Lyonnaise manager Joe Montemurro reacts to Arsenal Women 1 - 2 Lyonnaise in 1st leg of UWCL Semi Finals
19/04/2025
Emirates Stadium, London, UK
19/04/2025
Emirates Stadium, London, UK
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00:00Is it a very good result today for Lyon when we see the second half?
00:08Well, it was an advantage, so we have an advantage going to Lyon.
00:13Second half for 22 minutes, Arsenal gave us a lot of difficulty
00:19and had probably two very, very good chances.
00:22But I'm not sure there are many people that come to this iconic stadium
00:29against the big team, a very good team with 40,000 people
00:35and expecting not to suffer a little bit.
00:38We suffered. We suffered.
00:40And, you know, in the end it balanced itself out.
00:48Hi, Joe.
00:50I think like most teams, good teams even leave spaces somewhere
00:54and I think if you watch Arsenal a lot, the left-back space
00:57is a space they kind of leave quite a bit.
01:01Was that something you targeted in the first half
01:03or am I overthinking it when you have a player like Diani?
01:06Things are just going to happen on that side.
01:08Tim, your tactical awareness always seems to surprise me
01:12because we knew Katie McCabe would be probably one
01:15that would advance a little bit more
01:18and we left – you know me well though.
01:21You know my little bits and pieces.
01:24Yeah, look, I told Kadhi to stay a little bit higher in the situation
01:30and then we saw after about, I think, after about 16, 17 minutes
01:34that Katie wasn't going forward
01:36and that's where we found a lot more space in midfield.
01:39But, look, with a team like Arsenal that they create a lot of overloads,
01:45especially in wide areas, we have to make sure
01:49that there's a little bit of patience
01:50and you've got to give them the ball a little bit
01:53and then sort of look at the second phase as closing spaces
01:56and then go.
01:57So that was a little bit of the game plan
01:59and it's not going to be the game plan next week
02:01so don't tell Renee.
02:04Hi John.
02:05Well done on your win today.
02:07Obviously your side showed a very strong performance against Arsenal
02:11but how does it feel to be back at the Emirates
02:13and back at your old club?
02:17I had four wonderful years here and made a lot of friends
02:20and it's an iconic club.
02:24It was – I had to keep it professional.
02:28I had to keep it professional.
02:30But I'm just astounded at 40,000 people at the Emirates,
02:36a beautiful game of football, a spectacle, you know.
02:39That's what I'm so pleased about.
02:41I'm so pleased that since I left that there's been three,
02:46four years of just amazing growth and, you know,
02:51that to me gives me pleasure to see this iconic club
02:54at the top level competing for trophies,
02:56competing for the best and playing the brand of football
02:58in front of 40,000 people.
03:01Hi Joe.
03:03Ah, you feel ashamed.
03:06Yeah.
03:07Hope you're doing well.
03:08And I was just going to ask,
03:10going off the quarter-finals and just your coaching in general,
03:15it doesn't strike me that you'd kind of go into the second leg
03:19just looking to hold onto the lead.
03:21I know you said to Tim you weren't sat the exact same way,
03:24but I guess it would be fair to assume you'd still go to win the game.
03:29We have to win the game.
03:30We have to win the game.
03:31We have to win the game.
03:32And for people that know me, I'm a little bit expansive at times too.
03:37I want to have the ball a lot.
03:39And again, it's going to be at this level when it's knockout,
03:45when there's a lot of emotion involved,
03:47when there's sometimes tactics thrown out the window because it is emotional.
03:52There's a lot of players focusing for 95 minutes.
03:56It's not easy.
03:57It's not easy keeping your shape, keeping your space.
04:00So I think at this level it's managing those moments of madness.
04:05I mean, there was a lot of discussion yesterday,
04:09especially from the French media, about Lyon-Manchester United the other night.
04:14I mean, I didn't see tactics there.
04:16I just saw two teams just going at it punch for punch
04:19and just was thrown out the window.
04:21It was just emotion.
04:22And that's what this team, Lyon, has the ability to do.
04:26They can contain the emotion when things get a little bit out of whack.
04:31And that's the important thing.
04:33That's the important thing.
04:34Just on that, I guess for you personally,
04:37has that helped your coaching develop as well?
04:39Because I guess Lyon as an institution are used to being at this stage
04:45and I don't think many other clubs are.
04:47So how has that kind of helped you develop as a coach?
04:51A lot, a lot.
04:52Probably more on the leadership areas,
04:54more on the ability to understand big personalities
05:01and managing those persons.
05:04So my leadership has definitely, I think, developed for good.
05:08But remember, I was three years at Juventus
05:12and it was a different beast altogether where, you know,
05:15we'd come as the team that was 30-30 in Europe to sort of compete at the top level.
05:20And that was a different sort of scenario.
05:23So all the experiences I've been fortunate enough to have have given me little snippets
05:31of what to use to develop as a leader.
05:35What you were saying from there,
05:38does it take a while for teams to build up that experience
05:40to succeed in the European competition?
05:42To knock on the door?
05:43Experience.
05:44Yeah.
05:46Playing these games.
05:47I'm sure now Rene has experience in understanding a team that is at the top,
05:54dominating for 20 minutes, not scoring.
05:56Then the game gets out of hand a little bit.
05:58So it's just experience.
06:00It's, I don't want to say I've seen it all before,
06:03but I've seen these moments, you know.
06:06All those, I won't say it in Australian,
06:10those finals against Chelsea that we lost in the Conti Cup and the FA Cup,
06:15all the bloody games they'd get away from me and I couldn't work it out.
06:19I learnt now.
06:20I learnt those little bits and pieces,
06:22what to not worry about, what to not get emotional about
06:25and what to grow.
06:26And that obviously festers in your players too.
06:29Your players get to understand those moments too.
06:31It's the experience of moments.
06:33It's the experience.
06:34And with that experience, I mean, there's a lot of noise back in Australia
06:37about you possibly being next Matilda's coach.
06:40Is it easy to block all that out while you're focusing on this?
06:43I'm looking at Matilda's coach.
06:50I have a semi-final next week.
06:53We have a game against Nantes during the week,
06:55which, you know, we want to use it to our advantage
06:58to make sure that we keep winning.
07:01And then we look at a semi-final now.
07:03The rumours are just rumours.
07:06And I'll leave the rumours to you guys because I know it's nice press.
07:11Hi, Joe.
07:12Can I ask about your first goal today?
07:14I thought Arsenal pressed quite aggressively for it,
07:16but you kind of were able to play around the press,
07:18at least make it look pretty easily good.
07:21How impressive was the build-up for that first goal?
07:25Well, it's probably one thing that I've kept as a coach.
07:27You know, we do try to construct in the thirds.
07:30We do try to find the solutions in the thirds.
07:32And sometimes that solution is going direct, with a direct pass.
07:38Look, we just felt that if we broke the first press of Arsenal
07:43and overloaded certain areas, we could get our wide players involved.
07:48More centrally, not so much wide.
07:51Because the full-backs would have had to push on to our full-backs.
07:54So, yeah, we found the solution in the first goal.
07:57I liked the second goal, too.
08:00It was not a bad goal.
08:02That was pretty good as well.
08:03And, in your opinion, was Caitlin Ford lucky not to receive a second year?
08:08I'm going to be honest with you, I don't even know what you're referring to,
08:12because I can't remember.
08:13I can't remember.
08:14I can't remember.
08:15But, look, as I said, there was a lot of emotion,
08:17a lot of little bits and pieces.
08:19And, you know, the referees, I think, had a really tough job today.
08:23A really tough job today.
08:24And I think they did quite well.
08:28Joe, why did you choose Alice Sombat against Tarsian?
08:33And what do you think of her match?
08:37I really like Alice.
08:41She's a very, very good professional.
08:44And I just felt for the defensive balance,
08:47for the knowledge that she has with Vanessa Gilles
08:51and also with Selma Bachar,
08:55I felt that there was just more balance,
08:58more balance in what we were looking at.
09:02Tarsian probably needs a little bit more time
09:04just to understand the defensive concepts.
09:06So we felt that in this game,
09:08we'd go with a little bit more security
09:10than probably a little bit of the unknown.
09:14Hi, Joe.
09:15I just wanted to ask,
09:16your team generally throughout this competition
09:18has got one of the best defensive records.
09:20How did you feel about the defensive display here?
09:24And also, what will your message be to them in terms of,
09:27we've seen how Arsenal keep fighting back
09:29every time they come up against deficit in this contest.
09:33So what will your message be to them?
09:36Look, I mean, you have to, in these competitions,
09:39have good defensive balance.
09:41You have to have good defensive scenarios.
09:43But we use a lot of the defensive balance to attack
09:45because we know we can find the spaces going forward quickly.
09:50So if we defend well, we know we'll be able to control the moment
09:53and we'll be able to attack.
09:55So a lot of work has been done in, yes, good defensive balance,
10:00but also the ability to find space going forward too.
10:03It's not just about defending and you defend and then it's over.
10:06So it works both ways from that perspective.
10:09Yeah, look, Arsenal.
10:11You're talking about Arsenal fighting back, about the ability?
10:14Yeah.
10:15Look, I mean, it's not over yet.
10:17It's not over yet.
10:18This thing's not over.
10:19And as I said, with a team, you know, probably,
10:23maybe the pressure has been taken off Arsenal.
10:26Maybe, you know.
10:27Now they're 2-1 down.
10:28They're coming to Lyon.
10:29Whatever happens, happens.
10:30That's a dangerous scenario.
10:32That's a dangerous scenario.
10:33And they're a good team.
10:34They're a good team.
10:35Yeah, Joe.
10:36I wonder what it's like having Michelle Kang as the owner.
10:40I noticed she came on to the pitch at the end,
10:42which is, for us, kind of unusual.
10:44You don't normally see that happening.
10:46So I wonder what she's been like as an owner for you.
10:49Oh, look, I think there's been a lot written
10:51and a lot said about Michelle.
10:53And, you know, a lot of it's so positive and so fantastic.
10:57She's really, really there for the women's game,
11:01for the growth of the women's game as women's sport.
11:05And what we do every day is to really develop that
11:10in terms of training for female athletes.
11:13A lot of the sports science and the background that we do
11:17in terms of the study and research and development
11:19into female athletes is amazing, is amazing.
11:22And even on the wellness and the psychological part.
11:26And that's what I love about her.
11:28She's there.
11:29She's genuinely there for us to develop as a sport.
11:32And, yeah, she's hands-on.
11:34She loves coming and watching the games
11:37and seeing part of what we do.
11:39But, you know, here, here, she's been absolutely fantastic for us.
11:43The second question was just a quick one about
11:45how you think the French League,
11:47which still isn't rising maybe as quickly as over here,
11:51in terms of crowds and everything like that,
11:54and stadium maybe.
11:55And I wonder how you think that could actually be fired up maybe.
12:00I'm not an expert in how we can develop commercially
12:06and from a marketing perspective.
12:08I think one of the big advantages of the French League is that there's a...
12:11And France, in general, in football, both male and female,
12:14is an exporter and a developer of talent.
12:17So I think one of the really exciting things that I've seen
12:21is there's a lot of young talent that are being given opportunities in D1.
12:25A lot of clubs rely on that
12:27because they obviously don't have the resources and the means.
12:29So you're getting players that are 18, 19, 20,
12:33that have already played 30, 40, 50 games in D1,
12:36you know, by the time they're 20.
12:37I think that's an advantage.
12:38It's probably a direction they need to take.
12:41But from the marketing side to bring crowds like these scenarios,
12:46you know, it's probably something I'm not sure what to do.
12:50You know, always the image of the game seems to be the one that I go back to.
12:55How does it look on television?
12:56How is it presented?
12:57How is it sold?
12:58You know, I think, and like I've always said,
13:02the football has to be the winner.
13:04If the football is of high quality
13:06and the performances of high quality
13:08and there's a spectacle and good theatre,
13:10people will come and watch.
13:12Did they get them to bring their dogs along last week or something?
13:16Yeah, we have a major sponsor who is very important to us
13:19that's come up with this idea of bringing the dogs along to the stadium.
13:25We've got a bigger crowd, no?
13:27Because there was 90 dogs.
13:29So it was 4,090 or 5,090 or something like that.
13:33Look, they're initiatives.
13:35They're initiatives, you know.
13:39Look, I think there's a couple of really simple things in terms of scheduling the time that you schedule games.
13:45We play a lot of games at 9 o'clock at night.
13:49You know, on a Sunday night, it's pretty hard for a family to come and watch a game.
13:53So there are some little things.
13:55But I don't want to get into the politics of all that because it's not my forte.
13:59Excellent question.
14:01Hi, Joe.
14:02Are you expecting Wendy to be fully fit for the next leg?
14:07Yeah, look, we'll monitor Wendy this week and see how she goes.
14:11We had to err on the safe.
14:13I think it was probably too much of a risk today to take.
14:17But I feel that there's been a lot of development over the last couple of days, which has been fantastic.
14:23And, you know, we'll assess it.
14:25And I'll be honest.
14:28I hope so.
14:29I hope so.
14:30Yeah.
14:31Two other questions.
14:32Hi, Joe.
14:33Edda Hegerberg comes off the bench, obviously, just after Arsenal.
14:37He's still all.
14:38He's got that penalty.
14:39I mean, having a player of her experience, the involvement of the second goal.
14:42I think she drags Liam Williams in that position, which creates that space for the Maltese.
14:46I mean, to have a player of her experience to be able to come off the bench and make a difference in that moment.
14:51It feels a little bit like a luxury, I guess.
14:53Yeah.
14:54It's one of the luxuries I've got at Lyon because we can change the moments of the game.
14:59We can change the situation of the game with the quality of talent that we're able to manage.
15:05Like I always say, you know, these games are not about the starting XI.
15:10The starting XI give you a certain phase to go with.
15:13And then the game can take another direction and you've got to change things.
15:18But I think the beauty of our squad is that we can manage the moments as they happen.
15:24And, you know, you saw it with Ada.
15:25Ada was now stretched the line a little bit and allowed us to get out a little bit more.
15:30And, you know, the second goal was all credit to some great interplay.
15:34But we're very lucky to be able to – well, I'm very lucky to be able to change the moments when I need to.
15:41Just a quick question on the intensity of the game.
15:44And obviously now you've got to meet this game against SNL.
15:47So will you have to rotate because the game like today, the players are really tired.
15:51And so they can't really do another one like in three days.
15:54And then the – now we'll definitely use it – we'll definitely use it to prepare players for the weekend.
15:59You know, some of the players who didn't get any minutes today, perfect.
16:03You know, we'll give them some time and get them ready for next Sunday's clash.
16:13Good to see you guys again.
16:14All the best.
16:29How may you respond?
16:30Good to see you guys tomorrow.
16:31Thanks!
16:32Thanks!
16:33Bye!
16:35Bye!
16:36Hello?
16:37Hello?
16:38What was your notion ofy sorrow here?
16:39How did you say that?
16:41You have to прош that, which Matter causa Rum?
16:43Are you and my mother and I was so good to be around in going after every month,
16:44and also is a hard time.
16:45We have to slowly run-to, and we're going up next to a few years later,
16:47because we're at lifelong.
16:48We need to bring some confidently and be our friends where everybody towards the moment.
16:52Oh, thank you.
16:53g adjacent کرins, so enough.
16:55And walk around as far as possible.
16:56Woo!
16:57Yes!