Renée Slegers praised the attitude of our squad after a ruthless 5-0 win over West Ham United at Emirates Stadium.
The victory was our biggest in the WSL so far this season, and our head coach loved the way we went about securing the points.
“Really happy with the win, five goals, clean sheet. I think we created a lot of chances in the first half already, we got one early goal, a great goal, I think.
“We all thought we could have scored more in the first half, we came in and there’s some detail on how we can create even better and bigger chances.
“I think everybody (was) of course very happy with the early goal in the second half, which is a great cross from Smilla to Alessia. From there on, I think we have full control of the whole game.”
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Report: Arsenal Women 5-0 West Ham United
The win was as dominant as we’ve been all season, as we limited the Hammers to just a single shot over the course of the 90 minutes.
“We managed that really well, the threat they have,” Renée said on our control of the game, “we stopped transitions really well, we counter-pressed really well, we’re disciplined, that was all really good today.
“If you look at how different players play different roles for us on the pitch, and the football doesn’t change, then I’m really happy with that, also Sophie Harwood making a debut today for us.”
Sophie came on in the second half and, despite naturally playing as a full-back or midfielder, led the line with Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly either side of her.
Renée was impressed with the way Sophie adapted to the occasion, making her Arsenal debut in front of almost 25,000 at Emirates Stadium.
“Very positive; she trained in the full-back position and in midfield for us. Those are her natural positions; today, we asked her to go and step into the nine position.
“She picked that role up really well, did her role in the press, made her runs, controlled the ball when she had to and she stayed calm.
“You can get very excited for your debut, of course, playing at home in the sun at the Emirates for so many fans. She stayed calm, she enjoyed it, but played her role really well on the pitch.”
Another player who enjoyed a fantastic afternoon in N5 was Chloe Kelly, who was directly involved in three of our five goals.
“We’ve missed Chloe when she was away with injury,” Renée admitted, “she’s back now and she’s the best version of Chloe Kelly.
“She’s in a great place, she performed really well against London City Lionesses, fulfilled her first 90 in almost a year.
“Then you see today again, she’s in a really good place, she’s performing, she’s contributing to the team.”
Our 5-0 win over the Hammers kicks off a huge ten days in which we now face Chelsea twice in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, either side of a north London derby in the WSL.
While Renée is looking forward to a run of big games, she feels the down-to-Earth attitude her players have adopted helped us to win so emphatically this afternoon.
“Today was just about today. The most important thing today was West Ham. I think because we’re in the here and now, we’re in the present, we put on the performance that we do today.
“But we said straight away after in the huddle, now it’s about recovery, recovery and preparation starts here, now.
“We look forward to the game against Chelsea here at Emirates Stadium and then we know we have the north London derby coming up here as well.”
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