Ahead of our return from the last international break of 2025, Renée Slegers has been facing the press as we gear up to take on Liverpool at Emirates Stadium.
Renée faced questions on team selection, facing Liverpool and the final block of matches of the year.
Here’s everything she said, with a full video of the press conference above!
on Kim and Leah’s availability:
Both Kim and Leah will be in the squad tomorrow, so that’s really positive news. They’ve been training with the squad and they both look good, so that’s really positive.
on if this is the most competitive WSL season yet:
I think so, so far. I think if you compare last season to this season, it’s different. You see it across all teams and all games are very competitive. We see it from our own perspective. I also think that we, after winning the Champions League, have a target on our backs. We feel that the way the opposition goes into games against us. It’s highly competitive, which is really good for women’s football, growth, and the league’s attractiveness.
Also tomorrow, we go into this game with a lot of belief and confidence. I think Liverpool being so low in the table, they haven’t picked up enough points. But if you look at how their results have gone, they drew against Chelsea in their last WSL game. It’s one goal difference in their game. I think they’ve been performing well. They haven’t been rewarded with so many points, but I’m very respectful of Chelsea as an opponent and I’m very respectful of the WSL as a league.
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on our season so far:
In all honesty, we wish we had more points at this stage. That’s definitely something we’re not happy with, but where the team is at, if you look at the last block, it was a very demanding block. Especially four out of five opponents that we played against, we always knew it was going to be challenging. We knew it was going to be about margins and it was about margins. I think, if you look back at the games, there’s a lot of things we want to do better in our performances but I also think we have dominated phases of games in those hard games, I think it’s about moments and managing certain situations better in games, so there’s definitely big learnings for us.
But we don’t think that we were far away against Chelsea, we were 2-0 up against Bayern and like I said, we need to manage moments in games better. We should have done better in the second half against Bayern. I think that gives you a different starting point going into the North London derby. Then, we won against [Real] Madrid, which is a really hard opponent. They have been winning and gathering a lot of points in the Champions League, so that was a good end to the block. But we put it in perspective. It was very challenging games and it was about moments. But we definitely want to do better in those moments.
on the atmosphere in the dressing room:
We won the Champions League. Historically, Arsenal has been the most successful team in England. There will be noise, there is noise and there was an article; that’s all on the outside. It’s a high-performance environment, it’s a very challenging environment, we demand a lot of things from each other, and it should be like that. I think if you go and look in any place internally, you see some really good things going on, but I think every group of people will have things that they have to manage and get through.
I am very positive about where we’re at, very positive, and I can say that full hearted, because I’m on the inside and I see what’s happening. I’m happy with the squad, I think they deserve to be backed for everything they do. We are in a process, I believe in the process and we’re going in a really good direction. It’s unfortunate that there’s noise on the outside, but there will be noise on the outside.
on using different plans in a game:
Of course, we look at the qualities that we have in the team, we look at the opposition and what we need to create. Like I said, the last block there was some learning in managing scenarios and managing different game states and that’s something we’ve definitely picked up with the team. We have so much quality in different things that we can do against opponents. I think that’s where you see the challenge in the league, you’re challenged with high pressure against you, you’re challenged with really structured, low blocks where players play with a lot of determination and ruthlessness in defending their areas.
There’s so many different things that you have to be able to manage in the league, as the league is today. We pride ourselves on dominating things and creating opportunities. I think I said it after Tottenham that we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances in that game. Of course, we’ve had a look at it, on what kind of situation we set up and how we attack spaces in the box, and it’s an ongoing process. You have this blanket, you want to cover everything constantly, but you can’t. We try to find the right areas to work with and try to do it as well as possible and the players have been great.
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on how she feels about what is written about the club:
Normally I don’t read media, but I have to be across certain things. So I did read it. [I’m] not too emotional to be honest, like I just said, because I think we have such clarity on what we’re doing here, then what’s written on the outside, well emotion, maybe the emotion of I don’t agree with it, and it’s unfortunate that this is what’s written about us whilst we’re doing so many good things and a lot of people have invested in the process. So maybe that was the little emotion I felt, or the thought I had, but no more than that. It’s unfortunate because I think there’s so many good things that the club has been doing for so long, I think pioneering the way, because we pride ourselves on winning trophies.
We did win a big trophy last year and of course we’re not happy with certain performances or moments in games and results, and that’s something we want to do better. I think that’s probably the vulnerable position we are in, that’s when people start to write things. I think media is important to us because you help develop the game and give that exposure so [usually] it’s positive. Well, in this case, it wasn’t positive for us, but we have to find security and safety in knowing what we are doing, and like I just said, things aren’t always constantly perfect. I think not a single sports team in the world has things that are being run perfectly every single day. But we have a really good process and we know where we’re at at the moment and we know where we want to go.
on the culture at the club:
There are things on the inside, we are happy with a lot of things, because if you look at the players having perspective on who they are and what they are a part of, it’s about playing your role for the team and team-first mentality. I think we’re really going in a good direction, and that we’re on a high level. We talk about how we seek understanding of each other, so an example is experienced players and new players coming in and how do we understand each other, how do we bring all those different backgrounds that we come from, how do we bring them all together going in the same direction. I think we’re doing a lot of good things, like I said, everything is constantly a process.
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on her contract:
[I have] constant positive interaction with the club and I think that says everything about how invested the club is. Me, myself, Claire, Jodie, Rich, positive communication, I am happy in my role, I don’t feel like I’m done with what we want to do, so I don’t want it to end, and I look forward to more. But if there’s something that can come out with clarity then I’m sure me or the club will give you clarity.
on the minutes for Kim and Leah this weekend:
No, [they’re] not fit enough to play 90 minutes, and if you look at the difference, Leah has been away for much longer than Kim, so Kim is available for more minutes than Leah will be tomorrow.
on Liverpool’s season so far:
Like I said, they’ve had close results. You see in the way they play, like for example against Chelsea, how they put Chelsea under pressure, I think Chelsea had a hard time getting out of their own half. So I think they’ll probably pride themselves, Liverpool, on their defensive structure and putting even the top teams under pressure, and I think they do that well. They did that well in that game, they will be missing some players tomorrow I think, but I think their structure is strong.
I think they had a lot of work ethic in their defensive structure and I think they’ve had close results and the league is like that at the moment this year, which is great. So they will really put questions to us, especially in their defensive structure, what they can do when they get a little bit lower on the pitch, how they will try to counter-attack us, we will have to manage those moments well.
on Taylor Hinds and Olivia Smith’s progress since joining from Liverpool:
Everything they’ve said about Liverpool. They speak very positively about their time in Liverpool. We are of course very happy that they are with us. I think if you look at Taylor’s journey. It’s impressive. The people that have been in the club for longer and know Taylor from before. From the time she spent here. Then she went on to her journey and now she’s back here. Everything we saw of Taylor last year. I was really positive about.
Looking at her at Liverpool. I think you never know until she’s here. How is that going to link and connect with the way we want to play. It’s above all expectations. She’s been a very quick learner. I think she’s really good at connecting with players around her. She has really good positional intelligence, and then everything that we had seen last year with Liverpool. She has a really good athletic profile as well, a lot of speed in the full-back position, and is able to play different roles. Whether that’s inside or wide. She’s done that for us. So we’re really happy with Taylor.
Then Olivia of course. She had to manage some things around her hip last block. She stayed home from Canada. She’s fit, she’s pain-free, and she’s looking in a really good place, and of course, we’re really happy with Liv and everything she’s done for us already this season. She’s a young player, so she’s only going to get better, she’s very invested, works really hard and brings certain qualities that we haven’t had in the team. That we definitely wanted. She brings that extra element to our game.
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on Chloe Kelly and Daphne van Domselaar’s fitness:
Daphne won’t be available. She’s been managing a quad tendon issue and it needed an injection, so she won’t be available for the rest of the block. Chloe Kelly came back with an injury, a little ligament in the back of her knee. So she won’t be available tomorrow and I don’t expect her to be available for the rest of the block. But we’ll see.
on addressing the goalkeeper situation in January:
Definitely because Manu [Zinsberger] is out. Daphne has been managing issues. So we’re definitely looking and when we have more clarity, then of course things will come forward and become public. But yes, we’re definitely looking at that position because we think we need a really strong goalkeeper union, with three goalkeepers available and we’re not in that situation at the moment. So we’ll have to solve that for the second half of the season.
on feeling re-energised during the international break:
I think it’s important that I come in with energy. I feel energetic. What I did was, I actually had a couple of weeks of parental leave left, so without being totally off, I tried to have a week of parental leave, the first week, which was good. Spent some time with the family and with the little one, whilst still being available to do my work and lead on certain processes, but I wasn’t here, so that was really good. That was my last week, so that’s it for now, so you won’t see a fresh Renée again!
Then the second week was all about planning for the block and I was here and we had players here, a couple of injured players and a couple of players on the pitch, which was really good. It’s always nice when you work with smaller groups, you get to connect differently with both staff and players, so that was a really good week and that gave a lot of energy.
The other piece of energy I got was when the players came back themselves yesterday. It’s always, before they come in, where are they at, they all come from different scenarios and different situations and what’s the energy when they come back in. The energy was really high, in the restaurant, there was a lot of chit-chat. Sue, the lady who works in the canteen for us, who is great, creates all the vibes. She had to plan to put on some music, but I don’t think I heard the music because it was very loud, it was very chatty, so that’s been a lot of energy. We’ve worked two days now leading into this game. Liverpool always tries to get the balance right of how much we do with the players. We did do quite a lot with the players from different perspectives, preparing for the block and preparing for Liverpool. Investment has been really high, so I think my energy here and now as well.
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on if the weather impacts her starting line-up:
No, it doesn’t. I look at who is available and who we think is right, so that doesn’t change with the weather. What changes with the weather is, sometimes in training sessions if we have a heading exercise or whatever, then maybe that changes. You don’t want to get too many repetitions of an ice ball on your head. But that’s the only thing, otherwise selection doesn’t get affected. We always work to keep the players as fit as possible across the season. But we know these colder months, we make some small adjustments.
on the difference between Emirates and Meadow Park:
Boreham Wood has been OK. I think it was in an OK state when we played Madrid. It’s different conditions. Yes, it’s a football pitch though. I think Boreham Wood and Meadow Park is a little bit smaller than Emirates. It’s more towards the minimum size and the Emirates more towards the maximum size. We like both stadiums, pitches, of course the Emirates because we can share our moment with so many fans and the conditions and facilities are on such a high level for high performance. But then Meadow Park is such an intimate place and I think it also takes us back to where we come from a little bit. It gives us that perspective and understanding your history and that’s also special for us to come to that place. So we appreciate playing on one of the best football stadiums.
on Anneke Borbe:
Yes, she’s good. She obviously came to us from Wolfsburg and she hasn’t played any competitive game for us yet. But if you look at the game she’s played for Wolfsburg and the experience she’s built there, we have full confidence of course that she will do well for us this block. So she’s been training well and she’s developed in the training environment as well. So they’ve been working really hard with the goalkeeper coach, but also everything that’s integrated with the team and you can see the improvement she’s made. So she’s been good. Of course, there’s been a highly competitive situation with Daphne as well. But she’s been doing really well. So she’s ready to play for us tomorrow.
on Alessia Russo’s development:
I spoke about Alessia after the Madrid game as well. To start with, I think there’s a lot of individuals that are developing with us in the group as football players, as human beings, which you might not always see so clearly. But I think Alessia is at the forefront. So I understand that you see it and I’m happy that everyone sees it, because everything she does is investment in herself, it’s an investment in the team, it’s positive, it’s constructive, it’s hard work, it’s everything you want from an athlete and I think she’s such a world-class player. She’s played different roles for us as well. She’s played in the 10 position a little bit.
She does all those things, and she’s just so good all around. She’s such a good footballer. But like I said, everything that she does off the pitch means the world. That a world-class player like Alessia cares so much for her teammates, is so humble and respectful towards staff members that are helping her and supporting her. There’s so many things, her work ethic, her willingness to learn. I think she’s such a good role model for all the others, that a player of such high level, such a world-class player, is doing all these things. It’s amazing to see and she deserves all the reward.
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on the impact of Leah Williamson returning:
Leah has a presence, which is sometimes even without speaking; it sets standards, and it creates a certain environment. Her leadership, I look forward to having it back. She’s very intelligent. She’s good at solving things or communicating things beforehand and afterwards, but she’s also very good in the moment, both solutions from a football perspective, motivational, what the game needs, what the team needs.
It will be really, really good to have her back. Just the fact that she’s going to be with the team tomorrow again, she’s going to be in the changing room, she’s going to give these little injections of communication to other players. It’s going to be such a win for the team. We’re really happy that she’s back. She hasn’t had a long run of team trainings and there’s been very little opportunity for her to train into more chaotic situations in 11v11 because we’ve just come off an international break. She’s still building, of course, but everyone has seen how good a footballer Leah is and it will be such an addition to the team now to get her back.
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