Caldentey welcomes 'cool' pressure as Arsenal aim for Treble ahead of 2026-27 season

Mariona Caldentey, speaking as an Arsenal player, said she embraces the ‘cool’ pressure as the club target a Treble ahead of the upcoming 2026-27 season, in an article published on 2026-08-07. The 30-year-old Spain midfielder set out clear expectations for silverware and underlined the squad's readiness to be ambitious.

Since joining Arsenal in the summer of 2024, Caldentey has played the joint-most Women's Super League and Champions League matches for the club alongside Alessia Russo, with 43 appearances. Her career honours include four Champions Leagues, six Spanish titles, six Spanish Cups, a European Championship and a World Cup. Caldentey was last seen in Arsenal colours in May on the open-top victory bus during the north London parade, where the women's side displayed the inaugural Women's Champions Cup they won against Brazilian side Corinthians in February.

Arsenal finished second in the WSL last season and had their Champions League defence ended by an 87th-minute Lyon winner in the second leg of the semi-final, events Caldentey says the team must correct. "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."

Manager Renee Slegers has publicly set the club's objectives and reiterated them on the Women's Football Weekly podcast. "We are in a really good place," she said, adding: "We need to be bold and explicit - we want to win the Women's Super League, and, of course, the Treble." Arsenal face a demanding early schedule that includes trips to Stamford Bridge and the Etihad Stadium and a later visit to Brighton, the side who beat them in the FA Cup quarter-finals in April and held them 1-1 a month later to guarantee Manchester City the title.

Last season's slow start was a notable factor in Arsenal missing out on the league, with the team winning only four of their first nine matches. By contrast, Manchester City recovered from an opening defeat at Chelsea to run up 13 consecutive victories and take control of the title race. Slegers believes a full pre-season will change Arsenal's opening form this term and said: "Some players haven't had that since 2017, 2018, and you can see that. They come back with so much energy, so much excitement." She added: "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."

Slegers has strengthened her squad with seven new signings this summer, naming full-back Ona Batlle and England midfielder Georgia Stanway among the arrivals to bolster the team. Caldentey, who has faced Stanway in the World Cup final in 2023, the European Championship final in 2025 and in World Cup qualifiers in 2026, said inconsistency was Arsenal's principal shortcoming last season: "We have shown amazing moments and amazing games and others where we haven't been good enough. That happened too many times last year. It was painful. We have added a lot of quality and that will help us."

Caldentey also reflected on the WSL's rising standard as players such as two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas have joined the competition at London City Lionesses. "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."

Individual honours during Caldentey's two seasons at Emirates Stadium include WSL Player of the Season, finishing second in the 2024-25 Ballon d'Or and selection in the WSL Team of the Year in both campaigns; only Alessia Russo has scored and assisted more for Arsenal in that period. Caldentey described her tactical shift from forward to a deeper midfield role and its impact: "You have to adapt to what the team needs... 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 and Caldentey says she is preparing to meet that demand. From Monday, 10 August, listeners can hear an Arsenal special on the Women's Football Weekly podcast featuring interviews with Georgia Stanway, Renee Slegers, Lotte Wubben-Moy and others on the Women's Football Weekly feed.