Renée Slegers held a press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre ahead of Sunday's Women's Super League fixture against Liverpool.
Our interim head coach fielded questions on short preparation time between matches, team news, and what she expects from the opposition.
_Here is everything she had to say:_
**on energy levels after a late return from Norway…**
Well, I think the energy levels have been high throughout. You go up and down, you also need to recover and recharge, both mentally and physically: we call this a recharge day. So, we have a couple of players in the building doing what they need to do, but if the players felt like they can stay home and that’s their way of recharging and getting ready for Liverpool, then that's okay as well. So, everyone is doing their job today to be able to bring energy again tomorrow.
**on team news…**
Good. Everyone came through well yesterday, so that's good. Kim is making progress as well. And for the others, it will stay the same.
**on balancing the Liverpool and Bayern fixtures...**
You always need to plan ahead and have a plan for everything you do. But we only have Liverpool on our minds. It's a very important game for us in the WSL, so we're only thinking about Liverpool. Then there are a couple of days and Bayern will come after that, but our mind is set on Liverpool.
**on how much she can speak to the players ahead of Liverpool…**
There are a couple of players in the building today, so there are opportunities for some small chats and some feedback. But tomorrow will be the main day to get them ready. I think there are some similarities between Valerenga and Liverpool, depending on what they will do. Liverpool have been doing some different things. I think one day for prep, if everyone comes in focused and high on energy, then that will be enough for us.
**on Alessia Russo’s terrific form…**
Alessia, like the whole squad, is a player who works really hard. She's determined to get the best out of herself and you see that in training. She works closely with Kelly Smith as well in training and reviewing games. I think players that have this mindset, this growth mindset, always want to become better. They will eventually become better. I don't think there's any other result, but where it's going to end, you don't know. But for Less, I’m very happy for her that all the work that she's been putting in that it's coming off.
**on the momentum going into Sunday’s game against Liverpool…**
I’ve been saying it before, but momentum builds momentum, and we want to go off of that. So, that’s good for us. As a team, we are in a flow state and that’s positive, but we need to stay sharp and we need to keep on looking at what we need to do to stay there and develop even further because if we start getting too comfortable with it, we could decrease and lose that momentum
**on her assessment of Liverpool…**
Like we spoke about, they have a couple of key players not available, which is a loss for them, but I still think they will put a strong, competitive team on the pitch on Sunday. That's what I expect. If they play their game like they've been doing, then there are some similarities with Valerenga with a player-for-player press, so we'll have to be good playing out of the press, and they have also some strengths as well, with counterattacks and fast attacks that we need to stop.
**on the growth of the atmosphere in the women’s game…**
I think that it will be great. I think we spoke about it here before as well, if we go for equality, with both the men's and women's teams, and big clubs playing on the highest level, attracting the big crowds, then you're going to get the challenge of fixture clashes. So however, the clubs are going to organise it within their clubs, but I think it's the overall improvement and the growth that is happening right now with the crowds in WSL that is fantastic. It's very positive.
**on Laura Wienroither…**
Laura is coming back from a long injury, she had a little setback, but she's back from that now and we just have to give it time. We have to be patient, and we have to find the right moments to get her back in, but she's doing really well in training. She's an important part of the group, so we're just finding the right way to play her to her strengths and make sure that she's ready.
**on Rosa Kafaji...**
Rosa is a very energetic person and player. The passion for football expresses itself in different ways. If you would see Rosa walk around with the ball, she doesn’t want to come off the pitch when we’re training. She always wants more, to kick the ball and improve. You see, this is a top-class team and I think it’s easy for some players to come in and adjust and for others it takes a little bit longer. We need to respect that and, looking at how hard Rosa works and the way she engages and initiates conversations with us coaches to understand what we expect of her and the role, that’s the most important thing. We believe a lot in Rosa. She has specific qualities that, definitely over time, are going to be very important for the club. We do everything we can to help her get those qualities out.
**on the availability of Kim Little and Lia Walti...**
Kim has been training. She wasn’t with us in Norway so we’ll see today and tomorrow how she progresses. She might be an option for Sunday. Lia Walti won’t be an option for Sunday.
**on Katie Reid and Freya Godfrey...**
We started Katie Reid because we thought she was ready and she’s been with us for a while now. She performs really well in training and you can see that she has the respect of the other girls as well. She’s been growing in the group. We played her out of position yesterday. She’s a centre-back so with all that in mind her starting debut in the Champions League in a position that’s not her first position, I’m really happy with how she performed, especially in possession.
On the ball, I think she’s composed. She got a lot of passes and decisions right, positioning as well, so I’m very happy for Katie Reid. Freya Godfrey has been training with us for a long time now as well and she has specific qualities. She’s very fast and explosive, also understands the game well, with qualities on the ball. So again, it was a nice opportunity to give her the Champions League debut as well.
Copyright 2024 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.