A gruelling 120 minutes followed by penalties is tough on any team, but for Arsenal, who have a seven-a-side team’s worth of top international talent injured, their squad is being stretched beyond its limits.
“It’s almost comical how much has gone against us in terms of injuries this season,” said a deflated Leah Williamson, one of two Arsenal players to miss from the spot in their shootout defeat by Manchester City in the Continental League Cup final on Saturday. “It’s hard to take going that far with no reward. Maybe that was all we deserved from the game in the end: a shot at penalties,” added the 21-year-old.
“Nobody wants to be the person that misses and today that was me, so my initial thoughts are that I’m upset because I don’t miss. That’s not the person I am. You go that far and you play so hard, you run so far, your legs hurt and everything hurts and then suddenly you can’t pass the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards.”
Karen Bardsley saved from Williamson and Daniëlle van de Donk in the shootout after a 0-0 draw. With little to do in regular and then extra time, Bardsley showed why, despite vying for playing time with club and country, she deserves to be in Phil Neville’s plans for this summer’s World Cup.
“When it comes to penalties, or the big moments, KB shows why she’s so world-class,” said the City and England captain, Steph Houghton, who thundered in her spot-kick. “We’ve played together for the last five years and longer at international level and you feel safe as a defender.”
“I just wanted to put the game to bed,” said Bardsley. “You take the opportunities when you get them and you try to see if there’s any cues the opposition gives you but more important is focusing on your own process, trusting your instincts and being decisive.
“There’s no pressure on a goalkeeper in a penalty shootout. So it’s a nice opportunity for us to have some fun and try and make some saves.”
That said, maintaining focus while your opposite number – Arsenal’s Sari van Veenendaal in this case – is having the game of their life can be tough. “It’s a goalkeeper’s job,” said Bardsley. “There’s so many times you’re doing nothing for 89, 90 minutes and then there’s a split-second moment.
Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport
Facebook: like our football and sport pages
Instagram: our favourite photos, films and stories
“It’s a different challenge to outfield players, who have a lot of physical challenges and battle. We have a lot of mental battles; it’s about maintaining your focus, refining processes of what you do in a game.”
Williamson, Bardsley, Houghton and a number of others now come together as England teammates for the SheBelieves Cup in the US, where they play Brazil, USA and Japan. After that, the focus switches to Women’s Super League, where Arsenal trail the leaders, City, by two points with two games in hand.
“I’ll admit I am not looking forward to seeing some of the City girls when we meet up for England,” Williamson said. “But I think it will be a good thing. What Arsenal showed today was resilience and when it comes to winning the league, which is our sole focus and purpose now, we will give absolutely everything like you’ve seen out there.
“We maybe didn’t play the Arsenal way, but that character is what it takes to play for a top team: to take a game as far as you can, to fight. And when it comes to the league, that’s exactly what we will do.”
