Renée Slegers: ‘I love working for the club’ admits Arsenal interim head coach

Arsenal return to UEFA Women’s Champions League action on Thursday evening as the Gunners host Juventus on matchday four of the European competition. Interim head coach Renée Slegers spoke to the media at Sobha Realty Training Centre ahead of the clash at Emirates Stadium.

Despite setting a positive tone in last week’s 4-0 thrashing over Juventus in Biella, Slegers emphasised that her side “just have to stay in the moment” ahead of tomorrow’s challenge.

“Obviously we analysed the away game against Juventus and they will do that as well. So, it’s going to be a new challenge tomorrow. We’re one step further into the group phase, and it’s a second game against each other, so they’re going to tweak things. They’re going to do things differently, and we might want to do that as well. So I think it’s a new game that we’re going to play tomorrow.”

Arsenal ‘have to be prepared’ for Juventus challenge

As the side prepare to face one another for the second time in just over a week, Slegers said the game may be a “guessing game” as her side prepare for the challenges that the familiarity may cause.

She expressed, “We’ve been going through a couple of scenarios of what we think they might do. I think we have three or four scenarios in our heads so we have to be prepared for all of them. I think, from a coaching perspective, it’s fun because you have one performance and you play against the exact same opponent and the challenge you have in front of you is to try to do better.”

“I don’t think there’s any sign of complacency amongst us. We know how hard it was [last week], and in the end, we got a big result. But it took us so much to get there, both physically and psychologically, so I don’t think there’s any complacency in the camp at the moment.”

‘I love working for the club’ expresses Slegers

Arsenal are yet to lose a game under the interim management of Renée Slegers, picking up five wins and a draw across six fixtures. Speculation continues to surround Slegers’ future at the North London club, with many wondering whether she may be the primary candidate for the permanent role.

Despite the speculation, Slegers remained matter of fact when asked about her time in charge of the Gunners. She said, “I was enjoying myself before this as well. So, I just love working for the club, I love working with the girls. We’re very happy that we’re doing well at the moment. So happy for the girls, happy for the staff, happy for the fans as well.”