Slegers calls for Arsenal to maintain high standards against OH Leuven | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers has called on her side to maintain really high standards when they face OH Leuven in the second leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League knockout phase play-off in Borehamwood tomorrow night.

The Gunners are cruising into the quarter-finals after winning the first leg 4-0 in Belgium a week ago.

There is little but pride for OH Leuven to play for but Arsenal boss Slegers does not want her own side to let standards slip.

“Of course, we know the scenario,” Slegers said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “That is important for us to know going into the game and what we want to achieve and how we want to do it.

“The most important thing is that we keep our standards really, really high, regardless of the competition or scenario. That’s important in the moment if we do all those humble actions on the pitch, because we know that sets the standard for us and gives us a good opportunity to be successful. Also, long-term, if we do this consistently well, we focus on the details and we are humble about the details consistently, then we think over time, we develop as a team.

“It will be no different tomorrow, so everything we do tomorrow is going to be our goal, which is of a really nice standard.”

Slegers could look to spread minutes across her squad for the OH Leuven game, although she wants to make best use of the players that she has available.

She said “We want to keep as many players as possible active for us. I think that’s what we’ve done really well this block so far. We have two more games left to play before the international break and we want to optimise the squad. Of course, for tomorrow, we’re going to pick our best team and then for the Bristol City game as well.”

OH Leuven have nothing to lose and Slegers admits that she’s not entirely sure how the Belgians will approach the game.

She said “I don’t know what they are saying in their camp. What does success mean for them in this game? We’ll see. If you look at their league games, they tend to be a little bit higher, higher pressure and they’re aggressive, so let’s see if they want to do that tomorrow. I think that’s one option we see; do they go and be more direct and look for counter-attacks, direct play? We’ll see.

“I think there are a couple of options for them to explore, but that’s not my camp, this is my camp, Arsenal. We are looking at what do we want to bring to the game, what are the potential scenarios? There’s always an unknown going into the game, but we focus on what we can control.”

Arsenal’s UEFA Women’s Champions League knockout phase, second leg tie against OH Leuven kicks-off at 8pm on Wednesday evening. Limited tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.