“A big loss for us” – Slegers hails departing Walti

Renee Slegers has paid tribute to the outgoing Lia Walti after the Switzerland international completed her move to Juventus.

The 32-year-old midfielder departs Arsenal after seven seasons, leaving on a high following May’s Champions League triumph.

While the Gunners retain plenty of experience in their ranks, Slegers admitted Walti’s leadership and professionalism will be missed.

Facing the media ahead of Sunday’s WSL opener with London City Lionesses, the manager said:

“When I came to Arsenal, in my role as an individual development coach, she was one of the first players I got really close with because she invests a lot in her own game and in her own development.

“She started to send me messages and clips and wanted to review things. We very quickly built a strong relationship.

“I think that says everything about Wally, how she wants to take ownership of things and how self-reflective she is.

“She cares for everyone and everything, so that’s a big strength and that’s of course a loss for the team.

“In a lot of things, she could see the small details and she wants to see every single person and that’s a big strength of Wally.

“If you look at leadership and players, I think everyone carries leadership, but if you look at the squad, then of course that’s what she was bringing us off the pitch and that was really strong.

“That will be a loss for us, but there are a lot of other personalities and strengths in the team as well, we’ll pick that up.”

As for her plans in midfield, and who might take on the traditional number six role, Slegers gave little away, except to stress that defensive discipline is a collective duty.

“I believe the defensive discipline is huge for us, it’s very important and it’s one of our big pillars, so it’s very important. That’s something we build our game on.

“But that role is to play for every single player on the pitch, so it’s not only one role that will do that for us.

“Every single player at this level playing for Arsenal has to be able to contribute in the attacking game and in the defending game. That’s what we ask from every single player.

“What we think is very important is that we have a structure on the pitch that will always balance us and give us cover on the areas on the pitch. Like I said, that’s every player’s responsibility.

“Wally was really good at those things of course, but we also see that we have a lot of players in our squad in midfield that can do that for us and the structure of the whole team together can make sure that that works.”

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For more on Lia Walti, check out Tim’s recent article, which profiles her contribution to the club. 

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