Arsenal Women head coach Renee Slegers faced the media on Friday for the first time since agreeing to take charge of the Gunners on a permanent basis.

Slegers has signed a contract through to the end of the 2025/26 season, after leading Arsenal on a three-month unbeaten run under her interim stewardship.

The Gooner Fanzine asked Slegers about her coaching journey, which has seen her take on various roles at her previous clubs, before working her way up from assistant coach at Arsenal. Has that served her well in getting the permanent job?

“I think so,” said the 35-year-old. “Like I mentioned before, I believe in generalists. So you have the specialist as well but I think it's very important to be a generalist, so you understand the holistic things and understand the wider perspective.

“But to be able to do that it's very good to get insight into the specialist roles as well as the special context, so I think it definitely helped me.”

Slegers joined Arsenal in summer 2023 as an assistant to Jonas Eidevall, with her role focusing on player development. She had previously replaced Eidevall when he left Swedish side Rosengard for Arsenal in 2021, leading them to successive league titles. 

Slegers reflected on the pair’s relationship: “I've worked really well with Jonas, I think I've said many times I've spoken to him quite a lot after he left and I respect his way of seeing the game and it's been great learning from him. 

“I think there's learning everywhere and I've learned a lot of things from him. It's always going to be like that, we're never going to be exactly the same so I think every person will bring something different whether it's the tactical ideas or the way you want to lead or just who you are as a person, and obviously that's natural.”