‘On game day I am always confident’ says Jonas Eidevall

Arsenal play Chelsea in this afternoon’s FA Cup Final at Wembley. Gunners boss Jonas Eidevall says that the level of preparation that he and his staff undergo always leaves him feeling confident on match day. However, in the hum drum of preparation, he admits to feeling less sure.

“On game day I always feel very, very confident. Before game day, I am very worried about everything that can go wrong because I need to prepare for it. So one week from the game I am definite that we are going to lose and I panic and I have to do everything and re-watch all the videos two or three times again.

“Then we start working with it all with the group and then we reach game day and I am 100% sure we will win. I know that come Sunday I will be totally confident.” The Swede has cut a fiery presence in the dugout and has already been booked twice in the Champions League group stages for remonstrating too assertively with fourth officials.

“I never pre-plan, I am not that smart! I like to be calm rather than being animated because it helps with your decision making.” Eidevall couldn’t contain his delight after the 3-2 victory over today’s opponents at Emirates Stadium in September.

Arsenal Women manager Jonas Eidevall celebrates on the full-time whistle of his side’s 3-2 win over reigning champions Chelsea in their opening WSL match this afternoon.

That passion, @eidevall! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/CCQ2QcwKHK

— afcstuff (@afcstuff) September 5, 2021

“There was a lot going into that game because we had a very short time together,” he explained. “I had been in England a very short time before that game, after the Champions League qualifiers in Moscow, I had to travel back and sort out the visas for my family. I couldn’t even be on site when we played Slavia Praha (a few days before the Chelsea game).

“I think I was only able to take part in the last two training sessions before the game. These were basically the first two training sessions when we had the whole squad because we had to leave some players like Leah Williamson at home when we were in Russia as well.

“It was a lot of work in a short time going into that game. It felt like we were out of control in some aspects of that game but you could see how massive a heart those players had on the field, how much they were fighting and trying to get all of the details right.

“All that pride in being together and at that moment it felt very good. We’ll see how the game turns out on Sunday. I am confident we will see the same amount of heart from the Arsenal players and staff.”