Slegers: Big Arsenal squad is a ‘luxury problem’

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Renee Slegers believes having a large squad is a “luxury problem” as Arsenal prepare for their Women’s Champions League opener against Koge.

Arsenal won the Champions League in 2024-25 but fell at the semi-final hurdle last season, as Lyon came from behind to beat them on aggregate and reach the showpiece.

The Gunners, who also finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the Women’s Super League last term, bolstered their squad over the summer as they aim to fight for silverware once again.

They brought in eight new signings, including Georgia Stanway, Ona Batlle and Misa Rodriguez, but so far, it has not had the desired effect, with Arsenal winning just one of their three WSL games (D2).

Slegers’ side have a big week ahead of them, with a WSL clash with Chelsea to come after their Champions League outing.

But Slegers pointed out that Arsenal were prepared for their packed schedule.

“It’s a luxury problem, of course,” Slegers said when asked if a big squad was a nice problem to have.

“We have so many different options. The balance becomes, or the challenge becomes, how do you then choose certain things for certain games?

“We’re still keeping the main ideas and consistency within the team. You don’t chop and change everything.

“At the same time, if I look at where the players are at and where we are, from a game model understanding and players playing their roles, it’s on a really high level throughout the squad.

Watch our squad’s preparations for HB Koge, live on The Arsenal

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) September 21, 2026

“That also makes me really confident to say, ‘I can make changes. These partnerships are working. This is working. This player knows her role on the pitch’.

“It’s in a really good place, and that’s where we wanted it to be. For the length of the season and all the games that we’re going to play, we are able to do these things.

“The reason why we have the size of the squad with basically only senior national team players, so much quality doubled up in every position, is that we can use the whole squad. Especially when it’s short turnarounds and we need freshness.”

Arsenal are heavy favourites to beat Koge, with an 81.1% win probability according to the Opta supercomputer.

They have won both of their previous meetings with Koge in the Champions League, beating them twice in the 2021-22 group stage (3-0 home, 5-1 away).

However, Arsenal have lost their opening game in each of the last two Champions League seasons: 2-5 to Bayern Munich in 2024-25 and 1-2 to Lyon in 2025-26. 

Slegers is also familiar with Koge herself, having faced them while in charge of Rosengard, and she is expecting a tough challenge.

“They’re, of course, top of the league in Denmark,” Slegers said. “They’re a good team.

“I think they have a really good counter-attacking threat with the two players up top. They will try to close down spaces. We’re expecting that, whether it’s a back four or back five, we’ll see when they come out.

“We’re definitely respecting the threat that they can pose from fast attacks and counter-attacks. But, again, we’re expecting to face a low block.”

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