Renée Slegers has said that Arsenal third choice goalkeeper Anneke Borbe deserves ‘credit’ for stepping up for the team with both number one and two goalkeepers out injured.
Slegers was speaking after Arsenal had just beaten Crystal Palace 2-0 thanks to goals from Laia Codina and Stina Blackstenius. The result means that Arsenal have booked their spot in the semi finals of the Subway Women’s League Cup where Manchester United lie in wait.
The Halfway Line were present to hear from the Arsenal head coach as she addressed the media after victory on Sunday afternoon.
Slegers acknowledges ‘growth areas’ for Arsenal
It was far from a straightforward afternoon in Sutton for Slegers’ side against lower league opposition. Arsenal were lucky to get in at half time a goal to the good with Crystal Palace forward Abbie Larkin striking the woodwork twice. Slegers gave her assessment of the performance and the learnings required from the encounter,
“There are always growth areas as a team” Slegers said.
“[For example] how we solve different things on the pitch, seeing players together, new partnerships, seeing players that haven’t played as many minutes so far in the season.
“So that’s really good and I’m always happy with these kinds of games, even though you want to have more control, I think everything we were able to see today was good and we’ll take that with us in the second half of the season.”
Leah Williamson looked ‘really comfortable’ on first start this term says Slegers
Arsenal have sorely missed their vice-captain Leah Williamson this season. Today Williamson started a match for the first time since the UEFA EURO 2025 final and she helped the Gunners to secure a victory and a clean sheet. The Halfway Line asked Slegers about her instrumental number six,
“I think us being able to build her back during this block, it’s not easy” Slegers said.
“[That is] because there’s been a lot of games with short turnarounds with very little training opportunities for the team.
“It hasn’t been easy to bring her back, but I think if I now look back at it, it’s gone well, she got 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes and so she’s back now. She’s been really good during her rehab and you see that with the way she came back into the team on the training pitch.
“I think it needed some getting used to it again, with the complexity of play, because she had been on pitch with the complexity of playing and training with so many players, but she picked it up two or three trainings into being back in full team sessions.
“And I think you see that on the pitch today, she looks really comfortable.”
Renée Slegers says Anneke Borbe deserves ‘credit’ for her performances
Heading into this block of fixtures a key area of concern for Arsenal was between the sticks. With Daphne van Domselaar and Manuela Zinsberger out injured, Anneke Borbe, who had yet to make her competitive debut for the club was set to start. However she has since excelled, conceding just twice in five games,
“It hasn’t been an easy situation for her [Anneke Borbe]” Slegers explained.
“All of a sudden, she goes in and plays her first competitive game for Arsenal against Liverpool at the Emirates!
“She knew she was gunna play this block, five games for us. And there’s been injuries of course on the other goalkeepers, so there’s a little bit of pressure on her to stay fit and to perform for the team, which she’s done.
“So I think all credit to Necky [Anneke Borbe] how she has picked us up and how she’s been able to perform in this block.”
Beth Mead is ‘in a really good place’ lauds Slegers
On Sunday afternoon Beth Mead featured in her 250th match for Arsenal. The winger came off the bench to help secure victory with a brilliant assist for Blackstenius to double Arsenal’s lead. Slegers was asked about Mead after the victory,
“She’s been really good, she’s in a really good place” Slegers said.
“We said that it [the match] was transitional and we needed technical quality and good positioning to be able to stabilise possession.
“I think we had more stabilised possession towards the end of the game. And a little bit on our positioning, as well, and that’s Beth [Mead] and Liv [Olivia Smith], they both play on the right side for us today and they are very different players, so we bring Beth on and we were able to change some things tactically as well.”
