It's Lotte Wubben-Moy time! Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman must stop ignoring Arsenal star for England following standout WSL season

Her manager's glowing appraisal after Saturday's huge result has been echoed by most onlookers throughout the current campaign. Almost every Arsenal fan would agree that Wubben-Moy is firmly in the conversation for the Gunners' Player of the Season award, while a spot in the WSL Team of the Year also seems likely if she continues on her current trajectory.

Wubben-Moy's emergence as a key player has not come out of the blue, though. Following Leah Williamson's devastating ACL injury last season, and with other starting centre-back Rafaelle missing a decent chunk of the 2022-23 campaign too, she stepped up when it mattered, playing near enough every minute of her side's congested run-in.

Forming an unorthodox partnership with Steph Catley at the heart of the defence, she chipped in with a string of vital contributions; none more so than in her side's Champions League semi-final second leg against Wolfsburg, where she provided the pinpoint cross for Jen Beattie's headed equaliser that sent the game to extra-time.

Heartbreakingly, it would be Wubben-Moy's tired error in that additional period that would eventually gift the German side their place in the final, but she did not let this setback affect her performances for the remainder of the season, scoring in Arsenal's victory over Everton a few weeks later, a result that went a long way to sealing their spot in the Champions League for the following campaign.

New heights have been reached since then, though, with few defenders enjoying better WSL seasons so far. And it was telling that when Williamson did return to the WSL starting line-up in February against West Ham, it was World Cup star Ilestedt that dropped to the bench, not Wubben-Moy, suggesting that the Englishwoman has risen to the very top of the defensive pecking order.

Delving into the statistics, it's not hard to see why. Earlier in her career, there were concerns that Wubben-Moy was not as effective in possession as some of her club and international colleagues. But this campaign, no outfield player has completed more long balls or racked up more progressive passing distance than her in the WSL.

She is also carrying the ball effectively; just five WSL players (Anna Patten, Maya Le Tissier, Laia Alexandri, Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter) have racked up more progressive distance than Wubben-Moy's 1766 yards this season. And of those players, just Greenwood has registered fewer minutes than the Arsenal star.

Wubben-Moy has always excelled at bread-and-butter defending too, and this has continued recently. Bunny Shaw, Sam Kerr and Rachel Daly are among the top-class centre-forwards that she has kept scoreless this season, and she is yet to make an error that's led to an opponent having a shot this term. Meanwhile, only Liverpool's towering forward Sophie Roman Haug has won more aerial duels.

But amid this excellent run of form, Wubben-Moy has found international recognition under Sarina Wiegman hard to come by this season. She made her Lionesses debut back in 2021, coming on as a substitute during an emphatic friendly victory over Northern Ireland, eventually earning a maiden start in her side's infamous 20-0 thrashing of Latvia in November that same year.

Since then, she's been a near ever-present in England squads, only pulling out of a few camps due to injury. Despite this, her playing time has been frightfully limited. In fact, since that Latvia game, she's only managed a single start, a 45-minute outing in a friendly against Belgium in June 2022.

Thus, while she has a Euro 2022 winners' medal, and was a part of the Lionesses' impressive run to the 2023 World Cup final and Finalissima triumph, it all came as a spectator. That will surely change in the upcoming fixtures against Austria and Italy, though.

In the past, it's been easier for Wiegman to ignore Wubben-Moy. During the Euros, Williamson and Millie Bright were always going to be impossible to displace at the heart of defence. And at the World Cup, Greenwood and Carter each emerged as deserved starters as the England boss flipped between a back-three and back-four.

But in this camp, Bright and Williamson are unavailable due to injury, and it's hard to argue that Carter and Esme Morgan - who has taken a lot of Wubben-Moy's potential minutes in recent times - are in anything like the same form as her at club level. The same can also be said of United pair Le Tissier and Millie Turner.

With all of that in mind, and with two low-stakes games for Wiegman to experiment in coming up, it is surely time for Wubben-Moy to seize her opportunity.

If Wiegman does turn to Wubben-Moy for the upcoming games, the Dutchwoman will be getting plenty more than just a player at the top of her game. With Bright and Williamson both absent, there is a bit of leadership vacuum in the squad at present - a quality Wubben-Moy can bring in abundance.

She has consistently taken the lead with the team's socially conscious off-field activities. Indeed, it was her idea to write an open letter to Conservative party leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss in the wake of England's Euros win.

That letter demanded the government make football available to all girls in school PE, with Wubben-Moy explaining: “I’d had the idea before and I’d been thinking about it a lot, so I went to the team and was like, ‘We need to do something about this’. I’m a London girl, I don’t know whether being in London, feeling the energy of the city, feeling the energy of the people that we’d been celebrating and dancing in front of [helped]. I was like, ‘Let’s go’. Everyone was fully on board. It’s an inequality which should be illegal. But we’re at a stage where we’re having to put it in a letter to address the Government about it.”

And the powers that be listened, committing to providing equal school sport opportunities for girls in March 2023. Her leadership capabilities are easy to see on the pitch, too. Not only has she captained the Lionesses at various youth-team levels, as recently as Saturday she helped marshal centre-back partner Codina through the United win after the Spaniard made a particularly shaky start. That's just the latest instance of the increased responsibility she has relished in north London this season.

Thus, even if Wiegman does continue to overlook Wubben-Moy for England, her stock has never been higher at Arsenal - and Gunners fans are absolutely loving it. A product of the club's youth academy, via a brief stint at college in United States, the Bow-born defender is a firm terrace favourite.

And, after signing a new contract in 2022, there is little doubt she'll be sticking around for some time yet. Included in that deal was a commitment from Wubben-Moy to be heavily involved in the club's community projects, a pledge that has helped elevate her near-God-like status even higher in north London.

"Growing up in Hackney, in east London, I’ve been part of the areas – the communities – where Arsenal in the Community have been so active," she explained at the time. "To then be able to use this moment to commit to a future not only on the pitch but off the pitch too, in collaboration with Arsenal, I think is so important.

"With Arsenal in the Community, I know that I can’t change the country and I can’t change the world, but I can change the community where I have been a part of and I have been active. I know that with Arsenal in the Community, their help, their support, their staff, I can bring change about in my community. This is a full circle moment for me."

No expiration date was disclosed when her new deal was announced, but it's safe to say that Wubben-Moy is in it for the long haul at her childhood side. England recognition would just be the cherry on top of the cake in what has been a, in her own words, "fun", campaign for the defender.