‘Credit to Leah- it is not always easy to pick yourself up’ Slegers delighted with Williamson form

Arsenal Women Interim Manager Renee Slegers has praised Leah Williamson for her recent return to form. Shortly after the October international break, when England put in a pair of shaky defensive performances against Germany and South Africa, Slegers was questioned about Williamson’s form.

Slegers’ response at the time was to cite a Dutch expression, ‘the high trees catch all the wind.’ Since returning from international duty, Williamson has been in excellent form (we covered her prominent involvement in several Arsenal goals recently here).

Arseblog News asked Slegers whether a clearer adoption of the 325 build-up structure (which we covered in depth here) has helped Williamson to be more involved in moves given that the structure positions her more centrally.

‘Leah has been great so far; I think we’ve been building in that shape before as well – it’s just we’ve been building that shape in different ways. In the last couple of games, Leah has been the central player which I think brings out a lot of good things in Leah’s qualities.

‘She’s on the ball a lot, she can reach both sides of the pitch but mostly credit to Leah, it’s not always easy, you’ve got to go through phases as a player and it’s not always easy to pick yourself up and look forward, and find what you need to do to develop again and move forward in the right direction. I think she’s been incredibly well from an individual perspective.’

Emily Fox has been positioned almost as a right sided centre-half in a back three when Arsenal have the ball. At the pre Juventus press conference, Arseblog News asks Fox whether it bears any resemblance to her role in the USWNT, which sees her take up a similar position while Crystal Dunn pushes up ‘Katie McCabe style’. However, Fox thinks there are differences.

‘I think it’s hard to compare the US to here, just in the sense that maybe you could say it is a similar shape, there are a lot of differences. I think again with how we’ve been playing; we understand and know what roles other people’s jobs are and so the shape is very fluid.

‘So even when I’m going forward and getting into the attack, I think Katie and I are on the same page in terms of defensive structure which gives us clarity.’ Meanwhile, Fox says Arsenal are looking to take their recent good form and momentum into the game with Juve, a win for Arsenal guarantees them a spot in the quarter-finals with two group games to spare, so long as Valarenga don’t beat Bayern Munich.

‘Right now, we’re all very confident in each other and ourselves. And I think with the entire team, we feel together. Each game has been very difficult and we’ve been learning from each and really finishing our chances and learning from the hiccups at the beginning of the season.

‘I think with tomorrow, like Renee was saying, it’s another game, another challenge, and I think we’re up for it. And I think with just the variety of games and opponents that we’ve played, it’s given us more confidence in the sense that we can deal with anything.’

Fox also says the players have relished the model that has seen Renee Slegers give players greater involvement in team meetings but greater accountability too. ‘I think it starts with just coming in in the morning, going over clips with your sub-group, talking with people and really getting to know what they like to do and their tendencies, so that you can help them and they can help you.

‘I think with the ownership, practice and really making sure we are finishing our chances and we’re training like we’re playing in the game and I think a lot of it is just accountability and with that.

‘I think it makes you hungrier and makes you want to do more and do better and I think with the coaching staff, they’ve done a really great job of giving us everything we need in terms of what we need to do to beat opponents so with that it’s giving us structure but also some freedom and creativity to work with each other and figure it out.’

Arsenal play Juventus in the UWCL on Thursday night at 8pm at the Emirates, the match will be streamed live and for free on the DAZN website.