Alessia Russo: My game in my words

Arsenal’s Alessia Russo is the in-form player in the Women’s Super League.

After a slow start to the season by her usual standards, a late strike in a Champions League win over Valerenga on October 16 ended a run of eight games without a goal and proved the start of a superb run, featuring 10 goals in 11 games.

On Thursday, she was named WSL player of the month for December and given the goal of the month award for her fantastic effort against Aston Villa on December 8.

🗳️ The votes are in…

🎯 Alessia Russo’s delightful curler against Aston Villa has won our December Goal of the Month! 👏

🤝 @Emirates

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) January 7, 2025

Here, she talks The Athletic through the development of her game over the past couple of years by looking at 10 goals, featuring strikes with her left foot, her right foot, her head and, of course, that backheeled nutmeg…

A curled one-on-one finish in a 4-1 win over Chelsea, 2023-24

This is the goal against Chelsea at the Emirates, which hopefully you remember.

Yes. This was a fun game.

When Arsenal fans see that kind of goal: inside-left, curling inside the far post, they think of Thierry Henry. He always used to say how often he practised that. Is that the kind of goal you would practise on the training ground?

That is very much a ‘striker’ goal that I try to work on a lot, not only the finish itself, but the run. We have so much quality in our team to find those kind of balls in behind. So it’s just about the timing of the run in the first place and then when you get the ball in the box as a striker, you’re looking for half a yard of space to open up and finish. When I’m in that scenario, I’m often looking to go across and lift it as well, just because that’s where the space is, and taking the shot early, or as early as possible, is also important.

One of the things that’s important here is the speed to get in behind. Has that always been a big part of your game?

I’ve always loved the ball at my feet, so really this is a part of my game that I’m continuously working on, the runs in behind, how I can exploit that and how I can find the space — and I think it’s something that you never fully master until maybe you look back at your career. It’s definitely a part of my game that I want to keep working on, finding different ways to break down the back line.

If I just pause it when you actually make contact with the ball, it’s quite interesting because your standing foot is completely on its side and your other foot is almost pointing backwards. When you make that contact, do you know immediately you’ve got that technique right?

(Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

You can often tell when you hit the ball how nicely or not nicely you’ve hit it and yeah, I think so in this picture. When I was younger I probably would have laced it, gone for power, but as I’m getting a bit older, I’m understanding so many different ways to score and the finesse on the ball. In this picture I went with my side-foot and just tried to whip it back across where it’s come from, or where the goalkeeper’s come from, to find that space.

Nutmegging the goalkeeper for the final goal in a 4-1 win over Valerenga, 2024-25

This is earlier this season against Valerenga. Kind of a similar position, but a different type of finish.

Yeah. Also out on the left.

I suppose the interesting thing is you’re playing on the left wing by this point, late in the game. Does that make anything easier? Can you see more of the picture to help with timing your runs in that position?

Yeah, I used to play out wide when I was a kid quite a lot, growing up and through academy football, so I’m quite familiar with it. It’s very different to the 9, but in this scenario when you’re in the box a little bit wider, you get into those positions as a 9 anyway.

I think this goal was important for me — not only to score in the game, but also mentally. I’d not scored in a while, so it was nice to get on the scoresheet and just keep it really simple. I think when you get into this moment, you know the goalkeeper’s coming out, you’ve got space either side of her or through the middle. It was on my left foot, too, but that’s something I’ve also been working on and will continuously work on. More than anything, this goal stands out for being a bit of a mental goal and a mental resetter. Strikers go through lots of ups and downs, but I remember this one as a nice one.

Russo celebrates her goal against Valerenga (Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

A lot of people are saying this is your best run of form of your career. Do you feel that way yourself?

(pauses to think) Yeah, I do, but I don’t think it matters until I carry it on and I just want to keep improving, keep getting better and keep scoring, and I think I’m very critical of myself. But that’s what you need to be as a striker and I know you get judged on goals, but there are lots of other things that I’m trying to work on in my game as well. It’s been nice to have a bit of a run of goals, but it means not a lot if I don’t continue it.

A smart left-footed finish inside the opening minute in a 3-0 win at Tottenham, 2024-25

You just mentioned your left foot. The next one is the Tottenham goal earlier in the season, with your left foot as well. How much is that something you’ve worked on over the past few years?

It’s been a really important part of my development. Maybe, at times, I was slightly predictable, always getting the ball and cutting across to my right foot. So trying to work on left-foot finishing is really important to me, just to add variety and being able to chop and go on both sides is key. You’ve got to find the space in the box and if that’s on my left, I don’t want to pass up an opportunity. I want to go and take it on my left and be confident.

What’s the key to this one? The first goal you spoke about taking it early, is it the same thing here?

Yeah, this definitely… this was an instinct finish… when you’re a forward and you know the bearings of the box. I knew I’d go across her in this scenario because I’m a bit wider and I just caught it nicely, on the turn, and aimed far corner, and luckily it went in.

People always talk about competition for places, but for club and country, there’s probably less competition for places than a year ago. Do you feel a bit more comfortable that you’re going to be in the team even if you go a couple of games without scoring?

No, I don’t ever feel comfortable. But I think that’s what’s great. We have so many talented players and more and more each year at Arsenal and at England. My mentality has always been that if you take your foot off the gas for a couple of games, then someone’s going to be chasing your spot and wants the shirt just as much as you do.

So I understand what you mean, but I don’t see it like that at all. We have so many talented players in this squad and at England that if you ever slip up, then people are there, people can do jobs in both squads and we’re so talented, which is fortunate because we get to train together day-in, day-out, so you’re testing yourself against the best players every day.

Collecting the ball between the lines and slamming it in from long range against Bristol City in a 5-0 win, 2023-24

This one’s a great hit, against Bristol City. If I just go back to the start, you’re a second striker here behind Stina Blackstenius. Is that a role you’re comfortable in?

Yeah, we have so many different strengths with different players and Stina is brilliant in behind and she stretches back lines so well, which is really nice to play off and she’s a finisher, too. So yeah, it’s great to have a different balance and a different variety within the team.

I don’t mind. I’ll play anywhere for anyone! Yeah, it’s a different role. It requires a lot of different skills and this is what I mean, where I like having the ball at my feet. I like to come even shorter than when I’m in the 9. I’ll drop in-between a little bit, to get the ball at my feet. This is one where you pick it up in between the lines and just thought I’d go on a little run.

Is this pure power or are you trying to get a bit of whip on the ball as well?

I’m trying to go back across again, so it is mostly power, but also a little bit of just getting it as far in the corner over as I can and hopefully let the power take it there.

Dropping deep to link play and scoring a tap-in to open the scoring against Austria in a 7-2 win, 2024

This is the one against Austria in the 7-2. I chose it because I feel like that’s classic you, coming into those positions and using your strength to hold off a defender, and then the finish as well, showing such determination to get into the box and score a classic striker’s goal.

Yeah, these are considered the easy goals, but these are probably my favourite type of goals as a forward, being in the right place at the right time.

People often think it’s the easy stuff, but it’s the stuff that is our bread and butter. I work on hold-up play as much as I can and it’s a big part of my game, and then to be able to turn and play forward and start an attack is also something I like to try to do. So yeah, to start that attack and then get in the box and finish it is nice.

I want to be in those (goalscoring) positions and when I come deeper, sometimes it’s harder. But yeah, ultimately, if I’m coming deeper as the 9, I know that I’ve got to try to get in the box because no one’s going to be in there if I’m deeper.

The England coach Sarina Wiegman often speaks about what she wants from a striker and she speaks so much about link play. Is that something she talks to you about before matches or in training, almost being like a No 10?

Yeah, she talks about linking play a lot and whether it’s the 9 dropping in or the 10s, it’s a massive part to set up the attack, and we have a lot of technical 10s that get in those positions, so normally I stay away! But every now and again, I’ll drop into those spaces, as and when it’s on. Otherwise, I’ll leave it to the 10s because that’s their forte.

A brilliant turn and finish in the 5-0 win over Northern Ireland, Euro 2022

This is the Northern Ireland goal. Before I ask you about your goals at the Euros, I want to ask about your role in this tournament because in every game you came on as a sub. By the end of the tournament, did that help condition you for the right mentality of coming on and trying to change the game?

I think in this tournament everyone was really, really clear on their roles and we were so tight-knit and our camp was a little bubble and it was amazing. Everyone knew their role to a tee, whether they were a starter, whether they were coming on as a sub, whether they were a player that would influence the training and the environment of the team.

There were so many different aspects that helped us win this tournament that probably people wouldn’t even think of… maybe players didn’t step on the pitch, but they were so important to the environment and to the team behind the scenes.

Russo started every Euro 2022 game on the bench but still had a major impact (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

It did help knowing your role, but also I was just enjoying my first tournament and trying to show that through my football. I’ve always said that I play my best when I’m happy and I’m enjoying myself and I feel confident, and goals like this are exactly like that.

This just looks so smooth. It must have been a great feeling when you brought it under your control and realised you were through on goal.

Yeah. I know people talk about the backheel, but this was my favourite goal from the tournament, just because of the pass through, of being in the position, and then turning and getting a finish off. The backheel was an instinct moment and it is what it is, but this is the goal that you want to score and replicate. Turning in between a back line to get your shot off is something that I enjoy as a striker.

Russo’s goal against Northern Ireland at Euro 2022 (Lynne Cameron – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

This is probably the kind of thing that’s just so instinctive you can’t remember, but why do you take the ball in that way? It feels so unusual, but it works out so perfectly.

Yeah, I don’t remember a whole lot, but I do remember that I went to take it on my right foot and then I realised I could turn, so I think that’s where the inside-of-the-foot turn comes from, but again, it was quite an instinctive moment.

And the pass comes from Ella Toone. You’ve played together so much, does that help?

I always think it helps when you know what your team-mates want from you and what you want from them, and the more you play with players, that naturally comes. Beth (Mead) is another one I’ve played with England for a long time and I get to play with her here at Arsenal and I know what she’s looking for and, hopefully, she knows what I’m looking for. It’s important to have those relationships with players, especially when you’re connecting up top, because ultimately you can help out each other to score more goals.

The Puskas Award-nominated backheel in the 4-0 win over Sweden, Euro 2022

So obviously, next it’s the backheel. I’m intrigued by what you’re thinking. Are you trying to just hit it quickly? Are you trying to just generate as much power as possible?

Well, I always say that I should have scored the first one when Fran (Kirby) cut it back, but after that, I was frustrated that I didn’t score and I wanted to get the ball in the goal as quickly as possible. In the moment, I couldn’t tell you what I was thinking. It’s a completely instinctive finish. I just knew the quickest route to go was with the back of my heel. I’ve got a defender here, so I knew I couldn’t turn, so it had to be something different and that’s what came off.

Russo’s backheel goal against Sweden (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

And could you look around? Did you realise it went through the goalkeeper’s legs?

No, I had no idea until way after in the changing rooms when I was talking to one of the girls about it and they were like, “Did you know it went through her legs?” I had no idea. I just saw it go in the back of the net and then I was just buzzing.

Russo’s finish went through the goalkeeper’s legs (Catherine Ivill – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

I was at this game and I remember the reaction. It was quite unusual. It felt like people had just seen something spectacular. Did you feel that, the celebrations being slightly different?

Yeah… I can’t even remember my feelings and emotions. I just knew that I was just over the moon to score and then it was quite a different finish, that was nice, too. I just remember also going 3-0 up in a semi-final… you feel pretty secure. I know we never would feel like that, but it gives you that kind of extra step to see out the game and hopefully take it into the final, and that’s what we did.

I’m not sure why this clip has got Italian commentary, but I just wanted to play this three or four seconds to you again…

He says my name properly! That makes a change!

And he says ‘made in Italy!’, which is a good opportunity to talk about the fact your dad was a bit of a non-League legend as a centre-forward… (Mario Russo is the all-time top goalscorer for Metropolitan Police FC, who currently play in the eighth tier of English football).

God, he’ll be buzzing you’ve said that…

How useful was that, growing up with someone who was a prolific scorer of goals?

Yeah, he doesn’t let me forget that. It’s been great and growing up with Dad — and my mum and my brothers — they’re so supportive and they would have done anything to help me through my career.

Dad reminds me of times when I was a kid and different moments that I’ve completely forgotten, but he remembers everything and he really is my biggest supporter and also my biggest critic as well — besides myself — but I think that’s important, and after games, he’d debrief me in the car with everything that I could do better in a way that made me want more.

Alessia’s father, Mario (pictured above in 1983), was a prolific striker for Metropolitan Police FC (Albert Foster/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

He didn’t always tell me about the good stuff. He used to tell me mostly about where I went wrong and what I could do better and how I could become a better player. He’s gotten a bit softer with his old age, but he still does that now, which is nice to hear, his debrief of the moment.

Clinching England’s place in the final with a late goal in the 3-1 win over Australia, World Cup 2023

Before I ask you about the goal, this was another game I was at and I was quite struck by the atmosphere — 75,000 Aussies on home soil was quite something. It felt like you were away from… well, obviously you were away from home, but it felt like you were up against the crowd. Do you feel that as players?

Yeah, and I remember when Sam Kerr scored, I’d given the ball away up top and then they’d countered and they’d scored, so I was responsible for the goal. And I remember when they scored and the crowd… it was like, ‘Oh my God’. You really could feel the energy… but then it almost spurred me on even more to be like, ‘Right, I’ve made a mistake. I’ve got to snap out of this. The crowd’s against us… let’s go’.

It was crazy to hear the atmosphere of the stadium, but at the same time, it spurred me on… I know they’re Aussie fans, but it made me want to go and do better. They hosted an amazing tournament and the way their country got behind them was incredible and to play them in such an important game was massive.

And tactically, there’d been a change of system and it was you and Lauren Hemp up front. You’re such different players, but you seemed to bounce off each other really well, including for this goal.

Yeah. Lauren’s a top player. I love playing with her and her qualities. It was a great ball through and my job is to put it in the back of the net, low and hard across the goalkeeper is always a finish that you would work on ever since you were a kid. People would say, “Low and hard across the goalkeeper, back where it came from”, and that’s something that’s been instilled in me ever since I was a young girl.

Russo’s goal against Australia in the 2023 World Cup semi-final (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

And quite similar to your goal against Colombia (in the quarter-final).

Yeah, a similar one.

We spoke about the Chelsea one from the other side, is there a side you’d prefer to be on in this kind of situation?

Now I’m getting more confident on my left side and my left foot. I don’t mind, but I would always say that I’ve been in this position, in this goal, hundreds of times as a kid.

It’s on my right foot. It’s where I want to be and those finishes are almost instilled in you. You’ve practised them so many times that hopefully when they come in, you’re willing to take them.

A far-post header in a 2-1 defeat at West Ham, 2023-24

I wanted to include a header because you’ve scored a lot of goals with your head. Sometimes that develops later on in a striker’s career. Have you always been comfortable in the air?

Funnily enough, when I went to college in America, (former USWNT boss) Anson Dorrance was my coach and he said to me within my first few weeks, “You’re so tall and you have so much power, but you suck in the air.” And I was like, “Brilliant, well, let’s work on it…”

So he wanted to make use of my height as a 9. Although I’m not massive, I’m quite a big 9. And he said, “We need to work on it. Your timing, your power, everything.” We used to do loads of really specific practices at UNC (University of North Carolina) and everything was recorded. I remember at the start I was really low on the heading numbers when they put it on the board at the end of every week and I was like, “Right, he’s already told me I suck at heading, so I need to get better at this.”

Just through a lot of his work, making sure that my timing was better and how I could put the ball in different areas to make it harder for the goalkeeper. He helped me a lot through that, so that’s a big credit to Anson and when I was at UNC because he said I was terrible when I first got there!

And just a quick bit on this movement here, when there’s a header at the near post, you’re already taking two steps away. Are you thinking about that, or is that just instinct in the moment?

It is in the moment, but I’m just thinking my job’s to be around the back, and it’s a ball that’s whipped in and I’m thinking if anything misses or if it goes over anyone, then it’s going to be falling to me. So how can I get in the best position to attack the ball? I think coming backwards, to then go back towards the ball, makes it an easier finish.

The opener in a 1-1 draw at her former club, Manchester United, 2024-25

I’m interested in this one because I guess there are two runs you can make. You could go to the six-yard box, or do what you do, which is come short for a bit of a pull-back. Is there any reason you make that run towards the ball?

I can see that I’ve got a defender on me. Basically, I’m in a one-on-one. And also (Caitlin) Foord is joining the box, so she can kind of make that run to stretch and then I can drop a little bit deeper and sometimes defenders maybe expect you to run in behind, so checking off is a different option to have — and when there’s not a whole lot of space either, it’s just a different run to make.

Do you set yourself targets for the season, in terms of goals?

I do and I don’t. I always have different things in my mind and different things that I want to achieve, but I want to take it day by day and I have things in my head that I want to do and I want to be and become.

But at the same time, I’m very much in the moment and quite present with training and games, and that helps me a lot because if I look too far ahead, or too far behind, I just lose focus a little bit.

I’m really good at being present, being in the moment and making sure that I do everything within that moment to make the most of it.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)