Arsenal Women’s manager Joe Montemurro has been discussing what’s next for his side going into the 2020/21 season.

Speaking to Arsenal.com, the Australian said: “We’ve got plans of when we want to start training again and how we want to lead into the new season, but we’re still waiting on some key dates to make those decisions more concrete.”

Montemurro led the Gunners to title glory in 2018/2019 and went on to add: “It’s certainly going to be a different type of off-season this year, but I’m sure they’ll benefit from it in more ways than one.

“It will probably involve a bit of a crossover from the time they’ve been away from the physical training, the group scenarios and social aspects of football, and now to go away and completely switch off will obviously make it a little bit different.

“It’s an opportunity for us to do things without the day-to-day pressures, and it’s an opportunity for us to do things and go over them and have a look at what works and what doesn’t.

“We’ve been looking at our key messages, training methods, training modules and loads more, and for me it’s quite exciting because it’s an opportunity for me to introduce some new things and some ideas that will hopefully take us to the next level.

“I’m excited to get back and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s faces again.”

Montemurro also has sights on a return to training at London Colney in July, adding: “As for when we’ll return to London Colney, we’re in discussion about that now and we’ve actually pencilled in a few dates for our return in July.

“Obviously we need to look at that build into the season and what our introduction will be like with individual training and work in small groups.

“We need to look at all these things, so we’ve done a lot of our planning with contingencies and we’ve left ourselves a little bit of room to move, because there will be some changes and additions and some things we may have to adhere to in terms of medical protocols and movement around the training centre.

“We’ve got some dates in mind and we’ve told the players when they’ll need to be back for their potential return.”

Arsenal were third in the Women’s Super League when the season was ended and Montemurro goes on to say how he has cherished the opportunity to work on other things during the lockdown.

“I’ve actually been watching a lot of football from the 70s and 80s over lockdown too, so that’s been a really interesting watch for me,” he said.

“But more generally, I’ve just been catching up on a few things I haven’t been able to finish from a technical and tactical point of view, and it’s also been really good to sit down with the staff and reassess our processes.

“We’re always looking to analyse our own work and question how we can do things better and more efficiently, so I must admit I’ve really cherished this opportunity.

“I’ve also watched a few Bundesliga games and that’s been really interesting. It definitely takes away a little bit of the emotion and it will take some getting used to because it doesn’t have the package that we’re used to, where the crowd reacts to anything and everything, from a referee’s decision or a goal, to a good bit of skill or a not so good action!

“It’s getting to take some getting used to and it’s brilliant to have football back, but I definitely think there’s a little bit of a compromise and usualness to it.”