Arsenal were 10-0 victors over Gillingham in the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday with a hat trick for Jill Roord, a brace for Beth Mead and goals from Vivianne Miedema, Danielle van de Donk, Anna Patten, Jordan Nobbs and Kim Little. Manager Joe Montemurro spoke to the press afterwards, the first four questions are from Arseblog News, the others are from other journalists.
On the importance of keeping standards high…
These are tricky games from the mental perspective because frustration can kick in because you can get too eager for goals but we just kept a level head today and we just made sure it was a preparation for a big week for us because we want everyone fresh and ready to go. We made some decisions over players who have played lots of minutes and it was just a case of keeping things ticking over.
On Vivianne Miedema scoring her 92nd Arsenal goal in her 100th club appearance today…
No, (I’ve never coached anyone that dominant) we had an experience at Melbourne City where we won every game and we had Kim Little and other players scoring for fun and we had a forward called Larissa Crummer who was top goal scorer. Viv just does it week in week out and if you add her assists on top of the goals, she’s a joy because she just finds solutions and I’m honoured and privileged to have been part of it and I am privileged to work with a player like that and I wish her all the best going forward.
On Anna Patten scoring a first Arsenal goal…
She’s starting to find a really good rhythm now, it took her a little time to adjust to the tempo and we’re blessed to have someone like her who can play centrally and out wide and who can play in a back three. It’s one of those signings where you walk away from the job and say ‘she’s going to be something special.’ I made a bet with her to score a goal before I left and she won!
Just a childhood Gooner scoring her first goal for The Arsenal… @PattenAnna ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9uAZf20uNR
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 18, 2021
On the report in the Athletic about players being unhappy with facilities and staffing levels at Arsenal this season…
There has to be a bit more fact and substance behind these reports before they come out i was a bit shocked and disappointed about the way it was painted. As a big club we would be making a big mistake if we weren’t reviewing our practices every two or three years because the game is changing and we want to get better.
It’s really important for us to review things and I actually look at the story as a bit of a gift because everyone knows we want to get better and be the best we can be and the only way top organisations do that is by reviewing their practices every 2-3 years.
On Malin Gut playing the full game today…
We left it to the last minute to make a decision on her and I left it up to her, I asked her how did she feel whether she felt good to play 60 minutes or 30 and i asked her again at half time but she felt ok. The game got into a rhythm that wasn’t too physical.
Vintage @JordanNobbs8 💥
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 18, 2021
On playing Brighton next weekend…
Yes, there is an eye on that game and that preparation started when a lot of the players came back from internationals. We started planning for Brighton and we’ve got a very tricky game against West Ham straight after that, we had to try to get the balance right so we are prepared for the big turnaround with Brighton and West Ham.
On whether he read the aforementioned article in the Athletic…
I have only seen snippets, I haven’t read the whole thing but from what I’ve seen it’s a person’s opinion and people have the right to write what they need to. From our perspective we know what we’re doing internally in terms of trying to get better.
Another game, another CROT from @BMeado9! 😎 pic.twitter.com/QP327DOno4
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 18, 2021
On whether there was in any truth in the report that his decision to stand down was informed by questions over staffing and facilities…
No, not at all. The reasons for my decision are well documented, I just wanted to take a little bit of time out from football to refresh and reboot and I know that the club will go to the next level without me.
That pass. That header. 😍@leahcwilliamson 🤝 @DanielleDonk pic.twitter.com/nmva9x1V1h
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 18, 2021
I know Viv is in a league of her own and we should take every opportunity to mention these stats, but for a while now, we’ve had a lot of different people on the scoresheet. I love those kind of games.
10 bloody nil ?
Is that classified as
menwomen againstboysgirls ?Double digits and a clean sheet. A true white-wash. Impressive stuff, scoring 6 within the first half.
Well done, girls. Stylish win, but could have done with Miedema being more clinical.
Very happy for Gillingham for getting here and grateful that they didn’t set out to kick us. They will have learnt and got so much out of that game. Best of luck to them in the future.
I consider Kim to be our top asset personally – Leah, Beth, Jordan + Kim for Team GB!!!!!!!!!