Arsenal went down 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon thanks to a late Guro Reiten penalty. Katie McCabe received two yellow cards for dissent in the aftermath. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On her impression of the Arsenal performance…
It was a top game in women’s football, if I distance myself from my role that was good for women’s football. From our end, we had to get through that first period of the game, the first ten minutes, we knew that Chelsea would come out fast and get in behind us and go forward, that is what they did. They are very powerful. I am happy the girls got through that phase of the game, then we start to establish ourselves in the game, we take more and more control and play the game we want to play. We may have been a little bit sloppy more than we usually would be but we play some really good football at times. What was lacking today was goals, we created one or two good enough chances to score, you know you are not going to get a lot against Chelsea. Next time we need to be more clinical with the chances and we knew it was going to be tight with small margins and details that matter.
On playing Kyra Cooney-Cross on the right and Kim Little on the left today…
It was about how we wanted to press them and play Kyra and Kim to their strengths, connected to what we needed in the game today. Both have different qualities and both did very well in our pressing structure today.
On the decision to award Chelsea a penalty…
It is very hard to see from the sideline, I have seen some footage and I can see that Kim gets to the ball first. But it is not on me to comment more on that. I think what we could have done better, and look at ourselves because that is what we can control and that is more classy, we should have positioned ourselves better behind the ball to stop the counter attack from happening.
On Katie McCabe receiving two quick fire yellows for dissent…
I think it was words between Katie and the referee but I don’t know the details. I haven’t spoken to Katie yet.
On taking heart from how hard Arsenal pushed Chelsea…
We are improving as a team, how we handle different phases of the game, we do that better and better. Psychologically in a state where we can stay in the game whatever happens and that is important in top games like this. I am very happy with that development, if I could play the game again today I would play it, we are good enough to do more against Chelsea.
If we had been more clinical with the chances, we can definitely measure with them. We are disappointed with the loss. It is small details, you know what Chelsea’s strengths are they are going to be very powerful and fast going forward and every little chance, they take. That is the biggest strength of them as a team, you have to be on your toes the whole game and you have to be very concentrated. That is what happened today, one little chance. They had chances at the start of the game but after that it is a lot of shots from further areas, I didn’t think they were so dangerous. I would want to play the game again if I could.
On whether the title race is over…
There is 10 points between us and that is a bigger mountain to climb. We are very aware of that, we had our slips at the start of the season, you never know when other teas are going to slip. All we can do is keep on playing and winning our games, that is all we can do. We knew it was important if we wanted to keep sparks in the title race to win today and we didn’t do that but you never know what the future holds.
On losing for the first time as Arsenal Head Coach…
I am very happy with the run so far and that says something about where we are at as a team. We play against a top team today and a very tight game that was going to go one way or the other, it could have been 1-1 or 0-0. We have a strong enough foundation, I feel that and I think the players feel that. This happened but it doesn’t define us. Of course I am very disappointed, I wanted to win today and I think we were close enough to get something out of the game but we have to move on.
On Caitlin Foord’s injury…
She hasn’t played much in the last week with a problem with a muscle she was clear to play today and she felt good. She contributed really well with her minutes on the pitch but she started to feel something. She said she felt someone else should come on because we need 100% players on the pitch against Chelsea.
On the conditions and the nip and tuck nature of the game…
We knew it was going to be physical with battles and the girls were up for it, you can never decide the conditions. It wasn’t as bad as against Bayern Munich at Boreham Wood. The pitch was fine, there were lots of positives from this game, like how we manage ourselves through different phases of the game. That is very positive, we do a lot of good things on the ball, our pressing was very good at times. There are a lot of things we do well, but then it is about that ruthlessness and now allowing any chances to the opposition and being clinical and ruthless with the chances you create. We could have scored one if you look at the chances, I will have to see it back again. We make steps and I think the girls feel the same. I want to play Chelsea again soon.
On the performances of van Domselaar and Cooney-Cross…
They are very important players for us. Kyra always finds a good position to be able to play the ball forward and then she has a lot of quality with long passes and short passes and dribbles and carries, she is very important and has grown so much as a player, as a person as well. If you look at Daph as well, she can decide games for us and she has done before, she made some really important saves today.
On whether she is disappointed with McCabe not controlling her emotions…
I will have to talk to her, am I disappointed? No I wouldn’t say that. She has developed so much as a person, staying calm and finding the right levels to be at her best, she has done that very well over time. I will talk to her and see what happened because I don’t know the details of the situation.
On whether the WSL should have VAR…
I think so, the stakes are getting higher in women’s football. I think we need that, I also think it is important the game is attractive for fans and VAR slows the game down and gives it more breaks but in time I think that will develop. But I think it would be good for us to have VAR in the league.
14.van Domselaar; 2.Fox, 6.Williamson, 7.Catley, 11.McCabe; 10.Little(c) (16.Kafaji ‘87), 32.Cooney-Cross (3.Wubben-Moy ‘87); 9.Mead (25.Blackstenius ‘66), 8.Mariona, 19.Foord (12.L.Maanum ‘43); 23.Russo
Unused: 1.Zinsberger, 5.L.Codina, 13.Walti, 26.Wienroither, 62.Reid.
I’m disappointed with the loss, but once again I feel as if I watched the same game as the coach. I don’t disagree with any of that. I wouldn’t expect RS to coat McCabe off in front of the press.
I only hope Katie’s one-match suspension is against Bristol City not Man City.
And hard agree that is it high time for VAR in the WSL.
For me, anytime McCabe is away will benefit her at least. If Bristol City is a cup match then “The Mouth” should be available.
She contributes hugely to our success – her tendency to talk herself into yellow cards is her one flaw. And perhaps this will help her face up to her responsibility to control her emotions.
A player that contributes a high quality over so many minutes and so many matches and is a leader on this club only gets called names by a child. Please grow up.
I agree with almost everything you say, but I am totally opposed to VAR in the WSL. I don’t think it has added anything to men’s football, only increased fan discord and created some absurd decisions that the game is struggling to row back from.
Overall I think we should be striving to preserve the difference cultures around women’s football, including how physical the game is compared to the men’s. VAR (and the over-officiating it leads to) will be detrimental to that. Sorry, rant over!
I agree. You’d think VAR would be an improvement–but for me it’s been just the opposite. VAR officials are just as prone to bad judgments as refs on the field, even more so–at least in international tourneys. They have a knack for stopping play to urge the ref to make a PK call that she didn’t call originally, and that no one saw, because they spotted a defender getting shoe polish on an offensive player in the box—and then five minutes later will not review a play that looks an obvious foul in the box. Adding another officiating layer does… Read more »
I agree. It was brought in to determine the outcome if there is a contentious decision to make but it is being used all of the time to be a “virtual referee” of the match and just stops the game every 5 minutes. Even then the decision is not always correct because it still relies on the human element and humans make mistakes! I don’t even bother watching Premier League football now because of VAR.
VAR suffers from inconsistency in:
1) when it is being activated (today they ask the ref to check, tomorrow they dont)
2) subjective application of the rules (today they say this is a foul, tomorrow they dont)
3) timeframe of the check (today they go back 15 seconds, tomorrow they only check the specific moment)
Hell, i thought there would be no dispute in something as objective as offsides, but there are different ways you can draw lines.
I like VAR because it leads to better decisions. The millimetre width offsides are annoying, but they are the same for everybody and therefore fair. But what I think we could trial in the women’s game is a challenge system. Because then it would be harder to manipulate the VAR system by choosing what to review. For example, today RS could have challenged the penalty award, or the fouls on Kim Little. I would like goal-line technology, automatic VAR for offside, VAR after all goals, but anything else – challenge system.
I kinda like the idea of a challenge system. Dunno how it would pan out in reality since in theory you shouldn’t need many. 1 per game?
I think the difficulty with challenges lies less in the numbers (1 per half is probably fine), and more in how they are adjudicated still. We have ‘matters of fact’ relatively well sorted out tech wise (goal line tech works, so does the semi auto offside in UCL and World Cups), it’s things like penalties or red cards where there’s a headache. If Renee or Mikel were to challenge the pen decision or MLS red, would the ref have changed their mind? I like the challenge system, but we need better refs first.
I was manifesting a McCabe banger for this match. This wasn’t what I had in mind!
😆
Renee repeating not once, but THREE times, that she wants to play this match again says everything about her eagerness to compete and win. Think that’s great! And she’ll get her chance this season I expect, in the other 3 competitions. Just win everything else 😀
Now with Girma in their defense, we don’t know what to expect. The only way to face them again is in the WCL, if they get through the phase.
I *want* to face them again. We will beat them.
League Cup third time on the bounce!
Girma is not invisible. She played for San Diego Wave, and they finished mid-table. Let’s focus on ourselves. Every team has its strengths and weaknesses. The board needs to back Renee and secure a couple of signings. Bring in Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith before the window closes, and target Kiera Walsh for next season. Kim will probably retire or have reduced game time. Walti may also be sold or see less playing time. Mead lacks pace; we need speed on the wings. I think Mead should be coming in for Russo if Stina isn’t available. Kafaji should be playing… Read more »
Chelsea are already good defensively and now Girma will make them better in that respect. And they have some very strong, physical players up front. It is a hard team to beat, obviously, and they have a knack for winning tight games when the opponent–like Arsenal today–plays well enough to get a result.
Chelsea’s scouts are good in this regard. The league has changed, it demands strong, physical and fast players, both in attack and defense, there’s no secret, even the NWSL scouts for some teams are also very good.
Girma is very very good. Excellent long-term replacement for Bright.
Did I miss something, or did Alex Scott suggest in the halftime interview she had tried to tap up Girma for Arsenal?!
She did say that, yes!
That’s a pretty mad admission, right?!? I absolutely love it but it probably contravenes some league rules/ BBC regulations
Doubt it. That kind of thing happens all the time. I imagine it’s just as simple as her saying ‘hey you better join my team if you come to England’
Did you see joe montemurro at the game? I could see someone sat on there own in the middle tier of East stand that looked like him
Tough one to take. After weathering the initial Chelsea onslaught we had some very good phases. But you just knew that the missed chances would come back to bite us hard. KCC is developing very nicely and Steph also had a great game. A few others off the pace but I don’t think we deserved to lose. Nervous about our lack of depth and pace on the wing, especially if Caitlin carrying an injury.
Feels like we’ve had too many performances against Chelsea away we were happy with but always somehow come away with a loss. Last season was the first time we were truly woeful against them, asides from that 3-0 defeat under Joe. Sick and tired of it. Don’t think we deserved more cos the second half was poor from us a bit. 13 shots from them in the second half, 21 overall. 6 big chances to our 0. But still felt like game was there for the taking. In a world where City are unveiling Kerolin and going after Brand, Chelsea… Read more »
It was a 100% a pen. Katie McCabe needs to stop letting her temper getting the better of her, it’s every game she’s getting booked and now talked herself into a red.
Ironically enough, similar issues to the mens team in terms of finishing. We had the better opportunities and that’s at least one green shoot.
The benches were the difference here. Chelsea brought on James, Hamano, ABV and Reiten. We brought on Maanum and Stina and Kafaji came on on 88 minutes when we were a goal and a player down. Chelsea just had greater attacking depth to call on from the bench and it won them the game.
Agree. They’re not better than us, they just have more players.
Tim, I’ve been meaning to ask. how is it that Chelsea apparently have over 30 players in their senior squad? Do squad limits not apply to them?
Some young players don’t need registration maybe?
True Tim, the depth is beyond compare.
Losing narrowly to this Chelsea side is disappointing but nothing to be ashamed of. They’re really good. It shows our progress that we were still at 0-0 so late on.
The trajectory is still upwards for this team.
Renee is doing a great job and this team looks more than capable of getting some silverware this season.