Reading head coach Kelly Chambers expects The Royals to change their home fortunes against Arsenal this Sunday after an ‘outstanding’ summer recruitment drive.
The Royals were unable to repeat last season’s impressive away win over Manchester United in the opening game of the 2021/2022 Barclays FA Women’s Super League season losing 2-0 to The Red Devils last weekend. The Berkshire club now face the tough test of in-form Arsenal side who boast a 100% record in competitive football under new head coach Jonas Eidevall.
Reading recorded just two victories at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in the league last season but manager Chambers believes that the club’s strong summer recruitment drive will help make their home a fortress this season.
“With the players that have come in, they’re hungry to learn;” Chambers said when speaking in her pre-match press conference in which FAWSL Full-Time were present. “I’ve brought in a lot of competitive players and I’ve seen that in training,
“In training today, they were so competitive, they want to win. They’ll do everything they can to make sure they’re on that winning side.
“We’ve also got a group that have really bought into the way that we want to do things, the way we want to play that suits every individual. What was particular about my recruitment this season was to make sure those players did suit our style of play.”
The Royals impressed against Arsenal last season, drawing 1-1 at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Reading were unlucky not to come out with three points with manager Chambers criticising her team for not being able to take their chances.
While attacking players Deanne Rose and Natasha Dowie may help Reading kill games off this year, Chambers believes that her side’s new-found strength in defence will be more critical to collecting maximum points.
She said “Faye Bryson and Gemma Evans are going to be outstanding in the back-four. They’re still very, very young players but first and foremost, they have that defensive attribute to their game and they have a lot of pace.
“They’ve been unbelievable additions to the squad.”
Sunday’s opponents excelled against Barclays FA Women’s Super League champions Chelsea last weekend, winning 3-2 at The Emirates Stadium. Although Reading performed well against Arsenal last season, Chambers recognises the fact that Jonas Eidevall has reinvigorated The Gunners and she sees how his personality defines their style of play.
“I think he’s going to bring a different style to how Arsenal have ever played, they seemed a lot more front-footed defensively and want to press higher up the pitch, they’re a lot more aggressive;” Chambers said. “He’s very energetic and I think he’s putting that into his team, more so out of possession.
“For a team like us, we like to play and like to get the ball down. We’ve been working hard on that and it’s just a case with Arsenal that they have threats all over the pitch and we need to nullify where we think they’re going to come from. It’s also about how we impose ourselves onto them because we know on our day, we can get something out of the game.”
Reading’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal at the Select Car Leasing Stadium kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday. Tickets remain available and can be purchased by clicking here.
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