Arsenal Women hire new manager three months after Jonas Eidevall resigned

The Dutch coach steps up from the interim role she began in October 2024 following the resignation of Jonas Eidevall, and has signed a contract until 2026 with the Gunners.

Prior to the departure of Eidevall, Slegers was hired as the assistant manager in 2023

That came after a two-year spell as head coach of Swedish side Rosengard - where she proved her high pedigree as a manager, winning two consecutive Swedish league titles in 2021 and 2022.

It was not her first rodeo in north London as she was a youth player at Hale End between 2006 and 2007.

Slegers was also a prominent Dutch international with 55 caps but unfortunately missed out on being part of the Netherlands' 2017 Women's Euro title due to a pelvic injury.

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Before assuming the interim hot seat Arsenal were winless in three matches, including a 5-2 loss to Bayern Munich and 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.

Her first match in charge was a triumphant 4-1 win over Norwegian side Valerenga in the Champions League.

The kickstart to an outstanding run of form, currently on an eleven match undefeated run.

Within that time they have scored 31 goals and conceded only five, thanks to striker Alessia Russo regaining form and centre-back Leah Williamson once again becoming a mainstay after her injury.

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It was a fun of form that was rewarded with the Women's Super League Manager of the Month award in December.

The Dutchwoman also pushed her side through to the Champions League quarter-finals by winning Group C.

"I'm so excited to be continuing our journey together," said Slegers.

"It's a wonderful honour to represent this club as head coach and I have so much belief in what we can all achieve together.

"Over the past few months, I've felt such a powerful sense of collective ownership and responsibility across our players and staff - that has been our strength and I know we will make sure we drive and nurture this feeling as we all move forward.

"It has meant the world to me to feel the closeness and passion of our supporters during this process, and I want to thank you all for that. We want to deliver something beautiful that's inspiring and leads to winning trophies. We all have a big part to play in achieving that."

Slegers has a hard task on her hands to win Arsenal's first WSL title since 2019 as they sit seven points behind reigning champions Chelsea.

With only 22 games per season there is not a lot of room for error which the Gunners displayed early in the season under Eidevall.