Renee Slegers appears more composed than the headlines might suggest regarding Arsenal’s uneven start to the Women's Super League campaign. The Gunners have already slipped off the pace after just three matches, and a familiar weakness—struggling against low‑block defensive setups—has resurfaced at the Emirates Stadium, threatening to derail their early ambitions.
The season began on a promising note with a convincing win over Brighton, a team that had handed Manchester City the title‑clinching points the previous year. However, that optimism was quickly tempered by back‑to‑back draws: first against newly promoted Crystal Palace and then against a Manchester United side that had also stumbled in its opening two fixtures.
Those results have amplified the pressure ahead of the upcoming clash with Chelsea, a game that will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. Arsenal’s inability to break down compact, deep‑lying defenses has already produced the league’s worst expected‑goals‑under‑performance (xG) at this early juncture, despite the abundance of attacking talent at Slegers’ disposal.
While analysts and pundits will inevitably offer their own diagnoses, Slegers believes the core issue is psychological rather than purely tactical. With that perspective in mind, she is determined to shift any external pressure away from her squad and onto herself, hoping to give her players the mental space they need to rediscover confidence.
In her own words, she wants to be "the calmest person at the club" and to protect her team from the weight of expectation. "It’s frustrating that we’ve dropped four points," Slegers acknowledges, before adding, "We can’t change that now. It’s about focusing on the positives and the things we can do better, looking forward." She continues, "I’m happy to take the pressure away from the players where it’s necessary.
If someone is going to carry the pressure, it should be me. I want the players to be free on the pitch, to play with clear heads, clear minds and use their intuition." Slegers also reflects on the tactical side of the problem. She notes that Arsenal had previously found ways to neutralise low‑block teams, but recent matches have shown that those solutions are no longer sufficient.
"We had got away from finding low blocks difficult to play against, we had found the tools and solutions. But there are other things we can try to capitalise on like set pieces," she says. She outlines a coaching philosophy that pivots between two extremes: over‑complicating the game with endless detail, or stripping everything back to the basics. "As a coach you can go one of two ways – you can go into more and more detail, and make things more complicated, or strip things back, go back to basics," she explains.
Ultimately, she believes actions speak louder than words, and after a period of extensive discussion, the team now needs to translate ideas into results on the field. The pattern of struggle echoed itself in Arsenal’s Champions League opener against Danish side Koge on Tuesday.
An early goal from Chloe Kelly was ruled out by VAR, and the Gunners appeared to lose momentum. It took a dramatic 93rd‑minute penalty from Mariona Caldentey to secure a narrow victory over a side that had previously lost all six of its Champions League matches. Had Kelly’s goal stood, the psychological narrative might have shifted, offering a more reassuring start and reducing the sense of déjà vu that has begun to creep into the squad’s mindset.
Slegers stresses the importance of a quick start in every match to win the mental battle. "It’s something we are really hungry for and it’s something we need," she says. "We are continuing to drive it and go after it in games and look after everything that is in our control." She praises her team’s resilience after the Koge game, noting that belief in the ability to win persisted despite the setback. "Tuesday showed mental resilience.
The endurance of the belief that we could get the win. We said before the game, we didn’t know if the goal would come, or if it would be early or late and had we scored early I think it would have been a very different game," she reflects. Regarding low‑block opponents, Slegers acknowledges that breaking them down is a specialist skill. "Low blocks are hard to break down for anyone, there’s only a select few who are really good at it, but we know it’s something we have to be able to do better," she admits, underscoring the need for tactical evolution.
Looking ahead, the upcoming encounter with Chelsea offers a potential reprieve. While Chelsea are unlikely to sit deep for long periods at Stamford Bridge, they will present their own attacking threats.
This dynamic could allow Arsenal’s creative players to express themselves more freely than they have been able to this season. One player who could benefit from this scenario is 19‑year‑old winger Lisa Baum, signed from RB Leipzig over the summer. Baum has started all three of Arsenal’s WSL matches to date, and Slegers has publicly expressed confidence in her development. "She’s earned the right to play," Slegers says.
"I have trust in her already, the way she’s been training, behaving and performing, she deserves it. She’s making herself an important player in the squad. She’s only young, but credit to her." Four games into any campaign, the phrase "must‑win" may feel excessive, and perhaps "must‑not‑lose" is more realistic, especially in an expanded league format. Nevertheless, dropping seven points to the league leaders by the end of September would be a nightmare scenario that Slegers and her staff are keen to avoid.
She acknowledges the unique intensity of the Chelsea fixture, describing it as a London derby that always carries extra charge. "Playing Chelsea away is always the same game," she notes.
"It’s always charged, it’s a London derby. That’s already there, and we’re prepared for it. As with everything else, if there’s any pressure, I want to be the one taking that." In summary, Slegers is positioning herself as the primary conduit for external expectations, allowing her players to focus on the fundamentals: quick starts, clear thinking, and exploiting set‑piece opportunities. By simplifying tactics, reinforcing mental resilience, and giving trust to emerging talents like Baum, she hopes to reverse the early-season dip and steer Arsenal back onto a trajectory that matches the club’s historic standards.
The upcoming match against Chelsea will be televised on Sky Sports Premier League, kicking off at 4:30 pm on Sunday. Fans can also participate in the Super 6 competition for a chance to win £1 million, with free entry available online.