Lia Walti played 45 minutes of today’s 3-0 win over Southampton at St. Mary’s in Arsenal’s final pre-season friendly of the summer. She spoke to the press post-match, the first four questions are from Arseblog News.
On her knee injury at the end of last season and whether she feared the worst…
Yes, the first diagonosis we got was a relief. I had some ups and downs during the rehab, it was a bit longer than expected, but I am really, really happy to be back on the pitch and slowly building minutes.
How she has felt physically getting minutes in the last two friendlies…
We had a really good time in Washington, it was important for team building and it was hot, really hot and we got a lot out of these games because it was physically really demanding. Today everyone got 45 minutes, we have a really deep squad and players can step in and be incredible. For me personally, honestly I am just happy to be on the pitch and playing free and no pressure on myself, I am trying to build my minutes and be ready for the season.
On what her summer was like rehabbing…
I could write a book about it! I couldn’t answer in a couple of lines. I was spending a lot of time in London, when you are injured you have to recover. I spent some time at home too, we have a big summer coming up in Switzerland and all I wanted was to get fit and right and I was travelling between Switzerland and London to get my knee right and spend some family time in between. To be honest, my time off was a little bit short but I wanted to get back and now I see the benefit of that.
On what Mariona and Kafaji will add to the team this season…
They both have something we didn’t have last year. Mariona is very experienced and used to winning and you can see we don’t really have her type of player, a midfielder who is creating overloads for us off the ball. When you watch Rosa she is a typical young, creative player who just wants the ball all the time and for her it is about her getting experience and getting the minutes. I think she has the last passes to create chances, she is a big, big talent and for her, no pressure, she can just grow into it.
On the growth of the academy players during pre-season…
I think you can see it in the men’s side too how important it is at this club, the girls are great, they are beginning to learn and they take on more responsibility. You see them one year ago and you see them now and they have made a big step forward. We have big, big hope and believe in all of them.
On Wednesday’s UWCL qualifier against Rangers…
It is exciting, the summer break was long, we didn’t see each other for a while, we had a good few weeks of pre-season together and we are ready to go.
On how different this pre-season feels compared to last season…
Last season we didn’t have this kind of pre-season and this year it is much better for us and we had some time together and I think it will prepare us really well.
Good to have Lia back and ready to go.
When I saw the headline I thought she had an addiction problem, like Amy Winehouse, or Tony Adams.
Bit of a shit comment, sorry.
Anyone reading the above please consider it deleted.