By OkayGoal 
Arsenal recently triumphed over the reigning champions, Barcelona, in the Champions League final. The players certainly played a role in making this happen, but there is someone who directed this first-class performance: Renée Slegers. At only 36, the former player has been proving herself as a head coach for a while. When she got the chance to lead Arsenal, she took the leap and proved to the club that they made the right decision. Here’s what you need to know about Renée Slegers.
The Beginning of It All
Coming from Someren-Eind in the Netherlands, Slegers’ upbringing was filled with soccer. “I saw it (football) all around me,” she told Arseblog News in an interview. Her two brothers also played soccer, which contributed to her own interest in the game.
“It was fun because it was a very small village and there were a lot of mixed teams. I played in a team with a mix of boys and girls,” she also said back then. This love for the game made her join the Dutch side SSE when she was just 8 years old. The rest is history.
Renée Slegers’ Club Career
Slegers’ relationship with Arsenal started way before she became their head coach. In 2006, Slegers was just 17 years old when she joined the club’s academy, though she left the club one year later.
Slegers has also spent some time at the Netherlands’ Willem II before she made the move to Sweden. She played for Djurgardens in 2011 and later joined Linkoping in 2012. Unfortunately for Slegers, her career ended early after she suffered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a friendly match against England. The serious knee injury forced the midfielder to retire while she was still 29 years old in February 2018. However, this injury opened a new door for Slegers who then started her coaching career.
Becoming A Coach
Slegers’ began getting her UEFA Pro license, and it wasn’t long before she grew to lead a club.
After getting her license, Slegers led Limhamn Bunkeflo in 2018, and she moved later to lead Sweden’s Under-23s in March 2021. Following this, the Dutch coach coached Rosengard’s B team. It was when Jonas Eidevall left Rosengård’s first team that Slegers was promoted to take his place in 2022. Leading Rosengard was a highlight in the former player’s coaching career, especially since she won back-to-back league titles with them. It was then in 2023 that Slegers joined Eidevall at Arsenal as the Individual Player Development Coach. When he resigned, it was time for Slegers to take charge.
Bringing Arsenal to The Top
With Eidevall, Arsenal were clearly struggling. So, there was some doubt when Slegers became interim coach, but she quickly proved anyone who doubted her wrong.
Arsenal couldn’t say no to keeping Slegers, especially after she led the team to an unbeaten streak of 11 matches, ten of which were wins. It was time to make Renée Slegers the permanent head coach.
Winning the Champions League
While Arsenal didn’t win the WSL title, they won something even better: The Champions League. Not many believed in the team’s ability to move forward in the cup, but Slegers believed in her players.
They came back in the matches against Real Madrid and Lyon, which was enough to send them to the final to face Barcelona. Almost everyone saw them as the underdogs, but this wasn’t the case. With Slegers, Arsenal managed to claim the Champions League title for the second time and the first time in 18 years.
“[2007] is 18 years ago. The club has invested for so long in women’s football and everybody is so happy with all the work that has been done across those years that we’re at this point again,” said Slegers in an interview with Sky Sports News.
This win became possible because of Slegers, who knows the right way to get Arsenal to lift the cup. She knew her players’ strengths and used them effectively. “I want to develop the team and that’s best done with finding the strengths in the people here in this building and empowering those strengths,” she said in an interview with The Guardian.
Renée Slegers’ Road to The Final
Aside from winning the title, Arsenal’s road to the final wasn’t an easy one. One obstacle was when they lost 2-0 against their first leg match versus Real Madrid in the quarter finals.
When it was time for the second leg, half time ended, and Arsenal didn’t score any goals. But Slegers believed in her team. It was in the second half of the game that Arsenal managed to score three goals; exactly what they need to qualify for the next stage. They scored them in 13 minutes.
This was possible for many reasons. One of them is that Slegers thrives under pressure. She helped the team share the same quality. “What we’re showing more and more, both the players and the staff, is that we thrive on pressure. I like to be under pressure. I get the best out of myself. I was like that in school. I wouldn’t get my work done until a couple of hours before a deadline,” she told The Guardian.
Then, in the first leg of the semifinals, Arsenal lost 2-1 when facing Lyon. This easily could have been the end of their Champions League journey, but Renée Slegers had another thing to say. In the second leg match, Arsenal managed to beat Lyon with a 4-1 score.
“We had to go out and be brave and execute what we wanted to with 100 per cent commitment and determination and that’s what the players did,” Slegers told Sky Sports News following the Lyon win.
A Recipe For Success
One thing that makes her unique is that she listens to the players. She wants them to be happy because then they would love where they are and what they are doing. This could make all the difference. “[If] you know your role and you feel engaged, committed and connected to what we’re doing, I think you get the best out of yourself. If you get the best out of yourself you can get the best out of people around you so that’s what we’ve tried to create,” she said in her interview with Sky Sports News.
A New Era for Arsenal
Now, Slegers has a chance to repeat her success and build on it in the upcoming season. She will, however, need to bring new players if she wants to carry out her vision. It should be easy since more players will be willing to join Arsenal now that they have won the Champions League trophy. Slegers’ coaching style and the high regard in which the players hold her are two factors that might convince players to join the English side. Slegers isn’t just changing Arsenal. She is changing the entire game. Slegers is starting a new Arsenal era, and we are here to watch it.
Image via Getty Images
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