Ahead of today’s must-win clash against Brighton, Renée Slegers revealed in her Friday Arsenal press conference that she has been showing her Arsenal Women side an inspirational clip of a tennis legend.
The Gunners are winless in their last four matches in all competitions, their joint-longest run without victory in the WSL era. Two consecutive defeats have raised concerns, with defensive lapses and an inability to hold on to leads proving costly.
Federer’s mindset as motivation
Asked how she is addressing the team’s recent errors, the Dutch coach explained:
“It’s not only about football. A piece of it is about psychology as well, how we stay in games and react to moments. I looked at a really inspirational video of Roger Federer, what he did as a tennis player to go from point to point. That’s all we’re looking at and we do that together as a group.”
Slegers added that Federer’s ability to refocus after each point struck a chord:
“He talks about winning around 54 per cent of his points in his career, yet he’s one of the greatest ever. It shows how he comes back after each point and performs when it matters most. That was good inspiration for us.”
Perspective and resilience
The Arsenal boss continued:
“I want to put things into perspective and look wider, to get inspiration from other athletes and teams. Everyone goes through difficult periods; it’s about how you come back. That’s why we spoke about Federer this morning.”
We will soon see if the tennis legend’s mindset helps inspire a response. Arsenal Women host Brighton this afternoon, aiming for their first win since the 5-1 victory over West Ham a month ago. A return to discipline and composure could finally end their frustrating drought.
After becoming the Champions of Europe in May 2025, Arsenal Women have ambitions to win the WSL ahead of Chelsea who are six-time consecutive winners of the WSL title. However, their recent poor form does not bode well for their title aspirations.
Hopefully we will see a turnaround for our Gunners with a win against Brighton this afternoon!
COYG!
Benjamin Kenneth
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Should a UCL winner team ARSENAL think and worry about elementary psychology 101? These same players were annihilating European giants away from Emirates just a few months back. This psychology is only for rookies & minnows. Maybe and tbh surely Renee has finished using her magic cards. She’s become predictable. When Jonas was replaced it was too late to save the season. Authorities shouldn’t do similar mistakes again. Time to act!
Ambachew,
While I’m beginning to ask questions of Slegers, I think it a bit early to be calling for her to be removed just now. I think she’s earned that at the very least.
But that said, it is of concern with the tactics she’s currently using. I’ve never watched paint dry, but if the Women continue to play like that I might just give it a go.
Having just read Slegers after match thoughts, fans should start getting a bit concerned about her management.
She claims to be proud of the teams performance V Brighton, well if that’s the standard of performance the makes her proud, Houston we have a problem.🤷♂️🤦♂️
Thank you DEREK! Arsenal Women are turning from hero to zero just in a couple of months. The situation is the equivalent of the Man Utd team in EPL. From higher expectations to struggling to beat lesser teams with expensively acquired world class players.