Slegers feels support from Arsenal hierarchy despite dismal run but biggest test looms

Renée Slegers says she has felt the full support of Arsenal’s board and praised her senior players for showing “monumental leadership” this week as she vows to find solutions to recent poor form before Sunday’s pivotal trip to Manchester City.

One win in five matches has put Slegers under mounting pressure. Arsenal let slip a two-goal lead to draw at Paris FC in the Women’s ­Champions League on Wednesday and in the WSL they have slipped seven points behind City, the ­leaders and defending champions, having scored only twice in their four league games.

Related: Shaw secures WCL draw against Real Madrid as Manchester City show spirit after week of turmoil

Slegers was in a determined mood on Friday, speaking of a “strong togetherness” at the club. Asked whether she felt the full support of the board, she replied: “Yes, that’s what I felt. That’s been positive and that’s helped me. The club’s leadership has been really good and positive for me in this moment because everyone thinks this is a difficult time and this is not something that we want for the team and for the club.

“But the leadership from Clare [Wheatley, the director of football], Rich [Garlick, CEO], James [King, director of football operations], Jodie [Taylor, technical director] has been superb. So I want to give everything back to the club.

“There’s been a lot of contact, of course. There’s a strong ­togetherness and I’ve really felt their support and they’re here with us, which I’m very grateful for, of course, because I care so much for the team, for the club. I believe in the potential that we ­possess. I believe we can come out of this.”

The 37-year-old Dutchwoman began with an apology to the media for her no-show after Wednesday’s game, when Arsenal conceded a bizarre penalty after Leah Williamson was penalised for handling the ball in the area when she thought she was taking a goal-kick. Slegers’s assistant Aaron D’Antino stepped in.

Pos Team P GD Pts 1 Man City Women 4 8 12 2 Tottenham Hotspur Women 4 13 10 3 Chelsea Women 4 8 10 4 London City Lionesses 4 5 9 5 Liverpool FC Women 4 4 7 6 Everton Women 4 -1 6 7 Arsenal Women 4 0 5 8 Crystal Palace Women 4 -6 5 9 Man Utd Women 4 -5 4 10 West Ham Women 4 -3 3 11 Brighton & Hove Albion Women 4 -3 2 12 Birmingham City Women 4 -4 2 13 Aston Villa Women 4 -7 2 14 Charlton Women 4 -9 0 “After the game there was emotion from my end,” Slegers said. “[I] make the decision to be with the team instead.” She said that had felt important but added: “I will be there next time. I said to the team: ‘I’m angry, I’m really angry, and let’s try to use the emotions that we’re feeling and let it fuel us moving forward, so that’s definitely part of what I hope [to see] and what I believe is going to help us in the right direction.”

Sunday presents a huge challenge against a side who have a 100% record in the WSL this season and have won all their home league matches since Andrée Jeglertz took over as head coach in the summer of 2025.

Slegers praised her squad for their response since Wednesday, saying her “players have been brilliant – I’ve seen the best sides of them”.

“What the group has shown, it’s something I haven’t seen before,” she said. “The captains in the team they’ve been monumental; it’s the strongest leadership I’ve seen so far working within football, they’ve been amazing. They’re very calm, composed, solution-orientated and laser-focused. It was a great moment and I think vital for us moving forward.

“It’s strange because I have to be finding a solution, so I have to be calm, I have to give direction, I have to lead now. But at the same time, what I also feel is gratitude for how everyone is responding and how together we are and how the session on the pitch was today. It was really, really good.”