Laia Codina is under way in her second season in an Arsenal shirt. The defender signed from Barcelona last summer impressed during the Gunners’ 6-0 win against Glasgow Rangers on Wednesday evening.
Codina beats a path from Catalunya to North London that is now followed by attacking midfielder Mariona Caldentey. Codina has taken Mariona, her former club teammate and international teammate, under her wing. Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s UWCL qualifier against Rosenborg on Saturday evening, Codina insists that Mariona doesn’t need any advice where football is concerned.
‘She doesn’t need advice, you can see how well she adjusts straight into the team. In just two weeks she is doing really well, her teammates are getting to understand how she plays and she is understanding how we play. On Wednesday you could see her beginning has been good enough!’
Codina has had to bide her time to get regular minutes, but with Wubben-Moy nursing a knock in pre-season, Amanda Ilestedt on maternity leave and Steph Catley also nursing a knock, opportunity has opened up for the Spaniard at the beginning of the season. Codina says she is forming strong partnerships with all of Arsenal’s centre-half options.
‘Not only with Leah, with Lotte too and Katie Reid, they are great centre-backs. We talk a lot to each other, whoever is playing. This is great for the players that are starting. With Leah, yes we prepared a bit during pre-season but I did with Lotte and Katie too. That competition is high but when you are at Arsenal, that is how it is.
‘It was me in the starting eleven on Wednesday but you never know what happens for the next game. Whoever will be my partner at centre-back, or maybe I am on the bench, we are training at a high level and helping each other and I really appreciate that from my teammates.
‘People who know me and the staff here I think can really feel that I like the competition. It is something that helps us to grow as players, you appreciate it as a player. Also we have Amanda (Ilestedt), who is out for a good reason! I think I can speak for all the team that having this competition is good for all of us.’
Arseblog News asks Codina how settled she feels off the pitch following her move last summer. I ask whether there was a hint of regret that Mapi Leon, the player who kept her from Barcelona’s starting eleven, was injured last season.
‘First of all, I didn’t really think about Mapi being injured, I really felt I was in the right place here,’ she explains. ‘I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted last season. Maybe until about December, I didn’t really feel like I was settled in but now I feel I am the player that I want to be.
‘I am a player who wants to speak a lot on and off the pitch, maybe because of the language I needed more time for that. I think you can see now, because I am more comfortable with the language I can be a leader on the pitch. It is easier for me because I can speak I can play better.
‘I said after the Olympics I really wanted to come back and start the season because I think it can be a great season, we have our goals and one of those starts tomorrow.’
The World Cup winner says the penny dropped in the second half of last season in terms of her acclimatisation, she explains that communication is one of her biggest qualities.
‘From December, I don’t know why, my mind just changed and I just started to understand English better. On Wednesday, having those minutes, I played well and it can show what I have been working on. In training I wasn’t always that Laia we saw on Wednesday. Maybe it was more difficult to find that Laia before last Christmas. I wish it could’ve happened more during last season.
‘It helps in the team if I can talk to the team, to change how we press, how we build up. I am in a position where I can see everything on the pitch so I have to help so that is why I like to speak on the pitch, it is very helpful for my teammates.’
Codina says she enjoys watching her teammates further forward on nights like Wednesday, but not too much! ‘I enjoy but I try not to enjoy too much because I have the attackers there. We work on this, manage the game and having one more in the defensive line than they have in the attacking line.
‘So if they have a front two, we have three back and if they have one, we have two back. I feel responsible on that. I enjoy watching all the players, Mariona, when they pass, pass, pass because that is a little bit of the Spanish DNA. But I also have my job during the game.
‘Sometimes it is more important what you do without the ball than what you do with it. You play 90 minutes but you might have the ball three minutes in total. So what are you doing in the other 87 minutes? What you do without the ball is so important, so I try to enjoy the game but also to manage the line.’
Codina helped herself to two goals from setpieces during the pre-season friendly against Southampton last weekend and she says this is an identifiable target for her this season.
‘I really hope they are not the last ones this season, it is something I really want to improve on the setpieces because I think they can make the difference in games that are quite tight. I want to be the player that can make the difference on setpieces to help the team.’
Thought she played quite well vs Rangers
Laia is clearly an absolutely top class defender, who looks like she is becoming the successor to the brilliant Rafa.
I would like to see her at LB
Would love to see what she could do going forward and connecting with Caldentey and others