We’ve been back at Meadow Park over the past week for pre-season matches against Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
On Saturday we were beaten 4-3 by Spurs in a topsy-turvy encounter, before our Gunners responded with a hard-fought 2-0 win over the Hammers on Wednesday.
Off the back of the two matches, here are four things we’ve noticed from pre-season.
Pelova flying forward
Victoria Pelova has been showing exactly why she can be so influential as an attacking midfielder. Opening the scoring against Spurs, she gathered a long ball over the top from Emily Fox and raced into the 18-yard box, finishing with aplomb with a curled effort at the near post.
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She then pulled the strings in the second half of our win over West Ham, whipping a cross in for Frida Maanum to get on the end of and find the back of the net.
“I just enjoy being in front of the ball,” Pelova said after the Spurs game. “For me, it doesn't matter where I play in midfield. It was a good ball from Foxy, so I was really happy.”
Renee Slegers added: “I think she's a very intelligent player for spaces. She can play different roles for us, so she's good at being a little bit lower on the pitch, but you can also see that she's, I think, developed the last couple of years to get output higher up the pitch as well and it was really good to see her goal today because that's something she's been focusing on.”
Clinical Maanum
Maanum wasn’t involved in the north London derby, but she didn’t take long to make an impact against West Ham.
Coming off the bench as one of seven half-time substitutions, our Norwegian forward got on the end of a cross from Jenna Nighswonger to head into the bottom left corner for 1-0.
The brace was completed when she shot into the bottom left again from Pelova’s assist.
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“It was brilliant,” she said after the game. “It's amazing being back here. It’s the first time for me in this season at Borehamwood, so it was a nice feeling. I think it was a team effort and a team performance, which was nice as well. They were two great goals, so it's easy to play with good players like that.”
Squad depth
Renee kept us on our toes with seven half-time substitutions against West Ham, illustrating the depth of quality she has at her disposal to change games and keep players well rested.
Alongside Maanum, Laia Codina, Katie Reid and Olivia Smith were also introduced at the break, with many supporters getting their first glimpse at the latter, who demonstrated impressive footwork and a desire to go forward.
Nighswonger, Beth Mead and Taylor Hinds also came on for the final 45 minutes, our summer signing from Liverpool being deployed at right-back.
It’s always a proud moment to see another young Gunner enter the fray, and Sophie Harwood and Vivienne Lia were both given opportunities to show us what they can do late on.
Super support
It might be a new season with a few new faces, but one things that has remained the same is the terrific atmosphere created by our supporters.
All the noise was coming from the North Bank behind the goal we were attacking at Borehamwood on Wednesday, and you felt it was only a matter of time before our pressure paid off.
"It's always nice, I think, for the players to play towards that end, even more special to score the goals there," Renee said. "So it was good to see we've missed this, scoring goals and celebrating with the fans. I'm just happy with a lot of things and it's just part of pre-season.”
Of course, it promises to be even more spine-tingling when we begin the 2025/26 Barclays Women’s Super League season at Emirates Stadium against London City Lionesses, so make sure you’re there to cheer on the European champions!
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