Whether it is in the dugout at Meadow Park, on his golf buggy at London Colney, over Zoom or through the style of football Arsenal Women play, Joe Montemurro’s influence in north London will not be forgotten any time soon.
The 51-year-old Arsenal fan took charge of his final game as head coach on Sunday and in doing so, leaves a legacy larger than most would expect from a three-and-a-half-year tenure.
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In that time, his personality has shone through in action, whether it be football-related or not. For instance, if you were a young journalist waiting in the London Colney car park for the men’s press conference to begin and he saw you, he’d come over for a quick chat before jumping in that famous golf buggy and zooming through the complex to the training pitches.
If you were the only reporter to travel to Arsenal Women’s 5-0 League Cup win over London City Lionesses in September 2019, he would oblige to post-match questions inside the Princes Park tunnel. He once did the same in the depths of Meadow Park, with a quizzical stare and quick quip at a poster about human spine disorders before forgetting his UEFA Women’s Champions League-ordered press conference was underway.
Now those press conferences have moved over to video calls, he has found other ways to break the ice before talking football.
Can't believe it. I wanna run to u. Really can't believe this. @ pic.twitter.com/Zw5jmLrT8Y
— Art de Roché (@ArtdeRoche) March 31, 2021
Finding out what makes a person tick and puts them at ease is what Montemurro is all about. Whether you’re a journalist covering his team, a member of staff with the club or one of his players, and that is apparent in how he has tried to personalise his coaching since arriving at the club in November 2017.
“I’m not a big one for boot camps, paintball and all those things. I usually get involved in those things but the players usually organise that — I don’t,” he explains.
“I think it’s about values and honesty from day one, I really do; one-on-one discussions, group discussions, honesty, the ability for people to talk, giving people their voice, people contributing, empathy. All the words that are true to who I am as a person are what come across in my coaching and my team-building. There’s no magic wand. There’s no we all sit there, hold hands, sing songs and stuff like that. It’s not that.
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“When you make football the focus, football the tool, football the centre of everything you do, and you start asking football questions and you’re getting football advice, you’re being honest with people and players. I think that just naturally bonds people together.”
Despite taking charge mid-season, his footballing ideals quickly became visible. Yes, there was already an emphasis on passing and possession-based football, but the small positional tweaks and patterns of play that have become more fleshed out were already coming to the fore.
More recently, the evolution of Katie McCabe from a winger to an all-action full-back has been a highlight of Montemurro’s management — but one of the first players to undergo a transition like that under him was Beth Mead.
Signed as a striker from Sunderland earlier that year, she very much was still one at his appointment in November 2017. Within a few months, she started against soon-to-be champions Chelsea Women at right wing and scored the equalising goal while Lisa Evans began to develop into an attacking right-back, as well as being the right winger she was signed as.
This constant use of players in varied yet complementary roles speaks to the holistic approach Montemurro has been adamant about. Especially in his final season in charge, he has given a large focus to the idea of “succession planning”. Champions League football was without doubt imperative to that but what these actions have represented is the word the Australian highlighted as one of the most important in his ideals.
“It’s a word I use a lot in my coaching and it’s part of my philosophy, and it’s being selfless,” he said ahead of his final game in charge, against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday. The final chapter could hardly have been more emphatic, with Arsenal thrashing their Championship opponents 9-0 to book their place in the quarter-finals, which will take place in September 2021.
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“Doing something for someone, but doing it because you know it’s the right thing to do and you don’t want anything back: they’re the values we’re putting in. For me, it’s just about values, honesty; just having those honest conversations but, more importantly, allowing people their voice. Not just the players — the staff.
“People have laughed and they call it ‘The Democratic Football of Joe Montemurro’. It’s a democracy. We can all have our say. I’m wrong at times too but if I can own it, learn from it and grow, you grow better as people.”
Key to this democracy running smoothly is a word many of Montemurro’s players used in their farewell video to him: freedom.
Thank you, @MontemurroJoe ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hJazgIVUW1
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) May 13, 2021
Always looking for spaces to exploit, with players having the licence to roam, was the base for Arsenal Women carving so many WSL opponents apart.
While strikers like Mead and Caitlin Foord became wide forwards, central midfielders like Jordan Nobbs and Danielle van de Donk became false wingers occupying the half-spaces. While wide players like McCabe and Evans became full-backs, the interchanging centre-backs and deep midfielders in the defensive third provided a platform for those further forward.
Montemurro’s football brain was always searching for solutions and fluid players like Leah Williamson, Lia Walti, Dominique Janssen and Viki Schnaderbeck were vital, especially in his final few weeks in charge.
“I’ve always been one that it’s not so much about whether you play a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 — whatever system you play — it’s about players getting in good positions to A: receive the ball from a pass and B: be in a position to pass the ball into a good area,” the Australian explained ahead of his final WSL game against Aston Villa earlier this month. “So, it’s been quite normal that we have a lot of flexibility in our way.
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“It’s about creating overloads — an extra player in an area of danger — and to do that, you have to have good positioning. That’s why sometimes you’ll see full-backs come right inside. Sometimes, wingers drop very low because that’s what that moment, pattern or phase needs. The fluidity, for me, is normal. It’s always been part of my coaching and the great thing about it is that when you have the quality of players that you have at Arsenal, you’re able to take it to the next level. That’s what really pleased me.”
Laying those footballing and philosophical foundations upon arrival, the impact was almost immediate. Winning the League Cup final and reaching the Women’s FA Cup final in that first half-season in 2017-18 gave a quick indicator of the base levels of success that were to follow in the 2018-19 season.
With that first pre-season out of the way, the fluidity of movement in midfield became even greater. Nobbs and Van de Donk caused chaos as two No 10s roaming forward undetected, giving Arsenal more attacking outlets than just Vivianne Miedema who, aside from the 22 league goals she scored, would and still does tend to drift away from the top of the pitch to leave spaces for the supporting cast to run into.
Making inroads across the width of the pitch with wingers, attacking midfielders and strikers, the football on display that year was unstoppable. When the title was won at the Amex Stadium in April 2018, Montemurro admitted that success had come earlier than expected but he was ready to embrace what was to come.
Qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in his tenure, like many other aspects of his management, Montemurro’s intentions were clear almost immediately. He wanted Arsenal to compete in the latter stages and actively organised friendlies against Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and Barcelona.
Adding Jill Roord, Jennifer Beattie, Manuela Zinsberger and Leonie Maier to the jigsaw in summer 2019 was the next step in regards to building a more technically gifted and versatile squad to compete. They did so for large parts of the next season but this is when one of the main criticisms of Montemurro’s time in charge began to form: in-game management in big games.
The Australian has not been shy to admit when his approach to these games has been wrong. The only sides he lost to in the league that season were Chelsea Women and Manchester City Women, with a 4-1 Meadow Park defeat by Emma Hayes’ team the most striking.
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Falling short in the League Cup final for the second time just weeks later meant that more difficulties were on the horizon. As the global pandemic hit in spring, Montemurro headed back home to Australia for family reasons where, 9,000 miles away from London Colney and in a completely different time zone, he continued to manage his side.
The honesty and humour that were present before the enforced break returned with him in August, however. Joking that he felt like he was playing Football Manager before going into detail around the mental health work that was crucial during that time was just another glimpse into how intrinsic that knowledge of both people and football is to him.
With the aforementioned succession planning well underway, summer 2020 gave a similar impression of completing a puzzle that summer 2019 did. Rather than signing big-name players like their title and European rivals, the arrivals of Steph Catley, Malin Gut, Noelle Maritz, Lydia Williams, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Anna Patten sought to plug gaps within the team. Once again, however, injuries and enforced breaks took their toll over the course of the season.
Having secured Champions League football, Montemurro will be handing Arsenal Women over to their new manager with a platform to build on. Coincidentally, the Women’s FA Cup was the only domestic trophy he did not win. Now, his successor has a chance to finish the work he started — not just in that competition this season but the building blocks he began to put in place in November 2017.
Coincidentally, Montemurro’s time in charge has paralleled nicely with a man he, like many other Arsenal fans, admires.
Appointed head coach in the 2017-18 season, he arrived as Arsene Wenger was in his final months as manager of the men’s team. Both joined at points when the club’s seasons were already underway and both won the league title in their first full seasons in charge. Both took the human element of their roles just as seriously as football, and Montemurro got first-hand experience of that when their tenures overlapped.
“Yeah, (we met). It was great because I’ve obviously tracked his career as a coach and read a lot about his way and the ideas,” Montemurro says. “The first day you come in, you see the effect Mr Wenger had on the club, from the design of the changing rooms, the colours on the wall; just the little things.
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“In 2018, my mother passed away in March and I remember going back home to my house in Australia. We were out, me and my wife. I got home, there was a letter, and it was from Arsene Wenger. I’ve actually got that letter tucked away in a folder here and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, that’s what we do it for’. It was a personal letter, handwritten, and it was probably one of the most amazing moments in my life.”
When Wenger’s departure was announced a month later in April 2018, he had a message for Arsenal supporters. Within that message, he said: “To all the Arsenal lovers, take care of the values of the club.” As one Arsenal manager left the hot seat, the one that stayed remained true to those words until the very end.
Montemurro’s final words to me as the Arsenal Women manager showed the charisma, personality and kindness he displayed during his time in north London. When I asked why he changed his pre-match routine ahead of his final game, he joked: “Just to see what the staff get up to before the game, I don’t really know what they do…
“I’m only joking. Just friendly chats and I just wanted to be a little more involved in terms of their day too, because we can never forget the amazing work the staff have done in the back. They deserve everything that they get and hopefully better things are to come.”
This summer will be crucial for the future of Arsenal Women. Whatever happens next, in his three and a half years as an Arsenal employee, Montemurro proved a fan from Melbourne can leave a lasting legacy that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
(Top photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
