Arsenal Women Interim Manager Renee Slegers says Rosa Kafaji is still adapting to the demands of playing at a top club like Arsenal but that her and her coaching staff believe she will be an important player for the club for many years.
Kafaji has not started a game since September and Arseblog News asked Slegers in her pre Liverpool press conference what her conversations with the 21-year-old Swedish international look like at the moment.
‘Rosa is a very energetic person and player, her passion for football expresses itself in different ways,’ said Slegers. ‘She will walk around with a ball, she doesn’t want to come off the pitch in training, she always wants to do more.
‘She always wants to kick the ball and improve. But this is a top class team and for some players it is easy to come in and adjust and for some it takes a little bit longer and we need to respect that.
‘Looking at how hard Rosa works and the way she engages and initiates conversations with the coaches to understand what we expect of her, that is the most important thing.
‘We believe a lot in Rosa, she has specific qualities that over time are going to be very important for the club. We will do everything we can to get those qualities out.’
Arseblog News also asks whether Laura Wienroither’s minutes are deliberately being managed following her return from a knee injury. Emily Fox was replaced at half-time against Aston Villa last weekend and was rested for the game against Valarenga. Wienroither didn’t immediately step in on either occasion but got minutes towards the end of both games.
‘Laura is coming back from a long injury and had a little setback, she is back from that now but we just have to give it time and be patient and find the right moments to get her back in.
‘But she is doing really well in training and she is an important part of the group, so we are finding the right way to play to her strengths and make sure she’s ready.’
Slegers was able to give 18-year-old academy player Katie Reid her first start for the club on Thursday night in Oslo, while Freya Godfrey came off the bench for her first UWCL minutes. Slegers says that both players have been around the first team for a while and were ready to be blooded.
‘We started Katie Reid because we felt she was ready, she has been with us for a while now and she performs really well in training. You can see she has the respect of the other girls as well and she has been growing in the group.
‘She played out of position yesterday, she is a centre-back so with all that in mind, her starting debut in the Champions League in a position that is not her first position she performed very well.
‘Especially in advanced positions, she is very comfortable on the ball, she got a lot of passing and positioning positions right, I am very happy for her.
‘Freya Godfrey has been training with us for a while too, she has specific qualities. She is very fast and explosive and she understands the game well. It was a nice opportunity to give her some minutes.’