The Arsenal Invincibles’ unbeaten season will probably never be replicated. Arsène Wenger’s 2003-04 side sealed their place in history when Patrick Vieira scored against Leicester City to ensure the achievement was completed with a win. So it is perhaps apt that Arsenal have looked to another manager who has presided over an invincible season to turn around the fortunes of their women’s side.
Pedro Martínez Losa’s abrupt departure one month into a stuttering new campaign despite strong recruitment came after a disappointing tenure. In Losa’s three years he won the 2015 Continental Cup (League Cup) and the FA Cup final against Chelsea in 2016 but failed to keep the club in contention in the league.
Now Joe Montemurro is charged with bridging the growing gap between historically dominant Arsenal, who have 43 major trophies in their 30-year history, and the new money of Manchester City and Chelsea.
After a week in London grappling with the logistics of his round-the-world move and getting as acquainted as possible with a squad split up for an international break, the Australian sits in London Colney still very much surprised to be there. “Ah look, it’s still a little bit surreal,” he says with a wide grin. “Was there any hesitation? Well, no. When a global brand like Arsenal calls you and shows interest obviously it’s an amazing honour. You think about what a fantastic project it could be. To be involved with such an amazing brand and identity in world football is fantastic.”
Montemurro may seem surprised by his recruitment for one of the most attractive managerial positions in women’s football but he comes with an impressive record.
Having been picked by City Football Group to lead the new Melbourne City team (added to the CFG portfolio after Manchester City and New York City) in the W-League (Australia’s women’s top division), Montemurro won the title without dropping a point.
“It was an amazing project because I had the opportunity to build a team from scratch, so you’re able to stamp your beliefs and your ideas on it, and create a template for high standards,” Montemurro says. “And we recruited on the basis of that.
“One aspect of it was to create the first real professional organisation, professional women’s team in Australia, and the City Group were fantastic because they backed wanting that and creating that identity from day one. Hopefully I’ve left a footprint and a template for it to continue.”
The following season things were a little tougher as he attempted to balance his managerial duties with an assistant coach position with the men’s team. “The reality was that I got pretty much told that the men’s team wanted me as an assistant coach and we tried the process of juggling both, being an assistant coach and also a head coach of two high-performance teams. It was difficult, because obviously Australia is a big country and there’d be times when I would be sitting on the bench in Sydney on a Friday night and then I’d have to catch a flight over to Perth for a Sunday morning game.”
Midway through the W-League season he handed over the managerial reins to his assistant, the Wales international Jess Fishlock, who took the role of player-coach and guided the side to a second league title.
Montemurro became the chief assistant coach of the men’s side at the start of 2017 but after a string of poor performances and a coaching staff reshuffle he switched back to women’s football when Arsenal came calling. “To be honest, for me it’s just football. I don’t differentiate whether it’s male or female, I just love coaching football. An opportunity at a level where I feel we can all grow and be better is what’s important.”
Montemurro’s style and managerial philosophy fit Arsenal’s brand of football: “When I originally presented my CV and presented my vision, my model and my way of training, it did fall in line with the club’s. I believe in an attractive brand of football, possession-based football, winning games in the right way. The other thing is there seems to be a synergy between my character and where the club is at the moment. All the stars aligned.”
Life at Arsenal may seem a world away from the W-League but not everyone at the club is a stranger to the new manager. Kim Little scored nine goals in the unbeaten Melbourne City 2015-16 season, on loan from Seattle Reign, and the Scotland striker has been vocal about her approval of Montemurro’s appointment since the announcement on 7 November. Montemurro is equally excited to be reunited with such a talented player. “I’ve got to pay her for all that publicity,” he says, laughing. “We kept in contact via email, I knew she was injured for the Euros, so I just sent her an email saying: ‘How’s the rehab?’ So there was no real communication before the job, but obviously as the job moved closer we started to talk.
“You have moments in your career where you get to work with players of that stature and I can’t think of a more consummate professional than Kim Little both as a player and as a person. It was an absolute honour to have worked with her in that situation and hopefully we can look forward to some bigger and better things together.”
The other players he has had the chance to meet so far have also been welcoming, and the facilities have impressed. “The players don’t want for anything, they’ve got everything here, it’s absolutely world-class. From an individual player perspective, so far everyone has been amazing and welcoming. It’s always nice at the start, everyone wants to know you and get to know you.”
If he feels under pressure to deliver in the manner he did for Melbourne City, he does not show it. “I probably put myself under more pressure than the club’s putting me under,” he says. But he recognises how important it is to return the club to the top: “Winning trophies is part of Arsenal’s DNA, and doing it the right way is. “There’s no doubt about the fact that we’ve got to win trophies. We’ve got to stabilise the team’s direction. Making it believe in its identity and believe in what Arsenal means. In end if we have thoArsenal worldwide has an identity. If you took the red strip off and put a purple strip on you’d know it’s Arsenal by the way they play because they retain the ball, they’re proactive, they are an innovative brand.
se base values then they’ll enjoy their football and win games.”
Stability is Montemurro’s focus. When Arsenal’s leaky defence is mentioned (they have conceded more goals than the two teams in front of them, Chelsea and City, and the two behind, Liverpool and Reading) the man who saw his Melbourne City side score 42 and concede five in a season, is matter of fact about the task ahead. “There’s been a lot of chopping and changing thanks to injuries and so on,” he says. “The first thing to do is stabilise that area and let it find a little bit of belief in that stability and then we’ll go from there. The talent is there, the quality is there so we will work towards that.”
Montemurro’s arrival at Arsenal is just the latest development in an exciting year for Australian women’s football. The national team have lost only once in 2017, won the inaugural friendly Tournament of Nations and have broken attendance records at home games. Sam Kerr was named NWSL MVP for her prolific goalscoring for Sky Blue FC, breaking the American league’s single-season scoring record in the process.
“There’s a definite belief in women’s sport in general in Australia,” says Montemurro. “I think everyone – governments, national federations, national associations in all sports – really backs the ability for women’s sport to go forward, that’s a general undertow to the sporting landscape in Australia.” And they are benefiting from putting their faith in their younger players: “There’s no doubt that the national team is going through a golden generation of players and the reality is that it started very, very young. Players like Alanna Kennedy, Steph Catley have already played 50 to 60 games for the national team, they’re only 23/24 years old. They’re young. There’s a generation that have come through, they are young and the most important thing is that they are amazing role models for women’s sport. That’s definitely starting to filter down into the under-age groups, into the W-League and also seeing more players going overseas. The landscape at the moment is just very, very healthy.”
Montemurro takes to the touchline for his first Arsenal league match on Sunday, against Liverpool. “As I said it’s surreal, it’s Arsenal v Liverpool, and I’m on the bench for it. It’s a little bit crazy. But ultimately I’m just really looking forward to it and really looking forward to growing and developing and putting Arsenal back where it should be.”
Talking points
Chelsea booked their place in the Continental Cup quarter-finals with a thumping 8-0 win over Yeovil at Kingsmeadow. Crystal Dunn opened the scoring before an own goal, Erin Cuthbert and Drew Spence gave the Blues a 4-0 half-time cushion. There was no let-up for Yeovil, Cuthbert adding her second before Fran Kirby, Gemma Davison and Spence compounded the Somerset side’s misery. Eni Aluko was taken off on a stretcher in the second half after colliding with the advertising hoardings but was given the all-clear after a hospital check-up. Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Birmingham secured their, and Everton’s, passage into the quarter-finals in Group Two North.
Bristol City’s 3-0 win against Brighton means they leapfrog the south-coast side into second in Group Two South, behind Chelsea. Reading’s five-goal win at Millwall secured top spot of Group One South ahead of Arsenal, and elsewhere it ended Oxford United 1-5 Doncaster Belles, London Bees 1-1 Watford (London Bees won 5-4 on penalties), Aston Villa 3-2 Durham.
Cushing signs new City contract
Manchester City’s manager, Nick Cushing, has withdrawn from the running for the Lionesses manager’s job and signed a new contract until the end of the 2020-21 season. One of the favourites for the national team vacancy, Cushing guided City to the title and Continental Cup in 2016 before picking up the FA Cup in 2017. City are unbeaten at the top of WSL 1.
Laura Harvey to manage Utah Royals
Following the folding of FC Kansas City, the NWSL announced Real Salt Lake had acquired an NWSL franchise which would receive the player contracts and draft picks of the defunct club. The new side are to be managed by the former Arsenal and Seattle Reign coach Laura Harvey and have been named Utah Royals FC.
Bronze on scoresheet for Lyon
The England defender Lucy Bronze was on the scoresheet as Lyon put five past Marseille, who sit at the bottom of Ligue 1 Feminine. Lyon’s win keeps them two points clear of Paris St-Germain, who beat Bordeaux 3-0 on Saturday. Third-placed Montpellier stayed in touching distance of the top two and eight points clear of Paris FC with a 5-1 win at Soyaux.
Taylor wins Woman of Year award
Euro 2017 golden boot winner Jodie Taylor topped off the year by winning the BT Sport Action Woman of the Year award in a public vote. The England women’s cricket team won the first award of the night, Team of the Year, at the fifth annual awards. Judy Murray was given a lifetime achievement award.
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