Renée Slegers says there’s no danger of standards dropping as we go into Wednesday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final play-off second leg 4-0 up on aggregate.
We’re looking good for a place in the quarter-finals against Chelsea, but the players know that there’s a job to be done against OH Leuven first.
Ahead of this week’s 8pm kick-off at Meadow Park, our head coach spoke to the media at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.
Asked how to prepare for this match, she said: “I think there’s two answers to it. On one hand, it’s easy because we’ve played this opponent twice. On the other hand, it’s a different scenario now and they might do things differently, and we’ll have to anticipate that.
“Of course, we took a result that we’re happy with away, it’s 4-0 now. So we’ll have to manage the game really well and be prepared that they will come out and do something different.
“First and foremost, tomorrow is about getting the result we want and need. But of course, our attacking game is important for us as much as our defending game because we pride ourselves on defending and keeping clean sheets. But yes, tomorrow’s scenario, we’re 4-0 up, they might come out and do something different.
“The more we have the ball, the better, but we still want to be very purposeful with the way we attack. I think us scoring goals tomorrow can be very important as well for where the game goes. But yes, we have fantastic players and I think if you look at, lately, how we’ve been creating chances and a variety of chances and a variety of players that are scoring for us and assisting, that’s really good.”
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So what should we expect from Leuven’s approach? “I don't know what they are saying in their camp,” Renée added. “What does success mean for them in this game? So we'll see. If you look at their league games, they tend to be a little bit higher, put higher pressure, and they're aggressive. So let's see if they want to do that tomorrow. I think that's one option we see, do they go and be more direct and look for counter-attacks, direct play? So we'll see.
“I think there's a couple of options for them to explore. But, that's not my camp. This is my camp, Arsenal, so we are looking at what do we want to bring to the game, what are the potential scenarios? Like we've been doing really well as a team, there's always an unknown going into the game, but we focus on what we can control.
“Of course we know the scenario and that is important for us to know going into the game and what we want to achieve and how we want to do it. But the most important thing is that we keep our standards really, really high, regardless of the competition or scenario. And that's important in the moment if we do all those humble actions on the pitch, because we know that sets the standard for us and gives us a good opportunity to be successful.
“But also, long term, if we do this consistently well and we focus on the details and we are humble about the details, consistently, then we think over time we develop as a team. So, that will be no different tomorrow, so everything we do tomorrow is going to be our goal, which is of a really nice standard.”
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