Arsenal Women Arsecast Episode 150: Heroes and Villains
Arseblog Arsecast, The Arsenal Podcast
arseblog.com
4.8 • 6.9K Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Arsenal Women Arsecast, Tim and Jamie look back at Arsenal's 2-0 FA Cup win over Aston Villa on Sunday. They analyse the performances of Smilla Holmberg and Kim Little, consider what changed in the second half to see Arsenal really assert themselves on the game, how Arsenal exposed Villa on set-pieces. Then Tim and Jamie take listener questions on dream draw for the fifth round, January reinforcements, the performances of Anneke Borbe in goal and there's a look ahead to the Subway Cup semi-final against Manchester United on Wednesday.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Arsenal Women Askastastonarlog.com with me, your host, Tim Stillman, looking back on Sunday's 2-0, |
| 0:20.5 | F-A Cup win over Aston Villa at Meadow Park, |
| 0:24.7 | into the hat for the next round, and the draw, I think, takes place on Monday evening. I haven't |
| 0:29.0 | really looked that up yet. We're recording this not that long after the game, actually, |
| 0:34.2 | by our usual standards. I'm off to Milan for the men's champions league game on |
| 0:38.5 | Monday, so we're recording on Sunday evening. And to look over the game with us, as ever, |
| 0:45.3 | is Jamie Spanger, who was up to the wee small hours watching this one in Melbourne. Jamie, how are you? |
| 0:53.1 | I'm good, Tim. I'm tired. I'm always happy to wake up and just stay. So basically, I always take a little bit of a nap, 45 minutes to make sure that I'm prepped for the one o'clock games. The 1130 is perfect. One o'clock, I need a nap. But I'm always happy to do that when we win, especially in the FA Cup. And it's just, it's not the waking up that's the issue. It's the wrestling, the VPN's trying to get the streams. But all is well, got to watch the game, three points in the bag, into the hat. Let's talk about it, Tim. Yeah, absolutely. We've got a question on that in the second half, actually, about the kind of international broadcast rights, which I think it's worth talking about |
| 1:27.8 | in a topic of discussion leading up to the game. |
| 1:30.2 | However, in the game, starting line up, two changes. |
| 1:34.5 | One enforced. |
| 1:35.3 | We know that Leah Williamson is out with a calf injury. |
| 1:39.2 | I believe at the moment that's expected to be around a month out. |
| 1:47.8 | Unfortunately, it's just the games Arsenal have in that month. It feels like it might as well be a lot longer, but unless anything changes on that, |
| 1:54.0 | which things can and do. But then also, what was the other change? It was Steina Blackstanias coming |
| 2:00.7 | in for Freedom Ornum. So |
| 2:01.9 | nothing revolutionary. Were you expecting more changes than that, Jamie? I don't think so. |
| 2:10.1 | I don't think so. I think this is one of the games at this stage of the season where Arsenal |
| 2:13.4 | are at the WSL, like these are the cups that you really have to pay attention to. And |
| 2:17.2 | Arsenal just got unlucky with the draw, playing another WSL team that's in really good form. Like Man United, Man City, even Chelsea, I know it was a championship team, but a lot easier opponents and the opportunity to rotate. So I think had this been another game, maybe you see a Lesia Rousseau, like finally get a bit of a break and rather than coming to the midfield, but that's what happens when you get a WSL team. And again, like I said, Villa are on strong form. So I wasn't really surprised by the lack of rotation. Yeah, I think I thought one of the fallbacks might change, whether it be Smilla Holmberg coming in for Emily Fox, particularly because Emily Fox, you know, |
| 2:52.5 | got a look like got a bit of a bang on the thigh. |
| 2:55.6 | Last week and Taylor Hines as well, |
... |
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