England captain Leah Williamson says she is happy to be back with her national team after a “different” start to the season with Arsenal.
The north London side have won just five of their 11 games in all competitions this season. Former head coach Jonas Eidevall left his role on October 15 after the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea at Emirates Stadium and a damaging 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League the week before.
Williamson, 27, was named in Sarina Wiegman’s squad for friendlies against Germany at Wembley Stadium on October 25 and South Africa at the Coventry Building Society Arena on October 29. The defender spoke about rejoining the England camp after the difficult start to the season with Arsenal.
She said: “It’s been a different start to the season. We’ve obviously been at our clubs for a long time. Normally we’d have an international window before this. So it’s been different in that sense of being there for so long and being in one place. We’re not used to that.
“I think results tell a story but I think the work that I’ve seen going on, especially from my club, I can only speak for that, I think you can see again that the level of the whole world of football has gone up, and everyone’s enjoying that challenge, and things change every year. But this is a Euros year now and everyone will have a plan for the weekend and a plan for the next year. You’ll see that sort of iron out over the next couple of months.
“Our job is to win games and that hasn’t happened so smoothly. Like I said, results tell a story. Performance is another thing that you can actually change and affect on a day-to-day basis. And to be honest, I’m happy to be here in a different environment. I think sometimes that comes at the right time and since I’ve been here, I’ve had no contact with the club.”
The Athletic reported earlier this week that Arsenal have made New York City FC men’s head coach Nick Cushing their primary target to replace Eidevall.
Arsenal are eager for Cushing, 39, to fill the women’s head coach but the former Manchester City women’s manager is not the only candidate in what is an ongoing process.
After the break, fifth-placed Arsenal face Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League.
(Naomi Baker – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
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