Read Renée's Crystal Palace programme notes

Before every home game, Renée Slegers gives her thoughts around the team and our upcoming game in her manager's notes published in the matchday programme.

Ahead of our first Barclays Women's Super League match of the season at home to Crystal Palace, the head coach knows there's more to come but was happy with the grit and determination we showed to get over the line at Brighton last Sunday.

Hello and a very warm welcome to Emirates Stadium for the first time this season as we take on Crystal Palace in the Barclays Women’s Super League. I hope you had a fantastic summer and you’re ready for WSL football to be back. It was very important that our players got that time off so they could come back and hit the ground running. We’ve got a huge season ahead of us and we can’t wait to get started at home.

I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere we create together here. I love every moment of this job. I love training and all the days spent preparing at the training ground, but matchdays in north London, sharing everything with our supporters – those are the best days.

We love it here. It’s a big pitch, with big spaces that we want to use. We are expecting Crystal Palace to try to limit our opportunities and break in fast moments, so that’s what we all have to be really aware of. I’m really curious how they’re going to approach this match as a new arrival in the league. It’s new to them to come and play at the Emirates, so we have to be prepared too.

It was a really positive start to the season against Brighton. We got the win, we got the clean sheet and we know what a difficult side they are to play against. I was very pleased to see Lisa perform so well. She’s an incredible talent, but she’s also very humble and hardworking. She had a good pre-season and earned her spot. It’s the first game of the season. It’s Brighton away. That’s not an easy moment to step in and make your debut, but she did that so well. I’m really happy for her.

That being said, there’s still a lot more to come from us. We played a lot of really good football last weekend, but how can we bring that more consistently? How do we maintain our level over 90 minutes? That’s what we want to achieve this season. Throughout pre-season we spoke a lot about how to find those ways to win, whatever happens, and we got a tough game over the line. That’s what I’m really positive about.

Seven out of eight new signings were able to come in day one of pre-season, which has been really good for our connection. Even after just a month or so together, we look like one group. Even Élisa, who came in much later in the window, looks really good in training and she’s adapting so quickly. Everyone has done great work to make that happen: Everyone’s worked so hard on and off the pitch to build these connections: staff, new players, but also existing players. There’s still a next level to reach, but we’ve all invested so much. It’s so good.

As a team, we’ve spent time really considering how we can take the next step this year. I think it starts with really looking at the people in front of us. That’s step one. We have to balance team considerations in training with individual strengths and needs. How can we support? How do we connect? How do we play to everyone’s strengths? That’s why I was positive about our opening game. The mentality and resilience in the group required to get those wins over the line, even on a difficult day in January when the pitch is imperfect and it’s raining and it’s windy… that’s built now.

Whatever the circumstance, whatever the match, we always bring us to the game. We’ll continue to work on our ruthlessness, so when there are moments to kill the game and there are moments for us to score or stop the opposition, we’ll do it as a team.

The last piece of the puzzle is you. So come with us. We want to do this together. Let’s bring each other on the journey, let’s be there for each other and let’s create something special.

As our supporters, you always bring your dedication and energy and support. We want to do the same for you. So let’s take this next step together. COYG!

Read more about the game, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Crystal Palace programme either around the stadium or online .