Arsenal were 2-0 winners away at Manchester United in the WSL on Sunday thanks to goals from Vivianne Miedema and a Katie McCabe penalty. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press after the match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On targeting the space behind Manchester United’s full-backs…
I can copy my answer from the Everton gamemy answer from the Everton game, you had the same question then and it’s pretty much the same answer!
On whether he was afraid at half-time that the game was following a similar pattern to the Spurs draw…
Not really because I think the big difference is that we were much, much better in defence and we had a much more solid formation. We understood the concept of compactness much better but, of course, you still need to execute on your chances so it was very pleasing that we could get that start to the second half, especially as we had to sub Kim Little at half time. We needed that start to the half. It made the second half an easier journey for us with a difficult opponent.
It's the perfect start to the second half for @ArsenalWFC 💫
💻📱 Watch Man Utd v Arsenal on @BBCTwo & @BBCiPlayerhttps://t.co/lgNBM6XPzm #bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/yX6bn5M6mC
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) November 21, 2021
On Kim Little’s injury forcing her off at half-time…
The indication is that it’s not serious it as precautionary. We came in at half time and it’s a cold day and she would have needed to warm up again. We thought that was the best decision to take for the team and also to get a good rhythm for the second half, we didn’t want to end up breaking the rhythm of the half with an early substitution. We didn’t want to kill our rhythm.
On the unbeaten start to the WSL season…
It’s a big question with many layers! From a personal point of view I am still learning the league, the club and the players. I am very pleased with the results, but I am most pleased with this environment that we are learning in. That’s why I really like about working with this group of players and he staff as well. We don’t just look at the draw with Spurs, for example, with disappointment, we are learning from it. We are learning when we lose, draw and win. It’s nice to win the matches but you need to have that learning culture in place, that’s what I’m most pleased with.
On Tobin Heath’s injury…
It’s still not quite right, i know I said a few weeks ago it was a small injury and we probably tried to progress on it too early and we had to take a step back and we decided not to push forward on it too quickly, we need to ensure we get it properly right.
The scorer of @ArsenalWFC's 100th set piece goal in the #BarclaysFAWSL? @Katie_McCabe11 🔥
Watch live on @BBCTwo 📺 pic.twitter.com/krqtfK02CY
— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) November 21, 2021
On the defensive performance without Leah Williamson…
Defending is not only the back four, it’s everyone. You see how dedicated a player like Vivianne Miedema is today in performing our game plan off the ball. The contradictory thing in football is that the defending starts with the forwards and the attack starts with the goalkeeper. When the whole team is so dedicated to the match plan it becomes so much easier to defend. When we attack it starts with our defenders being composed on the ball, taking up good positions to receive the ball so that we can play our way out, we can find the right passes and situations and that triggers runs from our forward players. It’s the collective i am pleased with today.
On whether Simone Boye, Mana Iwabuchi and Tobin Heath will be fit for the cup Final on December 5th…
I hope so, Tobin is staying home and not joining up with her national team, that’s a decision we have made to get her right. Simone isn’t joining up with her national team either. Mana couldn’t play today but we think it will be possible for her to play minutes for Japan, they have a camp in Europe. She will join up with them and we have good communication with Japan, hopefully she can play some minutes for them and be ready for the final.
1.Zinsberger, 16.Maritz (4.Patten ‘90), 3.Wubben-Moy, 5.Beattie, 7.Catley; 13.Walti, 12.Maanum, 10.Little (8.Nobbs ‘46), 9.Mead, 15.McCabe (14.Parris ‘77); 11.Miedema (19.Foord ‘86).
Thanks Tim for the regular update.
But would love to know our points after every league game.
Looking like a 2 horse race already with us on 22,Chelski on 21 and Brighton in 3rd place on 15.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/womens-super-league/table
Thank you Bro. Peter
Alas….
Woke up at 05:00 to watch but could only listen on FA Player
Which territory are you in? It would’ve been shown by a network where you are. Worth finding out who your WSL carrier is.
Show my dedication to the team by waking up at 5am on a Sunday and get a thumb down…tough crowd. LOL
Tim, I am in Colorado. If Sky has the game i can watch on NBC. If BBC has it, I can not view…. thanks for asking. Guess I need to pay again for yet another streaming deal.
Was able to watch it after it was over on ATA Football
Go Arsenal Women !!!!!
Don’t want to promote too much illegal stuff, but usa.goals stream ALOT! 😉
Since you have the opportunity to talk to him. Can you ask him what’s the contract situation of players out of contract.
It’s too early for that I think, in women’s Football these things aren’t sorted this early even for deals up at the end of the season.
Are there any other players whose contracts are up apart from Leah, Viv, Lydia, Nobbs and Lisa? Also do you know when Goldie becomes eligible to sign a professional contract?
Steph and Caitlin’s deals are up too, same with Jen and Viki. All quite normal. Teyah can’t sign a pro deal till June when she’s 18.
Phew. That was hard work although I knew we would come through in the end.
Excellent performances throughout the side.
I was in Zoom meetings all weekend, but I saw this match on Youtube, all but the first 15 minutes and the last 10. It could have been 4-0. The free kick where Miedema hit the bar, and another one later, the replays showed that both fouls were just inside the area, but the ref gave them outside. Little had gone off at half-time, but I think we have a deputy penalty taker in McCabe. She thumped it high into the net to the goalie’s right. The keeper guessed what Katie was going to do, perfectly, but it was hit… Read more »
When Mead hit the bar I thought it was going to be one of those games especially after Man Utd did look good in the first 5 to 10 minutes and I had worried this might be a tight one. But we controlled the game after that and indeed should have had a three. Been a tough period the last week and good to come through it relatively unscathed.
Fucking wonderful result after what was a harrowing but not completely unexpected Saturday 😌
Must admit I was quite worried about that game. Combination of Russo/Toone running at our new look defense and previous games there. Last years ManU away game is probably my worst game as Arsenal women supporter ever. So it is really nice that year later quality on the field is again in our favor.
Defense was fine IMO
This being an opponent we struggled against in the past (not winning 5-0), and Chelsea as expected beating Birmingham, i was a little concerned, especially after the first half.
Big result psychologically. We have been running a little empty with the intense schedule. Not to say the intl break will do us any favour, but hopefully we get more players back. Really need iwabuchi and heath to add options.
I completely agree with you, Xuan. I couldn’t understand why Iwabuchi was getting hardly any game time in recent matches, especially when it seemed like her creativity would be an excellent way of breaking down stubborn defending. Obviously that made a lot more sense when Jonas revealed that she’s got an injury. I really hope she’ll be fit for the FA Cup final and the busy December schedule. She brings something different to the attack and is a joy to watch. Fingers crossed Heath will be available too, it would be great if she could have a run of games… Read more »
Yup, iwabuchi was perfect for the last couple of games when there was so little space. Heath’s dribbling would also cause a different set of problems. More importantly, rotation can help keep players fresh.
Late reaction as I just caught up with the game. Great triangle combinations in the wide area involving central players, Maanum’s cheeky nutmeg heel pass to McCabe at around 30 min the that stood out to me the most!! (Maanum also had a great through pass to Little from deeper center.) A main factor of the Tottenham draw seemed to be that they had focused on defending our left flank. (I later found out that their vigorous RSB in the game usually plays on the left side.) In the Koge game after that, we seemed to be intentionally try the… Read more »