Renée Slegers says Arsenal leaders support her before Manchester City trip

Renée Slegers said on Friday, 2 October, that she felt supported by Arsenal’s leadership during a difficult run of results, as the London club prepared to visit Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City on Sunday. Arsenal had won one of its previous five matches, according to the Guardian, and the away fixture offers an immediate test of the response Slegers says she is seeking from her team.

Asked whether she felt the full support of Arsenal’s board, Slegers told the Guardian: “Yes, that’s what I felt.” She described the club’s leadership as “really good and positive” at a time she said neither the team nor the club wanted to be in. Her comments describe the support she says she has experienced; the interview did not include a separate statement from the executives she named.

What Slegers said about Arsenal’s leadership

Slegers singled out director of football Clare Wheatley, chief executive Rich Garlick, director of football operations James King and technical director Jodie Taylor. She called their leadership “superb” and said there had been considerable contact with them. Slegers spoke of a “strong togetherness” at the club and said she wanted to give everything back to it. She also said she believed in the team’s potential to come through its difficult spell.

That message followed Wednesday’s 2-2 Women’s Champions League draw away to Paris FC, when Arsenal lost a two-goal lead. Slegers did not attend the news conference after the match; assistant coach Aaron D’Antino spoke to reporters. On Friday, Slegers apologised to the media for her absence and said emotion after the game had led her to stay with the team. She said she would attend the next post-match news conference.

How Arsenal lost its lead against Paris FC

Paris FC’s match record shows that Alessia Russo put Arsenal ahead in the 41st minute and Georgia Stanway made it 2-0 five minutes after half-time. Clara Mateo pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute. Maeline Mendy then converted an 87th-minute penalty to complete the comeback. The record confirms the score and scorers in a match that had appeared to be moving Arsenal toward a European win.

The Guardian reported that the penalty followed confusion over a goal-kick: goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez rolled the ball out and Leah Williamson stopped it with her hand after the referee deemed play to have restarted. Paris FC’s match record lists a handball by Williamson and Mendy’s resulting penalty goal. D’Antino disputed the decision after the match, arguing that Arsenal had not taken the goal-kick and that Williamson had gained no advantage. His account was a challenge to the decision, rather than a ruling that it was incorrect.

The Paris draw had already been covered in NewsJaws’ report on Paris FC’s comeback. Friday’s development is Slegers’s account of how Arsenal’s leadership and players responded afterward, with attention now turning to a league match against the side at the top of the table.

What awaits Arsenal at Manchester City

The Guardian reported that Arsenal had five points from four WSL games before Sunday’s scheduled visit, seven behind leaders and defending champions Manchester City. It also reported that Arsenal had scored only once in its previous three league games. Those figures show why the fixture carries weight for Arsenal’s league campaign, although they are a snapshot taken before the weekend’s matches and do not establish what the standings will be afterward.

City had won all its league matches at the time of the Guardian’s Friday report. Slegers faces a team with a perfect WSL record while trying to turn Arsenal’s recent form around. The result of Sunday’s match, and what it may mean for Arsenal beyond the immediate points at stake, remains unknown. For now, Slegers says she has the backing of club leaders and believes the players’ response this week can help the team find a way forward.