Renée Slegers admits Arsenal Women must now “earn the right” to be part of the WSL title conversation following Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Alyssa Thompson’s first-half goal settled the London derby and ended Arsenal’s long unbeaten league run, with the Gunners failing to capitalise after Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey both struck the woodwork.
The result followed further dropped points earlier in the campaign and leaves Slegers demanding an immediate response.
Speaking after the game in comments reported by Arseblog News, Slegers said: “We have to earn the right, again, to be in the conversation.”
Slegers demands Arsenal response
The Arsenal boss pointed to three matches in which her side have now dropped points and stressed that the immediate focus must be on recovering before another major test.
Manchester City await Arsenal next weekend, making the response to the Chelsea setback particularly important.
Slegers also admitted Arsenal were not ruthless enough during their strongest periods at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners created enough opportunities to threaten Chelsea but were unable to score, as detailed in our Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal Women match report.
She remains confident in her players’ ability to rediscover their cutting edge and said the staff must keep the situation simple rather than allowing pressure to build.
Arsenal’s failure to punish Chelsea during an impressive opening half-hour ultimately proved costly.
Attention now turns quickly towards Manchester City and another fixture that could have major implications for Arsenal’s early-season title challenge.
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