Every word of Renée's pre-HB Koge Women presser

Renée Slegers sat down in the Sobha Realty Training Centre media room for her pre-HB Koge Women press conference on Monday.

Our head coach was asked to provide the latest team news and discuss how we've been moving on from Saturday's 1-1 draw against Manchester United to get ready for the return of UEFA Women's Champions League football.

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

on if we’ve reflected on our 1-1 draw with Manchester United: Of course, we have, because we need to learn, we want to learn from all our performances. But of course, this one as well, off the back of Crystal Palace, so yes, we’ve looked at it. The way we progress onto the pitch is good, the way we dominate in many ways and get the ball forward is good. But then, of course, again, the final third and the chances that we set up. So we’ve looked at that again, both from a tactical, psychological, technical perspective, all of those things. Like I said, the quality in the squad is so good, we do a lot of good things, but that’s also why those results were very, very frustrating for us. So we really want to do those things better, but then off the back of the United game, I think one positive takeaway is the mentality of the squad and the players on the pitch. The players that came on and made a difference, Smilla scoring the goal in a forcing phase towards the end in the 94th-minute. So we take that with us from a resilience mentality perspective, but of course, we want to score more goals.

on if a lot of teams will drop points in the WSL this season or if there’s still not much room for error: No, there is not, especially not where we’re at now. I don’t know how the league is going to play out, it’s hard to tell. We can only focus on what we can control, and of course, the four points that we didn’t get the last two games, I’m not happy about. But we look forward. It’s a long season, right now, we’re sitting here to look ahead to the game against Koge, so we’re looking forward.

on how the weekend’s game at Chelsea impacts our team selection tomorrow: The reason why we have the size of the squad with basically only senior national team players, so much quality doubled up in every position, is that we can use the whole squad. Especially when it’s short turnarounds and we need freshness for this game, because it’s only a couple of days since we played against United. Then we’re going to play against Chelsea the weekend after, so of course it’s one game at a time, but we also have to make sure that players are fresh. Players deserve opportunities as well to play. So that’s why we have the squad, so we want to optimally use the squad.

on if our league game against Chelsea has more importance than an early UWCL game: No, and also if I look at the margins in the squad, in every position, every player could start for us, whether it’s tomorrow or against Chelsea, and that’s where we want it to be from a squad perspective. Now we’re just looking at what do we need in the game, what partnerships are strong, what players are in form, where is everyone at physically? So there’s a couple of things going into it, but yeah, in a good place for tomorrow.

on if there are any changes to the team news: Of course a bigger squad in the Champions League. The only one, Lotte is still being assessed and we’ll get an answer later in the day, so we’ll see if she makes the squad for tomorrow.

on impressions of Koge’s team and the rise of multi-club ownership in women’s football: I wasn’t aware exactly of the ownership structure. I’ve played against them, when I was coaching Rosengard, it’s just over the bridge, so we played against each other in training games, so I did have a little bit of a picture of the club and understood already a couple of years ago that there was investment. I think when those teams are owned, I think it’s both on the men’s and the women’s side, but if a club is owned, or two clubs are owned by the same owner and then playing in similar competitions, that’s when it becomes an issue of course. But I know the investment is there and pushing the game forward, and that’s really positive.

on what kind of tactical challenge we’re expecting: They're, of course, top of the league in Denmark. They're a good team. I think they have a really good counter-attacking threat with the two players up top. They will try to close down spaces. We're expecting, whether that's a back four or back five, we'll see when they come out. But, yeah, definitely respecting the threat that they can pose from fast attacks and counter-attacks. But, again, we're expecting to face a low block tomorrow.

on if tomorrow can be a launch pad for the rest of the season: We look forward to the occasion because it's also another competition. We go into Europe again. We're going to play in the Champions League under the lights against international opposition. So it's nice. We go into something new. And this is step one in our Champions League journey. So, yeah, definitely, you really feel excitement and a fresh energy going into this game.

on coming up against Koge and Paris FC in the league phase: So, I mean, they're maybe not the most well-known teams in the world, but they're two really good teams. They are very disciplined and they have something to threaten with, both teams. So, yeah, we're very humble for the task. Of course, we have to respect what we're going to play against. But, yeah, we definitely see it as an opportunity to show who we are and the things that we've been doing well. The Arsenal way, the dominance, then leaning into danger and leading to goals.

on why she was laughing with Chloe Kelly in open training: So I was joining a little bit of the session yesterday. And I was in a white bib before the players came from their activation. And they were just going past me. So at the end we got a team of five in white. And I said to Chloe, now all of a sudden everyone's picking up white bibs here. What's happening? And then she said, "because they beat my team”. And she said, yeah, I won yesterday. And I was like, yeah, let's go and do it tomorrow.

on if she’s considered keeping the same team to help them build confidence: Always a lot of consideration going into the decisions and how we start and finish and with the short turnarounds now, how we're going to keep everyone fresh, what does every individual need. So both players that started against United, but also players that didn't and what's good for us in the moment for this game, but also medium term, long term. So taking all things into consideration. Yeah, so I think we came with a good plan and we'll see you tomorrow.

on if she’s trying not to overthink things with squad selection: I think as a club, we're probably ahead of things. I think with how the schedule is growing and where I see it going with top teams, you need to have this depth if you want to compete. But, of course, I think we've spoken about this externally several times as well. What is the sweet spot and what's perfect? And then you also have all the unknowns. You don't know how the season is going to play out, fitness-wise, for example. That's a big one. How do we anticipate that? Going into the season, there's a lot of thought going into that. For me as well, I think what I've learned is to look to channel my energy towards what's going to help the team perform on matchday. Even though it's hard and there's a lot of thought going into decisions, what's going to help the team on matchday? Like I said, in the year and now, medium and long term.

on if having so many options is a nice problem to have: Yes, absolutely. It's a luxury problem, of course. We have so many different options. The balance becomes, or the challenge becomes, how do you then choose certain things for certain games? We're still keeping the main ideas and consistency within the team. You don't chop and change everything. At the same time, if I look at where the players are at and where we are, from a game model understanding and players playing their roles, it's on a really high level throughout the squad. That also makes me really confident to say ‘I can make changes. These partnerships are working. This is working. This player knows her role on the pitch.’ It's in a really good place and that's where we wanted it to be. For the length of the season and all the games that we're going to play, we are able to do these things.

on how to keep the team confident after our last two draws: Expressing the belief in the squad, but also giving the detail of what can we build on. What are we working towards? What are the solutions? Where can we focus? Helping in that regard. But then also keeping things light and not overthinking things and overanalysing things. Short, sharp messages. Bring a lot of energy as a staff group, player group. I think that's really important. Because we're all aware that it's a long season. We're all disappointed with the four points lost. What we do know is that we are very, very close. We all believe that when it clicks, it clicks. That doesn't take away the four points that we lost. But that's what we need to focus on moving forward.

on the key focuses within the short turnaround between games: We've looked at what we anticipate the game will look like tomorrow and our learnings from the United game. How can we set up our chances? How do we arrive in the box? Those things. That's what we've been speaking about mainly.