Arsenal is a team transformed under Renee Sleesers. No side has won more points (21) in the Super League for Women Super League in 2025.
This of a team that was completely deprived of trust at the start of the season. The lack of imagination and creativity, weighed by expectations instead of being stimulated.
Among the Dutch woman, Arsenal has won 37 points of 14 WSL competitions, two shy of leaders Chelsea's total in the same period. The Gunners are currently six points behind the Sonia Bompastor side in the race for the title, although the gap can be halved if they beat Leicester on Tuesday evening, live on Sky Sports.
It is difficult to remember a manager who has such an immediate impact. Of course, the promotion of Slowers to Head Coach has benefited from a continuity that has worked within the technical team of former boss Jonas Eidevall since September 2023, but her footprint as leader of Arsenal is no less impressive.
Sleges freely admits, sitting in a relaxed position in her office on the Arsenal training field, the transition from interim to permanent took longer than expected – however, the interaction in results has come as little shock.
“It is hard to say what I expected. What we wanted in my interim period was to get the team going again, stabilizing with consistency. We did that. The interim period was longer than possible what I expected, but we put ourselves in a good position when we look at where we come from. I am really happy.
“In the beginning we did a lot about our culture and behavior. That actually went faster than I expected. We have developed our game organically.”
The current form is perfect. This is the best run of competition profits of the Gunners since seven consecutive triumphs between October-December 2023. They stretch further, they have won 10 of their last 11, only dropped points to Chelsea.
Arsenal threatened to stop the establishment of the WSL in the early parts of this campaign, but the Comeback story has forced fans to go back in again. This is how eras become memorable. A team in a crisis that forms in a team in battle can be something special. SLESSEN certainly enjoy her crest-of-a-wave moment.
“The biggest victory is the way the team becomes owned,” she says. “They are so determined to bring something more. Their mentality was so good those first few months and they wanted to work together to improve things. I am so happy that it went in that direction.”
And nothing about this moment of Arsenal excellence has been by chance. Sometimes the team has had to scrape, get from behind, hold on to a narrow lead, play less nicely than the normal style of the sleepers, but those components have built up faith. Antagonist arsenal is something really new.
“First we have built faith with evidence. We found the perfect combination of faith by prove that we can do things and trust that we know that we can achieve a little more. We use those special moments – fighting against West Ham, from behind Liverpool, beating real Madrid – as examples and continuing to strengthen.”
This was really the only way. Butchers knew that she had to break the cycle of dissatisfaction inherited from the Eidevall era and start over. No sideshows, only things.
“I see the world and football through my eyes. I am a different person than Jonas [Eidevall]. I come out of something else, I apply myself differently and it will always be the case. Of course things will change if the group and football are seen through someone else's eyes.
“What I have learned is that it is good for me to be calm, we connect so well, within the team and the staff. It has been a success factor that I really want to continue. If I present myself in a calm way, I can organize my thoughts, and we can be sharp and effective as a tag team on the touchline.”
Arsenal's 'Big Club' Persona has returned. The winning stratio of Sleges of 85.7 percent is the highest of every head coach of Gunners who took the lead over 10 plus competitions. Forty-five WSL goals scored, most of each team since her appointment, is just an example of such a positive noise.
It even starts to puncture the bombastor of Bompastor. The prize for the 'best newcomer' of the competition will actually be available. Who would have thought? No greater compliment has been seen how ruthless Chelsea has performed.
Ultimately, the loot of this campaign can be little in terms of tangible silverware for SLES. But progress and an evolution of harmony can be clearly seen by everyone. “The fans bring the other things, the emotions and energy, but I want to be a calm presence. In the pressure moments they are needed,” she emphasizes.
Some triumphs can feel more important for the time being than trophies. The joy of football, the rearrangement with fans, the sensation of a Champions League semi -final against Lyon at the end of the week among them. Everything more would be an unexpected bonus.
Not bad for a WSL First-Timer.
View Arsenal vs Leicester City Live on Sky Sports Football on Tuesday from 7 pm; kick -off at 7.30 p.m.
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