Caldentey embraces 'cool' pressure as Arsenal target Treble

Since signing in summer 2024, Mariona Caldentey has played the joint-most Women's Super League and Champions League games for Arsenal alongside Alessia Russo with 43 [Getty Images] Mariona Caldentey has won four Champions Leagues, six Spanish titles, six Spanish Cups, a European Championship and a World Cup - but her eyes light up when discussing Arsenal's hopes of silverware in the upcoming 2026-27 season. With the Gunners chasing a first Women's Super League title since 2019, along with two domestic cups and another Champions League, she is explicit about what she expects. "We have to do it - now it has to be our time." The last time Caldentey, 30, was spotted in an Arsenal shirt was in May, standing on an open-top bus as part of the men's and women's victory parade around north London. Hundreds of thousands of supporters lined the streets to celebrate a first Premier League title in 22 years for the men, with Caldentey and her team-mates also showing off the inaugural Women's Champions Cup they won against Brazilian side Corinthians in February. It was a prize to cherish last season but, having finished second in the WSL and had their Champions League defence ended by an 87th-minute Lyon winner in their semi-final second leg, the Spain midfielder wants to put things right this season. "We need to take the next step and are ready for it," she said. "We need to be ambitious, have no fear and believe in ourselves. "That does not mean we are going to win it - there are other things that we cannot control, but that's the message. "We are professional athletes at a big club and we have to deal with pressure. We accept it and I think it's a cool part of the job." Why fast start crucial to Arsenal's title chances Boss Renee Slegers is equally bullish about Arsenal's targets for this season and is expecting her players to deliver. "We are in a really good place," she told the Women's Football Weekly podcast. "We need to be bold and explicit - we want to win the Women's Super League, and, of course, the Treble." Last season, Arsenal won only four of their first nine games. By contrast, eventual champions Manchester City recovered from losing their opening match at Chelsea to rattle off 13 straight wins and seize control of the title race. Replicating such a start will leave Arsenal's dreams of a first WSL title in eight seasons in tatters - and it could not be much tougher, with early trips to Stamford Bridge and Etihad Stadium. They also travel to Brighton where they lost in the FA Cup quarter-finals in April and who, a month later, held them 1-1 to guarantee City the title. However, after the novelty of a full pre-season, Slegers is confident of a faster start this time. "Some players haven't had that since 2017, 2018, and you can see that," she said. "They come back with so much energy, so much excitement. "I think honestly they've been decompressing, recharging. Sometimes you understand what you're missing when it's not there. I think that's what the players have gone through so you can really feel the excitement to do something." Why Arsenal feel they are 'ready' Caldentey played against Georgia Stanway in the World Cup final in 2023, the European Championship final in 2025 and in World Cup qualifiers in 2026 [Getty Images] This summer, Slegers has strengthened her hand with seven new players, including full-back Ona Batlle, Caldentey's compatriot, and England dynamo Georgia Stanway to stiffen midfield. Caldentey says Arsenal came up short last season through inconsistency and hopes the signings will help overcome that hurdle. "We have shown amazing moments and amazing games and others where we haven't been good enough," she said. "That happened too many times last year. It was painful. "We have added a lot of quality and that will help us." With players such as two-time Ballon d'Or winner and fellow Spaniard Alexia Putellas arriving in the WSL, down the road at London City Lionesses, Caldentey accepts the league is getting tougher. "It is a really attractive league," she said. "What you see and experience here, you don't get in other places. There are never any easy games. "You want to play against the best - that's the challenge as a player and the quality here is really high." And any observer would count Caldentey as among the very best. In two seasons at Emirates Stadium, she has won WSL Player of the Season, come second in the 2024-25 Ballon d'Or and made the WSL Team of the Year both times. During that period, her role has evolved from forward to midfielder and yet, despite that, only Alessia Russo has scored and assisted more for Arsenal. "You have to adapt to what the team needs," she said. "Last year, I played a different role, closer to our defensive line. I was not used to it but these things make you grow. "I do things better now than a year ago. Of course I enjoy playing higher up where you can be more creative and more risky but whatever my coach or team needs, I'll do it." Her manager has stated clearly her team needs trophies. Caldentey is steeling herself to deliver. The making of Spain and Arsenal's humble magician 'Not often you can write Arsenal history' - Gunners win Champions Cup [BBC] From Monday, 10 August, listen to an Arsenal special on the Women's Football Weekly podcast. Find interviews with Georgia Stanway, Renee Slegers, Lotte Wubben-Moy and more on the Women's Football Weekly feed .