Renee Slegers reacts to 1-0 defeat to Chelsea
Yesterday at 10:50 AM
Arsenal went down 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon thanks to a late Guro Reiten penalty. Katie McCabe received two yellow cards for dissent in the aftermath. Renee Slegers spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On her impression of the Arsenal performance…
It was a top game in women's football, if I distance myself from my role that was good for women's football. From our end, we had to get through that first period of the game, the first ten minutes, we knew that Chelsea would come out fast and get in behind us and go forward, that is what they did. They are very powerful. I am happy the girls got through that phase of the game, then we start to establish ourselves in the game, we take more and more control and play the game we want to play. We may have been a little bit sloppy more than we usually would be but we play some really good football at times. What was lacking today was goals, we created one or two good enough chances to score, you know you are not going to get a lot against Chelsea. Next time we need to be more clinical with the chances and we knew it was going to be tight with small margins and details that matter.
On playing Kyra Cooney-Cross on the right and Kim Little on the left today…
It was about how we wanted to press them and play Kyra and Kim to their strengths, connected to what we needed in the game today. Both have different qualities and both did very well in our pressing structure today.
On the decision to award Chelsea a penalty…
It is very hard to see from the sideline, I have seen some footage and I can see that Kim gets to the ball first. But it is not on me to comment more on that. I think what we could have done better, and look at ourselves because that is what we can control and that is more classy, we should have positioned ourselves better behind the ball to stop the counter attack from happening.
On Katie McCabe receiving two quick fire yellows for dissent…
I think it was words between Katie and the referee but I don't know the details. I haven't spoken to Katie yet.
On taking heart from how hard Arsenal pushed Chelsea…
We are improving as a team, how we handle different phases of the game, we do that better and better. Psychologically in a state where we can stay in the game whatever happens and that is important in top games like this. I am very happy with that development, if I could play the game again today I would play it, we are good enough to do more against Chelsea.
If we had been more clinical with the chances, we can definitely measure with them. We are disappointed with the loss. It is small details, you know what Chelsea's strengths are they are going to be very powerful and fast going forward and every little chance, they take. That is the biggest strength of them as a team, you have to be on your toes the whole game and you have to be very concentrated. That is what happened today, one little chance. They had chances at the start of the game but after that it is a lot of shots from further areas, I didn't think they were so dangerous. I would want to play the game again if I could.
On whether the title race is over…
There is 10 points between us and that is a bigger mountain to climb. We are very aware of that, we had our slips at the start of the season, you never know when other teas are going to slip. All we can do is keep on playing and winning our games, that is all we can do. We knew it was important if we wanted to keep sparks in the title race to win today and we didn't do that but you never know what the future holds.
On losing for the first time as Arsenal Head Coach…
I am very happy with the run so far and that says something about where we are at as a team. We play against a top team today and a very tight game that was going to go one way or the other, it could have been 1-1 or 0-0. We have a strong enough foundation, I feel that and I think the players feel that. This happened but it doesn't define us. Of course I am very disappointed, I wanted to win today and I think we were close enough to get something out of the game but we have to move on.
On Caitlin Foord's injury…
She hasn't played much in the last week with a problem with a muscle she was clear to play today and she felt good. She contributed really well with her minutes on the pitch but she started to feel something. She said she felt someone else should come on because we need 100% players on the pitch against Chelsea.
On the conditions and the nip and tuck nature of the game…
We knew it was going to be physical with battles and the girls were up for it, you can never decide the conditions. It wasn't as bad as against Bayern Munich at Boreham Wood. The pitch was fine, there were lots of positives from this game, like how we manage ourselves through different phases of the game. That is very positive, we do a lot of good things on the ball, our pressing was very good at times. There are a lot of things we do well, but then it is about that ruthlessness and now allowing any chances to the opposition and being clinical and ruthless with the chances you create. We could have scored one if you look at the chances, I will have to see it back again. We make steps and I think the girls feel the same. I want to play Chelsea again soon.
On the performances of van Domselaar and Cooney-Cross…
They are very important players for us. Kyra always finds a good position to be able to play the ball forward and then she has a lot of quality with long passes and short passes and dribbles and carries, she is very important and has grown so much as a player, as a person as well. If you look at Daph as well, she can decide games for us and she has done before, she made some really important saves today.
On whether she is disappointed with McCabe not controlling her emotions…
I will have to talk to her, am I disappointed? No I wouldn't say that. She has developed so much as a person, staying calm and finding the right levels to be at her best, she has done that very well over time. I will talk to her and see what happened because I don't know the details of the situation.
On whether the WSL should have VAR…
I think so, the stakes are getting higher in women's football. I think we need that, I also think it is important the game is attractive for fans and VAR slows the game down and gives it more breaks but in time I think that will develop. But I think it would be good for us to have VAR in the league.
14.van Domselaar; 2.Fox, 6.Williamson, 7.Catley, 11.McCabe; 10.Little(c) (16.Kafaji '87), 32.Cooney-Cross (3.Wubben-Moy '87); 9.Mead (25.Blackstenius '66), 8.Mariona, 19.Foord (12.L.Maanum '43); 23.Russo
Unused: 1.Zinsberger, 5.L.Codina, 13.Walti, 26.Wienroither, 62.Reid.
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