Maanum previews the second half of the season

We recently caught up with Frida Maanum to look ahead to 2024 and the second half of the season for Arsenal Women.

Here's what she had to say...

Frida: Hi everyone – it’s great to be up and running for 2024! The extended break over Christmas was so valuable to help us recover and now we’re fired up for the second half of the season.

I had a slightly different Christmas as my whole family spent the break in Thailand. My dad used to live there when he was younger so we went with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles. We were there for two weeks and it was a bit different having a hot Christmas because back home in Norway it was probably -15° with lots of snow. I’m kind of glad I skipped that part this year! But I do love a Norwegian Christmas too.

We didn’t get to have a proper Christmas celebration as a team before we all headed off, but we still found time to do Secret Santa, as we do every year. Of course, it wouldn’t be Secret Santa if everybody didn’t eventually find out who got who. Mine was Viv and she bought me about 20 pairs of gloves! I did find that pretty funny.

I always play wearing gloves, even when I’m not that cold. I think it has become a comfort thing now. Anyway, thanks to Viv, I’m well stocked for the rest of the season. She wears gloves a lot too so maybe I should donate a couple of pairs back.

Looking back on how we kicked off this season, it was pretty hard coming back after the World Cup. There wasn’t any time to properly celebrate last season because so many of us had to go straight off to our national teams. My World Cup with Norway wasn’t the tournament any of us wanted, and then I had to get back to the Arsenal way immediately and perform straight away. It’s physically a lot to go through so when you get an actual chance to switch off and recharge your batteries, like we did over Christmas, it’s a huge positive.

At the halfway point of the season it’s good to reflect on the biggest learnings so far. The Champions League stands out. It’s frustrating to be reminded that we didn’t qualify but it’s also impressive how quickly we reset. People probably think it was a really bad thing going through that Champions League exit, but we learned a lot from a team perspective and also personally. You always have to be on your toes, whether you play in the Champions League or the league. We didn’t start well in the WSL against Liverpool but then we developed as a team. I’ve also settled more into my way of playing. It will be an exciting half of the season ahead of us. We have the chances in both cups and the league as well, which is exciting to look forward to.

Our FA Cup game against Watford was a good one for us to get back into the swing of things. When you’re up against a team from the division below, you have to take them seriously and also recognise that there should be plenty of chances to score goals. I think we did well. We’ve already looked back on the game and seen where we could have been more clinical and not conceded that one goal, but overall I think it was a good game to put into practice what we trained for in the last two weeks.

"Alessia is different to Stina and I change the way I play depending on who I'm playing with"

Pressing is a big part of our game. Jonas has been here for two and a half years now and that’s what he has been pushing for the whole time: press aggressively all the time and find the moments to win the ball high and create a chance straight away from there. For my goal against Watford there was great pressure from Beth, a good drive from Stina and then we got a goal a few seconds later. That efficiency is very hard to play against. I press a lot as a No10 and I get so much energy from pressing, winning the ball high and creating chances from that. That’s an important part of my game, as well as the team’s philosophy as a whole.

You always adapt depending on who you’re playing with and that’s what makes football so interesting and fun. You have to work with others and try to do your best in terms of your qualities together. Up front, Alessia is a bit different to Stina. Less wants to get the ball to her feet, which lets me develop that delivery side of my game. Then Stina is a player who drags the line and runs behind and that creates space for me. It’s good things with both. It changes the way I play in terms of who I’m playing with. That’s the same with the midfielders behind us. They all have different qualities as well in terms of playing passes through or driving with the ball.

The second half of the season is going to be huge. I’m really excited for the whole season but especially to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. I’ve never won an away game at Chelsea and I want to change that. We’re all very motivated, especially after that result against Chelsea at the Emirates, where we created so many chances and dominated most of the game. It’s good to go into the second half of the WSL season with that confidence in the team – and I can’t wait to get going.