Every word of Renée’s pre-Chelsea press conference

Renée Slegers was back in front of the media for her pre-Chelsea press conference at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday.

Our head coach looked ahead to Sunday's trip to Stamford Bridge, shared the latest team news and more.

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

on what mark she’d give our side so far: I think it’s been clear that we wanted more points, so the two draws we’re not happy with, and I don’t think we need to over-dramatise the performances, but of course we want to and need to score and win games, and we’re of course very aware of it, and that’s where we are now and we’re looking ahead to Sunday.

on if that’s a 6 and a half out of 10: It’s up to you, you do the analysis.

on what’s been the most worrying part of our start: Worrying, I think that’s not a word that we use internally, but the focus areas are things that we need to get right, and that’s of course in front of goal, what kind of situations we set up.

on if our lack of goals is concerning: I think we do get shots off, but like I said, are they open and clear enough to be able to get a relatively easy finish? But we’re also looking at the final pass, how we set each other up, and that’s connected that, how do we set each other up in those moments? How calm are we? How do we see things clearly in front of goal?

on if it’s going to take time for new players to gel: Yeah, exactly. We know that takes time, but at the same time, we have a really strong foundation as well. So like I said, I think we’ve spoken a lot about it externally. I think for us it’s now about action and we want action towards and on.

on if the WSL is looking how we expected: I think it’s too early still to draw conclusions. We’re three games in and there’s 26 games, so I think too early still to draw the conclusions. So I think halfway into the season you’ll have a better understanding of where everyone’s at.

on what we’re expecting from Chelsea: Of course we know what the games are like against Chelsea. Both home and away they’re fights and we want to bring ourselves to the game, that’s most important to us. We know the qualities that they possess, the intensity that they can bring to a game. We can do that too, so it’s going to be a big game. It’s going to be a game where two teams are really going to go after it, so it’s going to be an exciting game, an entertaining game. We want to control things in the right moments, so I want to be and need to be ready for the fight on the pitch.

on coming up against Katie McCabe this weekend: Yeah, she’s been part of Arsenal for a very long time and she now made the step to Chelsea, she plays for Chelsea now and of course that’s a moment both for Arsenal and for her, but at the same time we’re going to prep for this game, and we want to prep for her to be our opponent now because that’s reality.

on if she’ll be fired up for this game: Could be, ask Katie. But like I said, we prepare for this game, and we prepare for Katie as our opponent for this game and that’s our focus.

on Fox signing a new contract: I’m so happy she’s staying. I think the club and me as well were very pleased to continue to work with her. She’s been here for a while now, she’s part of Arsenal and live her life and football life and the values that we think are important so it feels like she’s really become part of Arsenal and it’s really exciting to work with her and also to continue to work with her because she's only going to get better I think so we’re very happy, very pleased and she brings so much quality to our squad.

on team news: No, everyone's fit, healthy, everyone trained today. Of course, one more session to go.

on if she’s surprised by how quickly Cooney-Cross has got up to speed: I'm so happy for Kyra because of course what she's gone through, and then coming back to us, it's not been easy for her at all. But she's been training whilst in Australia, so she came back in a good place. But it was still, of course, a question of you haven't trained with us and you haven't had the same football load. But she came in physically really good, and mentally, also, strangely enough, really, really positive for the group. Mature, calm, just enjoying her football. She spreads that throughout the team as well, that enjoyment, happiness, lightness, and she's just come back really, really well. So I'm so pleased. I think you've seen it in pre-season, but also the game on Tuesday, how good she was. She's in a great place, so we're so pleased and happy to have her in the squad.

on how to negotiate the balance between being unpredictable and trying to find solutions that work: I don't think we're unpredictable internally. But I understand where you come from with changes in units. Don't forget that we spend six days a week together. So if you make one or two changes or three, these players, they spend every single day together on the training pitch. So it's not like 10, 15 years ago, where there was two sessions maybe, or maybe you have to go longer back. But I remember my time when I was at Arsenal, I don't think the first team trained that much. Then it's hard to build connections and relationships, but we spend so much time together, six days a week, meetings, moments to build connections, partnerships off the pitch, on the pitch. So these players understand each other. So I definitely think there is predictability within what we're doing. So I don't think that's the issue for us, and again, this is something we believe in, that what we need on the pitch is what we want to put on the pitch and trust in the squad. But then, of course, not taking away the partnerships and the collective and consistency are important as well.

on if we’ve spoken about the threat of Chelsea’s fast breaks and counters: Yes that's a constant. We always have to prepare for that, also for this game, of course. But I also think that this game will play out differently. I think two teams that really want to go against each other rather than one team wanting to sit off and looking to break. But of course, there will be moments and spells where there is control and we have to have a really solid defence behind us. Because we know that they have certain qualities in the Chelsea team that we have to stop. But like I said, I think this game will look different.

on our recent record against Chelsea: Of course, we look at those games. We look at last season, them, us. We look at this season, them, us, and then put the puzzle together and then focus on ourselves and what we want to bring to the game. I think there were some really good things we did in those games and it was a positive outcome overall across four games last season. I think everyone knows what I'm going to say now. This is a new game, a new season, and things are different.

on managing in pressurised circumstances: Of course, I have to be good at managing myself and everything that comes with the job. I have to stay healthy and good and positive and energetic. Sometimes, I know that certain habits I have to do really well to be able to maintain that. Also, I do get a lot of energy from the group and the club. For example, after United, that was really tough, of course. But the way everyone came together, the staff coming together to see what margins we can build on, the captains coming together, the squad, all working towards what we want to achieve. That's also given me a lot of energy, of course. Like I said, I need to have really good habits to be the best of myself. Then, whatever comes, I can deal with it. Like last year, I said already two years ago, being in the here and now, in the present, being task-focused, seeing the bigger picture, perspective, positives, and build on that. Create as much lightness as we can into the environment because we think that's going to be important for us, is important to us. But yeah, that's a lot of words. Action.

on what it’s like to manage a tense game against Chelsea: I love it. Yeah, I really enjoy it. I love it. I look forward to it. It's going to be such a fight, and it's going to be such a battle. Two really good teams, but yeah, I love those moments, so I look forward to it.

on how we regroup and build on what we’ve learned from our first few games: Similar to what I just said, people coming together, aligning on where we want to go, reflecting in honesty, making plans going forward, bringing people together, keep positivity, lightness in the environment, see the bigger picture, see the direction, and make sure that it's not too heavy, because I think these players, they're so good, and they want it so bad, and they want to take responsibility, and that's really good. They just have to sometimes also go out and play, and enjoy the game as you did when you were a kid, so trying to find that balance as well.

on if it’s easier or harder to prepare for a game when we know the other team well: I love it, whether it's easier or harder. There's just so much detail, and I just enjoy that process, getting ready for this game. I think players on the pitch know each other. Sonia [Bompastor] and me have played against each other several times now, so we've seen how it plays out against each other. I love it. Like I said, I look forward to Sunday, and the process towards it I'm enjoying. We know each other well, so let's see how both teams are going to come out on Sunday.

on the strength of our defence: Thanks for that question, because when I just spoke about positivity and lightness, that's one of the positives so far, and it's something we pride ourselves on as well. So absolutely, we've been focusing on that too, and that will be a focus going into Sunday, knowing that we're going to play against really good players. No, definitely been a focus area. I've been talking about it a lot, I feel like I'm talking a lot, but last season as well, how we pride ourselves on defending, how important that is for us, it's no different this year.