_Arsenal were 3-0 winners at home to Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday night thanks to a hat trick from Alessia Russo. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match. The first two questions are from Arseblog News._
**On starting Reuteler wide, Russo as a 10 and Smith upfront…**
There’s different things playing into it, we wanted threats on the back line with Liv. Liv is really dangerous in and around the box. She was disappointed she didn’t score today, but she was creating a lot, creates a lot of space behind in front of the back line as well. Geraldine has been training really well and we needed that presence in that position. So in the right pocket, she’s really good in that position. She does that for Switzerland, she did it for Frankfurt as well and her partnership with Ona was really good on the right side. You could see in the first half, we got stuck a little bit on the ball in our own half and we just had to get used to each other and build on it, but second half was really, really good. So I think both players that made that their debut today for us, Elisa and Geraldine, did really well for us, so I am very happy.
**On Russo’s performance and leadership without Little, Mariona and Williamson…**
She was so good. She’s one of the leaders of our team and she does it her way. She cares for everyone around her and she connects really well with teammates. She leads the way in role modelling, doing the right things, consistently. Always brings positive energy, always constructive in everything she does. She is really good at collaborating with staff, with players and she deserves to be the captain for us today. And we had a chat yesterday and had a chat today about her role and it not being more pressure. But she was happy and was good to wear the armband for us today. But the captain’s group, the five of them, they’re really good and they support each other. They played each other to their strengths, and Less won us the match today, did it with so much grace and scored a hat-trick.
**On whether Russo is growing in the number 10 role…**
She’s an attacker and she’s really good. She’s so good in both roles. I think she spoke about it yesterday in the press conference as well. Harry Kane was one of her role models growing up. He’s scored an amazing amount of goals and if you look at where he ends up on the pitch at times as well. I’m just so happy, Less is doing it really well on both roles. I think we found a nice dynamic as well with the last two games with sometimes Liv running into channels or getting into pockets and then Less getting into that nine position. So you see that Less ends up scoring three goals for us today- two from setpieces. We want to play her to her strengths and I’m so happy that she’s scoring goals for us.
**On the team having a different energy in the second half…**
We have been carrying something with performances and results and that’s been hard for the team, and you see, after, you could see the pure joy and the relief of the North London Derby in that moment with the fans on the pitch. And we’ve taken that energy into this game as well. And it really looks like there’s something off the shoulders and I think we were playing like us tonight, and I’m so happy the players enjoy themselves. They connect, they express themselves, play with intensity. I’m really happy that we’re back, but then again, we backed the last performance up with today. We need to do it again at a weekend against Aston Villa.
**On whether she is seeing light at the end of the tunnel now…**
We see the lights and we see and feel ourselves now and it’s been hard, of course, to go through what we went through, and then, and of course, that’s had its effect, but I’m so proud of the team, how we’ve come out of it. We will stay with the game by game. I think that’s been one of our super strengths. Just in the moment, affect everything you can in the moment is very cliche, but it’s helping us. So we’re gonna stick with the game by game mentality.
**On playing Ona Batlle at right-back today and Fox playing left-back when she came on…**
Ona started on the right side today, she did really well, and Taylor Hinds we wanted to keep the left side intact, cos it worked really well against Spurs. So Ona came in on the right side. Obviously, she’s played the last couple of years on the right side, she plays there for Spain. Her partnership with Gery was building throughout the game, which was really positive. Ona’s crossing is really good from the right. So we wanted to keep her on the right and when we when we took Taylor off to finish we didn’t want to swap sides, so we put Foxy on the left. Foxy has qualities on the dribble on the combination and she did that on the left side today. We have so many different options now. We can choose whatever is best in the game in the moment.
**On whether having so many options has occasionally caused difficulties this season…**
At the start of the season, because everyone was available, we had eight new players in, we had a good preseason with six games. Things take time to build and so that was hard sometimes to make the right decision, the right moments because you could go in so many different directions and they could all work. We’re in a in a good place now with a team. We understand what we’re doing. We know what the roles are, we know how partnerships can work. There’s a positive energy in the team. I think consistency versus making changes, I think we’ve made some changes in the start of the season as well. Then after a while, we went with more consistency. We’re now in a place where we can play around with that and go game by game without losing our foundation.
**On whether Russo will settle into the 10 or 9 role long term…**
Let’s see how it involves from her and she’s a 9.5. It’s been such a big discussion. She’s in the central areas of the pitch. She’s in and around the box and she uses her qualities. And I think she could have been a nine with the 10 making the run behind. So it’s on paper and then what does it look like in reality? I think it’s been quite a wide discussion. But wherever her game evolves, I think she’s really good in both roles. The last couple of games, we felt like we needed threats on the back line, and Less in the 10. So let’s see where the season goes. All we know is that things will change. The way you start the season, we learn that from last year is different from how you finish the season. So let’s see where it takes us, but I’m just really happy with Less.
**On the standard of teams like Koge, Benfica and Paris…**
There are no easy games, not in the WSL, not in the Champions League. So we really had to work the margins on our side tonight. I think we stopped them from almost everything. I think they have five shots, two on target. But we had to work hard to get the margins on our side. And I think what we do well today is using moments, when we are really defensively disciplined, to then go forward from those moments, create more open chances, but every game is difficult.
**On Caitlin Foord’s form in the last two games…**
She is a leader because she injects energy, intensity into the team and fight and that spreads and that’s contagious. She been massive for us the last two games. She’s done that so well. The goal was not a goal for her today. She played her 50th appearance for Arsenal in the Champions League. I so much wanted that go for it to happen.
16.Misa; 22.O.Batlle, 5.De Almeida (6.Williamson ‘70), 7.Catley, 24.Hinds (2.Fox ‘70); 32.Cooney-Cross (10.Little ‘70), 4.Stanway; 11.Smith (25.Blackstenius ‘83), 14.Reuteler (19.Baum ‘78), 9.Foord; 23.Russo(c)
Unused: 3.Wubben-Moy, 28.Borbe, 31.Holmberg, 40.Damm