Renee Slegers reacts to 1-1 draw with Manchester United
Arsenal were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United in the WSL on Saturday evening. Zigotti gave United a late lead before Smilla Holmberg’s stoppage time equaliser. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On what her predominant takeaway from this game was…
Not turning dominance into danger. I think similar reflection from last week, giving them too much time on the ball in the first half which we then did better in the second half. We have a lot of box entries. We have shots, but again, can they be more open? So what’s the detail and clarity in the final third when we attack? And then the positive at the end of the game is the mentality of the players and how they keep going, how to keep believing and chase that goal and really go after it with the new energy of the game changers that come on and the crowd because they were a big part of it today as well. That’s the positive and that’s something we take with us for the rest of the season. But of course, disappointed with losing two points.
On continuing to struggle to break down low blocks…
So we had an attacking team on the pitch today from the start. We finish with a lot of attackers on the pitch as well. So we had to be brave from that perspective. I think, yes, breaking down low blocks and what kind of situations are we setting up? What spaces do we occupy in the box? What are the runs like? But also other moments in the game. I think especially first half, but also a couple of moments in the second half when there’s bigger spaces to go fast, can we really capitalise on those moments when the box is not congested? And I think the final detail in those moments wasn’t there, plus counterattacking moments, set pieces, those are also moments for us to be dangerous from. So it’s not only breaking down a low block, we also have to look at other situations in the game that we can use.
On already being four points behind Manchester City…
It’s round 3 in the WSL and there’s a lot of games left to play, so let’s see at the end in May, how it ends, but we can only look at ourselves. And if I look at the last two games and the dominance and not turning that and converting that into goals and wins, that’s something we have to look at. And We believe in the quality of the squad and the quality of ideas of the players and things that we can create in a variety of ways. When that starts clicking, it’s gonna be really good. So it really is about the details in the final third, it’s not ideal. It’s not what we wanted at all four lost points. I think City are the only ones with nine points so far but we focus on ourselves and we look ahead to the next one we have Koge on Tuesday. And then, of course, in the league and this block we have Chelsea and City left, which are really important games for us.
On starting Russo as a number 10 today…
Basically we were expecting to be spending a lot of time in their half. So for us looking at how can we pose as much threat as possible in the in the box and hence why both Stina and Alessia started. So there’s double threat in that position. So we wanted to keep Alessia as high as possible on the pitch and we know she can do both roles really well for us, she’s a fantastic nine. Selina made her official debut today as well and she has other threats like her aerial play and her instincts in the box. So we have three nines, but the plan was to have two nines in the box as much as possible for crosses.
On whether she expects rivals to drop more points than usual in the WSL this season…
It’s really hard to predict, I think. You see a couple of teams dominating all their three games so far, but you also see that there has been draws and surprising results and other teams doing really, really well. So I think it’s still too early in the league to draw any conclusions. Sometimes at the start of the season, there can be surprises and let’s see halfway in and then in May where everything stands.
On whether the team needs more arrogance and conviction in front of goal…
Absolutely. So it’s a combination of things. It’s not one thing, it’s a combination of things. It’s a cocktail of things, there are some details in decision making, some details in the technical execution. It’s also that the ruthlessness in front of goal but I know the players want it and they want to do that they want to execute for Arsenal. And then it’s, of course, about the type of situations that we set up from a technical perspective.
On whether she feels powerless after Arsenal went 58 shots without scoring before Holmberg’s goal…
Not powerless, so always looking to help the team, of course and find the solutions. And I know the quality in the squad, I know the finishers that we have and the goal scoring ability that we have in the squad. So always looking for solutions, so I wouldn’t say powerless. I think I’m also from my role, from my perspective. I’m always looking at, what can we change or what are the little details that we can reinforce or I’ll tweak a little bit? So definitely not powerless.
On the difference Holmberg made when she came on…
I’m very happy. She came in to preseason in July, really, really good, really sharp. She’s played a lot of minutes in preseason. And this is the third game in into the WSL. And of course, there’s extreme competition on our fullback positions. And but we felt what we needed in the game today was her qualities, her speed, her ability to go one v one and get crosses into the box in a different way to pose a different problem to United and she’s done that so well and I briefly spoke to her afterwards, saying she’s had to have patience and she’s been really, really good and resilient and consistent in training levels. So she really deserves the opportunity today and I’m really happy she got the goal for us.
On whether integrating so many new players is having an impact especially on the mistake for the United goal…
I think that that was one moment, of course, very costly and they capitalise on it, but we have eight new players in the squad, which we’ve done a lot of hard work in preseason on the pitch to build those connections and understanding for each other. But of course, those deep connections, they take time, but overall, and generally, I think everyone has a really good understanding of how we want to play and what we want to do in and out of possession, but those final details in the moments of high pressure and high stake moments, are we then all on the same page? I’m gonna review as well and see that there’s probably a couple of percentages left in there. Collective understanding of what we want to achieve but that’s all a process but we’re also very aware of course that we are in the league now and everything needs to click because we need to get the wins.
16.Misa; 2.Fox, 6.Williamson(c), 7.Catley, 22.O.Batlle (18.Kelly ‘81); 4.Stanway, 8.Mariona (10.Little ‘58), 23.Russo; 19.Baum (9.Foord ‘71), 11.Smith (31.Holmberg ‘57); 25.Blackstenius (29.Cerci ‘71)
Unused: 3.Wubben-Moy, 14.Reuteler, 28.Borbe, 32.Cooney-Cross
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