‘We want to build so many layers in our game’ Slegers seeking unpredictability in new WSL season

Arsenal manager Renee Slegers says she and her team want to ‘build many layers to our game’ during the 2025-26 season. Slegers took interim charge of the team in October last year after the departure of Jonas Eidevall and inherited a sort of fix up job where player confidence and selection required stabilising.

Eventually, it led to Arsenal winning their second Champions League title in May. Slegers says one of the technical aims for this campaign is to be a little more unpredictable and possess varied threats and solutions. Ahead of Friday night’s WSL clash away at West Ham, she said, ‘We are looking at ourselves and what we want in our team and I think what we want to do is build so many layers in our game so we can bring to a game whatever is asked of us and whatever is needed.

‘I think we are really close to that, Liv (Smith) is definitely a good addition in that sense. What we tried to do in pre-season is to create clarity in what we need to be able to do. Every single game is a test because we want to bring consistency across a whole season. That is on us.’

Slegers was asked which style of music her philosophy most closely resembles,’Maybe we are a bit jazzy, my grandfather was a big fan of jazz! What we like to achieve is a good structure but players should be feeling free inside that structure. In pre-season we have tried to create clarity in our identity and what we want to be and what we look like and how we do that.

‘I think we have a good idea but I don’t think that means you have to be one sided in everything you do. That is the nice thing about the WSL, it is getting better every year, there are so many different styles of football and you also see that every team is trying to do better in every phase of the game, that means you have to be more multi-dimensional and do different things depending on what is asked of you.’

Arseblog News asked Slegers about whether tweaks have been made to prevent some of the basketball games we saw last season, including the most recent meeting against Friday’s opponents West Ham, one of three WSL games they won 4-3 last season.

‘There were a couple of games, West Ham included at Boreham Wood, but don’t forget all the clean sheets we had last season as well, we kept a clean sheet against Barcelona in the Champions League Final, so I don’t think it’s a trend for us. I see other trends in those games and that is something we have looked out. That is what I was talking about previously about creating consistency to everything we do across the whole season.’

Arseblog News also asked about midfield rotations evident against LCL last weekend, particularly with Victoria Pelova dropping more towards the double pivot to create triangles in midfield.

‘We try to develop our game, some things you see are player dependent- you want to play to the player’s strengths. Against the questions London City asked us we had to do certain things to beat the press. I think that is what you saw in the game on Saturday.’

The Gunners play West Ham at the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Friday evening at 7.30pm, live on Sky Sports in the UK.

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