Arsenal were 3-0 winners away at Spurs in the North London derby on Saturday lunchtime thanks to goals from Alessia Russo, Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On Catley at centre-half allowing McCabe to become another attacker…
Good spot! I don’t want to talk too much about what we want to try to create but we want to try to create numbers in different areas of the pitch. Steph did really well today recognising that but all our centre-backs would be good at that, we would ask the same thing of another centre-back but Steph is doing that really well at the moment.
On whether Tottenham playing a back five was a surprise today…
We saw their line-up against City where Bartip was in midfield and we saw their line-up this afternoon and we expected them to stay in the four and do the same thing as they did against City but they decided to play in a five. We have played against a lot of fives this year, so our players are very adaptable, so we adapted quickly. It says something about how hard it is to stop things we are doing so that is very positive.
On whether the players are thinking less and playing more one touch football…
You will have to ask the players but I think so. The quickest football is played instinctively but there still needs to be a foundation the hardest part in coaching is finding the balance between foundations and structure and letting the players freedom and creativity go. At the moment it seems to be right for the players but you’ll have to ask the players.
On the players taking more ownership…
We try to facilitate as much as we can to set them up in a good way, for example how much we ask them to be involved in meetings. Instead of us presenting we ask them to activate their brains and see wha they think, they often have really good ideas as well. That is one example.
On the players and the fans being happy and what it means to her…
Very positive, it means a lot for the players, the staff, the club and the fans. It’s the chicken or egg question, where does the smiles comes from? Behaviours are contagious as well, when one person starts smiling others smile too. Where it started is hard to grasp, there are so many factors to it but I am happy it seems to be happening.
On whether the players wanted to put last year’s defeat here right…
It was for them I think, I know the players have been talking about it. We just try to stay in the moment and keep our positive momentum but, yes, definitely, for a couple of players it meant a bit of extra fire.
On whether she wants the job permanently…
The block has gone really well so far and we have one more game ahead of us and we’re going to do everything to get a good result and performance in that last game. After that, we start breathing but at the moment we stay in this focus because we have a lot of hard work to do.
On the importance of an early goal…
Big events always give the game a direction. It is not necessarily it has to go in that direction, everything can change still but Alessia scoring that early goal and Daphne making that save early in the game, it helps us big time. I am very happy with the start of the game.
On two goals conceded in the last six games…
In the structure we are not doing much different but we focus on areas we want to focus on and how we act in both boxes, that is where games are won and lost and the players have taken it on brilliantly, that has been one of our focus areas. I am very happy with that.
On how the mindset of the players has changed…
One of the words we use a lot in this block is ‘ruthlesslness’, we want to be ruthless in both boxes. It is easy to say it but turning it into action is much harder. The players are trying to turn it into action, we try to facilitate for them and put emphasis on a couple of things but they are actually doing it and I am very happy they are getting success out of what they are doing at the moment. We need to maintain that and develop it further because new challenges are coming.
On how subs are impacting games recently…
We have such a great squad it is hard to make decisions, how to start and how to finish the games but the luxury we have is that we have scenario planning for that. Players are starting the game really but also players are finishing the games really well. Our last couple of games we have been really decisive in the last 15-20 minutes and that is when our game changers are on the pitch, I am very happy with how the group is working at the moment.
On Kim Little coming off at half-time…
It was not pre-planned but we always go through scenarios. We were 2-0 up at half-time, we have played a lot of games, we have one more game ahead of us and we have midfielders who deserve to play so that was an in-game decision to change the six at half-time. Kyra is a really good footballer, she is a great player, I am happy she got to contribute and I am happy with the other players coming on as well. I want to highlight all the players in the squad, it is not only about the players starting.
On having greater centrality in the goals today…
We want to find variety in how we attack and recognising better when we are wide, how many do they invest? Where are the spaces? Where are the new spaces for us? We try to play around with that and the players recognise that really well today.
On being ahead at half-time a lot recently…
I don’t know what the players say in the huddle but we talked the last couple of games at half-time about how this is good for us we are leading, but we can expect the opposition to come out and do something different because they are not happy with how the game is going. So we try to prepare them for the scenarios and I think the start of the second half we struggled a bit, that was probably our weakest phase of the game so that is something we will look at. Otherwise that is something we are doing really well.
On the pass from Mariona for Blackstenius’ goal…
She is fantastic constantly, the way she trains the way she plays, she is a super intelligent footballer. She has technical ability and on top of that she works really hard, she is a great player to have in the squad. The pass was fantastic, I agree with you.
14.van Domselaar; 2.Fox, 6.Williamson, 7.Catley, 11.McCabe (3.Wubben-Moy ‘84); 10.Little(c) (32.Cooney-Cross HT), 13.Walti; 19.Foord (9.Mead ‘63), 12.L.Maanum, 8.Mariona (16.Kafaji ‘78); 23.Russo (25.Blackstenius ‘63)
Unused: 1.Zinsberger, 5.L.Codina, 17.Hurtig, 26.Wienroither.
I thought Walti was brilliant today…
Well that’s more like, lovely to see quick inter passing. Be interesting to know how much of that is confidence from scoring and winning or coaching. Thought the front four who started the game were really good, with Russo being excellent (her finish being exceptional and just so different from that one vs Man City) all round in her pressing and chasing and while Mariona had a “quiet” game she has two assists with the Stina one worth the entrance fee alone. One downer, continues to be how sloppy we get at the back when in control. If it wasn’t… Read more »
Loved how Little didn’t come out for the second half…
Based on the job she’s done so far, I say give her the job at least until the end of the season. So humble and likeable character. Obviously the girls like to play for her, that can make a big difference. She didn’t say one bad word about Jonas, but exposed how bad we were under Jonas.
I love how she sees the game and it seems she knows very well if the players take it in and recognise the patterns and react quickly in the moment