Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro on how Vivianne Miedema has sustained her WSL brilliance
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Updated 14/05/2021 at 09:46 GMT
Departing Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro has discussed the brilliance of the Gunners' star striker Vivianne Miedema in an interview with the Telegraph. Montemurro is stepping down after four years in charge of the club to spend more time with his family, and on his way out has heaped praise on a player who helped his side to the title in 2019.
Vivianne Miedema
Image credit: Getty Images
Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro has given some fascinating insight into how forward Vivianne Miedema has dominated the WSL over recent seasons.
The Dutch forward has scored a remarkable 60 goals in 67 games for the Gunners since joining from Bayern Munich in 2017, becoming the WSL’s all-time record goalscorer in the process.
Miedema’s brilliance inspired Arsenal to the title in 2019 and has earned her a heap of individual honours, and Montemurro says it is her football intelligence and enthusiasm for analysing the game that has helped the 24-year-old excel to such a degree.
“All world-class athletes make things look easy, don’t they? She’s in that bracket,” Montemurro said of Miedema in an interview with the Telegraph.
She’s someone who has a very, very good football brain, a very, very intelligent football understanding.
“One of the things I will remember are the great discussions me and her have had about football, but not necessarily about Arsenal, maybe talking about Holland or talking about Barcelona or talking about other teams or little movements that [we’ve seen], because we’re both crazy in terms of watching a lot of football."
“I’d say we’re both bordering on sick in terms of the amount of football we watch," Montemurro continued.
“The discussions we’ve had for me confirm that she’s thinking on a different level in regards to football and movements and angles and build-up and where to position herself and so on, and she’s got the rewards of that because her positioning is so good and her anticipation is so smart.”
Miedema scored 18 goals for Arsenal again this season as they finished third in the WSL, with only Chelsea’s new addition Sam Kerr above her in the division’s goalscoring charts.
Montemurro is stepping down as Arsenal boss at the end of the season after four years in charge to spend more time with his family.
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