Steph Catley has played for the majority of her career as a left-back. She has filled in at centre-half during different periods. But this season is different. This season she is being selected by Interim Manager Renee Slegers ahead of Lotte Wubben-Moy and Laia Codina.
The fact that Catley is left-footed, a rare commodity in women’s football and the fact that left-back Katie McCabe is asked to push up as a wing-back or invert into midfield makes Catley’s qualities well-suited to the role. In the pre-Bayern press conference, Catley admitted the positional change does feel quite different.
‘I’ve done it a fair bit in my career when I’ve changed from left-back to centre-back and physically you definitely feel the difference in terms of high-speed metres and the amount of ground you’re covering,’ she explained.
‘But mentally, I think it’s a whole different game. At full-back, the options you’re given are quite limited a lot of the time, so it’s all instinctive, whereas, at centre-back, it’s all about organising, staying connected to everyone and reading the game before everything happens, that’s the challenge.
‘Physically, it’s less load for me so in a way I feel fresher going into games and recover quicker, so that’s always a nice thing, but ultimately for me, it’s just whatever role the team needs me to play – I’m ready for any of it. I’m playing full-back frequently for the national team, played wingback, and centre-back, whatever the team needs I’m prepared for it both physically and mentally.’
The Gunners have conceded just two goals in eight games now and Catley says that is a result of an overall team mentality. ‘I think it’s down to consistency, but I think, as a whole, our entire squad appreciates the value of a clean sheet, knows how important it is and it’s something we really drive in our standards, when we’re training, when we go out to every game it’s something we remind ourselves of.
‘It’s not only just about the players that are on the field at the moment, I think when you see players coming off the bench, Lotte the other day, coming in, making it a five \[at the back\], everyone knows their role, everyone knows the standards, the specifics to get a result and make sure we get that clean sheet.
‘I think consistency is one of those things but just knowing your role and knowing how important every aspect of the defending is, even from the front, the way that we press, a clean sheet isn’t just down to the back four or the defenders, it’s from the front, it’s from the strikers that are starting the press so, it’s something that’s going well for us but we’ve got to continue to make that happen.’
The Australian also says the faith Slegers has put in her as a centre-half has made a difference. ‘She’s come in under really difficult circumstances and really steadied the ship. She’s given a lot of individual players a lot of confidence to play how they want to play and to go out and do their thing.
‘And \[she’s given\] the group as well, a lot of confidence. She brings a lot of positive energy and is a really good communicator. That’s just been really effective way to manage the group. I think you can see that in the results.’