Katie McCabe has started all 12 of Arsenal’s games so far this season. She has been in the top three for outfield minutes played for the Gunners in every season since 2018-19. Durability, consistency and versatility have all made McCabe a bona fide fixture in the starting eleven for the last six years.
Nevertheless, speaking to a small group of journalists at London Colney ahead of tonight’s WSL game against Brighton, McCabe says she does not take her starting spot for granted. ‘I come in and work hard and give my 100% to the team. If I am fully fit for selection and the coach wants to select me to play, I don’t determine that.
‘I have to show good levels of performance. The coaching staff believed in me but when you play at a club like Arsenal and the depth and quality we have, rotation is part of it and if that comes to me, I will fully respect the teammates come in ahead of me.’
McCabe is asked by Asif Burhan from Forbes whether her reputation precedes her following her booking for an altercation with Manchester United winger Geyse last weekend, ‘I hadn’t been booked since March, I play hard and strong and I wear my heart on my sleeve when I represent this club like I have done for the last nine years and that is the way it will be. I won’t change that.’
Arseblog News butts in and asks McCabe whether the fact that she hadn’t been booked since March was part of a conscious effort on her part, especially as the only three WSL games she has missed in the last two seasons have all been due to suspension. ‘For me, looking back I reflected on the season previous and if I look at the one game I missed, it was a game we dropped points in against West Ham away.
‘If I am missing games, I will always ask how I stop that. Whether that is injury or suspensions, I need to be better and not give referees a reason to book me so easily. At times I feel like they can. It is frustrating.’ Last weekend against Manchester United, Steph Catley was once again preferred at centre-half.
Catley made lots of overlapping runs on the day more reminiscent of her usual left-back role. Arseblog News asks McCabe whether that was a deliberate tactic devised for Manchester United. ‘It wasn’t something we consciously worked on,’ she explains. ‘With how we play, we have that fluid system and rotation and the staff really trust us to roll into space when we see it.
‘It is up to us to make sure players are supporting underneath. I know Steph is a fantastic left full-back so if it meant me sitting beside Leah Williamson for a few phases of the game, that is absolutely fine. Steph can do the job she has a wonderful left foot. It is a good thing to have two left footers on that side of the pitch.’
McCabe admits that the beginning of the season has been tough with the resignation of Jonas Eidevall after a tough start to the season. As part of the leadership group at the club, McCabe says the players have made a conscious effort to be together.
‘From myself and the team’s point of view, we have full respect and belief in what Renee (Slegers) and the coaching staff are trying to do. Losing the manager mid-season was quite new to us all, it is always difficult but in tough times you can’t separate and go into your own thoughts.
‘You need to stay together as a group and I think since Jonas’ departure we have shown that. We put in a really good performance against United, even though we dropped two points.’ McCabe rejects the idea that the team have been re-energised by the change in manager with Renee Slegers in interim charge.
‘That would be disrespectful to Jonas, we need to respect that situation but for us, it was about focusing on those next two games after Jonas’ departure and we did. Having the support of the fans really meant a lot to us. The long away day to Manchester on a Sunday at 12.30, we really appreciate that. We can always hear them. We want to get back to scoring goals and performing well for them.
‘It is important not to disrupt all the good things we have built up over the last three years, it is similar to the things we were doing under Jonas. We need to be more tidy in areas, especially in the final third.
‘How can we become more fluid and create more goal scoring opportunities? We are a team that dominates the ball a lot and we want to score more goals, we have the quality to do that. It is about sustaining that for longer periods during the game.’
Arsenal are currently in discussions with UEFA after a fixture clash with the men’s team, as well as a home draw for Spurs in the League Cup and UEFA stadium requirements left the Gunners with a difficult to negotiate double booking, meaning the women’s team’s game against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on 18 December will now be moved to another location.
McCabe admits the situation is not ideal but says she doesn’t question the club’s commitment to the women’s team, ‘It is not an ideal situation, from our perspective as the women’s team we know the commitment the club has to us. The drive they have tried to achieve in Europe and moving us to play at the Emirates consecutively and building on that.
‘We know the club are working with UEFA to get the best solution possible. I don’t think this will happen hopefully again but it can happen when you share a stadium. As player we have seen, not just on the football side, but marketing and on the commercial side, the club have tried to push the growth of the women’s game.
‘I think the fans have seen that and I am sure you guys in the media have too. I believe we have always been at the forefront of change in that and growing the evolution of women’s football for as long as I have been here.’
