It’s great playing next to Jessie, she’s a quiet achiever and she’s definitely performing week in, week out – she’s very consistent and reliable and I’ve personally really enjoyed having someone of her class playing next to me all season.
– Emma Checker
With all the success Melbourne Victory W-League has enjoyed so far this season, there have been plenty of standouts. The likes of Jess Fishlock, Steph Catley, Lisa De Vanna and Caitlin Friend have been grabbing the headlines for their performances, but there have been many equally important players who have slipped under the radar.
Jessica Samuelsson arrived in Melbourne to little fanfare, making her debut across state lines in Adelaide, meaning our first real glimpses of the fullback came on our television screens as Victory travelled away to Perth. There her contributions were usurped by Fishlock who received all the attention for her goal of the season contender in her first match back in blue and white of Melbourne.
It was a familiar theme again in the her first home match against Newcastle Jets, where Friend stole the show with a hat trick, and Ash Brown re-injured her knee, taking even more spotlight away. But Samuelsson was outstanding in that 6-0 romp of the Jets. She had settled into life in Melbourne quietly, and the energetic fullback was plugging away up and down the right flank. She also should’ve grabbed a goal for herself against Newcastle, striking the post from close range while missing a similar opportunity later on.
For Samuelsson, she has been doing this all of her young career, and she feels Dave Edmondson’s tactics of dual attacking fullbacks actually suit her to a tee.
“I think one of my stronger sides is that I want to be offensive and I like to run a lot. I’m a really athletic soccer player and that’s my strength. I like the way Dave wants us to play with high full backs and I’m enjoying that,” Samuelsson said about her own game.
Anyone that was present in Kingston Heath that afternoon would have agreed that Edmondson had stumbled upon a hidden gem. He had found the perfect complement to Catley on the left flank, and had given Victory a well balanced structure.
Samuelsson’s move to Melbourne came about thanks to a good relationship between Victory and Linköpings FC in Sweden, the club which last season’s crowd favourite Petra Larsson hailed from. The link has proven to be a strong one, with keeper Bri Davey also having a brief spell playing in Sweden late in 2013. The fullback said the two players had a hand in her decision to come to the Victory this season, and she also had the blessing of her Linköpings coach Martin Sjögren.
“I think both [Larsson and Davey had] a little bit [to do with it], and I think my coach in my team back home in Sweden had a bit of contact with this club now after Petra had been here,” she said.
“I just hear from my friends is that it is a really social club, the team is like a family and everyone is so kind to each other. I heard the team was on second place last year and they are a pretty good team here.”
Samuelsson already has plenty of pedigree behind her, becoming a regular starter for Linköpings at 19 years of age, while being capped more than 10 times by Sweden, one of the stronger national teams in women’s football. The fullback thoroughly enjoys being part of the national team setup, and can’t wait until she joins up with them in Portugal next month.
“I’m actually going to Portugal in the beginning of March so I just have a few days home after this and I’m really looking forward to that and it’s going to be a fun camp. I like the team a lot and Pia Sundhage is a great coach,” she said.
With so much experience already under her belt, it’s no wonder she has performed so consistently all season. Her first overseas playing stint can be classified a success and she has been surprised by the level of football in the W-League.
“I think it’s a higher level in Damallsvenskan and every team in the league is pretty good and here the top four teams is much better than the other teams,” she said.
“I think the top 4 teams here is really good, better than I thought it would be before I came here.”
Another difference between the two leagues is the lack of a finals system in Sweden, meaning this weekend’s W-League Grand Final will be an entirely new experience for the fullback, and she’s not too sure just what to expect from the occasion.
“I’m really excited, I’m looking forward to it. We don’t have finals in Sweden, we just have the team that finishes top of the league is the winner so I haven’t played a final like this before. I just think it is like every other game with maybe a little bit more people in the crowd,” she said.
Sunday also presents the final opportunity for Samuelsson to get her name on the scoresheet for the Victory. She has come close on a host of occasions, if she hasn’t hit the woodwork, the ball has just sailed wide of the post. While she also only has a solitary assist, her general contributions to the team involve bursting into opposition penalty areas and creating havoc for others to capitalise on.
The Swedish international deserves a goal for all her efforts this season, and she is hoping that she can finally break that duck in the biggest occasion of all.
“Hopefully [I can], I really want to score! I have been close a couple of times and I think maybe on Sunday it’s my turn now. It doesn’t matter how we score we just want to win the game and most important is that we win together and I’m going to be as happy as anyone else in scoring,” she said.
Winning the W-League will be a perfect way to finish Samuelsson’s stint in Melbourne, and and there will be many willing her to return for another go next season. But having two more years to run at Linköpings, she is not thinking about returning just yet, especially with the workload ahead of her.
“It depends how I feel in my body because this is like playing two seasons in a row. But I’m definitely going to think about it if I get the opportunity again because I really enjoyed this year,” she said.