On Friday, January 17, cheers of excitement could be heard from the Sobha Realty Training Centre as players found out that Renee Slegers is now the permanent Arsenal head coach, according to Sky News Reporter Eleanor Roper. Slegers took over as the interim head coach in October from Jonas Eidevall, who resigned after a turbulent start to the season. Slegers has already restored Arsenal’s spirits, with an astonishing 12 wins and 1 draw since taking charge, landing Arsenal at second place behind Chelsea in the WSL league table.
Her first game as official head coach, a 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace at home, has cemented the newfound confidence she has inspired in players and fans alike. Despite Slegers’ success, including winning WSL’s Manager of the Month in December, Leah Williamson describes her as “a very humble person” whose greatest strength is empowering others.
Slegers is just 35, a year older than skipper Kim Little. Part of her popularity among fans, who chant her name at matches, owes to the sense of collaboration and togetherness that she fosters; Slegers gets involved on the pitch in training and she stresses the importance of her personal relationships with the players. The former Dutch international played under Sarina Wiegman – the woman who brought the Lionesses their first Euros trophy in 2022 and took them to the World Cup final in 2023 – and cites her as an inspiration.
Renee Slegers already has an impressive record in her own right. She succeeded Eidevall as head coach of Rosengård B in 2021 where she won back-to-back Damallsvenskan titles. She knows what it takes to thrive in a high-pressure environment, having worked at Arsenal for a year as assistant coach before assuming the head position.
In a press release on Friday, Renee stated she wants to work with her players to “deliver something that’s beautiful and inspiring and leads to winning trophies.” Arsenal are still contenders in all four competitions. They qualified for the quarter final of the UEFA women’s Champions League, finishing at the top of their group. With early wins in the FA cup and League Cup and a title race ahead, it’s all still to play for.
“Emirates Stadium – Big Badge” by fakelvis is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.