Vivianne Miedema scored her first Arsenal goal since returning from an ACL injury, opening the scoring in today’s 2-0 win over Liverpool at Prenton Park. Viv spoke to the press post match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On the emotion in her celebration…
It was a bit of both (the context of the game and her personal context). This was always a game we needed to be patient in and we weren’t going to get many chances in and when it goes in you know the game is going to be open and you have it under control. Obviously on a personal note too, someone just said it has been more than 400 days since my last WSL goal. The way the girls celebrated with me says it all too it has been a long time and I worked really hard for it. Since the winter break I feel so much more like me and this is really nice that this is ticked off and we can all move on.
On how the goal related to Eidevall’s half-time team talk…
We basically said we wanted me to be a bit lower and pick the ball up in the pocket because it is one of my strengths. I wanted to start dribbling with it or create a two v one or give myself a little opportunity to shoot. There was one moment in the first half when i tried to cross it in instead of shooting, Caitlin told me I need to start shooting again because that’s what I am good at so I listened to her!
On whether this was how she visualised her first goal back…
I’ve not thought about it that much but on the bus this morning, I said to Beth, ‘it just feels good today,’ I have been scoring a lot of goals in training and it might happen here. I had read online that I am decent at scoring against Liverpool too so I thought I needed to keep up that stat. It is really nice that it went in and that first one is done now.
On scoring in front of a full away end…
When i am on the pitch I don’t really see what’s around me but I think we all know we have the best fans and as players we appreciate it so much. It’s not just at Boreham Wood and the Emirates, it’s every single week and every away game. It gives us energy, we are an example to all the other clubs in England in how our fans are doing it. It’s just really special to be part of.
On having players returning from injury…
It’s just so nice to have a full squad finally, we’ve had a lot of girls coming back from big injuries, Kim Little has come back as well and we all know what Leah can bring to the team. She is one of the best, if not the best, centre-back on the ball in the world and that will improve us going forward massively. I also think we all need to give her time and not to push her and give her the right time to come back into the team so that she doesn’t get injured again.
Very, very happy to see Viv get her first girl since her ACL. Here’s to many more!
Ooooops
Freudian slip
Bloody autocorrect
That should be *first goal* 🤣
Pool are a very physical team, always leave a bit in after tackles, but I thought we stood up well to that. They never threatened our goal, it was always about trying to stop us playing. We kept our composure, played some good football and once the first goal went in they had no answer and we saw the game out comfortably. Good to finally have a pretty much full squad to choose from [ fingers crossed] for the rest of the season. Will have to be pretty much perfect from here to win the Title Big 6 pointers to… Read more »
It’s so odd to see a Viv goal celebrated! Here’s to many more!🍻
Just realized I subliminally copied Bill Hall’s toast. D’oh!
Happy for Viv but Emily Fox had a fantastic game and played a major part in both goals.
I suspected Viv would become a sensational player again after a few games.