Renee Slegers holds the press conference ahead of our match against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium on Friday night.

Our interim coach previewed the WSL clash against the Seagulls on Friday, when we expect over 20,000 fans in the stands.

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Here’s everything he had to say:

In the passes made by Brighton in the defensive third…

They are a very good team, I don’t know exactly how many players they bought but they added a lot of good new players to the season; That’s a big reason why they perform so well. I think the coach did a good job of giving structure to the team.

As for any updates on Lotte and Laura…

Lotte is positive, she is training with us. Laura has done most of the training today too, so they are both progressing really well. Emily Fox is an important actress for us and she has a different way of directing actors. We still have other players who can play in that position, but the way we manage it now is not about stealing minutes in games but getting minutes in other parts of the week. Emily’s good, she’s good, she’s motivated, she’s bounced back really well after the three games in the USA and the trip back, so she’s in a good place.

About Steph Catley’s position…

It’s always a puzzle; All players come with strength, most of our players come with great strength, good players and we always try to build the puzzle. Steph has always been good in the air too, he may not be the tallest player but he has really good timing and good courage in aerial duels. Then there’s Steph’s left foot and that’s an advantage of being on the left side of possession, so we’ve got great centre-backs, great players in every position and they’ve all got their strengths, so we’re always striving. and create the puzzle we need in each game.

From a set-piece perspective, but also as part of open play, it’s about being ruthless in both areas, so that’s still an area we’re focusing on this week. Set pieces are also part of it, statistically speaking we have a good performance from set pieces in WSL defence, so I don’t think we can get too emotional about the goal we conceded on Sunday. Obviously that’s part of what we want to work on, our framework and our offensive zone, I think it gets quite emotional as well.

After Edu left the club…

I think she means a lot to the Arsenal Women’s Team, she means a lot to the whole club. I’m sorry he’s leaving but he’s got a really good opportunity so wish him the best but the structure we have here is very strong, it’s not dependent on one person. I think what Arsenal are building is much bigger than that, so we feel comfortable with the structure we have.

On whether this affects the search for a new coach…

I think a process is working. So there is a technical committee working on this process and it is not affected by this, so it is a good process.

Regarding the postponement of the match against Bayern in the Champions League…

I understand that this is a question, and I understand that it is also discussed in the media. I think it is a very difficult dilemma for the club to have two great teams competing in the competition. But I think what Arsenal have done well is supporting the development of women’s football for a long time. I think it’s a bump in the road but what Arsenal have done for women’s football over time is very powerful.

On whether the season will be planned or not…

We have no concerns about that because you could say we live what we do in a little box with the team and staff. Obviously for us, Jonas leaving was a change, but none of the other things we do are affected by those external factors. So what we need to do is work on our football and work on group dynamics and that’s what we do every day. So that’s where our focus is.

On the importance of the Brighton match…

It’s still early in the season but I think all matches are important and as I said before, tomorrow night will be an important match for us.

In our offensive game…

We talk about forward intent, we look at the details. So our passes have to have meaning because we want to go towards the goal. Therefore, every transition in our game must have a message or meaning. But I think we did a lot of things really well against United in terms of performance and attack.

I think we found good areas and made good moves. We connected well together. Again we had more and better entries into the box. So I think we are close, but we still need to score those goals. But overall I think we had a lot of positives in terms of performance against United.

Alessia Russo’s performance against Manchester United…

I think the whole team works well in many parts of the game and many aspects of the game, and of course that helps the individuals as well. I think we were doing it well as a team and you could see we were getting the best out of each other as well. And I think this was seen in Alessia as well. But Alessia works really hard. He is a great player, we saw all the qualities he has in training. I think it’s a group thing. Individuals can also improve if we work well as a team.

About Alessia Russo’s performance against United…

I think the whole team worked well in many parts of the game and many phases of the game. This of course helps individuals as well. We were doing well as a team and you get the best out of each other and that reflected in Alessia. Alessia works really hard. He’s a great player. We have seen all the qualities he has in training and I think it is a good thing if we work well as a team. Then individuals will be able to follow it.

On whether the short season means we’ve changed our focus…

No, we didn’t talk about it. We’re trying to explain this in a little more detail, and it’s a cliché, but we’re taking it game by game and what’s in front of us in this block. There are now three WSL matches and two Champions League matches, so that’s our focus in this block. We’re seeing a lot of improvement and I think the league is huge and there’s still a lot to play for. The top teams still need to play each other, so we don’t talk about changing strategy or what we want to achieve.

Whether location will provide an advantage against Bayern…

Either way, we’re looking forward to having a Champions League night and playing against Bayern Munich. I think the girls are also comfortable at Emirates Stadium. Boreham Wood has felt like home for a long time and the Emirates Stadium has felt like home too, so we’re looking forward to playing these games and we’ll see where we play.

on whether he wants to stay at the club beyond his temporary role…

This is my current thought. I enjoy being part of the club, I enjoy working with the players, I enjoyed the role I had before I stepped in and took on that role on an interim basis, so I hope so.

Whether Brighton’s recent form has changed our approach…

No. We focus very much on ourselves and believe in ourselves. We know there are areas we need to work on, but we see ourselves as a top-level team. Of course, Brighton are doing really well and bringing in top players, so we respect them as opponents, but we’re trying to see what we can bring to the game tomorrow. Every team will have their strengths and weaknesses and this will be evident in Brighton tomorrow.

About Brighton’s unique strengths…

I can say that all units have good individual qualities, which is something that makes them stronger. There are some setups in their game that may be difficult for opponents to figure out tactically. For example, the way they set up in construction and the way they make a lot of investments, these are things that the opposition needs to solve. They are playing a smart game, a game they believe in. I would say the game they are playing is a high risk, high reward game and we hope to capitalize on that tomorrow.

It depends on whether you feel more comfortable in the role…

I’m trying to be myself, so I’m no different than before, but I hope the players feel comfortable on the field because they’re the players who have to do it for us. So anything that can help, we all try to help – all the staff across the whole club – to make sure the players perform as well as possible. And I think that’s what we’re after.

About strength in depth in the WSL…

As I said, I think their team has its strengths. They do things really well, but there are also things we can exploit. And we believe in ourselves and who we are as a team. We have senior players who are doing better and better at the moment and we did really well as a team against United. That’s why we have great faith in ourselves for tomorrow night.

On whether he can look forward to tomorrow night’s game…

To be honest, as an actor, I loved playing under the lights in the evening, so I’m really looking forward to it. I think 21,000 tickets were sold, so it will be nice to see all the fans out tomorrow.

On managing Emily Fox’s load…

I don’t chat with Emma Hayes through such formats. I will talk to him directly. Same answer as before. We are trying our best to keep our players as fresh and fit as possible for all games and as we see at the moment Foxy – as we call him – is doing well and performing well. He is fit and fresh enough to perform.