_Arsenal were 2-1 winners away at Spurs in the WSL on Saturday lunchtime. Tandberg gave Spurs a first half lead before Georgia Stanway equalised. A second half penalty from Alessia Russo gave the Gunners the points. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News._
**On a ‘back to basics’ starting line-up…**
There’s quite some things explaining the different decisions, but it’s a North London derby and the situation we were in, everything we were asking for was intensity, fight and playing for the fans today. And we have that on the pitch today from the starters that did that for us. And I think they were amazing. Caitlin Ford was a fighter and a warrior on the pitch today.
**On the importance of sharing the emotion with the fans at the final whistle…**
I’m so happy we got it for them, because, you know, we said that we were gonna play for the fans today and I said that externally, we’ve said that internally as well, we were playing for them and we connected with them before the warm up. I’m just so happy that they got the reward as well. They come here and they sell out the away section, they come to the game in the rain and they sing us and fight us through the game. Because at the end it’s scrappy and it’s game management and it’s scenarios and they’re all with us. So I’m so happy that they get the reward today too.
**On the feeling of relief at the final whistle…**
I think so because we’ve had a run of games where the results haven’t been good enough and of course it’s been frustrating for everyone. So I’m so happy that we got the win now, like this occasion away in the North London Derby, in the rain, the fight and we show that character in the team. So this will definitely energise us. It’s positive, it’s a reward for the team. But then also we need to pack this one up within the next couple of days because the next one is coming midweek already. There were some really good things for us today on the pitch. Do we want to be even more consistent with certain things, but this was a really good step.
**On whether this win can create some momentum now…**
That’s what we’re going off, of course, to create that now on the team and you could see how the team responded and how they were together with the fans and their pure joy and happiness that they got the reward now and they got it over the line for the fans. Of course, you want to capitalise on these emotions now and I think it’s good that we go into a schedule with a lot of games that we can go and grab the next one in the same way like we did today.
**On whether it was a conscious decision to celebrate with the fans in the way they did…**
They were on our minds and the fans and we’d been talking a lot about that we also want to play for something bigger and not only for ourselves. And that’s always the balance there because I’m sure the players feel that every single game and at the same time playing for something bigger, they also need to focus on their roles on the pitch. But we have been talking about how we want to play for them this week. And we went to see them before the warm up to connect with the staff and playing group. It wasn’t full yet, but the people that were there and it was a nice little moment. And then normally we do a huddle afterwards on the bench and we decided to say, no, let’s go to the fans instead of and talking in the huddle because actions speak louder than words, there was not much more talking to do.
**On this victory becoming the start of a turnaround…**
It’s positive energy that we want to capitalise on, but it’s only a step and it’s a win, which was really important for us, but then it’s how we want to see it. This is the first step in the right direction and we need to back this up with the next couple of performances.
**On whether she feels more secure in her position now…**
Honestly, I’ve been head down, working with the team to get it right and I am not the most important in this. It’s about the best for Arsenal or where Arsenal needs to go. And I’ve been doing everything I can to get the team in a good position to perform today. And that’s been really important, then that is my job for next for the next game and the next game.
**On Taylor Hinds’ performance today…**
Fantastic. She’s come back really well after the international window. Really, really good. And like I said before the game, she deserves to play today because of her performances in training. Also, of course, she gives us a left foot on the left side, but she was so good and she hasn’t played 90 since, I think, the Koge game in the Champions League. She did so well. So I’m so happy for her, like the team, for her as well, to go through a bit more difficult time individually and then coming and playing a North London derby with such conviction and so much mobility, I am so happy for it.
**On what she said to her team at half-time…**
Just constructive and tactical things that we can focus on that can help us get them in and remind us on the fights and to stay on the pitch and then always the little things that we want to exploit. And I think that there were a lot of yellow cards today, it was a real derby. And so there was a couple of different messages that the team was in a good place. They were connecting and finding solutions themselves as well. And so it was constructive at halftime too.
**On coming under scrutiny for her position in recent weeks and being the face of the club in difficult moments…**
When we’ve gone through this, it’s not about me and now how I feel in this. It’s about Arsenal and how do we get Arsenal back?
**On Olivia Smith starting upfront…**
She’s really good in the nine and she can combine short as well. She’s really good at reading the balls and the timing of run into the box. She’s a very clinical finisher and we can finish from different positions in different ways and she’s really good at reading anything that drops and reacting. She did really well today for us and she created the issues that we wanted her to create today for Tottenham in their back line and she was amazing today for us.
**On the tactical side of today’s game…**
I think we were really good and brave in the press, which we have been, we have been really consistent with that. I think our decisions on the ball, we had more good decisions today and we clicked well in our partnerships and in the positions we wanted things to be in which was really positive to see. It was a good step and it’s still not perfect. Everyone is still working towards the perfect game, but like I said, it was a good step in the right direction.
16.Misa; 2.Fox (22.O.Batlle ‘71), 6.Williamson(c), 7.Catley (5.De Almeida ‘78), 24.Hinds; 4.Stanway, 32.Cooney-Cross; 19.Baum (31.Holmberg ‘87), 23.Russo, 9.Foord; 11.Smith (25.Blackstenius ‘87)
Unused: 1.van Domselaar, 3.Wubben-Moy, 14.Reuteler, 28.Borbe