Renée Slegers has reiterated her squad’s determination to break free from their recent slump after yet more dropped points in the WSL. The Gunners came into the Tottenham fixture off the back of a crushing 3-2 loss in midweek, which made collecting three points all the more important as the season approached its halfway mark. That said, Arsenal were unable to breach a stubborn Tottenham defence on Sunday afternoon as the game ended in a surprise goalless draw. It was their second draw in succession, after the Gunners only managed a 1-1 draw against Chelsea last weekend. And they failed to take advantage of Chelsea’s slip earlier in the day, while they now sit eight points behind leaders Manchester City.
Slegers calls for belief amid difficult spell
With Real Madrid up next in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Slegers stressed that the squad remains hungry to push through the recent downturn. Speaking to Arsenal after the match, she said: “It’s not an easy period, of course, because the players have a high belief in who they are and what they’re doing, and I do too. So it’s just not coming easy for us at the moment. We know the flow state we were in last year. We know how good we are when we find that again. We just keep on working hard to get there again. Football changes constantly and we have to change with it. Just keep a really big belief in who we are and how good we can be in our very best moments.” Slegers emphasis was on mindset and rhythm rather than panic.
A season drifting away?
Arsenal have to rediscover their edge quickly. Their campaign is at risk of unravelling if they continue to drop points in both competitions, the WSL and UWCL. In truth, it appears increasingly unlikely that they can recover the gap in the domestic league. The title race is shaping up to be a two-horse battle between Manchester City and Chelsea, leaving Arsenal with little margin for further error. Even so, the focus must remain positive, and there is still an opportunity to build momentum elsewhere.
Arsenal Women are next in WSL action against Liverpool, but before that, they host Real Madrid on Wednesday night. They are two difficult but winnable fixtures, and Renée Slegers will be hoping her side can use them as a springboard back to form.
Why do you think our Gunneresses have struggled to find form this season?
Benjamin Kenneth
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Slegers has a lot to do to turn this around. The team looks sloppy, and not aggressive enough, we are loosing the season and gotta hit form soon. Don’t think we gonna challenge for the league, we are so much offpace at the moment. Back to basics is where we should start and see how it goes
A season full of promise is anything but that at this point.
Questions need to be asked of the side and the manager, her use of Kelly is baffling. She’s brought her on twice now in the 87th minutes of games.
At least give her longer to make an impact, Caldentey looks a shadow of the player she was last season. And 1 goal each from Mead, Foord, Kelly and Smith just isn’t going to cut it.
I’m not sure what’s wrong with the team, but if they don’t shape up soon this season could be a very frustrating one. And that’s putting it mildly.
one of the reasons for the slump is an underpowered mid field, (Walti has not been replaced, Little has been out injured, Caldentay doesn t play as well when in a midfield role…)
an other reason is a few of our forwards may have lost some of their attacking edge, their sharpness, their clinical killer instincts
let s hope i m wrong (Derek can tell you i usually am, lol )
but i reckon we in deep trouble atm
our best plan may be to get Leah Williamson back soon, put Codeina in as a midfielder, put Caldentay up front, and rotate the rest of the forwards bringing them on at the 60 or 70 th minute mark
i don t think we gonna win much silverware this season, likely nothing, but let s improve our performances in any case
Good evening Evan Potts,
It’s good to see a post from you, it’s been a while.
I agree with you regarding Caldentey, she should play where she did last season. As the saying goes, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.
I don’t understand Sleger’s use of Kelly at all. Yes she started the season with an injury, but in the words of sleger’s, she’s now full fit.
So why she’s getting on in the 83rd minutes is beyond me to be honest. Having backed themselves into a corner regarding the WSL, anything other than 3 wins form their remaining CL games will do the same.
At this point their best chance of a trophy seems to be in the LC or FAC.
We also need more from the likes of Mead, Foord, Kelly, and Smith on the goal scoring front. 👍
Today 5 Gunners selected for Three Lionesses. Kelly is mostly introduced too late in Arsenal matches usually after 85 minutes. She’s
good enough for the national team but not for Arsenal. Renee’s use of impactful Kelly really needs scrutiny.
Hi Derek, thanks, i agree with much of your commentary, there are 2 questions in my mind, i m gonna address them here 1 is Renee the right boss for us ? and 2 what s she doing re Chloe ?
starting with the 2nd question, Chloe is extremely gifted, i think that when she on form, (like with Michelle), she s a clear matchwinner, we all know this after seeing her play for England, but it needs to be on her terms as well, like when she came to Arsenal and England she had a point to prove, now she s had some injury, not all injury is evident to fans, Renee knows more than we do. an other question is the very late substitution, personally i not a fan, but the other Dutch genius, Sarina employed it in England s Euro games too, a player coming on late is very fresh and full of pent up energy when all the opposing team players may be exhausted, if we need a quick goal it may be worth trying, though as i said before, i m not a fan, i prefer substitutions at 60 or 70 minutes
2 Re Renee, if you recall my comments a year ago, i ve been a huge supporter of Renee, but right now we have to wait and see, if she can salvage a domestic Cup trophy she will have proved herself, if not i would reluctantly conclude she was right for a time to rescue us from the Jonah era, but now we need more , more than just placing gifted individuals in the start line or on the bench, she needs to master the system of player integration that wins virtually all the time, very consistently, and against all opposition …it s a tough aim, but Arsenal deserves it
Evan Potts,
I have to say I agree with your post. Regards Sleger’s, I to think she did a good job when needed last season. But I believe her honeymoon period is well and truly over now.
It’ll be interesting to see how she handles the current inconsistencies of the team. Although what she’s doing with player’s like Caldentey is baffling. Why change her position, she’s not been half the player she was last season.
And for me, I would have a central midfield pairing of Pelova and Kooney-Cross. Play Caldentey behind Russo, and get the wide player’s to supply more crosses into the box and give Russo the supply she deserves.
That’s where I see a problem to, I feel sorry for Russo to an extent. She does so much running for the team down the channels, and it’s diluting her goal threat. For me Slegers needs to tell her to stay more central and start demanding that the wide players start giving her and Blackstenious more service.