Arsenal left-back Steph Catley is one of five Arsenal outfield players to play every minute of the last six games. The Australian has split that time between centre-half, where she was drafted in following injuries to Leah Williamson and Rafaelle, and her more natural left-back role.
Catley tells Arseblog News that the time spent at centre-half was a workout for her brain more than her body ahead of Thursday’s Champions League clash at home to Lyon.
“It’s been an interesting period, the time at centre-half was less physically demanding for me than playing at full-back. But mentally, it was really tough,” she explains.
“When you are at centre-half, that’s half the battle, organising, constantly thinking and when you play at the top level, there is so much going on that it’s mentally pretty tiring.
“But physically, in my body, by the time I came back to left-back, I felt physically good, like I was ready to step it up again and get back into that full-back position.
“We have had injuries to big, big players at the back and we have had to reshuffle, even as those players slowly come back and build their minutes, Lotte (Wubben-Moy) will play at right and left centre-back, Jen (Beattie) will come in, Rafa will play minutes here and there.
“It’s a lot of changes going on, it says a lot about our players and team that whoever comes in our back line stays really strong as a unit.”
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Catley says she sought the counsel of some of her centre-half colleagues in the squad, such as Lotte Wubben-Moy, whom she played next to for the duration of that period, and Jen Beattie.
“I had a few conversations with Jen, most of my conversations with Lots were during training, or on the field, that’s where you learn the most positionally.
“I am 28 and when I play left-back it feels like muscle memory and I don’t even have to think, it all just happens naturally. Moving to centre-back I realised how much I had to learn having not played there for so long.
“I was just having these conversations in training, trying to get the most I could out of it. Manu (Zinsberger) was great, Leah in the dressing room sometimes at half-time would give me a few tips to help.”
Arsenal have two Champions League games left before they can enjoy a winter break, after their Champions League match in Zurich on 21 December, they don’t play again until Chelsea come to the Emirates on 15 January.
However, Catley doesn’t sense that her or her teammates are desperately looking to the get to the finishing line, a change she has detected compared to last Christmas.
“When I think back to this point last season, I think that was the feeling among the group, we were desperate to get to Christmas. This time I think we feel really fresh, really good.
“We’ve got players back from injuries and that’s brought some life to the squad but everyone’s in a good position we’ve got two games left and we are fully focused on those.
“I am going back to Australia to see my family, which is the most important thing. As a footballer playing away from home, it’s the best thing you can do to refresh- I’ll see the sun as well which is a massive bonus for me!”
We rarely hear about how players feel about being shifted position like this. So I really enjoyed hearing more about how she dealt with it, and how the other players offered support. Definitely feared for us with such an ad hoc backline but they’ve done alright!