Renee Slegers said her Arsenal side were “not good enough” in their 1-1 Women’s Super League draw against Aston Villa at the Emirates – but added that she had faith they could bounce back.
“Of course not happy with the result, very frustrating,” the head coach said to Sky Sports following Lucy Parker’s stoppage-time equaliser that gave Villa a valuable WSL point.
“They score in overtime, and when it’s only 1-0 they always feel like they are in the game and they only need one opportunity, so very, very, very frustrating and we are not happy with it at all – not good enough.
“I think we had some spells throughout the game that were positive. but we just didn’t have the quality in the final third that we should have. With the chances we created, the spells that we had in their half, we need to score because otherwise the opposition stays in the game. We’re very frustrated.”
Renee Slegers: Arsenal need to find ways of winning
Slegers’ use of substitutes has come under fire from club legend Ian Wright, who has called for some of the fringe players to get more opportunities, especially when it comes to creating adding attacking threat.
Arsenal created 19 shots but scored only once – through Frida Maanum in the tenth minute. It was a starting line-up that included the attacking ability of Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Ballon d’Or runner-up Mariona Caldentey, with Chloe Kelly and Caitlin Foord both coming off the bench later in the game.
But it ultimately made no difference, with the Gunners unable to find the necessary cutting edge in the final third to convert any of those chances.
“That’s going to be part of the review,” said Slegers. “I believe in this team, I believe in the quality they have and the scoring ability that we have as a team. We’re going to review that as a team and we’ll have to come back.”
And she added that these sorts of results were the ones that made the difference between winning a league title and falling short.
“Even though we feel like we don’t bring the same quality and we’re not at our highest level today…that’s what we need to do better, to find those ways of winning,” she said. “That second goal would have been so important for us.”
Arsenal’s next Women’s Super League match is on Saturday, 4th October – a trip to Manchester City.
