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VIVIANNE MIEDEMA has had quite the summer. She scooped the silver boot for her four goals that helped Holland on the way to a home title at Euro 2017.
And that killer tournament came hot on the heels of Miedema’s decision to leave Germany, where she has twice won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, to sign for Arsenal.
New manager Pedro Martinez Losa welcomed her to Meadow Park, saying she was “very much a star that can shine here very soon.”
Miedema didn’t feature in Arsenal’s 3-0 pre-season win over Everton on Thursday night, but that gave me the chance to catch up with the 21-year-old striker about the excitement of the last couple of months.
“It was amazing to play the Euros at home and especially to win it with all the support that we had,” she tells me.
“I think all the games we played were quite good. Everything seemed right. It’s still unbelievable, I would say.”
The rollicking performance on home soil was a far cry from Holland’s World Cup performance in 2015, when Oranje scraped through the group stage only to be knocked straight out by eventual runners-up Japan.
Despite a pivotal performance during the qualification campaign, picking up 16 goals and being widely lauded as the next big thing, she failed to find the net in Canada.
And the prospect of a big-tournament hoodoo reared its head again over the summer, with the name Miedema being markedly absent from the score sheet.
Naturally, I ask, she must have felt the expectations mounting.
“No, I didn't really feel pressure because I knew I would play anyway,” she shoots back. “I think I did well for the team in the first three games.
“You know as well that once the first goal’s in, you are going to score more goals. That’s what I did I think.”
The goals certainly did come but not in the same abundance as for England’s Jodie Taylor, who Miedema will now line up alongside at Arsenal.
The pair haven’t done much training together yet but Miedema is looking forward to linking up.
“I think we’re like really different players and I think you can even play us both in the starting XI. I will just see how it goes but I think it will be really good to play with her.”
And she makes it clear that far from feeling the need to play as a high winger as with Holland, she’ll slot into whatever system Losa wants.
“It doesn't really matter because at Bayern Munich we played 5-4-1 so I was quite alone. I didn’t really mind.
“I’m fine with playing counter-attack, I’m fine with playing like two on top. It doesn’t really matter for me, I’m quite flexible if it comes to that.”
And before we parted she just had time to pay tribute to fellow Dutchwoman Lieke Martens, who has just been named Uefa’s Women’s Player of the Year.
“She’s just a good player,” she says simply.
“I think you’ve seen that already before but in the Euros it came out for real. She’s really important for our team, she’s a nice girl.
“I think she just needs to go on now from where she is right now and she can even get better than she is already.”
