Miedema opens up on 'fear' of Arsenal return after first goal in 413 days
As Vivianne Miedema took the ball into her orbit, sashayed to the top of Liverpool's penalty area and peeked ever so gingerly at Rachael Laws in goal, the last sensation that came across was overthinking.
Indeed, as Miedema thrashed home her first goal in 413 days into the roof of Laws' net, the vibes were immaculately vintage. Miedema at her original best. The return of the striker officially begun.
After rupturing her ACL in December 2022 in a Champions League match against Lyon, Miedema's road to recovery has been long and arduous, filled with intermittent setbacks in recovery to nagging mental doubts within her own head.
"It’s been pretty tough," the Arsenal star told SkySports after her goal. "I’ve had a couple of setbacks, and before the winter break I didn’t feel like myself and something over Christmas shifted my mindset and after winter I’ve been feeling more like myself again."
Pressed on the shift in mindset, Miedema said: "I think coming back, some players overthink it and I did. I was a bit scared to come back. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I wanted to be old me again or even better than old me."
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On Sunday evening, shades of former pre-injury Miedema were difficult to shake. And while more patience will be required for a player to fulfil a recovery arc as substantial as the Dutch striker's, for Arsenal, Sunday represented micro and macro victories.
The micro victory for Jonas Eidevall was that the 27-year-old's goal graciously obscured the rigid 59 minutes which ensued before it. That the Swede's century in charge of the club would be eclipsed by a turgid goalless draw - leaving the Gunners at risk of drifting away from the title race - felt cruelly inevitable.
Such is the joy of having the skeleton key that is Miedema back on hand. A crucial goal scored, one largely out of nothing but that emphatically placed the visitors into the driving seat for the final half hour. It's a luxury that, for 11-plus months, has felt distant, even illusory.
Arsenal celebrate Vivianne Miedema scoring for the first time since December 2022 (Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images)The macro victory here is that Arsenal, an injury-plagued team that last season around this time dug itself through threadbare trenches, are now stacked in the attack department. That Stina Blackstenius, who has scored 11 goals in all competitions this season, could be reduced to a substitute's role on Sunday evening as Arsenal hunted down a third goal is case and point.
For Eidevall, a fit and firing Miedema is a boon very few teams, if any, can tout. Sunday's goal might have taken a slight nick off Liverpool defender Gemma Bonner on its way past Laws, but an iota of luck is always required to end a goal drought.
That it has come to a halt in the manner that it did will reap immense benefits for Miedema as she bids to return to her usual prowess.
"You want to come back in and you want to help the team," she said. "Mentally, that’s the biggest part of the game for me. I’m so happy that this one flew in today and I can focus on myself.
She added: " I finally started enjoying training again, I enjoy being out there with the girls and I don’t think about my knees anymore which is the best thing ever. I’ve been feeling like myself again."
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