'It's tougher' – Lioness Alessia Russo learning 'tricks of the trade' from Arsenal legend Kelly Smith as former Man Utd star adapts to new No.9 role

The England international completed a stunning transfer from Manchester United to north London in the summer of 2023. She arrived as a European Championship winner and World Cup finalist, but has been asked to fill a different role for Arsenal to the one that she is accustomed to playing at international level.

Russo is more of an out-and-out No.9 for the Gunners and has told the club’s official matchday programme of adjusting to change on and off the field: “It was a pretty crazy summer, to be honest, and one that maybe was a bit tougher than people would have thought from the outside. We get a lot of press attention now in women's football and that means that transfer news can be relentless. It’s a credit to how much the game has grown and where it's going in the future, but it’s also a side of the game that’s pretty new to all of us as players and it can be pretty difficult to deal with. Football-wise, it's obviously a little tougher. You’ve got to learn a new style of play and develop new relationships on the pitch. I’m still fairly new to this system and the role of a number nine at Arsenal because there are so many elements to it. I’m learning new traits every single day but what stays the same is that I try to help the team as much as I can. Whether that’s tracking back to defend a counter, holding up play until we have strength in numbers or simply scoring goals, I want to do as much as I can every single game. Naturally, the number one priority as a forward is to score and create scoring opportunities for others. That’s our job up there! But build-up play is really important to us as a team in terms of how we generate our attacks.”

Russo has the perfect mentor when it comes to finding a spark at Arsenal, with ex-England international Kelly Smith – who won five league titles with the Gunners in her playing days – on hand to offer advice. Russo added: “I’m working specifically with Kelly Smith in training, which has been great. She was my idol when I was a young girl getting into football so to have her as a coach now feels very cool. Kelly's quiet but when she speaks, it holds a lot of value. That's really nice for us as players. We’ll often look at my individual clips after a match and it’s so valuable to get her insight on what to improve. For a player that I used to watch and love their game, it's really cool to hear Kelly’s side of it all. Back in training, she's always working with us on different types of finishes, getting in the right areas in the box at the right times and making sure we’re as clinical as we can be in front of goal. It’s amazing to learn from a former player and the little tricks of the trade that she used to do can help benefit our game, for sure. Kelly’s always encouraging us to be patient. Our natural instincts as a forward often mean we want to get involved with the action as soon as possible but Kelly has reminded us that chances will come. We don’t need to force them, we just need to be ready for when they come.”

Russo was on target in her latest appearance for Arsenal, as they edged out arch-rivals Tottenham on derby day at a sold out Emirates Stadium, and she has now reached double figures for the season as the Gunners continue to compete for major honours on multiple fronts.