Arsenal manager Renee Slegers says Olivia Smith will learn from her red card against Manchester United on Wednesday evening. Smith was sent off for a second yellow card, the Canadian letting her frustration show as she had been fouled twice in the space of a few minutes before making a heavy challenge on Jayde Riviere.
Smith will miss Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge through suspension as a result. Slegers thinks the £1m summer signing from Liverpool will learn from the incident, ‘It’s a tough learning for her. She’s the type of player that plays on the edge and that’s her super strength. And it causes a lot of issues for opposition.
‘She takes some knocks in games and and that’s not always easy for her. It just out of place and that’s what we spoke about. You need to accept the way you’re playing and take the knocks as well if that’s the way you play.
‘I think it is hard for her because opposition looks really tough on her in all possible ways, not only physical. That got to her a little bit and that’s when she took the second yellow. It’s tough, and she’s not available tomorrow because of that.
‘It’s a very tough learning for her. What we said is we need to learn and these days that you’re not available, you do everything you possibly can to support the team and to maximise your days when you compare with the squad to become a better player.’
Arseblog News asked Slegers whether coach Kelly Smith, who also experienced rough treatment in her playing days- and she reacted once or twice too- had spoken with the Canadian as yet. ‘I’m not sure if that’s happened yet. I know that Kelly missed the \[Champions League\] final, didn’t she?
‘They have a really good connection Kelly and Olivia, they tend to work closely together on the pitch with final 30 details. I’m not sure if they had a conversation. It would be a great conversation. I would want to sit in the room and be a fly on the wall. It’s definitely something that in a moment or a situation they could exchange and Kelly does that all the time with with our forwards and her experiences.’
With Smith suspended and Chloe Kelly injured, Arseblog News also asked Slegers about her limited attacking options, especially given this fixture last season was essentially won by two of Chelsea’s attacking subs as Lauren James won a penalty scored by Guro Reiten.
‘Sometimes that clarity can be helpful, there is clarity in even though it’s been tough and especially coming off the back of the United game, it was really tough to take but we have clarity in where the team is at, what we want to do, what we want to achieve, who is going to do, what.
‘So that’s positive. But of course, for specific games like this, if that’s the situation, then it can be positive and it’s good, but across a season and a longer run of games, then we need and want everyone to be fit.’