Arsenal Women’s interim Head Coach Renee Slegers met with the press on Friday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s WSL game away at West Ham. Here is every word from her pre-match press conference. The italicised questions are from Arseblog News.
On whether she has had time to reflect on the last few days…
Not yet, still very focused on the task, there are a lot of things we need to get done, we need to get the players together in this time and we need to work hard as a staff. So, to be honest, my mind is on tomorrow’s training and then on Sunday, on West Ham.
On whether she has any idea how long she will be interim coach…
I just know I am appointed as interim coach and that is where my focus is now, the future, I have no idea. I like to be in the moment anyway in life in general anyway and that is what is needed at the moment. That is something we talk about with the players too, to live as much as possible in the here and now because that is what we can impact for them. The future is uncertain so let’s be in the here and now because that is what is going to help us. It is a beautiful club, a great squad, all the facilities, all the resources, it is a very good job to have and I am very happy to be part of it in this moment in time. (Applying for the job) that is not on my mind.
On how Eidevall’s resignation has impacted the players…
Big changes always impact people, the big change that happened this week impacted the players, they went into a self-reflection moment and that is what they showed on the pitch on Wednesday. Big changes impact people and we want to try to be better.
On preparing for the threats of West Ham…
We have analysed Wednesday’s game today, we had a tough away game there last season. We focused on some details from the Valerenga game and what we need to bring to West Ham on Sunday, that is definitely in our heads. Looking at the conditions too, the type of pitch and the type of opposition so we need to get the tactical plan together. We played against them in pre-season in a training game as well.
On West Ham’s threat on long balls and Asseyi and Ueki running in behind…
Those are two of the main things we focus on, yes, along with a couple of other things.’
On Caitlin Foord’s recent form…
She started the season really well for us, she is one of the players in really good form. She scored some really important goals early in the season in important games. That has impacted how she has looked at herself and how she can get better. When players are in good form, we need to build on that form. With Caitlin we need to do that but there are a lot of other players who performed really well last Sunday, this is very good to see more players coming back into individual form.’
On how she would describe herself as a coach…
I haven’t really had time to reflect on myself much over the last couple of days but I want to believe that I want the best for every individual and their biggest strengths and have the team play really good football but, at the moment, I don’t want to deep dive there, at the moment it’s just West Ham and getting the three points on Sunday.’
On how much pressure is on Arsenal on Sunday…
I don’t think it will be any different, there is always pressure on us to perform, it will be no different on Sunday.
On Russo scoring again on Wednesday…
Alessia is very good at understanding herself and the most important thing is to get yourself into good positions and the goal will come. She scored on Wednesday but the focus is on getting her into good positions to hit the net. But Emily Fox scores on Wednesday and she is a right-back, she makes it all the way into the box, so any player can do it for us. The forward mindset is obviously important for Alessia.
On the number of Arsenal players in the England U17 World Cup squad…
I have only been here for a year but I have been impressed with the quality of the academy players but last pre-season we had academy players training with us and again this year and you could see the difference. Whenever players train with us they are good because the level is so high and I think we have a lot of players at the U17 World Cup, with six in the starting line-up so that is really good, we have a bright future here.
On whether there is more pressure playing at the Emirates…
I don’t think so, when I look at the players in the dressing room and on the pitch when we play at the Emirates, we enjoy it and it is an honour and it gives us energy. So I know we had some bad results recently but I don’t think it is a trend for us.
On whether she has Head Coach ambitions again in the future…
I have worked as a Head Coach before and I enjoyed that, but there is so much to football and the role I played here in this team was more towards individual development, which I think is very interesting. I love working with people and football is a beautiful game, so any role I can play and be part of a team I am happy with. The direction for the future, I am not sure.
On the time she spent in the Arsenal Academy as a teenager…
It (managing the team in the future) wasn’t an option at that time! I played at the U19 Euros with Netherlands and Emma Hayes was the Head of the Academy back then and Kelly Smith was assisting her. I was just done with school in the Netherlands and I thought it was a good opportunity. I went with another Dutch girl and we loved at Oaklands college and we trained every day, Kelly Smith as a coach and I got a couple of opportunities with the first team. I looked up to those players so much, getting to train with Rachel Yankey, Kelly Smith, Alex Scott, Jayne Ludlow and many more. It was a great experience and now I am here again, it is strange how life takes its turns!
On the differences between being an assistant coach and a Head Coach…
In my role, the workload hasn’t changed. We are all working very hard in our roles in the staff, it is different and creating a holistic picture rather than going into individual details and a little bit more thinking and a little less executing, I guess that is what has changed the most in the last couple of days.
On what her expectations are of the players ahead of Sunday…
Looking back at Wednesday, the determination, the way they took care of the ball in the duels, counterpressure, a lot of things were on a high level. The players spoke a lot about accountability and I think it is easy to bring it in short moments but it is important now to do it for a long time and the next step is going to be doing that.
On having a confidence boosting win on Wednesday ahead of West Ham…
It is important and we will see how we are going to create space and score the goals, will it be against the low block or will there be other opportunities in the game when it is a little bit more open? We are looking more at how we are going to create space on Sunday.
On Lina Hurtig’s return after 11 months out on Wednesday night…
Yes she is doing well, she trained today and she should be available on Sunday. That is where you see how much the other players care and how much the staff care, seeing Lina with her daughter and with the fans, it was beautiful to see. It was very much needed for Lina and very much needed for the togetherness of everyone it was a beautiful moment.
