Arsenal qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League despite a 1-0 defeat at home to Lyon on Thursday evening at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners need to beat Zurich in Switzerland next week to win the group but the game was overshadowed by a serious looking injury to Vivianne Miedema. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press post-match, the second question is from Arseblog News.
On the injury to Vivianne Miedema…
I don’t know yet, I haven’t spoken to her or the doctors. Right now it takes a lot of my thoughts, I am very concerned over it, of course. But we had to stay focused during the game and focus on our performance. I am sorry, I don’t have any update.
On why he brought on Rafaelle and pushed Leah Williamson into midfield…
It was a holistic decision on what we needed in and out of possession, it was about that, about how we could fit our strongest eleven together at the moment.
On the mood at half-time after conceding a goal and losing Miedema to injury in first half stoppage time…
It isn’t like that, after the game we are concerned. But we are super professional, we don’t let anything take out focus from what we are doing. The players stick to what we need to do on the pitch, after we are concerned, during we are 100% professional with what we need to do.
On being qualified for the quarter-finals…
That is what is important, is that we go to Zurich and win and be number one in the group.
On the overall performance…
Think we played well today, in and out of possession. It was an even game, we could have drawn or either side win by a goal. From a performance perspective I am happy but from a result performance I am disappointed.
On Lyon’s controversial winning goal…
With refereeing decisions, sometimes you get them sometimes you don’t. This was a strange one. In the Women’s Champions League, firstly goal line technology is available but only if you pay for it yourself. We pay for it because we think it’s in the fairness of the game, we think it should be decided but not all clubs have it because not all clubs can afford it. I think that is weird. I think also it’s weird if you are saying VAR is important in the quarter-finals and onwards, then is the group stage not important? Are those decisions not important? I think either you go no VAR or you have VAR all the way in the tournament, same as goal line technology. That is in the fairness of the competition. Decisions can go either way, of course I hope it goes Arsenal’s way, but I think it’s more from a structural point of view.
1.Zinsberger; 26.Wienroither, 6.Williamson(c), 3.Wubben-Moy, 7.Catley; 13.Walti, 12.Maanum, 11.Miedema (2.Rafaelle h/t); 15.McCabe (17.Hurtig ‘85), 19.Foord, 25.Blackstenius.
Really don’t care about the result. Just thinking about Viv…
Everything seemed to be going great until Viv was injure. I do hope that it is not too serious. On the whole the team played well in the first half but in the second passes were missing the mark far more frequently and were giving Lyon the opportunity to be more aggressive in their attacks. Zinsberger played a blinder and the Lyon goal was clearly off-side. Moving Leah to midfield did seem to have an effect on her passing ability. However, I am confident that the team can bounce back from this blip in their season.
Agree with the subs, the strongest eleven at the moment were there (no point to risk Kim), c’mon wasn’t any weak team, the girls fought evenly with Lyon.
Remember we were playing the European champions who were close to full strength and it was a 50-50 game decided by very small margins. They could have let their heads fall when Viv was injured but still competed to the end. We just needed some more incisiveness in the box. Laura Wienroither and Steph Catley: the best pair of fullbacks anywhere.
Performance would have been considered a masterclass if we got away with a draw that see us top the group with a game to spare.
Unfortunately we didnt, and question marks are rightfully raised over our attack. Lack of goals and chance creation a real worry especially after Miedema’s injury.
In truth Lyon was not “close to full strength.” Far from it. Four and possible five of their best players were out–Hegerberg, Mbock, Macario, Carpenter, Dabritz.
Played well?
Goid grief
1 shot in 70 minutes
No pace
No threat
Cant pass 5 yards
Cant win headers
Cant see passes
I agree. I’m sorry, but I just didn’t see a good performance. A whole lot of passing backwards. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert in women’s football but Stina has been awful every single time I’ve seen her. Just doesn’t fit.
First of all, thoughts are with Viv and it does look like another ACL injury. Desperately praying it isn’t. Positives today: Qualified still, 1st place still in our hands, didn’t capitulate after Viv’s injury and held it together, a chance for everyone to rest soon. Negatives: Extremely clueless in attack, awful decision making again from our attackers, back to back losses at the Emirates, a bit more work to do in Zurich now. Jonas Eidevall is really pissing me off. McCabe, Foord, and Stina have been awful for weeks now yet he continues to give them 90mins or close every… Read more »
First off you’re actually incorrect, we don’t have back to back losses at the emirates. We beat juventus 1-0. I’m not sure why nobbs didn’t start but neither iwabuchi or her are wingers. Iwabuchi is also sadly a defensive liability which none of those other three are, she simply can’t Match most players for athleticism, which was quite apparent in the last match where she got actual minutes, against Leicester. Jonas doesn’t trust iwabuchi, and perhaps he should place more faith in her but its pretty apparent by the fact he only brings her on when their up by 3-4… Read more »
Bollocks. If Jonas want to play physical and structural football instead of intricate and fluid football with short passing and dribbling that’s his choice. No need for us fans to talk down our own players especially a world class player like Iwabuchi. Any player not getting game time is going to look off given few minutes here and there. I watched all games last season and Iwabuchi always worked hard and I dont remember this defensive liability you are talking about and I certainly dont remember her costing us a game or even a goal during that time. What I… Read more »
Wait till you who he wants to sign in January if rumours are to b believe ; Signe Bruun, another average Scandinavian player. That how ambitious he is. I have given up on him.
In a good team, the three players you’ve mentioned will not even start. Katie hardly show up in big games. I would rather have Katie Robinson or Melissa Lawley than any of these players. There are good players in the WSL who will die to come to Arsenal.
And I’m afraid Jonas is not right man to take this club forward.
We appear to go through cycles for player nationality often dictated by the manager’s home country. We’ve had Spanish, then Dutch (not sure how that happened!), then Australian and now Scandanavian. With the ambition that we all assume Arsenal have, hopefully Edu can temper the temptation to load the team with players from the far side of the North Sea under Jonas’ tenture! He hasn’t done too badly so far with Fafa and Gio (perhaps being recalled given recent events) but then again can you see a pattern developing here? There won’t be too many WSL sides with a handful… Read more »
I personally don’t care where they’re from as long as they fit a clear strategy to win trophies. Ideally they would have their place in their national team secure so they aren’t desperately demanding minutes and focus on what’s best for Arsenal instead. I notice that is part of how Chelsea keeps their big squad happy – many of their squad players are secure in their national teams so they aren’t terrified of being dropped for country if they don’t get enough minutes at club
Interesting the way patterns of recruitment have changed. I assume that a club with Arsenal’s resources can scan leagues internationally looking for players who will strengthen our squad. It’s very difficult to recruit anyone who’s proven at the very top level (can you see Chelsea selling Sam Kerr?) It’s spotting someone in their early twenties who’s going to develop into a real star, like we did with Beth Mead! Since we left the EU, work permits make it more difficult to get a player in that category from Europe. Look up Vivien Endemann of SGS Essen: 21, fast, can score… Read more »
What happened to the Pelova interest?
Generally hard to get German players to leave Germany but i would take Nüsken in a heartbeat. Also have my eyes on Prasnikar and Dunst, who might be easier to tempt being non-German..
Really ?
You feel the need to throw a fit and trash the players?
Agree McCabe, Foord and Blackstenius not at their best at the moment but think it’s mainly fatigue, with Mead and Hurtig out, they have all played nearly every minute of every game over the last two months. I think it is fatigue. That said, Caitlin and Katie have never really been frequent scorers, that’s something we have to address in January with Viv and Mead out, that’s our two most productive players in the penalty area gone for the season and that has to be taken care of (am sure it will be, Arsenal tried to buy a CF in… Read more »
Our bench has been very telling of our injury problems. Before Raf and Leah came back there were matches where our bench was half the size of the opponent’s. There was a game in there where we had only three senior players on the bench (three!), the rest were kids.
“tell me what KT offers as an attacker?” She’s persistently aggressive, rattles defenders, she’s got a rocket of shot, has an eye for the pass… In this game she put some real beauties into the box. I wasn’t her fault no one was getting on the end of them (that’s Stina’s job, she HAS to be getting on more of those). She isn’t as effective on the right, I’ll admit, but she’s been shoehorned in there, it’s not her natural position. Foord was indeed wasteful in the final third but I think that was more a measure of the quality of… Read more »
Because no right winger Stina is pulled to the right (your point is correct, shes out of position)and covered by right fullback plus right centerback, box is overcrowded with defenders, the girls need time to find the way to play like that.
Firstly I hope that Viv’s injury isn’t too serious (not another ACL in the squad!), but it didn’t look good and neither did her reaction. I thought we huffed and puffed but a lack of quality in the final third let us down, especially in the first half when we were on top.
Their goal was lucky, but I do have reservations about Zinsberger, a decent shot stopper but awful on crosses.
We do need to step up a gear in the next round of the Champs League but COYGs.
Yeah I noticed that on a couple of crosses you just wanted her to come out and claim the ball above the striker’s head but she stood back on her line and waited for the ball to be directed towards her. A few inches out of her reach and it gives away a goal!
I hope the coaches also see this and work on it in training as quite a lot of Manu’s game has improved since she arrived.
Captain Fantastic Kim is back and hopefully will feature at least from the bench on Wednesday versus Zurich. We’ve certainly missed her!
I’m amazed at the negativity here. It’s not like we got trounced by a minnow. We lost by one fluky goal to the reigning champions. I agree our attack was somewhat blunted in the final third but we were facing some of the best defenders in the world… and we were without two Ballon d’or contending attackers.
The second half kind of felt like a team who were playing it safe knowing a slim loss still left them in a great position to qualify but a heavy loss would’ve changed the dynamic of the final matchday.
100% agree. Shades of Arsenal fandom in the early days of Arteta. As with Arteta, the players love Jonas, even with Miedema frustrated at her good friend Mana’s lack of minutes. I too would love to have seen more minutes for Mana, but one thing I do like about Jonas is that he seems clear in what he is looking for. We have been mostly much more vertical and powerful since he came. I love Montemurro, but we did need a change to (eventually) overhaul Chelsea. *This game* yes, we were more backwards and sideways passing, and it’s clear that… Read more »
As far as the negativity towards the football I think people forget about the “reset and start from zero” decision after the Man United game. They abandoned further stages of development and “went back to the basics”. I think this meant that in possession we would be seeing more one dimensional football than if they had continued developing on the training pitch
Agree – the negativity should really be the concern for Viv’s injury, which I read involved twisting her knee, so it may not be an ACL after all. The injury clearly impacted morale in the second half.
She did twist it awkwardly, for sure, but she seemed to be in far more pain than a simple strain or sprain would dictate. I’m hoping for the best, for Viv’s sake, but… Re. morale. It was interesting that van de Donk was subbed off at half-time. Her and Viv have a long history and she was right in there consoling Viv more than even Walti (I love how Lia is always the first to the scene when a teammate seems to be in legit distress). I couldn’t help but wonder if that played a part in their decision to… Read more »
Could be down to them wanting to bring in a powerful midfielder to try and dominate… aka amandine henry..
I felt that OL were also happy with the small win to keep things in their own hands, hence the rather flat 2nd half.
DVD also suffered a serious long term injury recently. She has talked openly about how hard, painful and scary the journey back was. Maybe seeing it happen in front of her to a good friend was too much to continue playing
Now that I think of it, as DVD was getting back on the grass from her long term injury her partner Ellie Carpenter ruptured her ACL in the Champions League final in May and then Mead with whom she is also close did her ACL a few weeks ago followed by what happened to Viv yesterday. She must have been questioning the universe in that half time break
I don’t think so, just Amandine Hernry is better player than DVD, we were lucky Henry and Lesomer only came on the second half
It was interesting to see DvD and Lia Wälti talking together for quite a long time at the end of the match. From the body language I’d guess they were both concerned about Viv. They were all three teammates in our WSL-winning season.