Interview

‘Joe’s investing so much into the team’

Leah Williamson

Leah Williamson has nothing but praise for Joe Montemurro.

Our head coach has guided us to three cup finals since taking the reins in November 2017, and Williamson says he’s instilled a winning mentality.

 

“When you’re at a club like Arsenal, you have to be a good character as well and you have to be able to work with other people,” she told Arsenal Player. “There’s a lot of big names here, big players, and now a really well respected coach who has won so much in his previous jobs.

 

“I think the way that he controls that group of players is important, but it’s just as much down to us and we do take that responsibility upon ourselves. If you hear your manager speak out and get quite emotional, you can tell he’s investing so much and he wants us to do well so badly. It’s up to us to make that that come true.

 

“He’s definitely instilled a winning mentality into this side. Joe has a very clear way of playing and he makes his philosophy crystal clear. When you’re going onto the pitch, you feel prepared, there’s nothing really in the way which means you can focus on winning the game and grinding out results.

 

“You have something to fall back on, so he’s definitely made us more resilient and we’re finding ways to win. Last year’s final we were able to play good football and then we defended alongside the good football that we played. Hopefully we can produce a repeat of that.

 

“Just as much as he loves going forward, he wants clean sheets, he wants organisation and I think that’s what you need when you want to have possession. You need to be secure to allow those players to go off and do their job at the other end.”