In the last two months, there have been differing sides to Arsenal Women’s game – one more successful than the other.
Since losing 3-2 to Bayern Munich in the Women’s Champions League on November 12, the Gunners have conceded just four goals in 11 games across all competitions.
Seven of those have been clean sheets, spread between goalkeepers Daphne van Domselaar and Anneke Borbe, including an impressive 2-0 win against Chelsea on Saturday.
But there have been criticisms of Arsenal’s finishing this season. Considering their ranks are bursting with attacking talent like Alessia Russo, Stina Blackstenius, Beth Mead and Mariona Caldentey, the Gunners have been guilty of failing to take their chances.
Perhaps their recent goalless draw against Man Utd in the WSL encapsulated this perfectly. They kept a clean sheet but were unable to convert any of their 25 shots against their 10-player opponents. They had an xG of 2.8 compared to Man Utd’s 0.43.
It was the first WSL home game under Renee Slegers that Arsenal have failed to score in – a stat that the head coach was unaware of.
But the Dutchwoman believes that the foundation of clean sheets can springboard the Gunners towards more goals.
“You can only get the three points if you score,” she said in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports. “It’s a crucial element of the game. That’s something we look at and work with because we know that we have it in us.
“We set ourselves up in so many good situations. It’s just about that final ball going in. We’re working hard with it but there’s a lot of other things we’re doing really well.
“We should have scored in that game, but then also looking at how do we create more clear-cut chances. How do we find an edge in our finishing and the way we attack the goal. There’s definitely steps forward but we want to take the next step as well.
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“Lately, we’ve been defending really well. There’s been a couple of clean sheets now which we pride ourselves on and that’s always the starting point, the foundation.
“The way we progress the ball up to the pitch and the way we stop the opposition from getting shots off against us, there’s a lot of good things but you can only get three points if you score a goal. That’s definitely a focus area.”
With clean sheets proving to be Arsenal’s recent forte, their defence has a bright future too. The Gunners signed exciting 19-year-old Smilla Holmberg in January, while fellow teenager Katie Reid was in fine form before she suffered an ACL injury.
While Slegers knows a spread of ages is key to any successful team, she does enjoy coaching younger players.
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Arsenal and Manchester United
She said: “The club should be really proud to bring up a centre-back through the academy like Katie Reid. Leah [Williamson] and Lotte [Wubben-Moy] have come before her and you have Smilla coming from another country at a young age.
“The spread of the age in the squad is important. Yes, it’s exciting with all these young players but we also need a good balance in the squad and that’s what we’re always looking at – what we can do to make that balance perfect.
“I’m so happy with the young players coming through because they come with something new. The game is growing so fast so you need to be very talented and gifted technically, but also the way the game is growing, it’s the physical side that goes so fast.
“We want to be really proactive with getting athletic players in, plus there’s a lot of exposure and pressure from different sides. You’re in a high-performance environment so you also have to manage yourself and be composed in everything you do from a mental perspective, so we try to make good decisions.
“It’s really exciting with young players. I love it when they come through and you see them develop because the development is more clear because they make bigger steps.
“An older player is also still developing, the steps aren’t that visible maybe. It’s really exciting, it’s a good group to work with.”
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and Arsenal
Slegers will be aiming for another trophy with Arsenal as the Gunners competing in the upcoming inaugural Women’s Champions Cup, shown live on Sky Sports.
She will be hoping to add to her Champions League medal won in May, while also continuing the push in the WSL, Europe and FA Cup for the remainder of the season.
“Specifically in this block, we can go for our first trophy, the Champions Cup, and we know we can make big steps towards a final,” she added.
“It’s an exciting block but in the second half of the season, we want to stay in all competitions for as long as possible. We’re not happy with too many draws in the WSL in the first half of the season, we made it hard for ourselves but we’re definitely going to chase it [the WSL title] for as long as we can.”
The inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup comes to London, with the semi-finals taking place on Wednesday January 28, ahead of the final at February 1. Sky Sports will exclusively broadcast all matches and Arsenal will feature in the tournament after winning the Women’s Champions League, starting with a semi-final against FAR Rabat on Wednesday.
