinced I became that if Arsenal can begin finding her regularly in those positions, we're going to create a lot more chances.

One of the things I love about her game is what happens when she receives possession under pressure.

there are players who need a little bit more time to get the ball under control look up and decide what they're going to do next whereas Geraldine often seems to have made that decision before the pass has actually reached her her first touch is generally excellent her close control is lovely and she's got this wonderful ability to use one movement to take an opponent out of the game and open up a passing opportunity that wasn't there a moment earlier and if you watch the game back or watch the highlights you'll see a few occasions where she switches direction on a defender and just leaves them for dust or leaves them on the floor and that is honestly as someone who loves creative midfielders like that it's just a joy to watch Watching her do all of that reminded me of some of the qualities that we see in Kim Little and Mariana Caldente because they're players who can receive the ball in very congested areas and somehow make everything look quite straightforward.

Now, I'm not suggesting Geraldine is exactly the same sort of footballer because she offers different qualities and she's particularly effective with her movement beyond defenders, but there's a similar intelligence about the way she approaches those situations.