Impetus’ Morganne King was at Arsenal’s media conference with head coach Jonas Eidevall ahead of tomorrow night’s big trip to Manchester United (5/10/23).
Above: Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall, who this week signed a new contract. Photo: Morganna King for Impetus.
Arsenal are gearing up for the second game of their WSL campaign against Manchester United on Friday, buoyed by the news that head coach Jonas Eidevall signed a new three-year contract from the club yesterday.
Eidevall signed a new three-year deal with the club on Wednesday after joining Arsenal from Damallsvenskan side FC Rosengård in 2021. When congratulated on this he replied, “It is nice because the commitment is from both parties and it’s all in and it’s very ambitious and it’s about growing the club as much as possible and accelerating the growth of women’s football”.
Arsenal are consistently reaching record attendances; the most recently being a crowd of 54,000 at The Emirates on Sunday for their match against Liverpool. Ultimately the result was disappointing, however, the team are keen to prove themselves after their defeat.
When asked about the loss Eidevall commented; “It was a really wasted opportunity with having 55,000 people in the stand to not put on a better display and a better performance and not being able to energise them better. And my hope and my wish is that each one of them, that they return for Aston Villa game, so we can show them something completely different because they deserve that as well.”
Tomorrow’s clash up north against Manchester United will bring a new set of challenges for the Gunners. The Red Devils have brought in a selection of summer signings like Arsenal, who bagged English striker Alessia Russo in the recent transfer window, now set to face her previous club for whom she scored the game-winner the last time the clubs met. Eidevall spoke highly of her, “She’s a technical player, but she can also control the duels and be really physical and protect the ball. And it’s very, very seldom that you see players that can have all the aspects of it.”
“You learn all the time you learn in football. Of course, what I didn’t like about last week was that I didn’t think we played with the right energy, too. And that can never happen, and that hasn’t happened to us in a long time.
“One thing this team has been excellent for is playing with the right amount of energy. Football is like that. Sometimes you do forget the basics or you don’t get them right on the day. But life is about how you respond in those moments and if you are defined by how you react to those situations. That’s what this week has been about and this is what Friday is about as well.”
A recent topic of discussion in women’s football is whether VAR should be implemented more often on the women’s stage. Jonas Eidevall is adamant that if it is to be brought in then it needs to be done correctly and consistently.
“We see in the men’s game, even when it’s operated on a high level for it, still mistakes happen. So then we can understand that a more low budget system will generate even more mistakes. So the quality of the implementation of these things is really important. So let’s take the time and make sure that you have systems levels on all the competitions.”
After much speculation on her fitness, it was revealed that Beth Mead is not available for tomorrow’s fixture. This comes after she sustained an ACL injury in a game against Manchester United in November 2022.
Noelle Maritz was absent from training last week but she’s been described as “fit” for the upcoming match.
Asked for his overwhelming ambition from tomorrow night’s match, the Gunners boss concluded: “There is only one thing on my mind, and that’s to improve our performance, to show the real version of ourselves and to do everything in our power to try and win the football.”
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