Interview

'Anna suits the Arsenal mentality and philosophy'

Joe Montemurro was delighted to welcome Anna Patten back home to The Arsenal.

Our academy graduate re-signed for the club this week after spending the last three-and-a-half years developing her game in the United States at Florida State University and the University of South Carolina.

And Montemurro is confident that his newest recruit will be a perfect fit in his system.

"What I really enjoy about these processes is that I'll always look for signings from within and if we can promote players, that's what our academy is there for," our head coach told Arsenal Media.

"But also, to be able to be creative with the signings and so on - we think that she suits the Arsenal mentality, the philosophy we want to play and the beauty of it is that we can work to improve her. It's not as if she's a ready-made player, there's still room for improvement so it's exciting going forward for all of us.

"The tempo, the rhythm and the pace of training and games is the first thing we need to get the level of with her," Montemurro added. "Obviously the physical aspects in the game at the moment are an important part, so even just her basic athletic and physical development is going to be important over the next two or three months.

"It's exciting that we can integrate her from a football perspective, but also really step up her development on the pitch in understanding the style, the way we train and the tempo of the way we train. They're really important things to focus on over the next few months."