Head coach Renée Slegers says her Arsenal are “not happy” following a loss to Lyon in the Women’s Champions League.
The Gunners took an early lead in north London as a calm finish from Alessia Russo saw the defending champions off to a fine start in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. However, it didn’t take long for the class of Lyon to take the game over after a terrible pass from Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar gifted Melchie Dumornay the equaliser. Dumornay struck again moments later to award her side a well-deserved 2-1 victory away from home.
Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers says her side aren’t worried about a lacklustre dip in form that has seen them winless in four games.
“Worried is not the right word,” Slegers said. “Of course, we’re not happy with it and it does something to the group. So the important thing is that we manage that really well and we give direction moving forward and that we stand strong. The important thing is that we have a strong foundation and grow from a cultural perspective and from a football perspective and we need to keep on believing in that philosophy because it gave us a lot of things last year and when it starts clicking, then we know how good we are.
“So it’s about reinforcing the things that we are still doing well and then it’s about finding the right balance of challenging other things together with the players as all together staff and players. So we’re critical, but we’re also very supportive and positive moving forward with a shared purpose and that’s together finding our highest level.
“Errors happen from time to time, but if it’s trending in the wrong direction, if they happen too often, then, of course, there’s something there and it looks silly from the outside. But it’s not that all of a sudden they can’t pass that ball anymore, so there’s there’s different things behind it and it’s sometimes intangible or hard to put your finger on, but it’s because it’s a mixture of things and then some things have a chain reaction or a cumulative effect.
“What we need to do is look at and if we find one or two things and we start to work with that, then the rest will be lifted as well, so whether that’s mental physical, technical, technical, where you train, we all those things. If you find one or two things, then we’re sure that we can the rest can be lifted with it.”
Slegers confident that Arsenal can revive poor recent form
Arsenal suffered the same result against Lyon in the Champions League last season, after Dumornay’s bullet finish gave the French side a 2-1 victory at Emirates Stadium. This time around, the Gunners won’t be gifted a second leg to turnaround the damage caused by a new-look Lyon under head coach Jonatan Giráldez.
“We used last season’s game because [Lyon have] similar players, so especially the unit and individual perspectives to prepare for the opponent,” Slegers said on Arsenal’s preparations this time around. “Of course with a new coach, they have a couple of things that are different.
“But I think especially how they manipulate the back line with their movement, both in front and behind that was on a really, really high level today and that was really hard to defend, which we knew, but they dictated that movement in the game. Then in the second half, I think we came back to the spaces a little bit better. But there will always be a couple of details with a new coach.”
Arsenal now find themselves on the back-foot in the Champions League, and five points away from the top of the Women’s Super League table. Despite the tough run of form, Slegers is positive that her side can turn things around.
“Of course, it does something to the players on the pitch but what we know about this team is that they’ve gone through hard times before and they always come back. I think you saw that in game, they kept on solving problems, they kept on working really hard and you’ve seen that over time as well and things get hard, they find ways to come back. I’m very confident that this team will do that.”
PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH REPORT FROM ARSENAL 1-2 LYON IN THE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
