Joe Montemurro reacts to Arsenal Women 1 - 2 Lyonnaise in 1st leg of UWCL Semi Finals - video Dailymotion

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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

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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!

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Joe Montemurro reacts to Arsenal Women 1 - 2 Lyonnaise in 1st leg of UWCL Semi Finals

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