Renee Slegers insists focus is on West Ham as Arsenal target return to winning ways in WSL
RENEE SLEGERS describes herself as a coach who prefers to live in the moment.
It is an approach she is taking when it comes to being in charge of Arsenal in the interim.
The stand-in Gunners boss insists the permanent job is not on her mind despite guiding the team out of a winless run in the top tier and Europe.
Tomorrow Sunday Slegers will be at Arsenal’s helm again overseeing the team for the first time in a Women’s Super League duel.
Their trip to West Ham follows the Netherlands-born coach manaing the Gunners in their 4-1 defeat of Valerenga in the Champions League following a loss to Bayern Munich.
The match will be their first top-flight game since their former boss Jonas Eidevall resigned on October 15.
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A draw and a loss from their last two WSL outings saw them drop to sixth and five points off leaders Man City.
This weekend they hope to return to winning ways in the top tier ahead of their November 3rd trip to Manchester United after the international break.
Slegers said: ”I like to be in the moment in life in general and that’s what’s needed at the moment.
“It’s something we talked about with the players as well, can we be as much as possible in the here and now because that’s what we can impact.”
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On whether she knows if she intends to put herself forward for the permanent Arsenal head coach vacancy, Slegers added: “No, that’s not on my mind at all.
“It’s a beautiful club and it’s a brilliant squad. We have all the facilities, all the resources, so it’s obviously a very good job to have.
“I haven’t had time to reflect on myself that much during these past couple of days.
“But I want to believe. I want the best for every individual, to have every individual show their biggest strength and to have the team play really good football.
“I don’t think at the moment that’s what I want to deep-dive. At the moment it’s West Ham and to get the three points on Sunday.
“I'm happy to be a part of it at this moment in time doing everything I can do to help the team more.”
Sunday’s derby will see the Irons and the Gunners battling for maximum points.
While West Ham are still chasing their first win in the top tier this term, Arsenal have fared slightly better away from home, narrowly beating Leicester 1-0 in September.
The Gunners will be aiming to boost their goal tally having netted just once in their last two WSL games.
And Slegers hopes Alessia Russo scoring her first group stage Champions League goal this term will pave the way for more goals for the striker in the WSL this term.
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The interim Arsenal chief added: “Alessia is really good at understanding it’s important to get yourself into good positions and then the goals will come and she scored on Wednesday.
“That’s the main focus - to keep on getting our forwards in good positions to be able to get the ball into the back of the net.”