Gunners hoping to channel the 'Arsenal way' in second leg against Chelsea
Arsenal head into Champions League quarter-final second leg with 3-1 lead over rivals
Renee Slegers has warned her Arsenal side that it’s “only halftime” of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Chelsea.
The Gunners are taking a 3-1 lead to Stamford Bridge for the second leg, but they will be all too aware of the perils that come with any sort of complacency at this stage of the competition.
Last season, both Arsenal and Chelsea were able to overturn a two-goal deficit to reach the semi-finals, an experience that Slegers referenced in her pre-match press conference.
“We were on the other side of it last time”, she told reporters on Tuesday, “we know what that feels like as the team chasing and we know what the opposition did against us, but that was another game.
“It was another time so it might be different tomorrow. But of course you build experience playing in those types of scenarios.
“Chelsea have done it as well. I think we both possess a lot of experience in this moment but we can only focus on ourselves and what we want to bring to the game”.
It can be tricky to second guess a manager’s approach to a tie like this, but Slegers was quick to reaffirm that she wants her side to play their usual game tomorrow night.
Slegers has spoken previously about how much she enjoys seeing her team respecting all phases of the game, something that Lotte Wubben-Moy, who was also present at Tuesday’s press conference, picked up on. “We have The Arsenal ways”, Wubben-Moy said. “Usually we use ‘The Arsenal way’, just a non-plural, but I think it’s the idea that we will have multiple ways to play tomorrow, and that being something that we can flip and pose the question to Chelsea on.”
How the Arsenal backline performs tomorrow evening will go some way to deciding their chances of progressing, and Wubben-Moy has formed a crucial part of a defence that has kept 11 clean sheets in the last 16 matches. Having only started one of Arsenal’s opening seven fixtures this season, the defender has played more minutes than any other Arsenal central defender since the beginning of November, and has been a key pillar in a side that has won 18 of their last 20 games
Asked about how she is enjoying her football at the moment, Wubben-Moy said that she was playing “with a smile” on her face, pointing to the rhythm and confidence she has built up as a result of her increased game time.
“I’m made for this, when it gets into a flow, rhythm, game upon game. I live my life pretty meticulously. When I look at the trajectory of my career, it’s been in moments when I have rhythm and when I have confidence. So I’m in a good place.”
As well as forming part of a solid Arsenal defence, Wubben-Moy has been given a lot of responsibility on the ball this season, playing more accurate long balls (41) than any other Arsenal outfield player this season.
Asked by The Cutback about her role this season, the England international responded by saying she thrives off being given responsibility. “I actually had a conversation with Renee a few months ago and I said ‘I think I play best when I have responsibility, when I have a task, a requirement to give more than just myself’”.
Desribing her role as a piece within the “Arsenal puzzle”, she went on to praise the players around her on the pitch that are able to facilitate her in-possession role.
Wubben-Moy was also asked about VAR and the possible introduction of it in the WSL, with officiating controversies already having somewhat overshadowed two of the three meetings between Arsenal and Chelsea this season. Wubben-Moy gave a philosophical response, describing football as “imperfectly perfect” and pointing out that lengthy VAR checks can hinder the fan experience. “For fans it’s not an enjoyable watch.” However, as a player she said she understood the need for “greater investment” in refereeing before VAR is introduced.
Those associated with both Arsenal and Chelsea will hope that the full focus tomorrow is on the football, in what promises to be another mouth-watering clash. A theme of previous clashes this season has been the midfield battle. Chelsea overpowered an Arsenal double pivot of Mariona Caldentey and Victoria Pelova for the first hour of November’s 1-1 draw at the Emirates, before the Gunners wrestled back momentum in the last half hour of the match. While it was Arsenal that were able to exploit gaps that Chelsea left between their backline and midfield in January’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
In terms of the balance of play, last week’s first leg was the most even meeting between the two sides so far this season. The first leg was defined by Arsenal maximising their best moments in an otherwise relatively even match.
All of this makes Wednesday’s second leg an intriguing prospect. Above all, these matches tend to resemble a series of tactical mini battles, and the two-legged dimension makes that dynamic more compelling than ever.