Slegers inspired by Federer as Arsenal aim to recover from slow start

The Dutch head coach has revealed she has been watching motivational interviews with the tennis great in an attempt to raise morale at Arsenal

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Renee Slegers has taken inspiration from the world of tennis as she looks to galvanise an Arsenal squad reeling from their longest run without a win since the 2021-22 season.

On a four-game winless streak after Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat in the Champions League to OL Lyonnes, Slegers was asked about how she went about raising morale within the European champions’ squad. In her response, Slegers mentioned an inspirational talk given by Roger Federer, a 20-time men’s singles Grand Slam winner.

“It’s not only the football. It’s a piece of it, the psychology as well. How we stay in games, how we react to certain moments. I looked at a really inspirational video of Roger Federer. What he did as a tennis player to go from point to point. That’s all we’re looking at and we do that together as a group,” Slegers said in Friday’s press conference.

“This week, everything has been very honest and transparent. We spent a lot of time together. What I see and what I take from it is that everyone wants the same thing, everyone wants Arsenal to succeed.”

Elaborating on why she had drawn on Federer’s words for inspiration, Slegers added: “He talks about the percentage of games he’s won in his career and the percentage of points he’s won in his career. That’s really interesting.

“He talks about his mindset. The point he’s playing for at the moment is the most important point. But then that’s done. When that point is over, he goes on to the next one. I think he won, as he says himself, 54% of his points. He’s one of the best two times at tennis. That says something about how he comes back after points and how he was really good at being good in the most important moments, the points that count. That was good inspiration.”

Daphne dilemma

One player who has endured a particularly difficult start to her season is Daphne van Domselaar. The goalkeeper, who was nominated for this year’s women’s Yachine trophy, has been far from her best this campaign, and was at fault for Lyon’s opener in midweek. When asked by The Cutback if she had considered taking the player out of the side as a way of offering psychological respite, the Dutchwoman was unequivocal in her response.

“Of course, the goalkeeper’s position is a special position in a team. But I think with that, if you shy away from the problem, I think you make the obstacle even bigger. I don’t think that’s necessarily the solution, always, from a psychological perspective.”

Elaborating on how she manages players from a psychological perspective, Slegers added: “We try to do everything we can to stretch and support the players on all levels. I think what I’m happy with is, like I just said, the players’ mindset and wanting to move forward and being constructive. I think we have a really good support staff, a good system around it to be able to help all players in that way.”

Bouncing back at Brighton

With Arsenal already five points off the top of the table and four points off the Champions League places, they simply cannot afford to lose any more ground in the WSL, starting with Sunday’s meeting with Brighton.

“We can’t control what the others do, but we know that we have to do what we can do,” Slegers said. “We’re very disappointed and not happy with the last three results in the WSL. We definitely want more and that’s what we’re going after. It’s all we can do and let’s start on Sunday”.

From a tactical perspective, this weekend feels like another stern test of how Arsenal mitigate against the absence of Leah Williamson. The England captain’s absence has been felt most sorely from an in-possession perspective, with Slegers’ side struggling to play out from the back. This was seen clearly in the defeat to Lyon, in which errors playing out from the back directly cost Arsenal two goals.

“The centre-backs that have now played in a position where Leah played most of the time last year, they bring other qualities,” Slegers said when asked by The Cutback on how she was looking to find solutions in Williamson’s absence. “We will always look at what are the qualities this player brings, what do we want them to do on the pitch, and where do we want to and need to support them from a partnership perspective and players around each other.

“Of course, Leah is a fantastic player. She was so good for us and she’s making progress in her rehab. Of course, we look forward to getting her back, she’ll bring a lot of things. At the moment, we have other centre-backs playing who bring their qualities. Leah Williamson is not the same as Laia Codina. Steph Catley is not the same as Lotte Wubben-Moy. Katie Reid is not the same; they’re all different players, but they all bring their qualities.”

There was a time was when Arsenal would have relished facing a high-pressing side like Dario Vidosic’s Brighton, as opposed to a team that were happy to sit in a low block, but it is a reflection of Arsenal’s struggles this season that Brighton represent a tricky matchup at present.

Last season, Arsenal were able to pull apart The Seagulls’ press and cause havoc further up the pitch, winning 5-0. If Arsenal want to repeat the trick, they will need to see more from central defenders who have been largely conservative in possession so far this season – one wonders if this might be a good time to pick Lotte-Wubben Moy, who tends to be more ambitious in her passing than Katie Reid and Steph Catley.

Another player who Arsenal will be heavily reliant on is Mariona Caldentey. Last season’s WSL player of the season has come in for criticism from some quarters of the Arsenal fanbase this season, but no player has created more chances in the league this calendar year than the Spaniard. Brighton tend to play an aggressive player-for-player marking system, and Mariona’s composure on the ball and adeptness in tight spaces will be key if Arsenal are to have success in thwarting their opponent’s gung-ho out-of-possession approach.

Since 1991, no Arsenal Women manager has gone five games without a win. Renee Slegers and all concerned with the club will hope that no new records are broken on Sunday. Drop any more points, and the pressure will increase on a head coach, whose stock has fallen in recent weeks.