When Leila Wandeler gets on the ball, the crowd climb off their seats. In two Subway® Women's League Cup starts, our summer signing, who arrived from French Première Ligue side OL Lyonnes in August, has already shown the magic she possesses.
The Valley was her playground when she struck in our 5-1 success over Charlton Athletic in September. Our No27 pulled off an acute nutmeg on the left-hand touchline before dancing forward and curling an unstoppable effort into the top-right corner. A collector’s item - her first goal for the Club, and she will be eyeing up a similar success against Southampton on Wednesday night.
The Group C clash against the Saints is our second home game in the competition, after we defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 in Dagenham in October. Wandeler also started that game, looking a threat on the counter-attack, and she could have notched her second goal for West Ham had visiting shot-stopper Sophie Baggaley not made a smart save when 1v1 against the Switzerland international.
The Hammers head into the tie off the back of a 1-1 draw against Leicester City in the Barclays Women’s Super League. The east Londoners put up a dominant performance in front of the Claret and Blue Army on Sunday, but while a 97th-minute equaliser from the Foxes dampened spirits come full-time, it was a positive game for Wandeler, who came on as a 56th-minute substitute - showing the faith manager Rehanne Skinner has in her.
“It’s the most minutes I’ve had in a WSL game so far, so I’m very proud of that,” she said. “I had to get in the rhythm [of the game] and defend a lot because we were winning. It gives me confidence and I’m proud to have had those minutes, and fight a little bit defensively for the team. I want to be better on my crosses in the last third.
“It (the first point of the WSL season) gives us a lot of confidence. We work hard all the time and we know we have that potential. Maybe we didn’t have that confidence at the beginning, but scoring the goal and having more of the ball up front gives confidence to us forwards. I know we’re going to score more goals in the next games.
“I think at the end we have to be more clever, and we shouldn’t have conceded a set-play like that. Otherwise, I thought we fought a lot. We have to score more goals and be more efficient in the last third, but it’s a good start and I’m proud of the team.”
It was clear after the late draw with Leicester that the Hammers wanted to get back to match action as quickly as possible, and a midweek cup tie with Southampton presents the opportunity to do so.
The second of three successive fixtures in Dagenham, Skinner’s side know a victory will put them in a strong position to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition at the summit of Group C, with Brighton currently also sitting on six points, having played a game more.
We faced the Saints in our third group-stage fixture last season, securing a 3-0 win at home thanks to a Paige Peake own-goal, and strikes from Shelina Zadorsky and Dagný Brynjarsdóttir.
“I can’t wait for the cup game against Southampton,” said Wandeler. “We know it’s very important because we don’t want to lose after we’ve won the first two games. I can’t wait to play, to have more minutes and try to score more goals for the team.
“Playing at home is so nice, it gives us all a lot of confidence. This home feeling gives us a boost, it helped us get the win against Brighton in the cup. I love playing here, it’s a family place to play, and we’re looking forward to another home game.”
