kelly & kelly: Smith and chloe reunited

March 2, 2025 - Chloe gets her first start after signing for us this season, marking it with an important goal in our dramatic 4-3 win at home to West Ham United.

Watching on from the dugout, Kelly Smith: “It was a special moment for me and for her to see her back in the Arsenal gear. I think you could see by that goal it meant so much to her in that game, so it's great to have her back in the Arsenal red.
 
“She just had to guide it in. It was a really, really clever piece of movement from her. As soon as Mariona picked that ball up, you could see Chloe’s level of intelligence, to know that the ball is coming in that area, and to time the run to perfection and then be able to guide the ball like she did with the instep. She's a good addition to the squad. It'll push other wingers on because her goals and assists speak for themselves.

“It was a massive time to score. I think going down 2-0 to West Ham, they'd be licking their lips at that. But I think once we got that goal, it was always, right, we're back in it now.
 
“We conceded early in the second half, but I never felt like we were going to lose the game. There's almost this confidence within, just from how I felt sitting in the stands watching it, that with the players we have, we have the quality and the nous to come back in games.”

Chloe’s second debut had come earlier though - at a packed Emirates Stadium in the north London derby. Her introduction was met with as much noise as any of the five goals we scored on the day.

“She got such a good reception,” Smith agreed. “Obviously the fans have good memories of her from playing all those years ago. It really kind of gave goosebumps because they do treat her as one of their own, she learned her trade here.”

Learning her trade back in the early 2010s involved coming up against Smith in training. The problem was, Chloe idolised her and admitted she was hesitant to put a tackle in on her hero!

 “I was just a senior pro, just doing my thing,” Smith reflected. “But I can see why Chloe would probably be a little bit impressionable of some of the players that were in our team because we had a really good, stacked team full of internationals.

 “It's quite difficult for those young players coming through because we were all established internationals and well-established within the Arsenal side. But it was probably tough for those young players coming in playing against the likes of me, Rachel Yankey, Alex Scott, Jayne Ludlow and Faye White. But that's where they learn and develop, by playing with that club of players there and then they take that on to different clubs and learn.

 “You can always tell the players that have really good technical quality, they probably overplay too much because they're trying to impress. Whereas sometimes giving it touch and move to get the ball on the other side of the defender is probably better than doing three step overs and maybe losing the ball.

 “I think because they're young in a professional environment where the players are a lot older, it's difficult for them, so that's why the senior players really have to help them out. They're always full of energy because they want to prove that they're fit enough. Technically, they will be good enough because they're at Arsenal. It's just finding that balance of technique and when to pass, when to move, when to dribble. But that comes with experience too.”

In between those Arsenal years, Chloe made a name for herself with plenty of goals and assists for both Manchester City and the Lionesses. Those experiences have helped develop our winger into a different type of player for Smith to work with.

 “We've had a good few sessions, split practices where we've worked closely one-on-one, just working on pure technique,” she explained. “She's got such a good shot with limited back-lift and power coming through. It's just probably taking some of that power out and just working on the hip shape and angle to get that ball whipped into the corner, which we've been doing over the last couple of sessions.

 “She's deceiving for any defender. Obviously she's strongest on the right, but she can cut in onto the left and whip it in too, so she's got two weapons. Hopefully I can help her on one or two aspects of her shooting. Even if it's one thing, just to help her improve.”

The landscape of women’s football has also changed rapidly since Chloe’s first spell at the club. Smith points out how much our London Colney training base has transformed in such a short space of time. Back in the early 2010s, it wasn’t unusual for players like Chloe to have to go above and beyond, showing high levels of commitment to even make it to training; she would travel by train on two-hour round trips regularly.

“You just do it because you love your passion,” Smith said. “Back then, obviously, we weren't paid a lot of money. Chloe probably wasn't even paid in the youth setups. I was probably on peanut money, mostly because the game wasn’t where it is now. So you just purely do it for love of the game. For a two-hour journey for her, it was just the norm because you wanted to play for Arsenal.

 “You wanted to become a better player, being at one of the best clubs in England. You just don't think about it. But now, you look back at it and you think, ‘wow, that's impressive’. That commitment so early in her career holds her in good stead for where she's at now.

 “A lot of the growth of where the women's game is in England is because of the Lionesses and them winning the Euros a few years ago. Now the Lionesses are all household names because of their Euros triumph, so it's helped with the fan base, massively. The fans now have a connection to a lot of the Lionesses.”

When Chloe scored the winning goal for England, followed by her now iconic celebration at Wembley Stadium, Smith was watching on from a box with Karen Carney.

 “We got quite emotional at the end because we, as former England international players, that was our dream to win the Euros and the World Cup. But we never really had the support and the backing that the Lionesses have now. That's what we dreamt of, but we weren't able to do that, so we were kind of living our dream through the Lionesses that day. We felt like we had a little bit of a helping hand.”

Of course, the right wing at Arsenal has been a position of great strength given Beth Mead’s achievements in recent years, so to have two players of such quality competing for the same role can only bode well for Renee Slegers’ squad.

“And they compete for that same position in England,” Smith added. “It's a healthy rivalry that they have. They're friends on and off the pitch. It's a fierce rivalry that they obviously want to be playing for their club and country, but they push each other, which is good. I think that's what you need. You can't be comfortable.

 “You need two or three players in every position to be one of the best teams. We've certainly got that here.”

So which areas of her game has Chloe worked on developing the most down the years? Well, it turns out every day is still a school day for Smith too!

 “Her end product,” Smith said. “Her crossing ability and to deliver that as well. We spoke about this actually. She taught me a new word, a corridor ball. It's that ball behind the back line, just teasing so the goalkeeper can't get it.”

We put a question to Renee about Chloe whipping the ball into the corridor of uncertainty and how difficult it is to defend such situations.

“If you get them right and you do it at the right time with the quality, the right timing of runs, it’s very hard to defend those types of crosses that are in between goalkeeper and back line, so I think that’s what Chloe brings, she’s good with both feet, she can do it from both sides,” our head coach added. “But then she can also make other decisions in the final third, so she brings a lot of quality to this team.

“I had a good idea of who she was as a player on the pitch and to know her, the way she trains, the way she contributes to the team, her feistiness, her willingness to win, her competitiveness, I’m very impressed with these things and she’s helping the team move forward.”

“I didn't know it was called a corridor,” Smith continued. “But I think her deliveries are exceptional. She just touches it out of her feet. She can put it on a plate for anyone. 

 “Getting to the byline, picking out the correct cross. And even her shooting ability on left and right. As I said before, the power that she gets from low back-lift.

 “It's not really seen in the women's game.”