\n<\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9e Slegers will take charge of her first match in three weeks when we return to Barclays Women’s Super League action on Sunday.<\/p>\n
London City Lionesses are the hosts at Bromley’s Copperjax Community Stadium and, ahead of the game, our head coach held her pre-match press conference at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.<\/p>\n
Here’s everything she had to say on the following subjects…<\/p>\n
on if there are any injury issues: <\/strong> on that being a huge boost: <\/strong> on if it\u2019s a physical or mental challenge to have so many games coming up: <\/strong> on what she\u2019s made of London City\u2019s first season in the WSL: <\/strong> on what success looks like for us this season: <\/strong> on how Williamson and Kelly are progressing: <\/strong> on if there\u2019s a shift in the team\u2019s mentality for the business end of the season: <\/strong> on this game being a sellout for London City: <\/strong> on Danielle van de Donk:<\/strong> on the length of the recent international break:<\/strong> on what specific threats she sees from London City:<\/strong> on how Freya Godfrey has got on this season:<\/strong> on if there\u2019s a concern about the pathway for academy players to WSL first teams:<\/strong> on what we\u2019ve been up to with the players that didn\u2019t go away on international duty:<\/strong> on Catley\u2019s concussion with Australia:<\/strong> on if there will be gaps to exploit for both sides with players away at the Asian Cup:<\/strong> on how they play with lots of different systems:<\/strong> Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ren\u00e9e Slegers will take charge of her first match in three weeks when we return to Barclays Women’s Super League action on Sunday. London City Lionesses are the hosts at … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
No, no fresh injuries, so that\u2019s really good. Beth has been progressing well during the international break so hopefully if this last day goes well and as planned, she\u2019s available for minutes against London City.<\/p>\n
Yeah, that\u2019s really positive of course, she\u2019s been performing really well for us, (she\u2019s) been an important part of how we play. Of course, you want everyone to be fit the whole season. We had to be without her for a couple of games but the team has done really well and we\u2019re happy that she\u2019s back with us soon. <\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s always going to be both, we have a really strong squad, a lot of players ready. If you look at the last block, there\u2019s been a lot of involvement of different players. The players are ready to perform for us and now with Steph, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross not being with us, we\u2019re going to need everyone. Of course we know that we\u2019re going into five London derbies and then Brighton at the end of the block, we\u2019re active in three different competitions, so there\u2019s of course mental demands, like there always will be, but also physical. We start with these two games and we know how London City has framed the game, it\u2019s a big one for them, so we\u2019ll have to be prepared. Then it\u2019s West Ham and then we have those four games with a very short turnaround, so freshness is going to be key for us this block. <\/p>\n
At the moment, they\u2019re very stable in the table. You see that’s hard if you come up from the WSL 2 to stabilise and do the right things to be able to do that; I think they\u2019ve done that. Of course, they recruited a lot of experienced players. That’s been their strategy, as it looks like from the outside, to build something stable in the first season in the WSL. I think they’ve done that well. They have quality players and, like I said, a stable position in the table.<\/p>\n
Of course we play for trophies. We have one trophy now, the Champions Cup, which we’re very proud of to make history. But we want more. In this block, we’ll be active in three different competitions.<\/p>\n
We always have to be really smart with when do we push players, when do we taper? How do we do that as a group, as a team? Also, what does every single individual need in the squad? We were happy with our progression of minutes for Chloe in the block before the international break. She got 15 minutes with England. She’s come back with so much energy, very hungry. She’s been training really well. She’s physically and mentally in a really good place. Leah played her first 90 before she went away with England. It was really good to see her play for England as well. There was some really good collaboration with England on how we wanted to keep on progressing her. That’s been really positive, so same for Leah, she’s come back really well.<\/p>\n
You can feel that it’s coming closer. The players love it. We have competitors in our group, we’re in a great place. Before the international break, we didn’t want that block to stop because it was a really positive block for us. The results, obviously, the run of seven wins, but also everything we did as a group in the background to make everything really positive and challenging in a really good way. What we need to do is win every single game when we’re at Arsenal. But of course, there’s excitement in the team of us getting closer to trophies, so we really look forward to this block. <\/p>\n
Well done, of course. You can see they’re proud of their sell-out. I think there’s 5,000 tickets sold. But I also think there’s 1,500 Arsenal fans. One-third of the crowd, almost, will be Arsenal. We’re, of course, really proud and privileged with the fan base that we have. We will hear them and they will feed us. We will do everything to deliver what they want to see. They want to see an Arsenal team together performing well and winning matches so we’re going to do everything we can on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Of course, she’s been out with a knee injury for quite a while. But she’s back now. I’m happy for her, of course. You wish for every football player to be fit. It’s good for the women’s game as well to have as many fit players in the game. We have a lot of good players that are active, the standards and the development of football is helped by that. I loved to play with Danielle. We’ve known each other for a very long time. We grew up and we’ve been in that phase of women’s football in the Netherlands together when the semi-professional league started, we started to play at Willem II together. She’s a very fiery player on the pitch. Aggressive, wants to win, but can make use of the dark arts, if you will. She knows how to manage the game and be smart. She’s a lovely person. We come from the same area in the Netherlands, very close to each other, 10-15 minutes away. It will be great to see her. I’m happy she’s back fit.<\/p>\n
It’s different. It was new to be without the players for so long. We’ve caught up with the players, how it was for them and their experience to be away so long with the national teams. For us as staff, we get more days to review and preview. I think for us the risk is that we have so much time to come up with all these wild ideas and a lot of things that we want to do differently or even better. For us it’s important, we’ve been waiting for it to start again, we want the players to be back, we want to start working again. It’s been very quiet here because all the ideas that we have and everything that we’re working on is just theory at that point in time. We want it to become real and it becomes real when the players are back. That’s been different. We really have to be aware of how a longer period away for the players, with certain players also playing three games this window, most of them two, the travel, being away from home for so long and then having to settle back in, that transition, we have to respect. That’s much different for the players than for us. The mental, physical load has been, especially the mental load and that transition back into our environment where it’s very demanding as well, is something we learned after this. What was good was that the players had a couple of days after the Bristol game. I think two days off most of them to get into camp instead of going straight into a camp, then there was a couple of days after camp and with this type of window, we get a full week to prepare for the first game, which has been positive.<\/p>\n
I think they’ve changed since the change in management. If you look at the game we played against them at the Emirates first game of the season, we don’t expect the game to be playing out like that on Sunday because they’ve changed tactically. But they might do. But a little bit more positional and maybe zonal in their defence rather than going player for player. That will be different. Then, of course, if you look at the players that are playing for them and how they play them to their strengths, you see that they’ve been really good with fast attacks and doing things on the dribble and counter-attacks. They’ve had tight results against top teams. That’s the way they’ve played those types of games. I think set-pieces is an area for the game as well.<\/p>\n
I’m really happy to see her progress.\u00a0I’m in touch with Freya every now and then.\u00a0When she was selected for England for the first time,\u00a0for example, I sent her a message. I worked with her when she was on loan in my first year\u00a0as an assistant coach here at Arsenal.\u00a0I did reviews with her,\u00a0so I did do some close work with her.\u00a0I’m really happy with where she’s at\u00a0and also proud of her\u00a0because things aren’t always easy for young players. She’s had a journey with loans, obviously,\u00a0and different challenges on the way,\u00a0but she’s been strong.\u00a0If you look at how she’s playing now,\u00a0I think you see all her super strengths playing out.\u00a0She’s fast, she’s a dribbler,\u00a0she can finish right, left foot. She’s playing really well for them.\u00a0I think it’s great to see.\u00a0Of course, it’s always hard decisions with the squad composition. We have four wide forwards\u00a0that are top class as well.\u00a0Every player has different pathways\u00a0and take different roads,\u00a0but I’m genuinely really happy for Freya\u00a0that she is where she is in her own development now. <\/p>\n
I think the game is growing incredibly fast,\u00a0and in an ideal world,\u00a0everything grows simultaneously,\u00a0so everything goes at the same pace.\u00a0But that’s not the case. So I think it’s important,\u00a0and we as a club find it really important\u00a0that we have a close link to the academy\u00a0and we set up the structure\u00a0and the conditions and facilities,\u00a0resources as good as possible\u00a0to be able to make that happen.\u00a0We also see that the transition\u00a0from academy to senior football\u00a0is a very important one.\u00a0So when you then get to a stage\u00a0where you’re ready to start sniffing\u00a0or start transitioning into,\u00a0what structure do we have in place to be able to make those steps?\u00a0So that’s really important. I think at the moment,\u00a0we see that there’s a lot of recruitment\u00a0from other countries in the league.\u00a0It’s such an attractive league,\u00a0so players also want to come here.\u00a0And I think it’s really important\u00a0that we keep on helping academies to grow\u00a0so we can get as many as possible\u00a0being successful in the WSL or WSL2.<\/p>\n
I like board games!\u00a0If I get time, I love to play board games. I haven’t been playing paddle or board games with the players.\u00a0It was new as well,\u00a0because we had a couple of return-to-play players at home,\u00a0and then, of course, Kim Little,\u00a0who’s retired from Scotland, so she was here.\u00a0And that was also very new for us as a staff,\u00a0and for Kim to be so long without team training. I think for the first time doing it,\u00a0it’s been going well,\u00a0trying to replicate as many moments as possible\u00a0that are game-realistic for her throughout the week.\u00a0But, yes, we’ve been on pitch\u00a0and playing football during the international break.<\/p>\n
Yes, head injury, so she wasn’t in the squad today,\u00a0but hopefully she can be back, but we’ll see.<\/p>\n
We are really happy with the squad\u00a0and how everyone has been showing that they’re ready to play. That’s going to be key for us this block as well.\u00a0And, of course, we’ll have to see how London City\u00a0is going to cover for those players,\u00a0especially, I think, in the midfield and centre-back positions,\u00a0what that will look like for them.\u00a0But we’ll see that on matchday when the team comes in.<\/p>\n
It will be different, and we’ll also see\u00a0which players will start and finish for them.\u00a0So we’ll have to be prepared because they have different qualities.\u00a0But, yes, it will be a different game,\u00a0and we’ve played London City once,\u00a0and now they have a new coach,\u00a0so we’ll see how he wants to go into a game against us. But, yes, of course we’ve analysed them\u00a0and had a look at how they’ve been playing so far,\u00a0but let’s see what they do on Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n