Renée Slegers has challenged her Arsenal players to draw on the experience of last season’s Champions League victory as they seek to end a six-year wait for the Women’s Super League title.
Arsenal showed extraordinary resilience to conquer Europe for the second time, negotiating three qualifying ties, overturning first-leg deficits against Real Madrid and Lyon in successive rounds to reach the final, and then denying runaway favourites Barcelona a third straight title courtesy of a lone goal from Stina Blackstenius.
It marked an unexpectedly glorious conclusion to a season in which they underwhelmed domestically, finishing a distant second as Chelsea claimed a sixth consecutive WSL crown, falling to Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and losing out to Manchester City in the last four of the League Cup.
Slegers, who took up the reins at the Emirates Stadium last October following Jonas Eideval’s resignation, believes the lessons of a fluctuating campaign must be heeded.
‘A lot of things weren’t perfect – then you end up winning the Champions League’
“What we achieved at the end of last season, there was so much work put into it,” said the former Dutch international, whose side face WSL newcomers London City Lionesses on Saturday.
“If you look back at the season we had, there were so many challenges that we had to overcome on the way. A lot of things weren’t perfect. Then you end up at the end of the season winning the Champions League.
“That brings us a lot of clarity. You will go through different phases in a season, not everything has to go and be perfect. But you have every single day ahead of you to be able to make the best out of it – and things are possible.
“What we learned is that we have a belief in what we do. What we also learned is that we need to be very humble. There’s no guarantee. We just need to understand that what we do, what we put in every single day, can lead to something.”
Mastering the unknown
After a summer of lavish spending that has brought the likes of Grace Geyoro, Jana Fernández and former Arsenal star Daniëlle van de Donk to Cobdown Park, London City Lionesses will share that hope that the season brings tangible reward. Slegers acknowledges that Arsenal face a leap into the unknown, but points out that uncertainty is a two-way street.
“We’ll see,” said Slegers of the task awaiting her team at the Emirates. “This is new for them and it’s new for us. That’s part of the challenge for us on Saturday. There are a lot of unknowns.
“Of course, we’ve seen them play last season and we have a good idea of who they are and what they are. At the end of the day, we haven’t played against this team because it’s very new with a lot of new players.”
Masters of the unexpected last season, Arsenal hope to start this one by mastering the unknown.
