Renée Slegers says that Katie McCabe and Beth Mead are ‘top professionals’ who ‘mean so much to the team’ and ‘mean so much to me’.
The Arsenal head coach was speaking ahead of the visit of Leicester City to the Emirates Stadium in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Wednesday evening.
Slegers confirmed that Chloe Kelly would be missing from the Arsenal squad to face Leicester as the match comes ‘too soon’ for her recovery. The Halfway Line was present to hear what else the Arsenal head coach had to say.
McCabe and Mead ‘mean so much to the team, they mean so much to me’ says Renée Slegers
Last night, reporting from Charlotte Harpur and Megan Ferringa of the Athletic revealed that Manchester City are strongly pursuing deals for both Katie McCabe and Beth Mead. Both have been Arsenal mainstays for the best part of a decade but are out of contract with the North London club this summer.
The Halfway Line asked Slegers about the futures of both players and whether contract talks were ongoing at Arsenal or if they had stalled,
“Of course, my biggest respect for those players” Slegers earnestly extolled. “They’ve been at Arsenal for so long. They’ve contributed to the growth of the team, the performances, the results of the team, [to] everything that has been pushed in the club, bigger picture women’s football.
“So my biggest respect is going to those players, and I love working with them. They are both top professionals, very intelligent players. They bring a lot to the group, a lot of energy and leadership in their own ways, with their own personality.
“I love working with them, and I’m fully focused on the here and now and trying to achieve as much as possible with those players in the squad. Unfortunately, Beth is not with us because of personal reasons at the moment.
“But they mean so much to the team, they mean so much to me as well. So I just want to focus on the here and now and what we can achieve together.”
Renée Slegers says ‘it’s inspiring’ to work with problem solving squad
Since Renée Slegers took charge of Arsenal a consistent theme has been a focus on problem solving. The Halfway Line asked Slegers how that has developed over her tenure at Arsenal,
“It’s so good, and I think you’re constantly learning yourself as well” Slegers explained. “I think where it’s at at the moment, it’s new to me, because as a player myself or in the environments I’ve been in as a coach it’s never been like this.
“Of course, you take inspiration from others and from other environments, but the way it is here at the moment, it’s, yeah, it’s something I didn’t even know was possible.
“So it’s not necessarily something we have been working towards, and this is it, this is how it needs to be. We have been taking steps consistently, and we had a vision and we had a belief, and then where that takes you, you don’t exactly know how that looks, but the way it looks, it’s yeah, for me, it’s very inspiring, because I think the collaboration between staff, staff, player, player, player, it is for me such a great environment to work in.
“I think that’s one of our super strengths, if you see it, how players then find solutions on the pitch, the belief and confidence they can take from knowing that we have a diversity of tools, diversity of qualities, we have so many things that we can pull from and doing that in the right moment.
“I think that that’s what we have been saying that will be our next step. And if you, if you look at that in the Lyon game there are some really critical, crucial moments where you where we do the right things, and that’s a big part, is player ownership and then reading it and communicating it and changing things.
“It’s so good. I love working with this team, and we want to take it even further at the moment, that’s a big part of our strength in the group, that we have.”
Slegers ‘delighted’ that Steph Catley will ‘continue her journey’ with Arsenal
This morning Arsenal announced that Steph Catley has signed a new deal with Arsenal. The Arsenal head coach was asked about the Australian’s move to centre back under her tutelage,
“I think you have to stay open minded” Slegers recalled. “I think, yeah, see what’s happening in front of you. I remember the moment well. It was West Ham away, and Steph stepped in at centre back for the first time, and she did so well and she never left.
“I think she played maybe some minutes on the full back position since then, but she’s been there, and she’s been so good. I think that’s who Steph is. She’s so consistent. You know what you can expect from Steph.
“I think she’s intelligent, so she can play different roles under the pitch. Depending on, even if you start in a certain position, what’s asked of you in that position. She’s done that really well. We’re really happy and delighted that Steph chose to continue her Arsenal journey with us.”
Arsenal face Leicester City in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Wednesday evening at the Emirates Stadium with kick off a 7pm.
