With FC Twente visiting Meadow Park for Tuesday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League night under the lights, Renée Slegers becomes the first Dutch manager to come up against a Dutch club in the competition.
Our head coach plied her trade for Dutch club Willem II from 2007 to 2011 as a midfielder and made over 50 senior appearances for the Netherlands national team, so she knows a thing or two about the type of football to expect this week.
Asked specifically about her knowledge of Twente in Monday’s pre-match press conference, Renée said: “Well, I know them from the perspective of I was there at the start of the Eredivisie. I was a player back then, and Twente was one of the teams that pioneered and was one of the first teams to start the league. So they’ve done so much for the league in the Netherlands and I’m really impressed that they’re still doing that and still pushing. So, yeah, they’ve meant a lot in the history of women’s football in the Netherlands and they keep on going.
“So, of course, I’ve been watching their games, the relevant games, in preparation of our game tomorrow. Yeah, so they’re a good team. They’re a young team, high Dutch representation, and I think with these teams, they’re top of the table in the Netherlands. They know how to play the game differently as well against European opposition. So it looks like they have a plan for different scenarios.
“And what I’ve learned, if I remember it right, playing in the Netherlands, there’s always a lot of passion and aggression and high belief in what you’re doing and I’m sure they will bring that tomorrow.”
Read more
Every word of Renée’s pre-Twente press conference
Despite an impressive start to the season in the Eredivisie that has Twente second with a game in hand on leaders Ajax, they haven’t been able to replicate that form in Europe and go into Tuesday’s game 14th in the Champions League, two positions adrift of the play-off places.
“I think they are capable of playing the game in different ways,” Renée added. “They play it a certain way in the league at home in the Netherlands and then they have really strong game plans for high-level European opposition. I think you saw that in their game against Chelsea. Benfica, Leuven, it’s all very close games. So, yeah, we, of course, are going to come out with the high belief in ourselves because we know we’re a really good team. But we’re also respectful of what they do and like I just said, I think they will come out with the belief in themselves.
“They also need the points. I think they have quite an aggressive and passionate mindset in general in the Netherlands and that’s what they’re going to come out with. Yeah, we look forward to the game. But they’ve done an impressive run, I think, so far in the season.”
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
