Arsenal were 1-0 winners against London City Lionesses at Meadow Park in the FA Cup 4th Round on Sunday thanks to Vivianne Miedema’s first half goal. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press post-match, all of the questions are from Arseblog News.
On whether that was the type of game he expected today…
I think so, yes. I saw their games against West Ham and Brighton in the Conti Cup, I am quite pleased with the control we had of the game. We could have scored more and had a bit more intent in the final third it would have made the journey a little easier. But control is important, particularly with the number of players we had unavailable I think we managed the game well.
On Vivianne Miedema going off during the second half with illness..
Yes she has a migraine. It was manageable but it came to a point where it wasn’t worth keeping her on any longer.
On the absences of Leah Williamson, Rafaelle, Tobin Heath and Lia Walti…
A variation of resting and illness, it’s been a complicated week going into these two games with the number of players available but we play the game, we play with the players we had. But it has been complicated so I am very happy with the players’ performance. We think we will get these players back for Man United (on Saturday).
On whether he would have liked to rest more first team players today…
Yes I think so. We have really good academy players but what I am looking for in a game like this is that if we change too much and play players that are not used to playing together, the communication is not as good and it leads to turnovers and transitions and everyone has to run more. For me managing this game physically was more about playing with a consistent eleven for as long as possible and if we do that well, then everyone runs a little less. Everyone was managed by being in control of the ball, it still worked well. Of course we have players we have been almost forced to play a lot during this period but it worked well.
VIVIANNE MIEDEMA pic.twitter.com/28ZmEASeaM
— womensfootyy (@womensfootyy) January 30, 2022
On the goal coming about as a result of high pressure…
It’s so important to do, it can come from a controlled situation, like today, where it comes from their keeper playing out. But it can also come in open play and you saw that on Thursday in the build up to our second gaol. We lose the ball but then we counterpress and find Beth and she gets the free-kick. It’s both and they’re both really important, it adds an element of creating opportunities. It’s not just about disruption it’s also about preparation for the attack. I think we are developing, we can be better though.
On using pressure to stop opponents as well as creating chances…
Football is a lot about repetition, I read a very interesting article today on the stats about three man defences in the Premier League (by Michael Cox in the Athletic) from 2015 onwards. You want to play all the time in way that you are very used to but that surprises your opponent. In essence, that is what everyone tries to create. To build a way of playing that you are comfortable with but it’s almost like the first time the opponent gets exposed to it.
After the Barcelona game I said that the solutions are there, all the time. If you watch the game back and pause it, you can see solutions. But we never play against a team that presses like that. They play it so well but we are not used to it, if we played teams that press like that week in and week out, I think we would have a much better chance of beating that.
The big thing is that you apply something that not a lot of other teams do, then other teams are not used to it. Pressing is not just about intensity, it’s about creating different problems for opponents that they are not used to so you can take away their most common passing patterns. It’s about forcing them into situations that they are not used to, that is an underestimated aspect of football tactics. That article about three man defences really showed that and why it’s not used so much anymore.
On Viki Schnaderbeck going on loan to Spurs and whether he knows that the defence looks like next season…
Not really. It’s still up for performances during the spring. Viki was a great person and great player and very unfortunate with injuries. When we had so many central defenders, I offered her the possibility to go on loan somewhere because there was no guarantee for minutes at Arsenal and her deal is expiring in the summer. So I had to be totally honest with her about how it might turn out if she stayed. I wish her all the best, she is a great person and a great professional.
On the upcoming Manchester United and Chelsea games…
They are two great teams and we will have to be at our best in both of those games, that is what gets me excited as a coach because it will bring the best out of us and make us a better team. I hope we have lots of Arsenal fans cheering us on like today at both games and helping us because these are going to be really tough games.
1.Zinsberger; 16.Maritz, 20.Boye, 3.Wubben-Moy, 15.McCabe; 10.Little(c), 12.Maanum, 8.Nobbs; 14.Parris, 9.Mead; 11.Miedema (26.Wienroither ‘59).
Fitzgerald should have had a red card for going for McCabe’s head.
She didn’t even look for the ball.
If that was Granita Ni Xhaka!
I caught the second half on FA Player, and it wasn’t inspiring. I thought that Beth Mead was our best player, at the centre of everything that came from the right hand side, both attacking and chasing back to defend, but when Meidema went off, I was disappointed that she wasn’t moved into the centre. Dropping Kim Little to the base of midfield was a good move. It’s one place you don’t want to give the ball away and she doesn’t. To be honest I didn’t trust any of our other players to keep the ball on the day! After… Read more »
Lacking a bit of confidence at the moment maybe?
Beth was brilliant but I watched all 100(!) minutes and Kim was a class above any other player, once again, by some distance.
Jordan getting better and better with each game.
Nikita very ineffective yet again.
Lotte was superb / everywhere, and it was Simone’s best game so far.
Agree on the defense.
Simone’s best game.
Lotte is a very very good defender, she makes a few poor passes but so does Leah. She is young and can play left or right equally well. She has a great future ahead.
Her passing range is as good as Leah’s and nearly as accurate.
And……she is also Arsenal by birth !!!!
To be fair, Maanum had a couple of Blazers that were blocked in first half.
Maybe she did something to her foot when she hit one of them, as I said, I missed the first half.
Well done girls!
Back to winning ways. 😊
Given our absentees and LCL’s packed defence, I’ll take that result, even though it wasn’t very inspiring. You can only play what you’re facing, but it’s a plus that the defence prevented any shot on goal. And I think that was the best performance I’ve seen from Simone Boye. I’m also pleased with what I’ve seen of Laura Wienroither – though the pronunciation of her name is a challenge too far for some commentators!
Yup most important thing is to get through to the next round, get players fit for the utd and chelsea games and win those.
I hoped Parris would get a goal in this match just to help her settle down a little. I feel for her a bit, because we don’t play to her strength’s at all and that isn’t her fault, but it seems that because of it, she is forcing everything even more. She isn’t passing then rest of players are expecting and her run’s are not followed by rest of players. She seems like a foreign part of the team, what is concerning after half a season.
I agree to a certain extent. We don’t play to Keets’ strengths but we haven’t for years so she knew what she was coming in to. As a counter, you could argue when Beth first came in we didn’t let her play in her normal style and pushed her out wide. The difference is Beth adapted and has become one of our more influential players. We cannot change the way the team plays to accommodate a single player. As far as I see it, Keets has to be flexible enough to adapt her game to integrate into the team more.… Read more »
But Arsenal knew also what kind of player Keets is. Why sign her, if you have no role for her? You don’t sign a 27 year old to be completely different player 3 months later. Keets may be flexible, but that doesn’t give her the attributes that she doesn’t have and never has had. We signed a runner and don’t even try to play through balls behind the lines. Also I think in Joe’s Arsenal, Keets would have been perfect for Lisa’s role. Comparison with Beth is not fair to Keets. In Beths case we signed a striker and couple… Read more »
I also agree with this to an extent too. You have to wonder who signed Keets as she arrived at the crossover of Joe and Jonas. Perhaps if we had held off Jonas wouldn’t have signed her. Who knows? It’s all conjecture now anyway as she has a contract and we have to fit her in as best we can but we can’t change the way we play to suit her she has to adapt to what Jonas wants her to do. If she can’t do that I suspect she’ll be on her way once her contract is up because… Read more »
I worry about the way Eidevall wants to play more than the way Parris plays, as Arsenal’s attack has been anemic for months. I didn’t see today’s match, so I don’t know how many SOG Arsenal had–but there haven’t been many goals or quality chances for quite a long time. We’ll see how Arsenal fares in the big games coming up.
I wouldn’t say we were rampant but on another day we would have scored at least 3. Their goalkeeper, Shae Yanez, was superb. She controlled her area catching virtually all of our crosses and made a couple of stunning saves particularly the one from Beth that was almost a carbon copy shot of the free kick she hit straight in against Brighton. It was right in the top corner but on this occasion the keeper not only got to it but pushed it over! The goal was vintage Arsenal leaving Viv one on one with their goalie and the best… Read more »
It does make you wonder if we signed Keets because we expected Viv to leave last summer but nothing came up on that front because you wouldn’t sign the then WSL record goal scorer to play back up
Possibly. It was a bit of an odd time really bringing in Frida and Keets when we were effectively managerless. Mana was a different kettle of fish since that deal was done months ahead before even Joe realised he was leaving!
I have every respect for Keets and her stats don’t lie, it’s just that I don’t think her attributes are a good fit with the Jonas ball style.
Stina, on the other hand, I believe will be massive!
It makes you wonder who green lit these signings because they weren’t Joe’s as he was gone by then & we hadn’t even announced Jonas by the time either of those 2 were unveiled even though I do think Jonas may have had a say on signing Frida but Parris seems like she was signed solely on the basis Lyon made it known she was available, without any consultation during the managerial hunt cause as you’ve said, she doesn’t seem to fit the system. Few games recently I’ve seen Kim’s had the ball looking for the runner on the wing… Read more »
Yes, Keets and rest of the team lack understanding. Although I think that at moment her main difficulty is that we are asking her to do stuff she isn’t best suited for, I would hope that if she could get some goals and have couple of successful games, she would force play little less. Even if she is not perfect fit, more calm and better understanding with teammates, should make her at least useable. She was really good in Leicester game, but that was running behind game, because of space they left us. But both Mana and Nikita were signed… Read more »
1-0 but a comfortable win, players always closely supporting each other and releasing the ball quickly. The Brighton game wasn’t like that so it would be great if we can do the same against more physical teams.