\n<\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9e Slegers was back in front of the media for her pre-Brighton & Hove Albion press conference on Friday.<\/p>\n
She looked ahead to Sunday’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with the Seagulls.<\/p>\n
Here’s everything our head coach had to say on the following subjects…<\/p>\n
on how much of a boost Wednesday night was for us: <\/strong> on how we have changed since winning the Champions League last year: <\/strong> on if she\u2019s had a chance to review the incident with Katie McCabe against Chelsea: <\/strong> on how important this FA Cup quarter-final is for us: <\/strong> on if Steph and Leah will be available: <\/strong> on what went into deciding on Daphne playing ahead of Anneke on Wednesday: <\/strong> on if we\u2019d like less chaotic games than our matches with Chelsea: <\/strong> on what we admire about Brighton, having sent Kafaji and Agyemang on loan there: <\/strong> on what we learn from cup games that are less about tactics:<\/strong> on how to deal with momentum shifts in real time:<\/strong> on if she\u2019s noticed our players standing taller in European games:<\/strong> on if it\u2019s difficult not to prioritise one competition over another:<\/strong> on the key to strong performances despite changes in personnel:<\/strong> on what we expect from Brighton on Sunday:<\/strong> Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ren\u00e9e Slegers was back in front of the media for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It took a lot of energy and investment of course, but I think the players have been delivering this throughout the whole block, so not only on that night, but everything they do. So of course it took a lot, mental, physical energy, but we\u2019re happy with the result of course, going through to the semi-finals, and now we know we have one more game to play against Brighton this block, which is going to be a huge game for us. It\u2019s ten years for us (since we won the FA Cup) for Arsenal, so we\u2019re well aware and it\u2019s going to be a very important game for us. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s always been a pleasure and a privilege for me to work for the club and with these players and that hasn\u2019t changed. But life is a journey, so everything you go through in life, if you have a reflective and growth mindset, you\u2019re going to learn and you\u2019re going to take it with you and it\u2019s going to help you further in life, and I think that\u2019s what the players have done, us as a staff as well, we\u2019ve learned a lot from those experiences last year, how much it takes, but it also inspires us to see what we can do and what we\u2019re capable of. Of course we\u2019re going to face Lyon again, first home and then away so it\u2019s going to be a big battle, we remember that from last year, but we really look forward to the challenge. <\/p>\n
Yeah, I\u2019ve seen it, I\u2019ve spoken to Katie today as well, she\u2019s very apologetic about the situation and it\u2019s unfortunate that it\u2019s happened. I think it took quite some attention from the game, because if you look at the game and the quality of football and all the big and small battles on the pitch across these two games, it was, in my opinion, a great product of women’s football. So I think we’re really proud of that and it was a great battle against Chelsea and it’s unlucky that this incident in the game has taken so much attention, but I understand.<\/p>\n
Yeah, very important, just mentioned it, we know we\u2019ve done some big things so far this block, which we\u2019re very proud of. I think I said it post-match after the Chelsea game that this was probably the biggest challenge so far in the season from a scenario perspective, but we did it, now we go and prepare for Brighton off the back of all this, that is, for us, the big challenge of the block, that we have to finish the job and keep on going and never stop. So doing everything to recover mentally and physically from the Chelsea game and being ready for Sunday. <\/p>\n
No, both Leah and Steph won\u2019t be available. We were hopeful for Leah, but it\u2019s too soon. Steph of course left the pitch with a calf injury, so she won\u2019t be available tomorrow. <\/p>\n
I think we pride ourselves on making really good decisions as a staff, again, because we are in this position now where we have so many players performing at such a high level. Going into the season, being in this position where the girls are so close because everyone is performing so well, that\u2019s the dream scenario, so we\u2019re in a really good position. But yeah, of course, a lot of back and forth on decisions that we make. Also on the goalkeeper decision. They’re both great goalkeepers and Daph did amazing that night.<\/p>\n
Yes, I think, of course you want to go into a game and you want to play 90 minutes and you’re going to be in control and everything goes as planned and you’ve played the perfect game. But I don’t think that will ever happen. The further you get into a tournament, the harder it will get. So I think we were prepared, we were accepting of the fact that momentum would shift and we\u2019re playing against a really good team that are going after goals, and of course, we\u2019ve had a look at and reflected on how could we get more pressure on the ball for example, what do we do at the end of the game when they\u2019re going for it and pumping the ball in and getting numbers forward, what could make our decisions in dictating those moments even better? But yeah, we spoke about it before the game, the Arsenal ways, and if we can defend really well, if we can do everything to prevent the ball from going in, that’s such a big, big thing that we’ve developed as a team, I think, and we did that against Chelsea. So in a sense, in those moments, if we can still feel control, then that\u2019s a big strength of ours, I think. So in answer to your question, I expect the game against Lyon to be a big battle, it\u2019s two really, really good teams. I think Lyon is a very strong team, so control can mean different things. <\/p>\n
They possess the ball really well, I think they try to do that, they\u2019re brave in their game, they work with rotations, so I think they look to dominate games with the ball, which is important, I think, for our players as well. It\u2019s important in our game, they have a high-pressing system where they also want to be front-footed and brave, similar to us. So I think it\u2019s been great, if you look at Rosa, how she\u2019s been performing and how she\u2019s been developing, it\u2019s been a great environment for her. <\/p>\n
I think you need to bring everything to a top game like that.\u00a0I think you have to be tactically really, really well, well-organised,\u00a0have very good ideas and a sharp game plan.\u00a0But I think mentality comes into those games as well. If you do all things really well, you can win the margins.\u00a0I think that’s, like I said after the game, one of the things I’m proudest of,\u00a0if you look at the team’s performance\u00a0and how the players dealt with difficult moments on the pitch\u00a0and the scenario in itself.\u00a0And then physically as well. The further you get into tournaments, the more you have to master all the sides of the game.\u00a0I think that’s what we’re looking at.\u00a0We have the willingness and the humility to do all those things,\u00a0but also in combination with that, the belief that we can do all those things. It’s been a journey with a lot of learnings,\u00a0but I think looking ahead at that game, all that will be required.\u00a0But back to Brighton on Sunday,\u00a0all of these things will be required against Brighton as well on Sunday\u00a0because I think they’ll try to go for it.\u00a0And the same for us because the FA Cup is very important for us.<\/p>\n
I think it’s building a library with the players,\u00a0what we do in different scenarios,\u00a0planning for different scenarios,\u00a0working a lot on problem solving with the players in training\u00a0so they become really comfortable on pitch as well. And then all this in balance with the amount of information you want to give\u00a0because the players need to play on intuition and make quick decisions.\u00a0So that’s important for us as a staff.\u00a0We need to be very well prepared and well planned in a lot of detail\u00a0so when things happen on the pitch, we have the solution close to us. I think as a staff, we’ve been at a high level.\u00a0And the players, the same.\u00a0So problem solving, if you look at training,\u00a0if we do attack and defence, if we do tactical sessions,\u00a0that’s something we ask from players and they’ve done that incredibly well. And I think that then helps in the moment, when the moment happens,\u00a0you’re well equipped.<\/p>\n
I wouldn’t say there’s a difference in what competition we’re playing in\u00a0and how they feel in those competitions.\u00a0These are all professional players that started to play as young kids, young girls with a dream\u00a0and they’re here now, so every competition is special to them.\u00a0But of course, representing Arsenal in Europe, it is special. You get to play the big games under the lights, so it is very special.\u00a0I think it’s special as well as a coach.\u00a0But I think we’re just, as a group, very good at the moment,\u00a0regardless of the competition or even regardless of if it’s match day or it’s a training game.<\/p>\n
Yeah, we have a squad that is well prepared.\u00a0Everyone is ready to go.\u00a0So it’s all about making really good, well-informed decisions\u00a0on how we want to start and how we want to finish games. But they’re all just as important. <\/p>\n
I think we work at a high level with the staff,\u00a0so the analysts and Aaron D\u2019Antino,\u00a0who is very detailed with the defensive side of our game.\u00a0We work really hard together with the players\u00a0to build good game plans and have a really strong game model\u00a0and clarity in how we want to defend. And that, in combination with what behaviours we want to see on the pitch\u00a0and what’s our mentality in those moments,\u00a0has been really strong.\u00a0But then, again, the ownership of the players\u00a0to be prepared to understand the role in all phases of the game\u00a0has been really good.\u00a0So the investment of the players has been really high.<\/p>\n
They always do something different,\u00a0so we know how they play.\u00a0Like I just said, they want to possess the ball,\u00a0they want to rotate, want to create overloads,\u00a0they want to press high. But we’ve also seen that they have specific game plans\u00a0for specific games,\u00a0so we’re also expecting something that we might not know about.\u00a0But, yeah, they like to spend time on the ball\u00a0and they’re very front-footed,\u00a0very quick in their counter-press as well. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n