Joe Montemurro smoothes bumps on road to steer Arsenal to WSL summit | Suzanne Wrack


Arsenal’s Australian coach fixed a leaky defence then introduced ‘balance and management’ to startling effect

How do you build a buccaneering team who sweep away all before them? How do you turn a team who suffer a 3-1 cup final defeat by invincible double winners into one who demolish them 5-0 in their next meeting to maintain an unbeaten start to a new season?

Joe Montemurro’s three-quarter season in charge at Arsenal was about laying the foundations for just such a transformation. Working without expectations with a team laden with stars – not least four Dutch European Championship winners – but lacking direction, the Australian set about his task.

Related: Hats off to Arsenal’s manager – not just Emery but Montemurro too | Eni Aluko

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