Interview

‘I’m playing with so much confidence right now’

Miedema against Liverpool

Vivianne Miedema took her goal tally for the club into double figures on Sunday as she hit a hat-trick against Liverpool.

She also became the first Arsenal player to bag a treble in a Women’s Super League game since Kelly Smith in September 2014.

“I’m just happy that I can help the team,” Miedema told Arsenal.com.

“I know that I’m fit again this year and I’m feeling really good. I feel free on the pitch at the moment and I have a lot of confidence, so I just want to keep that up for the rest of the season.

“I think it’s always hard to play the first game of the season, especially when you come back from the international break with players injured and sick, so it’s just amazing that some players are so flexible that they can play anywhere. It shows that we’re a good team at the moment, that we’re motivated, we’re strong and we trust ourselves.

“We were very good in the first half, and of course Liverpool left a lot of spaces, but we knew what they were going to do and we played into that really well. Going 1-0 up in the first five minutes gives you a lot of confidence, and then the second, third and fourth came quite soon after too, so it was a brilliant start.

“It’s incredibly important to kick the season off with a win, especially when you look at the past couple of seasons. We’ve basically lost points in the first couple of games, so it was very important for us to get the win and have confidence for the next couple of games coming up.”