Arsenal striker Stina Blackstenius signed a new contract with Arsenal this week. The Swede, who scored the winning goal in last season’s Champions League Final, has signed on for another two years at the club.
Ahead of Sunday’s UWCL semi-final first leg against Lyon, Blackstenius joined Renee Slegers in her pre-match press conference to preview the game. Stina expressed her delight in committing to the club.
‘It means so much and I am so happy to stay with Arsenal. I have been here for quite a long time now and it is a really special club with a really good group of players and staff.
‘I have enjoyed being here since the first day I came here, it’s a challenge being here. I like being surrounded by so many good players, it’s a great league, we play in the Champions League, it’s a great environment, playing at the Emirates. All of it, there are so many factors. Most of all it feels like home here.
‘I work as hard as I can to give as much as I can for this team. I love to play for Arsenal and I love to win. I will do anything to help the team in any way possible.’
Arseblog News asked Blackstenius, who captained Sweden and scored the winning goal for them against Sweden last weekend, how much she has worked on her all-round game during this season having previously been considered an excellent Plan B striker.
‘I have always wanted to get better and better as a player and working hard to play as much as I can but also there have been parts of my game I have tried to focus more on. I want to be a player that stretches the line but also working hard on my hold up play and to be a better player in that way and make my game a bit bigger. I have tried to focus on that.’
Arseblog News also asked Blackstenius about the role of attacking coach Kelly Smith in her development. ‘It’s so nice to have her working with the strikers and everyone appreciates what she does with us, it has helped us in so many ways in training and in games. We review games with her too, she is a very big part of what we are doing as forwards.’
Blackstenius has formed a formidable partnership with Alessia Russo, often playing upfront with Russo in behind. Stina says their chemistry has been forged by their diversity of playing style.
‘I really enjoy playing with Alessia, I think we are different players and we give the team different things. I want to stretch the line and give her as much space as possible because she is so good with the ball and setting up players in good situations, she is dangerous in the box.
‘It is inspiring to play with her and we are looking forward to getting even more connection. She has so much quality in training and in games. The whole forward line has so many different qualities and that is so important to be able to do different things.
‘It makes the difference sometimes and it makes training a challenge and I can only see that will be even better. We look back at situations and talk about situations in training to try to improve the connections even more. It is quite natural and we help each other.’
The 30-year-old does not want to stop at one Champions League title either, ‘It is a really special competition, winning it last year was such an amazing experience for the team. That makes me feel like I want to do it again and push for more silverware. Arsenal is a club that should play Champions League, this is where we want to play.’
The Gunners face eight time winners Lyon in this season’s semi-final, the same team they vanquished en route to glory last season. Blackstenius is expecting another pair of intense games.
‘They were two tough, intense games last season. In the second leg we came out really fast and intense. We got the goals and that is something we can build on from what we went through last year. The situation against Real Madrid last year when we came back from 2-0 down in the first leg.
‘As a group we came together and had a really good game and that gave us a lot of confidence. A lot is about how much we trust each other in these big situations and we see that confidence from what we did last season.’
Blackstenius is coached by Renee Slegers, who was her teammate at Linkoping between 2012 and 2016. The pair even share a birthday and Stina says that existing relationship has benefitted her over the last 18 months.
‘We played a few years together at Linkoping and it is so interesting to see where we are now with her as coach for Arsenal and me as a player. We have many good memories playing together and Renee has done a really good job with this team and with all the staff.
‘Who would have known 10 years ago it would be like this now? I could probably see some leadership qualities in Renee as a player when I was younger coming up.’