By Chloe Reynolds (30/9/26)
Above: Smiles all around as Arsenal make their way to Paris. Photo: Arsenal FC.
Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers and midfielder Georgia Stanway sat down with the Media ahead of a huge Champions League game against Paris FC
Firstly, Slegers provided an injury update on some key players: “Chloe Kelly is not available. you saw Elisa, you’ll made it in the background. She’s coming back, which is really positive, not ready for tomorrow yet. and Steph Catley won’t travel.
Catley has a back issue which saw her pull of the warm ups during open training for the Media, and the Dutch coach provided a more detailed description of Kelly’s injury: “she’s had some issues with her hamstring, no injury, nothing we could see from an injury perspective, but been managing something. And at the moment not available to play.”
Despite only being an Arsenal player for a few weeks, Stanway has admitted that she’s really happy to be here despite all the extra noise: “I am very happy with my decision to be here, even though it’s been a tough couple of weeks, I wouldn’t change any part of been a part of Renee, the team, there’s 50 people in and out of this building every single day and everybody’s taking responsibility for themselves and I think, yeah, that will only put us in good stead going forward and I am a big believer of the fact that when it clicks, I think it will really click. We spent a lot of time together both on and off the pitch. also, a massive believer in, yeah, the relationships that you build off the pitch can match on the pitch and we’ll continue to do that. And of course, bringing players in doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a magic fix and if it’s about giving it time to be able to adapt.
Stanway also shared that this is a dream come true for her: “Champions League is my Dream and something that I’ve never got close to and something that I would love to make happen and I would love to do that in an Arsenal shirt”
This weekend saw Anneke Borbe in goal, replacing Misa Rodriguez who has started every other game, and Slegers explained her decision: “we have 2 top goalkeepers or actually 3 with Isabella, a very big talent as well, doing really well in training with Daph still out, but uh, Misa and Neki are very different profiles. Like I said, top goalkeepers, different profiles. So that we are in a position now, like we can do with outfielders, what qualities do we need in this game and who’s the best fit? So that’s what we’ve been doing so far. And I think they both performed really, really well for us in the games they’ve played.
Stanway also spoke about the pressure with playing 3 games in seven days and how she doesn’t have time to sit and dwell on previous results: “I think the beauty of the league that we’re in at the moment is the fact that games have come in thick and fast. You don’t really have time to dwell on what’s just been. It’s about focussing on what we can do that’s right in front of us. Yeah, we spent the last few days putting ourselves in the best possible position to, yeah, be ready to fight tomorrow, be ready to, yeah, tactically and technically be better than them. And that is exactly what we’re going to try and execute. So yeah, it’s just about putting ourselves in the best possible position for the result that we want.
Paris FC are a familiar foe for the gunners having already faced them in preseason, and Slegers addressed the challenges of playing them again five weeks on: “that was a preseason game. Both teams are trying out different things. There’s a lot of changes in the game, I think the game will be different tomorrow. It will be highly competitive. So, I don’t think it will look similar and of course we’ve watched their game against Barcelona as well where they scored the 1st goal and they threatened with that directness. which they were really strong at. So that’s something I’ll have to manage really well tomorrow.
Stanway shared some dressing room secrets that the fans won’t have seen during the training sessions and what fans can expect: “I probably say the fight within us and I’d say the care. Yeah, we’re constantly battling to find solutions to find different ways in which we can, yeah, challenge the opposition, create chances in the final third. Even in terms of confidence, we’re finding different ways to try and, find those solutions. And then I’d say care, um, we care a lot about what we’re doing. We care when we’re coming into training, we care about. What’s been said in the meetings, the information that we’re taking on board, the information that we’re giving back in terms of, yeah, communication both ways. We care when we’re on the grass every single pass. But making sure that it’s executed with, yeah, with care to allow the next person to be able to do their job. and also care in terms of we don’t want the fans to suffer with us and we want to, at some point, be able to celebrate something and be able to put smiles on their faces.
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