Arsenal earned a stunning 4-0 Champions League away win at Juventus on Tuesday evening with goals from Frida Maanum, Stina Blackstenius, Mariona and Caitlin Foord. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match, the first three questions are from Arseblog News.
On anticipating Juve’s setup…
We expected them to play like this, the exact formation we had two alternatives in our head but the style of play we were prepared for and their style is going player for player. That can open spaces in their back line because they have so much pressure on the ball. It is hard to get there, we saw the spaces and knew where they were going to be. At the end of the game we unlocked the way to get there, getting in fresh players and fresh legs helped too. It is very demanding this kind of football, that is a big thing for us tonight to have that.
On swapping Walti and Little over in central midfield…
It was to do with our pressing, the way we wanted to press and the triggers we wanted to find and getting them to find the best way. It was about our tactical pressing.
On getting the important second goal in the second half…
I think I was confident about that. The way the game goes Juventus have an early chance in the second minute, big events in games always give a direction to the game. Scoring that second goal was a release and Stina does brilliantly and that was what we just spoke about, the spaces they leave in their back line and the way Mariona finds Stina in that space. We took them on in one v one situations and Stina finishes brilliantly and I think big events change the direction of the game. The second goal Stina scores makes us feel comfortable in the end.
On Frida Maanum’s season so far…
I am very happy for Frida, she is a very hard working player and a player that takes ownership of her own development and what she can contribute to the team. As a coaching staff we have a lot of discussions with Frida so I am really happy for her, you always wish the best for players who work really hard and take ownership of things, they deserve to be successful. We are talking about players who contribute with goals or assists but I also want to highlight Daphne in goal, I want to highlight our back line that has been performing really well over time and the hard work our 6s are doing for us. Maybe sometimes they are in the shadows of the goal scorers. I just wanted to highlight the rest of the team because they do an amazing job tonight.
On the team gaining confidence…
We have to stay very humble as well, because the next game is Spurs away and it is going to be very hard. We know we will have the support of the fans, I think we have sold all our 3,000 tickets and the fans today here in Italy, we could hear them and that is brilliant. The girls show humility today, because I see when we are leading 4-0 that they are still defending the box and defending corners, how they are communicating till the last second of the game and they invest their recovery runs. It is a transitional game today so it is a lot of space covered in both directions, we worked really hard as a team and that is what makes us strong so we need to keep going.
On having only one Champions League away win in six before tonight and the difference made by the travelling fans…
I had a good view of our fans tonight on the other side and I could see them singing and being active and this is an intimate stadium, so I am sure the girls could see and hear them as well. They can give us those extra percentages in terms of our performance. That is really great. Winning away against Juventus this way is definitely a result I would have signed up for before, it is a very hard game to play because of the style of play, it is a real big challenge, one of the biggest challenges we have had so far this season.
14.van Domselaar; 2.Fox (5.L.Codina ‘84), 6.Williamson, 7.Catley, 11.McCabe; 10.Little(c), 13.Walti (32.Cooney-Cross ‘84); 9.Mead (8.Mariona ‘59), 12.L.Maanum (25.Blackstenius ‘59), 19.Foord; 23.Russo (17.Hurtig ‘76).
Unused: 1.Zinsberger, 3.Wubben-Moy, 16.Kafaji, 22.Kuhl, 26.Wienroither, 40.Williams, 62.Reid.
Now for THE TRUTH! DON’T do this!! https://youtu.be/HAt-GblMvrc
Congratulations Slegers!
What a change having her in charge!
“Convincing, Dominant, Ruthless. Four goals scored, clean sheet and the unbeaten run under Renee continues.” Report on the match and I agree; brilliant.
Doing everything right, brilliant performance away from home.
Good solid performance, withheld the early storm by Juventus and the ref then showed our game was capable of suppressing theirs and good enough to claim all 3 points with some nice goals. Every player played their part and they are now clicking in the final third. Seven goal scorers in the past two games, a more settled back four, the old heads in midfield, width and confidence growing in the forwards. Renee has managed to oil the engine and restart the motor. Bigger challenges down the road with this squad for sure but hopefully the goals keep flowing at… Read more »
A good all round performance but a special shout to Stina for her goal with a left foot drive beating PPM at the near post. Under Jonas she would have probably looked to cross that and the move would have fizzled out!
You know what else is different? Post-game, RS analyses how we played, what the weak areas were, and next time we play…we’ve fixed them. Or improved them. And not at the cost of something else going badly.
Doomslayer deserved the special praise and is totally living up to her nickname.
“Abandon hope, all ye who enter the Arsenal penalty box!” She is the best keeper we have had since Emma Byrne.
I concur! And she is still developing.
Can we borrow her for the men’s games?? Sort out our attack please 🥺
Only gave u a minus yesterday, because I was too lazy to write “no”😁
Appreciate humour tho and you don’t deserve -10👍🏻
I noticed that she always mentions the coaching staff and the work they do together, guiding her. Many times, “I” didn’t believe in this staff, because it wasn’t working with Jonas. And this clinical eye for detail, not even Arteta could break down Milan’s man-to-man game. RS was fired from the club where she made champions, but did she have this human material of world-class players at her disposal? Did she have the necessary support from her former club? Now she has everything she needs from a big club like Arsenal. I’m here rationing and putting the pieces together. The… Read more »
this brilliant journey of the team*
RS is very happy to give praise to others, and rightly so because coaching is a team game as much as playing is. It can be very hard to evaluate female coaches because the circumstances and resources of different clubs are so divergent, the coaches lack top level experience, so it’s harder to tell if they have the ability to cope with the extra pressure. RS did well at Rosengard for two seasons but failed badly in her third – due to boring, functional and ultimately ineffective football, is what I have read. Which seems really surprising, given what we… Read more »
It’s complicated, because Arsenal wants to win trophies and also another Champions League. Unfortunately, coaches for women’s teams are scarce on the market and very difficult. The ones that stand out can be counted on one hand. It’s not an easy task for the board. And one more observation: I hope they start using the youngsters so they can gain confidence. We still have the FA Cup and the League Cup to play in, and they’ve barely played. It’s a risk to put them in if they don’t have the rhythm of the game. The team has depth. We can’t… Read more »
Yes, very much agree especially about the kids. RS has achieved stability, now she has to integrate Reid, Lia, Godfrey and most of all Kühl, so they don’t feel left behind.
And that domestic cup double is ON!
I think RS is interested in the job, but she doesn’t want that to be any part of the narrative, as she steers us back on course.
It’s another way in which she is demonstrating she has the right character for leadership of a big outfit.
I hope you are right.
Me too. I might be infering something that isn’t there😊
I really love that about RS – that we are one big team of staff and players, who all need do their bit to elevate the whole
I think Slegers has done enough to prove herself capable. She already had, really, as a title winning manager before. It seems like she’s building something and the players want to play for her.
She knows the club already and the way she speaks and acknowledges everyone is the kind of attitude that reinforces ties. Everyone feels important and wants to contribute.
Let’s see how she does in the return gig on the 21st.
Renee should be our “interim manager” for the next 4 seasons
Lol
Feels like we may have stumbled onto a really great manager/head coach. Not only is Slegers getting the results but she seems to have a great perspective on the game/performances.
Proud.
Moving Steph Catley to CB full time is a masterstroke. Covers her poor 1v1 defending, plays to her strength in her ability to find a pass, and helps her rotate with McCabe when needed cos the latter drops into midfield and Catley fills the LB slot temporarily. For some reason, I believe she’s the next best CB after Leah, if she can get over her early season slump and find herself properly again. I feel for Codina and LWM but can never really trust those 2 over a full game. Brilliant move from RS to spot this tbh. There will… Read more »
An open play goal from Russo would put the icing on my cake
I think she had a good game overall. She has looked more confident and lively the last games. She turned away from defenders quite easy several times.
I went to check out the Juventus site for their reactions.
Classy site and Classy reactions.
Bianconere suffer defeat to Arsenal – Juventus