Jonas Eidevall expects a “very physical game today” from Tottenham Women

Jonas Eidevall on Arsenal Women v Tottenham in today´s North London Derby clash by Michelle

Jonas Eidevall is expecting a very physical game today: “..people who officiate the game need to be aware that this is the team that fouls the most in the league. It´s a strategy”, the boss said about Tottenham Hotspur playing style.

The Manager spoke to the media yesterday ahead of today’s North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium.  Here’s what Jonas had to say reference this afternoon´s match:

On the latest team news…

Preparations have gone very well. The only player that missed the squad in the Champions League midweek was Mana and she was ill. She should be able to return to the squad for tomorrow’s game, so we should have full availability.

On whether this is the closest Arsenal and Tottenham have been in terms of quality…

I think it’s a hard question and to be honest, I haven’t thought about it so much like that. With transfer windows in general, people always look at the players who have been coming in, but not so much with players coming out. For me, one of the best midfielders last season was Maeva Clemaron for Tottenham. She was a very, very important player for them in almost all aspects of their game and that’s very hard to replace and that will require some time to do that as well. I don’t think that people value that enough when they are trying to evaluate how a club’s transfer window has been. But with that being said, I have lots of respect for Tottenham. I had that last season as well, and I don’t expect anything less from us that we need to be 100 per cent to win the game.

On using the physical approach to motivate his players…

I don’t know what the motivation would be for it, like “go and enjoy being kicked down when you get the ball”! I think it’s about preparation to know what you expect from the opponent. But also hopefully, there is a chance, people who officiate the game need to be aware that this is the team that fouls the most in the league. It’s a strategy. For me, that’s something you need to look at it as an official and say “if you want the game to be that way, let go of it. But otherwise, you have to caution earlier and that will protect the players and make the games flow a bit better.”

But that’s the referee’s call, not mine. We need to be prepared for it and not let it get into our heads, and just focus on the way that we play.

On attendance of more than 50,000…

Also remember, it’s 50,000 sold tickets! It’s not giveaways, it’s not sold for a discounted price: it’s sold tickets. I think that’s really, really special because that means that doing this in the way that the club has done it, it’s sustainable. It shows that the interest is for real and the investment that we have as a team, but also what all the past generations and past teams before us have done to put us onto this stage here. It’s phenomenal, so we feel that we want to go out and make the most of it so it can happen again more frequently.

Kick off 1.30 pm UK (liive on BBC)

Source: Arsenal.com

Michelle Maxwell

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