Arsenal Women ended pre-season with a 3-0 win over Championship side Southampton on the south coast.

Kyra Cooney-Cross’ fine finish put Arsenal ahead before a second half brace from defender Laia Codina.

Here are five observations from the Gunners’ final pre-season outing.

1. Set-piece improvements

With new set-piece coach Chris Bradley taking over from Patrick Winqvist this summer, I was keen to keep an eye on Arsenal’s dead ball situations against Southampton. The Gunners had gone short from the majority of corners against Washington Spirit and Chelsea, but back on English soil the ball found itself being sent back into the ‘mixer’ from corners and free-kicks.

One pattern that developed for corners was Arsenal leaving a big open space at the front post, with players completely vacating the half of the 18-yard box closest to the corner taker (as pictured).

Loads of space at the near post to exploit https://t.co/YUJQm9q3bb pic.twitter.com/RG5UOaNm7O

— Freddie Cardy (@CardyFreddie) August 31, 2024

This gave the corner taker the option to swing the ball into the near post, with players running into the space to attack the ball, or to target the far post, where Arsenal attackers can crowd a small space and cause chaos.

Arsenal created a number of opportunities from corners, and scored two goals from free-kicks in the second half. Teenage winger Viv Lia planted the ball onto the head of Laia Codina to make it 2-0, before Lia’s near-post corner broke for the Spanish defender again, for her to complete her brace. Encouraging signs in the set-piece department.

2. Reid all about it

I’ve been told good things about young defender Katie Reid for a while now, particularly when I spoke to then-Watford manager Damon Lathrope back in January, during her loan spell with the Hornets. Since then, Reid was recalled by Arsenal to cover for defensive injuries, and made her senior debut against Bristol City at the back end of last season.

The 17-year-old has gone from strength to strength in pre-season, playing all 90 minutes against Washington Spirit and 89 away to Southampton. Reid displays composure beyond her years, and also boasts the physicality of a centre-back who has been around the block for many more years. Southampton’s attackers could not get past her.

With Amanda Ilestedt out of action likely until winter, Arsenal have Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Laia Codina as first-choice centre-backs, as well as the option of Steph Catley. After Teyah Goldie went out on loan to London City Lionesses, I felt confident that Arsenal would look to keep Reid in the squad at least until Christmas, and I asked Jonas Eidevall at St Mary’s about his plans for the academy product.

“The plan is for her to be here in the squad and to get playing time, she is good enough. Then we can evaluate again at Christmas what is the best way for her, there is no doubt she has a bright future, we just need to make sure it is with us.”

3. Mariona Caldentey has arrived

Watching Mariona Caldentey deep in conversation with Kim Little after both were replaced at half-time showed a player new to this Arsenal side, but one who wants to establish strong relationships with her teammates on the pitch as quickly as possible. Caldentey formed a strong left side with Katie McCabe on her first Arsenal start, and delivered an impressive display at St Mary’s.

The former Barcelona forward can play in a number of attacking positions, but was preferred to Caitlin Foord on the left-wing, with Foord playing on the opposite flank. Caldentey frequently drove into midfield, where she could interchange with Frida Maanum, and showed an excellent positional awareness to constantly find pockets of space.

Caldentey has not been with her new teammates for long after featuring for Spain at this summer’s Olympics, but a player of her intelligence and pedigree will clearly not take long to settle in. The early signs are very positive, and that should not be a surprise.

4. Arsenal’s returning players are ready to go

Pre-season came too soon for the likes of Lina Hurtig and Daphne van Domselaar, but it provided an opportunity for Jonas Eidevall to ease a number of players back into action after a busy summer.

Lia Walti came off the bench against Chelsea and played the entire second half away to Southampton after recovering from a knee injury over the summer months. Speaking to the press at St Mary’s, Walti revealed a summer full of ups and downs and a rehab that took longer than initially expected, but the Swiss midfielder looked her usual self back on the pitch against the Saints.

Stina Blackstenius made her first appearance of pre-season, playing the first 20 minutes of the second half before being taken off as planned, and interchanged well with summer signing Rosa Kafaji. Jonas Eidevall has used this pre-season campaign well to introduce new signings, returning players and give opportunities to young players, not one of whom has given a bad account of themselves.

Arsenal kick off their competitive season on Wednesday evening against Rangers in Round 1 of Champions League qualifying.