Eagle-eyed supporters of Arsenal Women may have noticed Laia Codina adapting to the challenge of playing in midfield on occasion this season.
Traditionally a centre-back, the Spaniard has shown she’s capable of playing further forward when required. She was asked about that positional shift in her pre-OH Leuven press conference on Tuesday.
“It’s a challenge and I think that everyone around me knows that I love challenges,” she explained. “Also, because I’ve played in Barcelona, I think that is a little bit easier, because I kind of try to understand what’s going on on the pitch. I’m a player that likes to communicate a lot. I like to find always solutions for everything.
“I’m enjoying it when I have the opportunity to play in that role. I try to also give more freedom to the players when I’m more like defensive midfield. So for example, if I play with Mariona, I like to give her more freedom.
“I like to feel that I’m learning something new as well, that I’m growing, I’m improving as a player. And I think I’m taking this in a very positive way, because yes, I don’t know, I feel that it’s giving me something new as a player, and also as a person, because you have to communicate in other ways.
“I also know what the centre-backs maybe need, because I’m a centre-back, so like second balls, box pocket runs. I think that I can give something different in the team, and yes, always when I have the opportunity to play there, I enjoy it.”
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So why does she have to communicate differently depending on the role she’s playing?
“Because the press is different,” Laia said. “For example, when I’m pressing as a centre-back, probably I will communicate to the sixes what I want from the sixes. And as a six, I will communicate to the ten and to the forwards what I want from them. When I play as a six, I try to ask the centre-backs what they want from me. So when I talk about the communication, I talk about maybe most of the time being off the ball because I want to speak with the forwards.
“I’m asking a lot the players that I have around me, what they need from me because I think that the midfield role for me is the most important player in the team. So I try to ask the player what they need from me to then give them the best solution.”
Codina was also asked what it’s been like to wear the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup winner’s badge on our shirt recently, thanks to our success in Europe since the start of last season.
“It feels good to wear that badge, to be fair,” she said. “I think that we still don’t realise what it means. We know that we’ve achieved a big thing but football goes so fast.
“Once we have this summer we’ll realise a little bit everything. But yes, it felt good. We’re talking in the changing room that we had that badge in the shirt. We are the first ones to have won it. So it’s just history and putting more history in the club, that’s the thing.”
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