Arsenal Women Boss Eidevall after 2-3 defeat by Man Utd ‘We are the Arsenal and we never give up’ By Michelle
Following Arsenal’s first defeat of the Women’s Super League season at the hands of Manchester United last night, boss Jonas Eidevall still found plenty to praise in our Gunners performance, as he talked to the press after the defeat.
I was proud of the way that we turned the game around, Eidevall said after the match. I told them at half-time that I didn’t recognise us as a team out there in the first half, either in defence or in offence. I think we managed to turn the game around and we scored the two goals as a result of that.
Everything changes when you concede those two goals from the set pieces. But it doesn’t take away from the players that they managed to turn it around. We have to look at how we can improve the defending on the set pieces, of course. But the effort the players had on the pitch, the bravery that they had to change some things for the second half, that was brilliant. That gives me a lot of confidence that we are on the right track despite the result today.
Eidevall noted that the game had highlighted specific areas of improvement
In defence, we were not compact enough. We had too much space between our different units. So it looked like we were constantly one second too late. And what you would typically relate this to is effort, because you think “can’t that player be closer?”. It’s actually our starting positions and us needing to be more compact.
It’s a similar problem in our offence – we became too disconnected. We thought one step ahead too soon and we started positioning too high up on the pitch. And that meant that we had to play the ball in to overcrowded spaces, and it was too compact around where we play the ball.
So by changing our positioning to be closer around the ball, we actually open up spaces, and it’s easier for us now to change the point of attack and build up or to get in either in front or behind their defending lines. So it’s very basic things that we changed at half time. But a lot of times that is the case in football.
Despite our eventual defeat, the incredible home support at Emirates Stadium had a noticeable impact on our team’s momentum shift in the second half.
The [supporters] are so important for us. To create that atmosphere, they helped us so much to turn around this game in the second half. And we just want to repay them and we want to build experiences here with them. I hope that despite the result that they can feel like we’re putting everything here out on the pitch.
So please come back. Please come back next time again, and we go again together. And that’s what defines us both as a team, but also as a club. It’s our willingness to go forward. We are The Arsenal and we never give up.
Our Gunners will be back in WSL action back at Meadow Park to take on Everton on 3rd December. Tickets for that fixture are available here.
In the meantime, Arsenal’s last game in November is in a few days (Nov 24th) when they head to Italy to face Juventus in their UEFA Champions League campaign.
Our Gunners remain top of the WSL league, alongside Manchester United and Chelsea. We’ll have to see how the Chelsea v Tottenham game goes at a sold-out Stamford Bridge today, to see how the WSL leader board may change, not forgetting that Chelsea have played a game more than Arsenal and Man Utd.
Michelle Maxwell
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