Paul Konchesky says that West Ham United Women go into Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League match against Arsenal knowing that they can compete.
The Hammers travel to Meadow Park, home of the Gunners for a 6:45pm kick-off on Sunday evening, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Premier League.
Konchesky’s side make the trip North having secured back-to-back victories in the WSL since the October international break, beating Aston Villa 2-1 at Bescot Stadium, and Reading 3-2 at Chigwell Construction Stadium last time out.
Now he is hoping that his team can make history, and see his side become the first West Ham United team to ever take a WSL point away from a match against Arsenal.
The West Ham United boss spoke to the media at Chadwell Heath Training Ground on Friday afternoon.
We can definitely compete against the top sides
We have already learnt that from our encounters with Manchester United and Chelsea so far this season.
We might not have scored against Manchester United, but we competed with them for long periods, and then against Chelsea I thought we did the same for 60 minutes or so and in that period, my team was very good.
Now we need to show that we can compete for the full 90 minutes and that’s what we will be hoping to do against Arsenal.
Arsenal have fantastic attacking threat
They’ve shown not only throughout this season, but also for a number of years that they are capable of scoring lots of goals.
They have some top players and that’s why they are top of the league at the moment, whilst also performing well in the Champions League.
We know their strengths and their weaknesses, but we have to go there and belive in what we believe in – take our gameplan to them. Hopefully if we do that and execute it effectively then we have a chance of causing an upset.
We have to concentrate on ourselves
We obviously know the quality that Arsenal have, but we have also shown that we can catch teams cold with the starts that we have made this season, which has contributed to some of our wins so far.
I know that my team has a lot of ability within the ranks, and we have the quality create opportunities.
It’s going to be a tough test, but it’s one that we are looking forward to.
We have a couple of players on the sidelines
We’re missing a couple of key players with long-term injuries, whilst a couple of others have some minor injuries.
We’re assessing players daily in the hope that we will have as strong a team as we can possibly have heading to Meadow Park on Sunday.
My team believe in what we as a coaching staff are trying to do
We’re obviously a new group – we’ve had a lot of change over the summer, amongst the staff and the playing squad, so things are taking time to gel.
I’m pleased with the start that we have made and I know there is even more to come from this group of players – they’re really listening and buying into what me and my staff are passing on.
This team is versatile and is able to adapt, and I think that’s a key skill, particularly in this division.
We have a lot of confidence in this squad at the moment, and hopefully that will inspire us to a good result this weekend.
West Ham United Women are back at Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday 6 November when they face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Tickets for the clash against the Seagulls are available to purchase now by clicking on the graphic below!
