Joe Montemurro’s Gunners’ legacy is the return to the Arsenal way of playing football, the title winning season and leaving the club in a better position than he found it which says it all.

BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND - MAY 11: Joe Montemurro manager / head coach of Arsenal celebrates with the trophy after the WSL match between Arsenal Women and Manchester City at Meadow Park on May 11, 2019 in Borehamwood, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Joe Montemurro manager / head coach of Arsenal celebrates with the trophy after the WSL match between Arsenal Women and Manchester City at Meadow Park on May 11, 2019 in Borehamwood, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Some fans have a short memory and do not care to remember how things ended with Shelly Kerr or Pedro Losa nor how much rebuilding had to be done to make the team competitive in the league again as we descended to become cup specialists.

All the journalists that have worked with Joe Montemurro say that he is a kind human being and a pleasure to deal with. I think that is something that is important to be acknowledged, even before we talk about the football results.

Montemurro was brought to Arsenal to bring back the league to Borehamwood and restore the club’s glory. He duly delivered, winning the league with style and panache, playing football the Arsenal way. Every manager has ups and downs and, recently, Arsenal’s inability to beat our title competitors has been a cause for concern. There seemed to be a mental block playing against those teams and, hopefully, that block has been removed after beating Manchester United.

BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 07: Joe Montemurro, Manager of Arsenal reacts during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match between Arsenal Women and Manchester City Women at Meadow Park on February 07, 2021 in Borehamwood, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 07: Joe Montemurro, Manager of Arsenal reacts during the Barclays FA Women’s Super League match between Arsenal Women and Manchester City Women at Meadow Park on February 07, 2021 in Borehamwood, England.  (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Maybe it was the right time for Montemurro to go and someone else to come in and take the team to another level by building on what was achieved and put in place by Joe and his staff.

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I think we have been lucky to have a manager who understood the ethos and the club’s history. Montemurro was manager who wanted to play and win the Arsenal way.

We heard and saw it in the post-game huddle following the win in the Conti Cup against City, when he won his first trophy for the club.

Montemurro was a manager who cared for the club.

I think my most abiding memory of him is a post game, mixed- zone at Birmingham following a 1-0 win that guaranteed a return to the Champions League.

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The picture above says is it all – A nice, quiet chat with the Arsenal manager in the dugout, along with Tim Stillman from Arseblog, Aidan from Arsenal, and Alex Scott. Not your usual set-up for a post-match Q&A, especially in Covid-19 times with which means we mostlt get Zoom press conferences.

Joe Montemurro brought the FA WSL title back to the Arsenal by playing beautiful football the Arsenal way, that’s all we need to remember from his three-and-a-half seasons at the club.

Thank you, Joe. Good luck with whatever you do next.

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