Manchester United aim to finish third in automatic qualifiers but travel to rival Arsenal on Friday
For the past two weeks, Manchester United manager Casey Stoney and her Arsenal counterpart Joe Montemurro have been , just as frustrated to sit back and watch Manchester City and Chelsea reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
It’s a competition Arsenal won as the only English team they know well and are determined to win to be there again. United, who travel to Borehamwood on Friday night, pose the greatest threat. Unless Chelsea and City collapse, only one of those teams will be able to play in next season’s competition.
Friday’s game is huge. Arenal is fourth in the league and six points behind United but has one game in hand. Win on Friday and win your game in hand. They are tied. Lose or drop and United could be out of reach.
However, Montemurro chuckled when asked what it’s like to watch the competition from the sofa. « You’re sitting there, obviously you want to be at that level and in these scenarios, » he says. “They do it well, they represent the country very well and they play very, very well.”
Stoney is similarly diplomatic: “Chelsea and Man City are doing justice to the WSL at the moment,” she says. « They have some really good performances and positive results, but when we watch these games you feel like you want to be there and experience it. »
Qualifying for the Champions League would bring United « ahead of time » added Stoney. The team, which was restarted in 2018, won the championship promotion in its first season, finished fourth in a shortened second season last year (the first in the top division) and is now fighting for a place in the Champions League with Arsenal. p> It is proof of the manager and the performance of her team that the non-qualification now feels like the club came up short. « I would never say that my players failed because they tried 100% all the time, » says Stoney. « But for me as head coach I would consider it a failure. »
There is pressure, but since United are still in their infancy, there is less pressure. For Arsenal, the most decorated club in the history of English women’s football, there is more of an expectation of success.
« As a coach, I have to take responsibility, » said Montemurro. “I send the team out, select the employees and set the goals. If I don’t get there, I’ll have to take full responsibility for it. At Arsenal we demand the highest level. I don’t know if failure is the right word. We did a lot of good things to stabilize the scenario. I’m not a hit-and-leave coach, I’m a process coach and we’ve done a lot of good things in the background to stabilize ourselves for the years to come. «
In the last encounter between the two teams, a goal by United striker Ella Toone in the 83rd minute gave the home team their first win against the Gunners. It was a turning point, United didn’t have any of the traditional top three in the league A 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the season opener had shown they can keep up, but beating Arsenal showed that they can be clinical when it counts.
Positive results against City, Chelsea and Arsenal have helped take the Champions League into their own hands and give them confidence, but their February loss to Reading was a warning that they have five more games to go after their game against Arsenal and not too much in this one a game.
« It’s more than doable the way the season has gone so far, but this final boost is going to be really important to secure the top three, » says Stoney.
Arsenal have one u Incredible record against teams outside the new top 4 who haven’t lost since a 3-0 defeat by Birmingham in April 2018. However, United’s loss to Reading and Chelsea’s shock loss to Brighton have shown there are no more guaranteed league wins.
Will there be an element of vengeance that will fuel Arsenal on Friday night? « I don’t know if it’s vengeance, but there’s real positivity [in the group] right now, » says Muntemurro. “We knew that technically and tactically we were disappointed with stupid mistakes and mistakes in [the last game]. We should have gotten away with something. We know we let ourselves and the club down that day. Now let’s make sure we keep Borehamwood as a fortress and keep winning games there. «
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Ref: https://www.theguardian.com
