West Ham United women’s team left-back Verena Hanshaw is relishing the opportunity to face Arsenal on Wednesday night, hoping to put in a performance that will give her side confidence heading into the new campaign.
The Hammers will step up their pre-season preparations further at Mangata Developments Stadium as they face the Gunners, who last term finished second in the Barclays Women’s Super League table and clinched the UEFA Women’s Champions League in May.
The fixture will also act as a precursor to West Ham’s first home WSL game of the campaign, against Arsenal, on Friday 12 September under the lights at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Rehanne Skinner’s side came ever so close to clinching a historic victory away at Arsenal last season, but were defeated 4-3 in an enthralling encounter in March. Amber Tysiak scored a pair of headers and Shekiera Martinez slotted one home to give the Irons a 3-1 advantage, however, three goals in six second-half minutes took the game away from them.
When 31-year-old Hanshaw was asked about her memories of the contest, she smiled: “It was a crazy game!
“I really enjoyed the game, it was my first time playing against Arsenal. We scored the goals and we were 3-1 up which felt really good, but it also showed us the dark side of football. If you don’t keep it up and stay focused, it can change, especially against Arsenal because they’re so good. If you have five minutes where you’re not focused, it’s not enough in those games.
“We can always take something from these pre-season games. It will be a good test. Say we win this friendly game, it will give us a lot of confidence going into the league game.
“These games show us where we stand, what we need to keep improving on and what we’re doing well. It’s good to have these kinds of games where we play against one of the best teams.
“In the second half of last season, we showed what we’re able to do if we all believe in each other and our strengths, and I hope that we can continue this. We want to keep improving and show how good we are.”
Hanshaw joined the east Londoners in January and has been ever-present since her arrival. Indeed, she notched her first assist in Claret and Blue in the seven-goal thriller with the Gunners, helping Martinez on her way to scoring the away side’s third of the evening.
That was one of three assists the Austria international made from eleven top-flight appearances last term, and eight months into life at Chadwell Heath, our No29 has certainly settled in.
“The Club really feels like home,” she said. “If I have this feeling, I can perform better. I think it helped that the girls were so welcoming and kind because it’s always hard for a player to move clubs, especially in the winter!”
Hanshaw came on as a first-half substitute in the women’s team’s 1-0 victory over Sparta Prague in the Czech capital on 10 August, and the defender enjoyed the experience of her first pre-season trip with the squad.
She said: “It was nice to be away with the girls for a few days in such a cool city. I liked the city a lot! The game was also successful, so I really enjoyed it.
“I’ve really enjoyed pre-season so far. As normal, in pre-season you have ups and downs, but with the new players, everyone’s fitted in really well. It’s been good.
“Everyone’s been getting minutes, everyone’s fit, I think the level is quite high. In the last couple of pre-season games, we’ve got to show more of how we’d like to start the season.
“I’m really looking forward to the new season. Pre-season is always hard for us players, because we just want the league to start! It would be the best if there was only the league and no pre-season. I can’t wait to play the first game.”
