Lotte Wubben-Moy put in a player of the match performance in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Manchester City on Sunday. After the game she spoke to the media. The first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On trying to be proactive and compete with Bunny Shaw physically…
To highlight one player is to undermine others. Every forward in this Man City side is a threat, so for me personally against a No 9 I want to mitigate any chances they have. I’m at the stage in my career where I don’t want to be taken for granted, I want to push and (prove) I can go toe-to-toe with these players. Bunny Shaw didn’t have a great day today but I think that was because I had a good day.
On her long passing and not playing in areas where City are strong…
City press from out to in and not many teams do that with the two wingers and striker sitting a bit deeper. It can lull you into a false sense of security. Longer balls are a strength of mine and we knew they were weaker on the left side, and that we had players – particularly with Beth Mead coming off the bench – that could give them a hard time. You have to play to your strengths. That’s not to say we change for every team but moreso looking at where we can be strong and developing in that sense. It’s obviously the start of the season but you build on those results. It’s the ebb and flow of football.
On the importance of the result…
Massive. We want to win every game but particularly against Man City. We go toe-to-toe against them. We’re both ball playing teams. The Arsenal DNA in the past has been looked at as just ball-playing but today showed we have a bit of bite about us. Ultimately that bite gave us the upper hand and we came away with three points. I’m extremely happy but moreso, looking at the whole team, I think we deserved it.
On whether there result can kickstart the season…
It’s been a fairly rocky start. That’s football. The levels are being raised in the WSL and that’s what we want to see. We don’t just want to keep pushing the ceiling higher but the floor needs to be raised and you’ve seen that across the board. As a player, you want to be playing against the top teams and today against Man City, we knew what they had to offer with Bunny Shaw, Hemp and Chloe Kelly but we minimised them.
On the importance of results in a 22-game season…
Every game is like that this season. That’s what the WSL is about, it’s one of the most competitive leagues in the world now and that’s credit to the teams coming in putting in performances week in week out. Man City are always going to be a tough game. It’s less about a short season and more about looking at it step by step and winning every game in front of us.
Interesting point about city’s pressing strategy, I guess thats why went long or to the wings a lot in buildup for this game.
At last we realised that not every play has to start at the back and progress forwards. If we had carried on like that it would have only been a matter of time before we were 2 or 3 down. Plan B, hoof it upfield eliminates the City press and gives our attack something to work with. Ok Stina got a bit lucky with their goalie making a Sabrina type mistake but at least the long ball from Katie to Stina’s run put City on the back foot and gave an opportunity for that mistake to be made. I cannot… Read more »
Poetry, Peter!
Spot on. There’s a plan, but you have to use common sense and do what you need to do in the specific circumstances. Not just be a robot and do what the coach told you to do regardless. Players using their intelligence and judgement and not just blindly following instructions is what got us out of trouble against Aston Villa.
Indeed it did! We have skilled players and sometimes you just have to let them play off their own initiative if the tactical plan is not working.
Agree broadly with your point about varying build up play but I think playing out from the back has tangible benefits if it can be done correctly. It can mean you’re attacking in a more direct way if you get past the pressing structure which means more dangerous chances. It also allows you to counterpress much more easily and effectivley ( which is what led to our first goal). And it prevents you from having to defend so much in transition because long balls have a tendency to come back as fast as they go forward. I think if done… Read more »
For it to be succesful the possession from the back idea needs the ball to do the work. It must move quickly between players so that the press chases shadows. Our interpretation of it is far too slow and ponderous so we are consistently under pressure. There were times today where Manu was receiving the ball only a yard or two from her goal line, while facing across the pitch with Bunny Shaw or Chloe Kelly baring down on her. A miskick or a chargedown from the onrushing attacker and we concede another needless goal. It happens far too often!
Most frustrating thing about this and the men’s team has been to stick with plan A only, resulting in pretty predictable play where a mistake from pressure futzing around our goal can quickly lead to our opponent having a quick scoring opportunity. Having a plan B or a plan A that has more than one reset will force gaps in our opponent coverage. Can’t cover all possibilities. I also loved the control and pass by McCabe via a dangerous arc and location that released pressure on our defense and created havoc and the resulting error by their goalie. More please!
We need to work on not complaining to refs or we could easily be down players like City were against Chelsea.
Not sure what the Lacasse booking was for as it was after a foul by Pelova, but Pelova’s later yellow was definitely for complaining to the ref
Talking about refs….after yesterday with the men, we have reason to be thankful for shit refereeing today. Blatant shove on Shaw at 1-1 could have easily seen us lose the game. Catley was very, very lucky to get away with it.
Im a massive Chloe Kelly fan (wish she was still at Arsenal) she’s the only player l would tolerate giving us ‘the sign’ in The North Bank after she scored against us😁 On the whole l think we delt with her well 👍
Lotte was impressive enough to make me wonder why she NEVER starts for England, replacing some sub standard defenders.