BEING crowned a WSL champion at the Emirates, whilst helping Arsenal end their title drought, would be a dream come true for Katie McCabe.
It has been five years and three months since her side lifted the top prize in women’s club football in England.
A 4-0 away defeat of Brighton, with McCabe netting second goal in that game, clinched the Gunners’ third WSL title win and 15th in an English top-flight
Out of the squad that helped the team become WSL champions, just five players remain.
Aside from McCabe, 28, they are skipper Kim Little, centre-back Leah Williamson, Lia Walti and superstar forward Beth Mead.
And Republic of Ireland skipper McCabe, would love her team, who finished third in the league last term, to return top of the pack.
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The versatile winger, whose side will face Chelsea in a pre-season clash in the United States tonight, said: “When we go into every season, we want to be competing for all trophies available.
“The league will absolutely be one of them going into next season as well.
“It would be a dream come true (if we were) to win a WSL title in front of 60,000 at the Emirates.
“For us it’s something we want and we’re always competitive.”
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Last summer Arsenal experienced a difficult start to their season.
In September they suffered a shock exit from the Champions League group qualifying stage, losing on penalties to Paris FC.
A result that McCabe described as disappointing.
However the second half of last term saw Jonas Eidevall’s aces rally, picking up five wins from six games between the end of March and mid-May.
This included their 1-0 Conti Cup final defeat of Chelsea at Molineux.
And McCabe, who has lifted five major trophies with the club since her 2015 arrival, expects the Gunners to push on.
This starts with Eidevall’s side hosting Rangers on September 4 in a first round qualifier for a place in the Champions League group stage.
The winger, who notched up more than 200 Arsenal appearances added: “Wearing the Arsenal shirt, you carry that weight and that responsibility to bring back silverware for the club.
“I know me and my team-mates will be hungry to do that for sure next season.
“For us, we’re always looking to be better than in previous seasons, so of course it’s to progress more.
“I feel like towards the end of the season we got into a really nice groove of how we want to play and playing our style of football.
“Going into next season we want to continue that – to play our way and use that going into games and winning matches early on.
“The Champions League will be massive for us too and, of course, competing for all trophies available.”
This December it will be nine years since McCabe sealed a move from Irish side Shelbourne to an Arsenal team then managed by Joe Montemurro.
Since then the winger, who struggled with injury and faced a battle for minutes early in her Gunners career, has become a firm fan favourite.
And she hopes to keep the crowds cheering.
McCabe, who said: “I feel old. It’s been an incredible eight-and-a-half years. To say I’ve over 200 appearances now for Arsenal is incredible
“Having the fans’ support has been massive for me whether it’s the chants and the support of the goals. I always want to give back.”
Her efforts for her club aside, McCabe is among several profile athletes who have been utilising a fitness tracker to monitor their performance.
The app known as WHOOP, and worn as a wristband, is used the Republic of Ireland international and a few of her Arsenal team-mates.
They include England forward Mead.
According to McCabe, it provides her with useful insight on her fitness sleep patterns as well her sleep patterns and cardiovascular performance.
She says: “It’s not just athletes it’s available for. It’s for people working in their everyday lives as well.
“There’s a high focus on tracking your menstrual cycle, so there’s a lot of women’s specific data in there as well.
“It’s data I personally use and it helps me be able to perform at my maximum each day.
“My favourite is the match-day data that that comes out of it and how much strain as such you have on your body too.
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“Having the WHOOP app there to help with that, it’s important for me to then fine tune those details and put it into my performances each day, including training in the gym.”
Chelsea vs Arsenal can be watched live from 21:15 tonight on DAZN’s women’s football channel on YouTube.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
