Arsenal were 3-1 winners over Swiss champions FC Zurich at Emirates Stadium on match day two in the Champions League group stage, thanks to a wonder goal from Jordan Nobbs and a brace from Lina Hurtig. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On starting Jordan Nobbs and Mana Iwabuchi in midfield…
I thought with us coming off a pretty tight playing schedule it was important for us to change the squad a little in this moment. That midfield trio has a lot of creativity and a lot of movement, we expected Zurich to be a little bit lower based on the way they played against Juventus. But we had to adjust a few things and work a little bit to break them down. Jordan’s goal was a prime example of her being in the build up but then finding the right moment to go forward and attack.
On the conversation he had with Jordan Nobbs 15 minutes into the game and whether it contributed to her goal…
No! I wish it was because then it would be very good coaching! We talked about our positioning because we expected Zurich to play with one number 9 and you saw today that they played with two, so we talked about our positioning with the two 8s and how we could create overloads in their midfield since they had two strikers. We had to lower our 8s a little to get them into the game and go forward from there.
ARSENAL TAKE THE LEAD WITH A JORDAN NOBBS GOAL 🔴⚪️#UWCL LIVE NOW ⬇️
🇬🇧 https://t.co/12VK9wTlOM
🇨🇭 https://t.co/wEEAuKu8rQ pic.twitter.com/vFnzJnG9CV— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) October 27, 2022
On the depth of the squad and whether some players getting minutes will create greater stimulus in training…
This game came in a moment when we really had to trust the whole squad. It’s nice and it’s a Champions League game so a lot is at stake and it shows the players that we trust them. It is not the Conti Cup group stage when you play players because it’s just the game that came up. When you play players in the Champions League it is because you trust them. I have been very happy with the spirit in training.
On Zurich players being majority part-time…
It doesn’t really matter, I don’t know what that changes, I don’t know how those players live their lives but they are here and they are a serious football team that I respect. They have lots of national team players and the Swiss national team is very strong.
On Juve and Lyon drawing earlier in the day…
It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t change anything for us, things can turn out a lot of different ways. It is only two games and we have a lot of hard games to play, we will see where we end up.
Lina Hurtig scores her first-ever goal for Arsenal as they double their lead over FC Zürich 🔥#UWCL LIVE NOW ⬇️
🇬🇧 https://t.co/12VK9wTlOM
🇨🇭 https://t.co/wEEAuKu8rQ pic.twitter.com/KCfqT4TzR3— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) October 27, 2022
On keeping the players grounded after the 5-1 win in Lyon…
Football is a lot of expectations. When people expect not so much from you and you do well, people blow it up and they think it’s great. When people already have really high expectations on you before the game and you drop just below that, people think “oh is that really that good?” For me, I think it’s about being consistent in the preparations.
I ask the team to be 100% but that also means that my preparations and the whole tech teams’ preparations can’t be different different from Lyon away to Zurich at home, it has to be the same. Because if we go in more to the other game, then we are also telling them that this game here it’s more important for us and we expect more and so on. So we try to be very consistent. It’s a very boring answer, it’s not a hollywood movie but that’s what we try to do, to be consistent with everything. We’ll stay here now for two hours to make all the preparations for the review so we then can focus for West Ham. We are happy with the result but it’s only two games, nothing is done yet.
On Lina Hurtig scoring her first two goals for the club…
Yes, very pleased for her. You can see, especially on that first goal some of her qualities. There are not many players in Europe who have that height in the jump and that much control over her body when she is doing it. I think these goals are important for her self-confidence. As a wide-forward, she produces a lot of goals and assists but maybe in a slightly different way to our other wide forwards. Lina’s highs are very high so it is important to get that consistency so she believes in those high moments and reproduces them all the time.
LINA HURTIG GETS HER BRACE TO EXTEND ARSENAL'S LEAD 🔥#UWCL LIVE NOW ⬇️
🇬🇧 https://t.co/12VK9wTTEk
🇨🇭 https://t.co/wEEAuKuGho pic.twitter.com/qJc3ikwHi2— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) October 27, 2022
On Steph Catley going off after a blow to the face…
There is no injury, we were going to sub her anyway and there was a stoppage when she hurt her face but we just used that stoppage to make the sub, I have checked and she is fine.
18.Mackerse; 16.Maritz, 3.Wubben-Moy, 5.Beattie, 7.Catley (15.McCabe ‘58), 10.Little(c), 8.Nobbs, 23.Iwabuchi (25.Blackstenius ‘74); 9.Mead (12.Maanum ‘58), 17.Hurtig, 11.Miedema.
That was a strange game. Only one team in it in the first half, but Arsenal looked edgy in the second, right up until when Zurich scored. Then our women woke up, and got their dominance back.
Not sure about edgy – sloppy, certainly, with too many backward passes in the second half, but the fact that the back line sits deeper without Leah & Rafa also invites pressure from a hard-working pressing team.
I meant “on edge”, like some nerves had crept in. We know that the Central defence has issues when Leah/Rafa aren’t playing, but I was more concerned with the midfield during that period, during which we still had more chances to score, and should have had a penalty. If that’s as bad as it gets, we can do better than last season!
I absolutely love Frida in a more advanced midfield role, such an improvement over the more orthodox position she played last season. She’s becoming a monster!
Aha – got you. I do wonder if a desire to avoid injury played a part as well in the way we started the second half.
@Collibosher, I think that’s fair to say. But to my mind, it seemed that initially we relaxed a bit, thinking/hoping the game was won, hence the sloppiness MartynJ refers to. But Zurich were not beaten mentally, and started the second half as well if not better than they started the first. Apart from the rotational fouling and stray body parts, I was quite impressed with them. They played football and they are pretty good at it – wouldn’t look out of place in the WSL. They absolutely deserved their goal, but we also deserved to win 4-1, not 3-1. The… Read more »
Much-needed rotation. Good 3 points given the wholesale changes. Hope Iwabuchi and Nobbs push on from here because we are going to need them. Thought Blackstenius looked sharp when she came on as well. Maanum looking like a beast in the advanced role!
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jordan Nobbs! That’s what we love, Jordan. Congratulations and keep it up. Congrats also to Lina Hurtig. She noticeably blossomed after scoring, which is good to see. Stina, Stina, Stina…just stick it in the back of the net next time. No need to go for anything fancy. Both you and the team deserved that goal. Another excellent team performance, led by Kim Little putting in her usual shift and also hand-holding Kaylan Marckese to some extent. KM started off nervous but grew into the game, so well done to her, too. I love the… Read more »
JE makes a fair point about it not mattering that FC Zurich are not fully professional. They have made it this far, so clearly they are not mugs. And let’s remember that Arsenal Women were semi-professionals when we won the UEFA Women’s Cup.
Exactly – some really experienced players and an experienced coach. They know how to defend and work hard at it. I’m intrigued to see how they do in the remaining games.
Really pleased for Mana today. I thought she had a good game, did all the basics well and showed a few glimpses of why she’s such a special player! Hopefully Eidevall can figure out a way to use her more, because she has a lot to give, especially in ball retention, progressing the attack and creating chances.
I feel like her arsenal career could be like Steph Catley, that first season not fully fit struggling to get in the team, but once she got in she’s there to stay
Anyone else read that Conti Cup comment and think of Wednesday night in Durham?
Frida Maanum is on her way to becoming an important Arsenal player – I respectfully suggest that we try to find “gentler” words to complement her!
Yes she needs a good endearing nickname like Wally or Meado have!
Perhaps Tim could let us know what the rest of the squad call her. Frida feels like a quarter of ABBA but I agree it is better than “Monster” or “Beast”!
While we are at it we could find something for Lina Hurtig too as she started to find her feet, and head, in this game. With the crossing ability we have it is about time we had someone running to the near post to beat the keeper to the ball. She made it look simple!
I thought Steph Catley was outstanding last night. At the moment we will need her back in central defence; she’s become one of most valuable players. On a side note, I was impressed by Zurich’s no. 11, Nadine Riesen.