ONE MOMENT IN Arsenal’s league opener last Sunday encapsulated Katie McCabe.
The Republic of Ireland captain was central in the build-up to the Gunners 81st-minute equaliser which secured a 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
She capped an all-action performance with the Arsenal Player of the Match award, and this passage of play was McCabe at her best.
Chloe Kelly’s first touch went astray inside the City half, and she pounced with a slide tackle. As Kelly hit the deck, the shadowing Arsenal skipper Kim Little went with her. The Sky Blues were aggrieved by McCabe’s initial challenge, but now they were incensed.
Referee Abi Byrne was looking straight at it. She didn’t budge. McCabe, meanwhile, rushed back to her feet and dinked the ball over the opposing players tangled on the ground. Smelling blood, she went on a marauding run. With her fifth touch after the deft flick, she played Rosa Kafaji through with a beautifully-weighted pass. The Swedish international hit the near post with her first-time shot. The rebound fell to Beth Mead, who fired home and sent the Emirates into raptures.
Impact off the bench!
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) September 22, 2024
Mead finishes off as Kafaji's strike hits the post!#BarclaysWSL @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/T0vGy7qtfp
Four days later, there were similar scenes at Meadow Park as Mead scored a spectacular goal to seal Arsenal’s Champions League progression. Having gone close to an assist the last time, McCabe was unquestionably the direct provider on this occasion.
The third goal of a 4-0 rout of BK Häcken — which overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit — stemmed from a throw-in. McCabe’s 49th-minute sling skipped by a Häcken’s Hannah Maria Wijk and Alessia Russo got on the ball. She found the Dubliner, who had made an incisive underlapping run. McCabe drove into the box and lifted a cross into Emily Fox. A Häcken defender did well to get there just before Fox, but her clearance went only as far as McCabe, who kept the chance alive by heading the ball back towards Mead.
A moment of individual magic followed: the England international flicked the ball over Häcken’s Jóhanna Fossdalsá and viciously smashed home on the spin.
Vintage Beth Mead goal.
— SHE scores bangers (@SHEscoresbanger) September 26, 2024
pic.twitter.com/2lUKebF9e5
“Vintage Beth Mead” was the caption on the video clip which has since gone viral on Twitter.
“Classic Katie McCabe” read one quote tweet.
Two big shifts in one week, with another needed away to Leicester City this afternoon to continue a flying start to the season.
McCabe is always in the spotlight, her form and positioning a constant source of discussion and debate. She is a world-class player, and her star has risen steadily since becoming Ireland’s youngest captain at the age of 21 to this, her ninth season at Arsenal.
Expectation is always high for the 29-year-old, such are the soaring standards she has set through the years. She hasn’t quite hit those for Ireland of late, having been somewhat sub-par in a green shirt in 2024. A hectic schedule may have hindered her performance, but it’s fair to say McCabe didn’t reach anywhere near the same highs as the entire World Cup or Nations League campaigns. She particularly struggled when Ireland’s other star player, Denise O’Sullivan, was absent through injury, and frustration often boiled over.
Generally deployed at left-back in the Euro 2025 qualifying Group of Death, she was often caught out of position higher up the field. This sometimes happens at Arsenal too, where she has established herself as Jonas Eidevall’s first-choice in that position.
A versatile, attack-minded player, McCabe must focus on her defensive duties first at left-back.
She did that last Sunday, producing a string of crucial interceptions. A huge defensive block on an Aoba Fujino shot in the 23rd was among the highlights, while she also cut off some of City’s top players in Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Lauren Hemp.
Katie McCabe vs Manchester City@Katie_McCabe11 pic.twitter.com/g46AaB4jK2
— Laura Veen Comps Specialist (@veencomps) September 23, 2024
As the game wore on, she was a creative spark going forward, playing pinpoint through-balls to Stina Blackstenius and Russo, as well the decisive one to Kafaji.
McCabe’s display was widely lauded afterwards, with suggestions in some quarters that it was a response to recent criticism.
Her defensive responsibilities were under the microscope a few days beforehand in the first-leg Champions League defeat to Häcken. Her error allowed Tabby Tindell in for their 77th minute winner: McCabe fresh-aired a routine clearance and, with Arsenal completely exposed, couldn’t recover to deny the American attacker.
• Häcken 1⃣-0⃣ Arsenal FC
— 𝐉𝐔𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐎 (@Juanito__91) September 18, 2024
• Tabby Tindell 🇺🇸 ( 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝟕𝟔 )
• #𝐔𝐖𝐂𝐋 | #𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐟𝐞𝐦 | @mamdwwy pic.twitter.com/rrUlKpcqAs
McCabe has generally been much better defensively since. There were some momentary lapses early on, but she enjoyed a string of dispossessions and clearances in Thursday night’s return leg.
Composed on and off the ball, she was always an outlet as Arsenal dominated possession, while her link-up with Spanish World Cup winner Mariana Caldentey was particularly impressive. Again, McCabe grew as an attacking threat as the game developed, producing strong runs and probing passes, but she didn’t always take opportunities to deliver — or shoot from distance.
Her leadership did shine through: when the Arsenal players huddled mid-game, she was doing most of the talking, while she directed the ball around the pitch through a controlled, professional second-half performance.
The Gunners will need more of the same if they are to have a big season.
McCabe, who has long been renowned for her bullish, fearless style of play has also shown improved discipline in its early stages, yet to pick up a booking. The “Did Katie McCabe get a yellow card today?” Twitter account has been unusually quiet.
So to has the Arsenal fan phrase, “Katie McCabe only scores bangers.”
Perhaps that’s the next step for the reinvigorated Irish star.
Could today be the day?
Sunday’s WSL fixtures
Live on WSL Youtube
- Manchester City v Brighton & Hove Albion, 12.30pm — BBC Two
- Everton v Manchester United, 2pm
- West Ham United v Liverpool, 3pm
- Leicester City v Arsenal, 3pm
- Aston Villa v Tottenham, 4.30pm.
