Arsenal went down 1-0 in Munich in the first leg of their UWCL quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich, despite creating a host of second half chances. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press post-match.
On whether Jonas rues the missed chances or takes them as a positive sign ahead of the second leg…
Part of me is proud because it was a really good performance, part of me is disappointed because we need to be more efficient with our chances. Part of me is very angry, I am not sure whether VAR was working tonight otherwise it was someone who was sitting and not looking at the pictures because there were clear and obvious penalty situations, two of them, I think that is unacceptable.
On the thinking behind the first half switch that saw Maritz move to right-back, McCabe to left-back and Pelova to the wing…
There were a few bits we saw there, we could see how much space we had down the sides and it made sense to have players who wanted to play naturally on their sides. I thought that made us control the game in a really, really good way in the second half.
On what is needed to turn the result around in the second leg…
We need to score a goal! At least two. But they are a very, very good counter-attacking team, you saw that tonight. A little bit of you feels danger when you attack because you know they can hit you on the counter. But you need to be brave on the ball, make good decisions and keep them low down the pitch. With our fans at the Emirates, we have a great chance.
On which decisions he was unhappy about…
The pull of the shirt (on Rafaelle) and the handball from their number 4, that was obvious.
On whether the officials explained the decisions…
That’s not how communication with officials works, I wish it worked like that. That is where we have a couple of issues. First of all is that VAR is only introduced in the quarter-finals, I don’t know whether the VAR referee has ever used VAR. Secondly, goal line technology is something you can use at this stage of the competition but it’s not compulsory. Today, it was not in use. Because Bayern Munich choose not to pay for it. Next week at the Emirates Arsenal chooses to pay for it because we think that’s the right thing to do to ensure a fair competition. It is a problem for the competition that not every game has the same level of technology in helping the officials take the right decisions.
On when he found out that Bayern weren’t using GLT…
Yesterday. You have to accept, it is not Bayern’s fault, it is within their right to make the decision. We can all agree that it is very weird that you play in a level of a competition and it comes down to the hosting club if they are going to fund the technology that is being used by both teams.
On whether there is a temptation to not use GLT next week…
It’s not about that, it is not what is important for us, we want to win the right way. Everyone might benefit from goal line technology to know whether the ball is in or not. It is so hard for the referee to see or not. The players deserve to get that level of detail and accuracy.
Oooof, so close! https://t.co/NI0twBK5Gm
— Tim Stillman (@Stillmanator) March 21, 2023
On the 200 travelling Arsenal fans…
They were brilliant, just like the performance from the team, the fans were brilliant. The players were really good, they were really brave on the ball and they displayed Arsenal in a really good way in the second half. We are proud of that, we are very disappointed with the result and we are going to do everything in our power to turn it around next week.
1.Zinsberger; 26.Wienroither (21.Pelova ‘60), 6.Williamson, 2.Rafaelle, 16.Maritz; 13.Walti, 10.Little(c), 12.Maanum; 15.McCabe, 19.Foord; 25.Blackstenius (22.Kuhl ‘81).
Unused subs: 3.Wubben-Moy, 5.Beattie, 14.D’Angelo, 17.Hurtig, 18.Marckese, 59.Agyemang.
Next time girls
On the basis of the second half, they didn’t deserve to lose.
Also, got to say that the refeering was abysmal.
Absolutely agree
Well said, JE. Frankly, I’m proud, frustrated and livid, too! But what I take from the simulation and time-wasting by the BM players in the second half is that they fear us. The GLT point isn’t that they were trying to gain an advantage, since it could have gone for or against either team. The point as he says is consistency – both matches should be played under the same conditions. The referee let way too much go, but on the other hand she was quite good at seeing through fake injuries/fouls. Didn’t fall for it every single time, so… Read more »
Oh my God, what am I saying??!!! Caitlin Foord was awesome! I don’t know how she produces that level of physical fitness, technical quality and mental intensity every game for 90 minutes. Brilliant. Deserved a goal.
Yea! Caitlin was AMAZING🔥! Especially the manner in which she ran at Bayern defenders. Maybe I’ve not seen lots of games but I’ve not seen her in such beast mode before😊
She certainly deserved at least one goal!
Oh thanks, Fun Gunner re: the bit about Frida! It’s NOT only in this game; I’ve seen a couple of our games that she had chosen to shoot at goal (rather poorly often times I daresay) instead of playing a pass to a teammate that’s in a great position to attempt to score. I do wonder if that’s what JE always needs her to do. Otherwise, she’s a brilliant footballer.
Yes, I wondered if she was just following instructions and she usually scored in training.
Not sure I agree on the GLT. The game was played in the Allianz, the technology evidently is already there. What is it they weren’t willing to pay for, a licence fee to use it for one match? Surely in the context of the profile of the game and the desire to increase the profile of women’s football it would have made a lot of sense to pay/negotiate that amount. Bluntly, I’d argue they were given a choice not to use it and felt that at home there would be an advantage to not using it – as was evidently… Read more »
Watched the game on DAZN. Our girls played well, just unlucky. Referring is appalling! If they want women football to be attractive, they need to raise the referring standards! Either everyone uses VAR, or no one!
According to the article above, VAR was used now in the quarters. It’s just that the VAR never interfered, it seems.
Jonas complained about the goal line technology, which Bayern didn’t implement cause it’s optional.I do believe however, that the two critical scenes were not behind the line.
VAR is a joke because the VAR officials just arbitrarily decide whether to review a play or not–according to their whims, apparently. They’ll stop play after there’s been no call in the box and then scrutinize the play for minutes and decide there was a little nick of a player’s foot and award a PK—and then 10 minutes later there seems a foul in the box–but, gain, no call by the ref–and there’s no review at all. It’s maddening. Foord was excellent, again, Arsenal the better team for much of the match–but you have to score. Don’t play McCabe on… Read more »
Stina really should have converted that header chance off the Foord cross in the first half. She didn’t–and then later BM comes down and converts on a header for a goal. Difference between win, loss, tie.
I looked at that a few times, she was at full height of her jump and the ball was still above her head. She had no chance of bringing it down.
VAR’s problems:
– inconsistency in being triggered
– inconsistency in interpretation of subjective decisions (sadly, handballs fall here these days)
– inconsistency in application (how far back a check is done)
– And of course we saw in the men’s game, that even in the one area VAR is perfect for, there can be incompetence in application.
More than a bit unlucky there, for a variety of reasons. If Mead and Miedema had been available that might have been a bit one-sided.
Need to get the ball in the net though, and ideally early in the return fixture, so that BM can’t sit back and play on the counter.
Can Jodie Taylor play? Or is it like on the Men’s side where you’re only allowed the players that you registered at the start of the tournament? Would be nice to have another experienced attacking option.
she can’t play because you can only register 3 new players in the knockouts and we registered D’Andelo, Kühl and Pelova
In that video above the ball looks like it’s hit the roof net before dropping and getting cleared…
Anyone else see that ?
Yup. Camera angles can be deceiving, though.
First of all, very good gutsy performance in the second half. Aggressive and dominant. We’ve come a long way since the Wolfsburg tie last season. The ref was shambolic but if we had better quality, we would have finished off some of our chances today. I’d like to address 2 things: 1. I’m sorry but Stina Blackstenius will never be the player we want her to be. She’s a severely technically limited player who has great movement and needs multiple chances to score a goal. Great for a counter attacking team like Sweden but not a possession dominant one like… Read more »
Agree on Points 2 & 3: Caitlyn was outstanding versus Bayern, whilst Frida is brilliant at powering forward & very difficult to dispossess but she rarely hits the target with her attempts on goal & should always pass/cross once through. Stina Blackstenius is a deceptively effective “contributor to the cause” and I urge you to watch her carefully next time, hopefully to appreciate the superb hold-up, intelligent forward runs and clever link up play she consistently performs i.e. all the plays required for a player in her position. And Stanway deserved at least a Yellow for that (very) early tackle… Read more »
I agree with most of your comment but Sweden (womens NT) is not a counter attacking team and has not been during the current management.
Back to the video… the ball comes off Stina’s head spinning Counter Clockwise, hits the net, then spins Clockwise…… am I delusional ?
Maybe I’m wrong about the spin, but some weird happens the the ball when it appears to hit the net. It seems redirect and the spin changes somehow…can’t explain it
Angles – the ball goes nowhere near the net. Have another look on DAZN or any of the highlights compilations on Youtube. The Bayern defender colliding with the back of the net causes the net to flex pretty much at the exact moment the ball is at it’s highest point, giving the impression – from one angle – that the ball hit the net. From other angles, it’s clear the ball goes nowhere near the net. As someone who works in image interpretation, I’m tempted to add this one for training use…
Fair enough.
Thanks for the input.
I’ll start taking my Meds again.
Not good enough but with the score 1-0 and still 90 minutes to play the players better put in a much better performance at home. No way can we go out on this game it was awful how no one can score. And for once the loss isn’t down to Jonas. He can’t score for Blackstenius or Foord, hell even Leah couldn’t put it into the back of the net from 2 yards out. Just embarrassing.
I think you must have been watching a different match ??
Only caught the 2nd half, and i must say, what a performance. Did everything but score. All to play for in the second leg, and i think we can take alot of confidence from this. They were rattled, and have to play wolfsburg over the weekend. We can make it a truly miserable week for them.
We played better in the 2nd half but as noted by JE, we need to take better decisions (we were too slow in some phases of the game) and be more efficient in front of goal. March 29 should be here already! COYG👊!!
I love Katie McCabe and they way she plays the game!
Our girls played well and though we missed a lot of scoring chances I believe they can do better on the return leg. It was a good team performance and the one goal that was scored could not have been saved.
It felt similar to recent games against Chelsea: outplayed the opposition for much of the game; couldn’t put several chances away; conceded a headed goal to a world-class striker. At least we don’t come up against Sam Kerr or Lea Schuller every week.
Schüller
you can write down: Schueller, if you can’t get the umlaut from your keyboard.
“Secondly, goal line technology is something you can use at this stage of the competition but it’s not compulsory. Today, it was not in use. Because Bayern Munich choose not to pay for it. Next week at the Emirates Arsenal chooses to pay for it because we think that’s the right thing to do to ensure a fair competition.” I don’t see a problem with that, cause it can help both ways. I believe that both critical balls were clearly not in, don’t need goal line technology for that. Next time we have that, this could not only benefit Bayern,… Read more »
That’s a goal all day long,it does touch the net and is still over the line before the clearance!!