Almost two years have passed since Alessia Russo played the role of backheeling, goalscoring super-sub as the Lionesses won Euro 2022, but she is still awaiting the first silverware of her English club career.
Sunday’s League Cup Final against quadruple-chasing Chelsea offers a chance for the 25-year-old Arsenal forward to break that duck.
“In football, you never really get time to reflect too much because there’s always something coming up”, says Russo, who joined Arsenal from Manchester United on a free transfer last summer in one of biggest deals in WSL history.
“It’s been tough coming into a new team and finding my feet, but this group of girls is really special and make you feel at home right away. I’ve been learning a lot about myself as a player and as a person.”
Russo has six goals and four assists in the WSL this season, but keenly points out she is “still quite new” to the striker role she plays for the Gunners.
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall was key in convincing Russo to join and has worked closely with her to fine-tune her goalscoring instincts.
“When you feel your manager has confidence in you, it helps a lot,” she says.
As Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice can attest, 2023 was a summer for drawn-out transfer sagas. Russo’s move to Arsenal was no different and, she recalls, placed her in the spotlight for much longer than she had hoped.
“My normal day-to-day life is I just train, go home and relax,” she says. “To be completely honest, the summer was really tough at times.
“We’re not used to our lives being in the media so much. I’d happily just live a quiet little life, but I also understand that football is not like that anymore. It was tough, and you have to really fall back on the people you rely on. I needed my family a lot through those times.
“I don’t think it [the attention] makes you second-guess [the transfer]. But it just puts a lot of pressure on you.
I absolutely expect - and everyone at this club expects - to be competing for all trophies every year
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“It just adds a lot of noise around what I love doing, which is playing football. And to me, that’s all that matters. Everything else is just noise. Sometimes it’s hard, but you have to shut it out as best you can.”
At United, Russo was a star at an improving team. In Arsenal, though, she has joined a side already accustomed to winning. Russo wants a taste of that success.
The Gunners are holders of the League Cup but, six points behind WSL leaders Chelsea and Manchester City with just five games left, Sunday represents their last realistic shot at silverware this season.
“I absolutely expect - and everyone at this club expects - to be competing for all trophies every year,” she says. “I’ve not won any trophies at club level, there’s no hiding that.”
Chelsea are still in the hunt for four trophies after they reached the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday night by drawing 1-1 with Ajax to go through 4-1 on aggregate.
The Blues are bidding to give departing manager Emma Hayes a glorious send-off this season and make for potentially daunting opponents. But Russo is confident Arsenal can keep their cool and prevail at Molineux this weekend.
“Everyone in this team is a big-game player and has their moment,” she says. “That’s one thing about our training sessions: everyone has got high-level experience and knows how to act in big games. As a player, you love playing in big games. That’s what it’s all about.”