Every word of Renée's pre-Palace press conference

Renée Slegers sat down in front of the media for her pre-Crystal Palace press conference at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday.

The head coach looked ahead to our first Women's Super League home game of the season against the Eagles at 2.45pm on Sunday at Emirates Stadium.

Here's what she had to say on the following subjects...

on if there are any changes to the squad: Same players all fit, so all came through the game well, and one more session to go, but the week has been good as well, so same players won’t be available, that’s Mich [Michelle Agyemang], Katie [Reed] and Daphne [van Domselaar].

on if Élisa de Almeida is available: She’s available to be selected, yes.

on if there were conversations about making the squad bigger this season: Yeah, definitely, we’ve been clear with that when looking at the squad composition and looking at all what-ifs, all scenarios. So this is where we landed. We thought this was best for us, long-term as well, because there will be a lot of games. We’re in a fantastic position where everyone is fit at the moment, but you know how a season goes. So we really felt we needed it, and this was a conscious decision we made. But of course, at the moment, with so many available players, it also makes my job harder, and it’s small margins, and that’s something we need to manage really, really well with the squad, because it’s new to us. It’s new to the players as well, so yeah, that’s an important topic. But we think over the season and long-term, this was the right decision for us.

on providing support for Kyra Cooney-Cross: I think we’ve had great discussions with Claire [Wheatley], with Kyra herself, with Kyra’s agent and her closest, and we always look human first, so what’s important for Kyra in this moment? We’ve respected that and I’m happy we did, I’m happy she could spend that time with her mum in Australia. But yeah, of course, difficult mostly for Kyra. Us losing a really good player for the second half of the season, that was difficult for us, but it’s not comparable to what Kyra has been going through.

on having to leave out senior players from the squad: There are all these thoughts and all these different perspectives, and we just have to land. We discuss things very specifically with the staff as well, going through different scenarios. We look at all levels and certain decisions, what they mean, why this is a slightly better decision than the other, because it really is about margins - and it’s really hard to exactly predict what you’re going to need. We go through different things and then look at that - there are different things playing in, and a lot of my investment and energy goes there because it’s of course an important one to get right. The decision, communication, all of those things. It’s difficult in the moment - but again, playing a long game over the season, we’re going to need everybody. Everyone is contributing, even if it’s not always on the pitch on game day.

on if we’d want the size of matchday squads to be increased: Yes, we spoke about it last season as well - I know Mikel [Arteta] has expressed this and I 100% agree, I wish this would be possible for us as well. We know in Europe, in the Champions League, we have a bigger squad which is great so everyone is together. If that’s something I want to say is the same to the league, can we increase the numbers for matchday, because there are pros and cons but the benefits are heavier. That would be great, definitely a conversation to have in the background.

on Crystal Palace being allowed to use four substitution windows last weekend: Yes, it shouldn’t because I think the league is in many ways very professional. Of course, you want to avoid these situations and I’m sure it won’t happen again in the league.

on if the WSL is stronger than it’s ever been with promoted teams looking competitive: I think it is, it’s growing and I think everything is developing, so automatically the games will be better, tougher, more competitive. I think it’s really early in the season still, just one round played, so let’s see over time how things develop. But definitely, I think Crystal Palace v Everton was a competitive game and the same with Birmingham, creating issues especially in the first half against [Manchester] City. That’s good, and hopefully we can keep the standard so competition is high in the league.

on London City Lionesses not having any English players in their starting XI last weekend: Of course, credit to the league that it's so attractive. Players want to come here and compete, so that's really positive. I think if I just talk from an Arsenal perspective, it's really positive that we have the amount of English players that we have in the squad that feel strongly and deeply connected to Arsenal, to England, the culture and the football historically. But then again, I think we discussed this one last week as well, but having other influences coming in and then the diversity that you can create, that's something really exciting, I think. But we're really proud to have so many England players in the squad.

on tailoring the team to fit the opposition: Yeah, definitely. But I think if you describe it like this, there's three different styles of play that we're going to play against. But I think every game has its challenges, if it's not tactical, then it's something else. That's the exciting part of this role, and the exciting part of the squad that we now have, and the versatility, the dynamics within the squad. But football should always be fun. We always have to remember why we started playing as little kids, and if you see kids playing in the park, they're all chasing the ball. Everyone wants the ball and they want to dribble and pass and score goals, and I think we should always stay close to that. But of course, we play at a different level now, where a lot of discipline is needed as well. But that joy for the game, the love for the game is important, and I think in our environment, to keep the lightness, when we are light and dynamic and fresh and positive, we normally get the best out of ourselves.

on if there would be any value in making teams have a certain number of homegrown players in a matchday squad: If I remember it right, that was the rule in the Swedish league where I coached before that you had to have X amount of Swedish players in the matchday squad, with similar reasons, to make sure that there's a platform for the Swedish players to develop and get their opportunities. It's not my area. We are, of course, aware of the eight homegrown rule, and we have that in our squad. That's part of the reason why we have the squad that we have. Also, like I just said, speaking to Helen, that connection to the club and to the country and to the culture is really important as well. Whether that rule should be applied or should be discussed, I think it's a good one to discuss.

on if Emirates Stadium is the toughest place to come as a visiting manager: Yeah, you'd have to ask the opposition manager. I don't know. I haven't been in that position. But yeah, we know what we want to create for ourselves there, and that's us on that pitch, in that setting, together with the fans and bring the fans with us, and that's always a really lovely and nice atmosphere that we create, like all the moments that we've had there so far with the supporters. So I really look forward to creating that again on Sunday. So I can only speak for myself and what we can create for ourselves and how that fuels us and our performances.

on what makes us so difficult to score against: I think quality in the squad, but also the discipline and responsibility that players take on the pitch. And we work a lot on the defending side of our game. I think the way we plan for games as well with the coaches, Aaron, Mel, in the background, doing a lot of work to make sure that we come out the right way. And that's, I think, the combination of all these things, the coaches in the background, the players on the pitch, how they take responsibility and how they execute the quality that we have. And we take pride in defending. So it's been a big part of us last season and will continue to be this season.

on if we will have the same teams fighting for the top four this season: Yeah, it will have to play out. I think there's strong competition also close to the top four, as we've historically called the top four. I think there's a couple of teams knocking on the door there as well. So that's my anticipation. But yeah, like I said, it will have to play out this season.

on if we welcome different approaches to building a squad: Yeah, I will speak from the perspective of coaching against teams. And from that point of view, I think it's really good. There's going to be really good players we're going to face and teams are getting stronger, are better coached, better physically. So yeah, I just welcome that. So the better, the better. It's a challenge for us and we want that challenge for us, but also for the growth of the women's game.

on having to tinker with things that worked last season to move forward: Yeah, so it's positive, I think, like I just said. So the more growth, the better. And you see teams coming through. We're going to play against new opponents in the Champions League, for example, this year, which we really look forward to. And yeah, like I said, the more growth, the better.