Renee Slegers was full of praise for her team as Arsenal beat Crystal Palace with a 5-0 win at Meadow Park in the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL).
The Gunners were able to overcome a turbulent first half thanks to a four-goal defeat after the break. Slegers made early substitutions to help Arsenal’s flagging momentum, something fans barely saw under the reign of Jonas Eidevall.
“We talked a lot about problem solving and communication and how dynamics change in a game,” Slegers told the media after the game.
“That was a challenge for us today, so to see the players apply things that we’ve really been working on over these two weeks and that we’ve been working on on the training pitch. That’s really nice to see and that means a lot to us. “We’re facing a series of games that are very challenging.”
The five-goal defeat not only showed how dangerous Arsenal are in front of goal, but also marked the fifth consecutive time the team had kept a clean sheet in the WSL.
“From a tactical perspective, we haven’t changed much in our organization,” said Slegers. “But we have been working on things from a psychological perspective, our mentality and where we put emphasis in our games. Hopefully that has had an impact on our defensive performance.”
SLEGERS BALL 🤤@bmeado9 completes a breathtaking team move by @ArsenalWFC ✨#BarclaysWSL pic.twitter.com/XKVM5kqd9o
— Barclays Women’s Super League (@BarclaysWSL) January 19, 2025
Fans were treated to the first ever permanent screening of “Slegers-Ball” and it was definitely a feast for the eyes. The Gunners continued the momentum they quickly built before the Christmas break, but Slegers is determined to take the team to “the next level”.
“I think we have a great squad with great players and different qualities in the team,” she said. “We want to go to the next level, we really want to go to the next level. We have something very exciting at the moment with staff and players and we are doing things really well, but I see potential to take us to the next level. “To be at the same level as a team, so I’m really looking forward to this journey .
New Year. The same Alessia Russo. 🤩
The @ArsenalWFC forward with the poacher’s instinct to add another goal to it #BarclaysWSL Goal record ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/8IkPlO103J
— Barclays Women’s Super League (@BarclaysWSL) January 19, 2025
Alessia Russo was back on the scoresheet, scoring her seventh goal in six consecutive league games. The England striker is now just two goals behind Khadija Shaw in the Golden Boot race, despite failing to score in the first five matchweeks.
“I’m really happy that she scored the goal again today and that’s important for her,” the head coach said of Russo. “She does a lot of things out of possession, without the ball, which forces the opponent. I don’t think we got the maximum out of her that we really want to get out of her, it’s not even her best game.”
“But if you can say that she is so good and scores this goal, but we still believe she can do more, then Alessia sums it up. She’s still young, she works really hard and is at a really high level, but she can go even further.”
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