There was no faulting the work rate or endeavour against Tottenham Hotspur Women, but we couldn’t get the goals to show for it.
After Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Brisbane Road, Renée Slegers said: “The players worked really hard today on the pitch. I think the second half, the two teams are feeling each other out a little bit. Maybe they didn't come as high and as aggressive as we maybe expected. We are trying to bait them in certain areas in our press. They are very brave, so they keep the ball very low on the pitch and have close connections with their midfielders. Sometimes you could see the players standing still on the pitch. It was because we were looking for the right triggers.
“Second half, we knew it was always going to be important for us, off the back of the Bayern Munich game, but also knowing how Spurs normally play their games. I think we create a lot of momentum in the second half. I think players coming on with fresh legs, fresh ideas, fresh energy. They bring a lot to the team in the second half.
“We need to capitalise on the moments. We create in and around the box, but we'll definitely have a look at whether we can create even bigger clear-cut chances.
“The players worked really hard today. They really wanted to get the win for the fans. That was something we spoke about before the game. We're doing this game for the fans because the game against Spurs is the most important one for them and for us as well. So it's very disappointing and sorry for the fans.”
Olivia Smith is one of the players who our head coach was referring to, coming onto the pitch at half-time with plenty of attacking impetus.
“It's good that, even though she came back from Canada with some medical issues, she's been able to train more consistently now,” Renée added. “She was more ready today. She made an enormous impact with isolating the full-back and going at the full-back in 1v1s and using her speed and her willingness and desire to defend and creating options and things in the box going forward. So she had a real good impact on the game today.”
With Real Madrid up next at Meadow Park in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, we asked Renée how hungry the players are to get through the recent period of three games without a win.
“It's not an easy period, of course, because the players have a high belief in who they are and what they're doing, and me too,” she said. “So it's just not coming easy for us at the moment. We know the flow state we were in last year. We know how good we are when we find that again. We just keep on working hard to get there again.
“Football changes constantly and we have to change with it. Just keep a really big belief in who we are and how good we can be in our very best moments.”