By Roos Schelen (16/1/26)
Above: Renee Slegers applauding the Arsenal fans Photo: Arsenal FC
Roos Schelen was at Renée Slegers’ press conference as the Arsenal boss confirmed that Leah Williamson will miss Sunday’s FA Cup clash against Aston Villa with a calf injury.
The Dutch head coach also said that Daphne van Domselaar might be back from a lengthy injury. The coaching staff will make a decision on the goalkeeper’s availability after Saturday’s training session. Slegers would not be drawn on a timeline for the return of winger Chloe Kelly. She says: “She was on the pitch today, so we’re taking it day by day. So we don’t have an exact end date and there’s an optimistic plan and a more conservative plan, so we’ll see how it goes.”
This weekend’s opposition is one that Arsenal aren’t guaranteed results against. Aston Villa held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw in September, and the Gunners lost heavily at Villa Park in May. Arsenal had difficulties playing through Villa’s press back in September. Slegers has taken some learnings from that game: “I think there was a lot of learnings after that game and how to beat that type of pressure and what tools we need and how we can set things up to be able to do that. So that’s definitely an important part of the game on Sunday, because Villa is very disciplined, aggressive in their pressure, and it’s a big part of their DNA to do things that way. And so it will be a big part of our game plan on Sunday”, the manager reflected.
Arsenal have struggled in front of goal recently. They produced 25 shots against Manchester United last weekend, only six of them went on target for Phallon Tullis-Joyce to save. They left the Emirates pitch without having scored any goals. It has been a theme throughout their season. Earlier in the season, Slegers gave an interview with the Barclays WSL YouTube channel, comparing managing a team with conducting an orchestra. Impetus Football asked Slegers to elaborate on that, and to expand on Arsenal’s struggles in front of goal, using that same analogy.
“I’ve been in touch with a conductor at a very high level. It’s been really interesting exchanging ideas. There’s actually a lot of similarities in the way a conductor needs to lead the orchestra, how you train. How you get everyone to work together, executing their roles with confidence and so forth. And then in the moment as well, making good decisions and feeling what musician needs what and at what moment in the play. And at the end of the day, it needs to all work together”, Slegers said.
She continued: “So what musician and what part of the play is happening in the box and is scoring goals and yeah, that’s for us the one thing that we’ve been talking a lot about, how we’re going to create more clear cut chances, get more opportunities and less shots blocked and be more composed to find that opening to shoot in and around the area.”
Arsenal will take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup at 2pm BST on Sunday at Borehamwood. The match will be shown live on TNT Sports.
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