Arsenal aware of West Ham’s qualities at both ends of the pitch says Slegers | OneFootball

Renée Slegers says that Arsenal are aware of the qualities that latest opponents West Ham United could bring at both ends of the pitch.

The Gunners take on The Hammers at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

Opponents West Ham United recorded a credible goalless draw with Manchester United in midweek. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Arsenal boss Slegers highlighted The Hammers’ qualities in different parts of their game.

“We know what they can bring with really hard work, with all the play, with runs in-behind, with dribbles,” Slegers said. “We’ll have to be really disciplined when we defend, that’s one part of the game. The other parts are the transitions, both attacking and defending transitions.

“We also expect West Ham to come out disciplined. They got rewards for their hard work against [Manchester] United. They kept spaces really small, they defended as a unit all together. If they do that against us as well at the Emirates then we’ll have to be prepared to break them down and they will not make it easy for us. There are different sides to the game tomorrow.”

West Ham United make their first visit to the Emirates Stadium and Slegers is intrigued to see how they deal with the conditions both on the field and in the stands.

She said “I think the pitch is big, the pitch is going to be good and the ball will move quickly. There will be more noise, there will be a lot of red and white, obviously always at the Emirates, cheering us on. You have to deal with that energy in the stadium because that energy will go towards us and not the opposition. You have to be able to manage that. I think it’s the first time they’ve played at the Emirates against us, so we’ll see how they come out and manage that.”

Arsenal have seven league games to play and Slegers says that the focus is on continuous learning and improvement.

She said “We’re not at the end [of the season] yet, so we’re constantly reflecting and trying to learn, trying to find those small margins to become better. I think you always go through stages with your team; we’ve gone through different stages and what I’m really proud of is our humility as a team to bounce back, do the humble actions and always try to learn and be better. That’s one of the big strengths of this team; how we do that all together as a staff and as a player group, so that’s one thing I’m really proud of.

“Of course, we’ve had a couple of draws in the league where we’re disappointed to lose those points but now we can only look forward. I think we’ve been working really hard to get to the point where we are now and we need to keep working hard because everyone is growing. The games we have left in the league, they’re so important. It starts tomorrow with West Ham.”

Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against West Ham United kicks-off at 12pm on Saturday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.