Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers wants to ‘keep the pressure’ on in the Barclays Women’s Super League as her side look ahead to facing Aston Villa away from home tomorrow evening. Even just a point will be enough to see Arsenal qualify for next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.
‘All we want to do is get three points tomorrow’
The Gunners travel to Villa Park, with both sides gaining important wins last time out. The visitors will be ecstatic after their 4-1 win against Olympique Lyonnais saw them into the Champions League final. While the home side will be looking to ride the wave of momentum built by two wins in a row including that dramatic last minute winner against Tottenham Hotspur nine days ago.
Slegers said: “We have two objectives for the block. One is going to the final and do our job in the WSL by getting four out of four. We’ve done one now and now it’s Aston Villa tomorrow. All we want to do is get three points tomorrow because we want to keep the pressure on in the WSL.”
She added: “The players and the club, they want to work towards something and you want to be in this position at the end of the season where you’re competing. I’m happy we are. We’re really proud of the spot in the final and we look forward to that.
Also, with a couple of games left in the WSL, we want to keep the pressure on and we want to end with as many points as possible from where we’re at. I’m happy with where we are, but no job is done. A lot of work to do still and it starts tomorrow.”
Arsenal need to be ‘100% focused’ for Villa test
Arsenal last faced Aston Villa in former manager Robert De Pauw’s last match in charge of the Villains, a 4-0 win for Slegers charges at the Emirates in November. A lot has changed for Aston Villa since then with the club appointing a new permanent manager in the form of Natalia Arroyo.
On Villa, Slegers said: “ It’s a good team. They’ve secured their spot in the league for next year. I guess they’re happy with that. They’ve changed their structure a little bit. They come from two wins in the league. I think they will be free in the way they will try to take on the game tomorrow.
We are very aware of what they can bring to the game and where they come from. We need to be 100% focused and concentrated on what we need to do tomorrow.”
‘I will never forget that moment’
After defeat at the Emirates to Lyon in the first leg, there were few that expected Arsenal to overturn a first leg deficit and plot a route to the Champions League final. And yet that is exactly what Slegers’ side were able to accomplish.
She reflected on Sunday: “I think the big, intense, ecstatic moment happened straight after the whistle, I will never forget that moment. It was very big for everyone who works for the club. We’re happy we put ourselves in that position and we’re going to go to the final to do everything we can.”
Arsenal’s head coach continued: “Of course, I want to enjoy the moments as well. That moment on the pitch, seeing all the players, staff, fans, thinking about all the other people that weren’t there and then thinking about what we achieved, that’s very big and that does a lot to me as well.
I’m not just calm and composed and don’t feel anything. I’m very passionate as well. I think my presence is maybe calm, but I need to love what I’m doing to be able to perform. That’s very important for me. I love what I’m doing. I love what I’m a part of. But I also know in my role, in my job, it’s good for me and hopefully good for the environment that I am calm.”
‘Bravery is one of our pillars’
Since the Dutchwoman took charge of Arsenal she has demanded high standards from her team and part of those standards revolve around the values of the side. Slegers spoke about the pillars that the team have, with one of them being bravery. She said: “Bravery is one of our pillars. It’s something we always want to be. I think in this scenario, after the first leg, we needed to be brave going to Lyon. That was going to be key for us.”
Slegers continued: “But we can only be brave if we know exactly what we’re doing. It’s something we’ve worked on with the players. We have the Arsenal way and that’s the type of football we want to play, but it needs to be built off of something and that’s our pillars. It’s created together with the players.
We try to keep that alive as much as possible and make it as specific as possible as well. If you know what you’re doing, you know your role, you know what to expect and you can be brave in the role you’re going to play.”
Slegers searching for emotional ‘balance’ in the Arsenal squad
Calmness, intensity and passion don’t always find themselves side by side in a sentence, but for Slegers these often contradictory emotions and feelings are vital when trying to harness the power of your team. The Arsenal boss is looking to manage the squad’s differing emotions, from big moments in Europe back to regular season league games.
She said: “We’ve been very good in games to regulate our emotions. I think that’s a quality that the team has, so that’s going to be needed now as well. I also think we don’t want to neglect emotions and emotions can be turned into a lot of positive energy. That’s the balance we’re trying to find, to find the perfect preparation for Aston Villa tomorrow. I need to be calm to perform in my role.
I think that’s what I believe. I feel the emotions as well. I get goosebumps all the time for different reasons because of big performances like last Sunday, but also small things, working with people, saying beautiful things, doing great things that add value to the team. I really feel what I’m doing and what we’re working towards. But again, the calmness is important for us I think it’s the way we perform at our best but within that, there’s a lot of intensity and passion as well.”
