'I am very excited about this journey' - Renee Slegers reflects on first game since permanent appointment | OneFootball

Renee Slegers was full of praise for her side as Arsenal brushed past Crystal Palace in the Barclays Women's Super League (WSL) with a 5-0 victory at Meadow Park.

A turbulent opening half was overcome by the Gunners thanks to a four-goal rout after the break. Slegers made early substitutions to aid Arsenal's faltering momentum, something fans hardly saw under the reign of Jonas Eidevall.

"We have been talking a lot about problem solving and communication and how does momentum shift in a game," Slegers told the media after the match.

"That was a challenge for us today, so seeing the players applying things we have been really working on in these two weeks and that we have worked on on the training pitch. That is really good to see and that means a lot to us because we are going into a block of games that are very challenging."

The five-goal thrashing doesn't just display Arsenal's threat in front of goal, but it also marked the side's fifth consecutive clean sheet in the WSL.

"From a tactical point of view we haven't changed much in our organisation," expressed Slegers. "But we have worked on things from a psychological perspective, our mentality and where we put emphasis in our games. Hopefully that has had an impact on our performances defensively."

Fans were treated to the first permanent showing of 'Slegers-ball', and it was certainly a sight for sore eyes. The Gunners carried on the momentum they had quickly gathered before the Christmas break, but Slegers is determined to take the team to "the next level".

"I think we have a great squad with great players and different qualities in the team," she said. "We want to go to the next level, we really want to go to the next level. We have something very exciting with staff and players going on at the moment and we do things really well but I see potential to bring us to the next level as a team, so I am very excited about this journey."

Alessia Russo was back on the scoresheet again, marking her seventh goal across six consecutive league fixtures. The England forward is now trailing only Khadija Shaw - by just two goals - in the golden boot race, despite not scoring in the opening five gameweeks.

"I am very happy she scored the goal today again and that is important for her," the head coach said of Russo. "She does a lot of things out of possession without the ball which commits the opposition. I don’t think we got out of her what we really want to get out of her to the max, it is not even her best game.

"But if you can say that she is this good and scores this goal but we still think she can do even more, that sums up Alessia. She is young still, she works really hard and is on a really high level but she can go even further."