Renée Slegers faced the media on Wednesday evening ahead of our UEFA Women's Champions League tie with Valerenga.
Our interim head coach was joined by Frida Maanum for the pre-match press conference, where they faced questions on the opposition, the travelling support and tomorrow's motivation.
_Here is everything they had to say:_
**on whether Kim Little or Emily Fox travelled...**
RS: We travelled with 23 players to Norway today. Kim Little didn't travel. She's recovering - it's not too bad, but we don't want to take the risk. Emily Fox is with us.
**on Kim Little's evolving role...**
RS: I stepped in from the second block and have been communicating with Kim all the time. Kim is a very important player, but off the pitch, she means a lot to us in the group as well, with her experience, her leadership and everything else that she she does for us, which is not always to do with football, but also with other things.
In block two, we went for a lot of consistency in the team, and Kim is very important to us. And then maybe at the end of the game, we needed something else, and we just want to get the best out of Kim for as long as possible, because she's very important.
**on facing Valerenga...**
RS: They're a super-disciplined team. I think whatever phase they're in, they go wholehearted. They go 100%, their high press is very aggressive. They can come down in a mid and low block, get very compact, defend with 11 players, and make the spaces really small.
So I think whatever they do in the game, they do it really well, and they seem invested in their game plan and the togetherness of them as a team. It's obviously one of their last games of the season, so I think they're going to try and bring everything and give it their little last push for the end of the season.
**on us playing several teams that use a player-to-player marking style...**
RS: I think you see trends everywhere and I think football is going back and forth all the time. From continent to continent and from generation to generation, things change and coaches try to come up with something new to be unpredictable.
I think you see a trend of more teams going player for player. I can't tell you the exact details and the stats of how many teams do that right now in Europe and in the WSL, but yeah, we've played against a couple of those teams.
But again, Valerenga does that in some phases of the game, but they don't do it over the whole pitch. I think Juventus was probably exceptional in that, because they did it over the almost whole pitch. But I think you see more and more teams who try to do it in phases of the game but then also can defend in other ways.
**on the motivation of finishing top of the UWCL group...**
Yeah, that's what we aimed for when we got together for this block. We presented the key objectives and we're happy we've qualified for the Champions League \[knockouts\], but we want to go and try and get the first spot off Bayern Munich. There are two more games to play and I'm going to try and do everything within our control to try and get there.
**on the 1,000 supporters expected in the stands tomorrow...**
RS: Yeah, we’ve just had a meeting with the team. We presented again a picture of the fans and told them that there’s going to be 1,000 fans, Arsenal fans, in the away section. Both local fans and also travelling fans, which I think is fantastic that people invest so much time, money and effort in coming to see us and support us. So we said to the players: let’s deliver a good performance again because all these people are here to watch us. It’s amazing, I think. Very special.
**on what English football has done to grow the women's game...**
RS: I think with the culture of England, football comes from England. I think the way that people live football here is on a totally different level. It's culture, it's everything. Then I think that the Euros, for example, in England played a big part as well. We're now seeing that football is for everyone.
Before, the men's game attracted a certain audience. Now you have the women's game, where you feel like more people are getting the chance to come and watch football and experience it together. So I wasn't part of the strategies behind where we are at now, but I think Arsenal has been working for a long time and being part of this, and I think it's amazing.
We played against Aston Villa with almost 30,000 people in the stands. Sometimes, you need a reality check as well because it's going so fast. Obviously, we want more, but it's amazing. I'm happy that the girls, our players, can experience this, but I'm also happy for the fans that this is there for them.
**on her hopes for the future of women's football...**
RS: I wish for equality so there are opportunities for everyone. I wish for everyone to be involved in sports, whatever level that is. Sports on the highest level has been part of culture and part of society forever, so it means a lot.
What I hope for is the engagement and involvement of as many people as possible, and then try and push the game and see what we can mean for society as well. We're high performing and we're all about winning, and we're on the highest level, but I know what it means on a bigger scale as well. So that's that's what I hope for.
**on trust within the dressing room...**
RS: I'm happy to hear that. The analysis of exactly what is going well, when things are going well - that's always interesting. I think you usually go and analyze and reflect when things are hard. You want to find a way to move forward again, but I also think it's interesting when things are going well. What exactly is it about? I've said that before. I think there are a couple of different things, but for me, the biggest thing is the players taking more ownership. I think we need to facilitate that, and a part of that is trusting them to do it as well and giving them that space.
**on our leadership team...**
In every group dynamic, you have natural leaders, and it's based on experience or age or personality. I think what we try to do is make sure that everyone feels involved. We engage all players, and we see all players. I think how the staff has been facilitating that, but also the players themselves, that's that's been going really well.
**on her improved finishing…**
FM: It's definitely something I’ve been working on a lot during the whole summer and also this season. Having more focus in training to have repetition in the finishing role, so I have variety to train a lot of different finishing. I’d say two seasons ago I scored a lot of long shots from outside the box, this season I’ve not scored a lot of different types of goals which is probably a strength in my game right now, which I’m trying to build each day.
**on the impact of Mariona...**
FM: I really enjoy playing with Mariona. She’s a great player, she’s good at combining. You can see on the pitch as well we connect really well and it’s really joyful to play with her and I think we find each other really nicely. I convert more to the right side and she’s on the left side within the pockets, so it’s nice to combine with her and I think we’ve had a nice connection so far.
**on the travelling away support…**
FM: It just makes me smile hearing that 1,000 away fans are attending, it’s amazing for them to travel here to Norway, and for me to be home, is always special and to have 1,000 coming here tomorrow, it’s going to be a great atmosphere.
**on her previous experience of playing Valerenga…**
FM: We used to have those rival games when I played back in Norway, and it was always a special game, similar to Arsenal and Chelsea. So, for me, it’s a bit more extra, so it will be nice to play against them again.
**on how much knowledge she can provide on her Norwegian opponents…**
Obviously, I’ve played with a few of the girls from the national team, there are not loads of them, but there are a few and I know their strengths and I know their weaknesses as well. I try to give feedback to the coaches and the players to help the team perform as best as we can.
**on what they expect as a team from Valerenga…**
FM: We’ve from the game they played against Bayern, and we played against them at Emirates too, they’re a physical team, they never give up and they give 100% through the whole game. So, we expect a physical battle and obviously we want to have the ball, create a lot of chances from that and expect a tough game tomorrow
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