Joe Montemurro couldn’t hide his pride after his side wrapped up the FA Women’s Super League title with a 4-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
We spoke to our head coach on the team bus after the game. This is what he had to say:
on the achievement…
I’m very happy and very proud of everyone who’s been involved. It’s been a joint-achievement from everyone. I’m just so proud of everyone.
on the performance…
The result proves that. There probably could’ve been some more. To have a high-pressure game and to be able to achieve what we achieved in control is a real testament to the way it’s been done.
on scoring different types of goals…
Absolutely. You create the base, you train for the base to score, to open up spaces and hopefully put the ball in dangerous areas. The goal that I really loved was our second, Katie McCabe’s. There was a good build-up and we made the space for her to get into and produce a great finish. That doesn’t take away from the great goal that Viv and Beth scored.
on how much it means to the players…
It means a lot because we’ve had an interesting year. They’ve come together as a group and there’s been a lot of adversity with regards to the injuries and so on. As a group, the love and the respect they have for each other really culminates in what we’ve achieved today.
on how much it means to him…
You’ve actually just instigated something as I’ve got a bit of an emotional twinge there. To coach an Arsenal team to a championship as an Arsenal fan is mind-boggling. It’s something I’d never have thought about in growing up and becoming a coach. I’m very proud and very honoured to be here as an Arsenal coach.
on this being the very beginning…
The first thing I thought was, ‘How can we make this better now? How can we improve on this?’ The Champions League is the big one and we want to be up there in the upper echelons of European football. We need to be at the best against the best, winning leagues every year. We need to improve because women’s football is improving.
on what’s next for the squad…
We will improve both as a squad and in the way we play. We’ve got different challenges, bigger challenges next year and we’re just growing. This achievement is the first step to what I believe is going to be an amazing journey for the Arsenal Women team.
on ending City’s unbeaten streak in our final game…
Yeah, it’s going to be hard and I think there’s going to be a lot of partying, a lot of excitement leading up to it. We’ll definitely do Arsenal proud by going out there and still giving it our best shot to make sure we lift the trophy in front of our fans, who have all been absolutely amazing. We want to make them proud.
on another attendance record being broken…
It’s a rhetorical question. The game is growing at a rapid rate and we’ve got a World Cup coming around the corner. It’s great football and it’s great to watch. All these athletes, these players, at every club, deserve everything they get. They do an amazing job and today was an amazing showcase.
on the season as a whole…
I’m very proud of the way we did it with control, defined our own destiny. We didn’t have to rely on other teams dropping points or anyone else losing. It was just us and that’s all credit to the players who were prepared every week and bought into the philosophy and methodology of play. They’ve represented Arsenal in the best way possible.
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