Walti previews Conti Cup clash with Southampton

Ahead of Thursday's game against Southampton, Lia Walti held a media roundtable to preview our next opponent. 

Our Swiss midfielder fielded questions on the value of the Conti Cup competition, the culture created by our away fans this season and what she does to constantly develop and challenge herself six seasons into her stay. 

Here is everything Lia had to say:

on improving her aerial duel success rate this season…

I always knew that was probably one of the biggest weaknesses in my game, so I've obviously tried to work on the timing to attack the ball. I think in the last few games, I've been quite fortunate with my aerial duels. It's definitely something I want to keep improving, but it's not my absolute main focus in my training when it's about getting improvements in my game.

on the ever-growing culture of support, home and away…

The support this season has been incredible. I think we've built something huge here with the Arsenal family over the last couple of years. I came here six seasons ago and I think we barely sold out Meadow Park at the time so it is incredible how the support is growing and now people are coming even to our away games. I think we have sold out every away game so far this season and that just shows so much about this club, the support around us and as well that the club is just taking all the right steps as well to let the women's game grow. 

That was also one of the main reasons why I really wanted to stay here, to be part of the club because you can just feel, as a player, that women's football has a high priority here. I'm so glad that all the fans can see that as well and they want to be there every weekend to support us no matter where we play and who we play against.

on the atmosphere created by our record away crowds…

To be honest, it does mostly feel almost a little bit like a home game. I can remember the game we had against Bristol, all I could hear were the Arsenal fans. They're definitely very loud, so even when we have away games it seems like we have a home crowd there. But it's just great for the women's game. Our generation was used to playing in front of a couple hundred people and now almost every weekend, to have crowds like that is something that gives you a huge boost on the field. It's just incredible to celebrate with the fans when we score and to hear them when they want us to score even more. 

It's just so much more fun. I think the biggest difference we've ever experienced in our careers was during COVID when we had absolutely zero fans. I don’t think any of us had the same feeling we had with the fans - it felt really empty. It didn’t feel as important when we won without the fans. So to now have everyone come back and the support is growing and growing and growing, it's just incredible. No matter if it's a home or away game.

on whether she thinks the number of teams in the WSL should be expanded…

I think, right now, it's probably a pretty good amount because I think we want to have an attractive league and I think you want to have as many teams as possible competing with each other. I think this season you can see that every team actually has the chance to steal points from the top teams so the gap is getting smaller and smaller. I think maybe the league will be ready in a couple of years to definitely have more teams because the women's game is growing. A lot of teams in all the second leagues of each country in Europe are getting better and better. 

So I hope to see some more teams in the future, but I think, right now, what we have is great. I think the quality is great, so it's just really fun and we always have to be at our highest level to beat every team. Southampton tomorrow, is obviously going to be an important game for us. We want to go into the next round in the Conti Cup. We want to defend the trophy that we won last season. We take that opponent completely seriously and we've seen a lot of good clips to analyse them. We've definitely seen where their strengths are but at the same time, we want to dominate that game. We want to go into that game and win it in front of a great crowd and that's what we're looking forward to.

on her decision to stay at the club last summer…

It's not a secret. I am generally quite a loyal person to clubs so if I feel at home then I don't really want to leave. I think from the first day at Arsenal, I did feel like this was a place I could imagine myself for many, many years. But of course, when you're my age, there was a decision to be made last season. There were definitely other options but at the same time, I knew what I had here and I could feel the growth of the game, not only in the league but also in the club. 

I can feel new challenges in between the club every day with having new teammates - this season is maybe the perfect example. We have a great battle in midfield with so many talented and different players. So this is something which is challenging me and everybody around me as well. I think that was maybe one part because, with Arsenal, I can keep developing my game. But definitely, the growth of the game and the support of the club with the women's facilities we have here - just everything around here, you just want to be part of it and I didn't want to miss out on anything here because I do believe that there is more potential. There are the right people here at Arsenal to keep going with the next steps. I think the fan base is obviously huge. 

There are great leagues in Europe and outside of Europe, which would maybe be great to play in one day but at the same time, you have such great stadiums, and such great crowds every weekend. This is something I've worked my whole career for and I finally have that now. I feel like there is nothing else that could replace staying here and having these experiences week in and week out. So I think that was for me a very easy decision because that's what I always wanted and dreamt of as a kid. 

on how much defending the Conti Cup would mean…

I think it is an important one. You could see that last season. When you have a final against Chelsea in front of so many people, it doesn't matter what trophy it is. A trophy is a trophy. At Arsenal, we're here to win trophies. We maybe haven't won as many trophies as we've wanted in the last few years but the Conti Cup has always been one of them.

We take it as seriously as every other competition. We want to go into the next round and that's where we go into the game tomorrow. We just want to win that game and make the next step to be in a great position for the next game against Spurs.

on the return of Beth and Viv to our squad and their respective national teams...

Firstly, it's incredible to see them back. They have been huge players for us for so many years and for them, it was obviously a difficult moment last year when it happened at the same time and they both had to go through that rehab. I think most of our girls know how that feels like and they've done so great. They've pushed through the whole nine months and they've come back so strong.

So for Beth to have that call-up to the national team, I just think it's so deserved. You can see in every training that she's slowly finding her way back to the best version of herself. Obviously, we all know it takes a little bit of time but she's patient. She is doing great. She's working hard and I'm really pleased for her that she has that little tip of the iceberg now of being in the national team again.

It's obviously the same for Viv: she has been such a huge player for us in the past and to have her back, it's just great for the depth of the squad right now. For her, it's about getting minutes and finding her rhythm. I think she's a little bit behind because she had the surgery a few weeks later than Beth but she's finding her rhythm. She will get more minutes in the next weeks. I'm sure they will help us more and more with each week. It's just great to have players like them back because they can have a huge impact on the team.