“Over the season, we’ll need everybody” – Renée Slegers | OneFootball

Anne Butzelaar, Women's Football Editor

Renée Slegers has welcomed the increased competition within her Arsenal squad, insisting the club’s greater depth was a deliberate decision made with the demands of the full season in mind.

Arsenal host Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, 2:45 pm BST, in their first home league fixture of the campaign, with Slegers facing some difficult selection decisions after a positive week on the training ground.

The Arsenal head coach confirmed that the same players who were available last weekend have come through the week without any problems, while Katie Reid, Daphne van Domselaar and Michelle Agyemang remain unavailable.

Elisa De Almeida, meanwhile, is available for selection.

With Arsenal strengthening across several positions during the summer, Slegers now has significantly more options than she did at several stages last season.

That has already created a new challenge: fully fit senior internationals could find themselves left out of matchday squads entirely.

For Slegers, however, that difficulty is the consequence of a conscious recruitment strategy.

“We’ve been clear with that when looking at the squad composition and looking at all the what-ifs, all the scenarios,” she said. “We thought this was best for us, long-term as well, because there will be a lot of games. We’re in a fantastic position, with everyone fit at the moment. But you know how a season goes, so we really felt we needed it, and this was a conscious decision we made.”

Slegers acknowledged that managing those selections, and communicating them properly to players, will be vital throughout the campaign.

“At the moment, with so many available players, it also makes my job harder,” she admitted. “It’s small margins, and that’s something we need to manage really, really well with the squad because it’s new to us, it’s new to the players as well. A lot of my investment, a lot of my energy goes there because it’s an important one to get right, the decision, communication and all those things. But, playing a long game, over the season we’re going to need everybody.”

The Arsenal boss also backed calls for clubs to be permitted to name larger matchday squads.

Mikel Arteta recently expressed support for increasing the number of players permitted on the bench, bringing domestic competition more in line with European football.

Slegers shares that view.

“I know that Mikel has expressed this and I 100 percent agree,” she said. “I wish that would be possible for us as well. We know in Europe, in the Champions League, we have a bigger squad, which is great, so everyone is together. If there’s something I want to say to the league, it’s: can we increase the squad numbers for matchday? There are pros and cons, but I think the benefits are heavier.”

Slegers was also asked about Kyra Cooney-Cross after the Australian midfielder recently spoke publicly about the support she received from Arsenal during an extended period away from the club last season.

Cooney-Cross returned to Australia to spend time with her mother, with Arsenal prioritising the player’s personal circumstances despite losing an important midfield option.

For Slegers, the approach was simple.

“We always look human first,” she said. “What’s important for Kyra in this moment? We’ve respected that, and I’m happy we did. I’m happy she could spend that time with her mum in Australia. Of course, losing a really good player for the second half of the season was difficult for us, but it’s not comparable to what Kyra has been going through.”

Attention now turns to Palace, who offered plenty of encouragement in their opening match against Everton.

The game has since become the subject of uncertainty following an issue surrounding an additional substitution window, but Slegers does not believe the situation should reflect negatively on the WSL as a whole.

“You want to avoid these situations, and I’m sure it won’t happen again in the league,” she said.

From a footballing perspective, the Arsenal head coach believes the early signs point towards an increasingly competitive division.

“I think it is [stronger],” Slegers said. “It’s growing, and I think everything is developing, so automatically the games will be better, tougher, more competitive. It’s really early in the season still. There’s only one round played. But definitely, I think Crystal Palace-Everton was a competitive game, and the same with Birmingham creating issues, especially in the first half against City.”

Palace will also provide a different tactical challenge to the one Arsenal faced against Brighton, with Manchester United to follow next weekend.

Slegers believes Arsenal’s greater versatility gives them more ways to respond to those changing demands.

“Every game has its challenges,” she said. “If it’s not tactical, then it’s something else. That’s the exciting part of this role, and the exciting part of the squad that we now have, the versatility, the dynamics within the squad.”

She was equally keen, though, to stress the importance of maintaining enjoyment within a highly demanding environment.

“Football should always be fun,” Slegers said. “We always have to remember why we started playing as little kids. When we are light and dynamic and fresh and positive, we normally get the best out of ourselves.”

Sunday also marks Arsenal’s return to the Emirates, where Slegers is keen for her side to once again feed off the connection with the home support.

“We know what we want to create for ourselves there,” she said. “That’s us on that pitch, in that setting, together with the fans and bringing the fans with us. I really look forward to creating that again on Sunday.”

And while Arsenal’s wealth of attacking options may dominate many of the selection discussions, Slegers remains particularly proud of the defensive identity her team have developed.

“We take pride in defending,” she said. “It’s been a big part of us last season and will continue to be this season.”

For Slegers, the challenge now is balancing a squad strong enough to compete across several fronts while keeping everyone engaged.

It may make picking a team more complicated, but Arsenal believe those difficult decisions could prove invaluable as the season progresses.