Questions for Slegers to answer as Arsenal aim to close gap on Chelsea

Renee Slegers has enjoyed a fruitful tenure at Arsenal so far, but the Gunners must rediscover their ruthlesness in front of goal against Manchester City

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Arsenal head to the Joie Stadium to face Manchester City this Saturday in what feels like something of a must-win game - even at this early stage of the campaign. After back-to-back dropped points, the Gunners could find themselves anywhere between two and five points off the top of the WSL in a weekend where the league’s ‘big four’ face off against each other, with Manchester United and Chelsea settling for a 1-1 draw on Friday night.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Renee Slegers was frank about the acute sense of disappointment she had experienced following last Saturday’s draw against Aston Villa.

“Yeah, of course the mood straight after the game, there was a lot of frustration and disappointment,” she said. “Then we had a day off, everyone has been digesting it in their own way. I waited 24 hours to watch the game back because I wanted to get the emotions settled as well and look at it more objectively.”

She shared details on how she communicated with the squad off the back of that disappointment, going into a huge week for the club: “When we came back in, what we wanted to achieve as a team was getting on the same page, being transparent and being constructive moving forward.”

Identifying the issues

Notably, Slegers diagnosed a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal as the primary cause of Arsenal’s problems in that match, while also acknowledging that her side could have done more to see out the game in the closing stages. “Of course, our big learnings were how we can be more ruthless and clinical and if we then can’t be that on the day for some reason, how do we then defend the lead in a cynical way?”

When asked by The Cutback about her side’s issues progressing the ball in that match, and whether she could use players in her squad who haven’t seen many minutes this season to fix the issue, Slegers responded: “I think we did have solutions, especially in the first half.

“In the second half, we lose a little bit of intensity and urgency, but we definitely have the players that can deal with this type of press, both playing out from the back, making good decisions, and players in front being options.”

Slegers’ answers would suggest that she is likely to stick with the side that she has trusted to date this season. While there has been some rotation within the forward line, she has named an unchanged goalkeeper, back four, and midfield double-pivot in each of Arsenal’s four games so far this season.

A new Man City

Facing a new-look Manchester City led by Andree Jeglertz, a new challenge awaits for an Arsenal side who have won on their last two visits to the Joie and are unbeaten in six against City in the WSL. Unlike the structured, possession-based teams that they faced during Gareth Taylor’s time in charge of the club, Jeglertz, whom Slegers faced as a coach during her time in Sweden, has got City playing a more transitional style in possession. Without the ball, they employ a high press – in a structure that emphasises risk versus reward.

If Arsenal are sloppy with the ball, as they were in the second half against Villa, they may run into trouble, and it is possible that Katie Reid, who does not possess the passing range of Leah Williamson or Lotte Wubben-Moy, could be targeted. The flip side is that there could be spaces for Arsenal to exploit if they get things right in possession. There has been a sense among those of a City persuasion their side has been more open than they would have liked in the early weeks of the season, and this is something that Arsenal could to look to profit from, be that through attacking the wide areas, or even central spaces, depending on the level of involvement of the likes of Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius.

Selection dilemmas

It will be fascinating to see if Slegers sticks or twists with the core of players she has uncompromisingly trusted so far this season. There is a case to be made that the passing range of players like Lotte Wubben-Moy and Kyra Cooney-Cross could make Arsenal more dynamic in deep build-up.

Someone whose involvement isn’t in doubt is Mariona Caldentey. While she has come under criticism from quarters for a perceived slow start to the season, it remains an undisputed fact that so much of Arsenal’s play comes through the 2025 Ballon d’Or runner-up – no member of Arsenal’s squad has completed more passes into the final third this season than Mariona (FBref).

Most of Slegers’ tenure to date has been plain sailing. Besides a tough couple of weeks in early March, in which the Gunners were dumped out of the FA Cup by Liverpool and were beaten 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid (which they would go on to overturn en route to winning the competition), they are yet to face a significant bump in the road. With a gap between themselves and the WSL leaders Chelsea emerging, amid disgruntlement from fans over the lack of minutes given to certain players – such as Cooney-Cross - this is the first time there are credible questions of Slegers to be answered. Winning at the Joie would not only go a long way to quelling any emerging doubts at source, but would keep alive their title hopes in the immediate term.