In early October, Arsenal Women’s boss Jonas Eidevall resigned from his role with the Gunners after two straight losses to Bayern Munich (5-2) and Chelsea (2-1).
Many speculated that he weighed his options and realized the club might be better off without him. Since his departure, Arsenal Women have transformed into one of the fiercest and most competitive sides, boasting 10 wins and a draw in their last 11 games.
Jonas Eidevall’s assistant, Renee Slegers, has done a stellar job stepping up as the interim manager.
If Slegers was the solution, don’t you think she and Jonas Eidevall (had he not left) would have found a way to turn things around? But does he think he could have done that?
The Swedish tactician doesn’t believe so. Reflecting to SI on what he believes marked the turning point in his relationship with Arsenal fans, he admitted that letting Vivianne Miedema go really cost him the fans’ backing, saying “I think that when we didn’t renew [Vivianne] Miedema’s contract, my relationship at the time with the fans was hurting the team. I thought [leaving] was the easiest quick fix for the team to be able to perform again. That was an incredibly difficult personal decision for me to walk away from, but sometimes you have to do that when it’s what you think is best for the team.”
Miedema was a legend at Arsenal (and even in the WSL for her goal-scoring exploits). Letting the WSL top goalscorer go just like that and seeing her move to Manchester City really hurt some Gooners. If the fans aren’t behind you, there’s not much you can do, especially when results aren’t going your way. If that’s why Eidevall left, it’s understandable.
So, do you think Gooners? If Miedema hadn’t left, would things have been different?
Michelle M
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Ya think? 🤔
Well in my opinion whoever it was who made the decision to let Miedema go, must have had a brain freeze.
It seemed to me that Eidevall couldn’t find a place for her in the side, and it was decided she wasn’t part of his plans.
When you have a generational player in your squad, its a no brainer to fit the squad around that player. Had I been in charge she would definitely been played as the number 9 or 10.
The only other reason I can think why they let her go, was they had there doubts about her fitness. Since coming back, she’s had another procedure on her knee with us and now at City. So maybe the truth lye’s somewhere in-between.