Arsenal take on West Ham United at Meadow Park on Sunday in the WSL. West Ham swelled their ranks this summer with the loan signing of Gunners winger and full-back Lisa Evans. The Scot has been an integral part of the squad since joining from Bayern Munich in 2017.
She was a prominent member of the title winning team of 2018-19 but during pre-season, the decision was made for Evans to go out on loan, with West Ham snapping her up for the season.
Arseblog News asked Gunners coach Jonas Eidevall to explain the decision during his Friday press conference (albeit not in as confrontational manner as I have made that sound). “Lisa Evans is a great player and she is of an age and ambition that she should have a lot of minutes on the field, the decision to let her go on loan to West Ham was based purely on playing minutes and on me because I wanted to see other players in that position to start with.
“Of course it’s football and we know anything can happen but at this stage of Lisa’s career, she should be playing a lot of minutes and it was a good solution for her to go to West Ham. Unfortunately she has had an injury recently but we are happy that she is able to return and play again.”
I asked Jonas whether the prospective signing of Tobin Heath was in his sights when he made the call to let Lisa leave on loan, “Yes, we did a bit. But also it is a bit of a puzzle when you put your squad together. From my learning, as much as possible you have to try to find roles within the squad that players are content with.
“It will mean that some players have less playing minutes than others but if players feel really unhappy it can put real disharmony in the squad. When you build a squad you have to find good roles for players.”
Lisa is ineligible for Sunday’s game.
Don’t know how we found him but I like this bloke. Hope he has a long contract.
We are still developing at the moment but under his guidance and with appropriate support from the club I can see Arsenal becoming a European powerhouse in women’s football once again.
As for Lisa, you have to wonder if she shall return to us but I am glad that we don’t have to face her this weekend!
Did Jonas just say Lisa would disrupt the team without getting minutes at Arsenal??
Not really, just that she wouldn’t be happy (understandably), I don’t think he meant she would be confrontational or disruptive.
No but it’s implied in your interview
I don’t think so. It says that if players are unhappy, it can cause disharmony in the squad. Not that certain players will deliberately act out. Having players on your team that are just disapointed and sad, can make others not feel too good.
Yes, exactly this.
The article is specifically about Lisa’s move. It’s in the title.
Yes, but Jonas is the one who then makes it about the whole squad: “But also it is a bit of a puzzle when you put your squad together.” After that, he makes the comment you referred to. He’s very clear his next words aren’t about Lisa specifically. He and Tim in his interpretation were very clear and you made assumptions here.
Precisely. We will probably never know why but you could see last season players heads were down and playing seemed a chore. Happy bunnies were few and far between. This season football is fun again and the results are testament to that.
Careful, or you will end up like me, being censored by the “Boss” LOL.
Interesting. This is why rotation is so useful. It keeps everyone involved even if your squad is large (ours isn’t particularly) but also enables us to play to each player’s strengths, rather than expose players in their less favoured positions.
I like this guy.
I think it was a good decision. It’s a decision to stay and train with a top team but not make a lot of minutes, or leave to a (respectfully) lesser team and make minutes. All players make a decision like that differently, but I feel like this was right for Lisa.
Didn’t do Katie any harm when she went on loan, did it? Look at her now!
Exactly! Katie has always been very open about her struggles and how her spell at Glasgow were exactly what she needed at the time.
Tobin Heath or Lisa Evans…….Really? Bye Tobin. I would not want an official signed 77 shirt if Tobin personally offered it to me!!! and fail to comprehend why a true Gooner would waste money on such an item. I can only hope that Lisa Evans rejoins as soon as possible, as she has contributed so much to AWFC I DO NOT HAVE a problem with Tobin Heath. How could I when she recognises what a quality side she has been fortunate to join, but perhaps franchise is the motive here! Or perhaps she’ll bloom into a Sam Kerr………. Vive Lisa… Read more »
Interesting view! Have to admit it was a surprise signing and it cannot do the team any harm to get some exposure in good ol’ USofA but what I have seen of Tobin so far she is really trying and not just here for a paid holiday. As others have said, she has the ability to turn a game around through her skills but more importantly she has the attitude of a winner and that is rubbing off onto the other players. That is something I always felt lacking under Joe and more than likely why we struggled against the… Read more »
I am Lisa Evans fan. I truly love her, but I am Arsenal fans more. It truly hard for me when I learned that Lisa was going on loan to West Ham but with new player coming in like Tobin Heath and with Beth is in flying form right now and we are pushing to be better to compete in Europe so it is understandable decision.
Hoping that she can be injury free after this to be able playing more minutes with west ham and reset her football.