Arsenal Women coach Jonas Eidevall is embracing the pressure as his side gear up to play Chelsea in Sunday’s Conti Cup Final. The Gunners have not won a trophy since securing the league title in 2019.
Since then, they have lost the 2020 Conti Cup Final and 2021 FA Cup Final to Emma Hayes’ side. Eidevall says he feels responsibility and pressure to break that drought but insists the pressure is something he is comfortable with.
“Of course we feel pressure, it means a lot to us and we care a lot about what we do and with that comes pressure. We want to play as well as possible and win the trophy so of course I feel that pressure but that’s a part of being a manager in these games.
“For me and the team, we want to win things, we want to lift the trophy. What we can control is how we go about it. How we are behaving, what our mindset is and that is where we need to put our focus. If we do that, we have a very good chance of winning a trophy this week.”
Just two days to go 🔥 #ContiCupFinal 🏆 pic.twitter.com/GCGG2o1L3d
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) March 3, 2023
Eidevall urged his team not to show too much respect to Sunday’s opponents. Asked whether it hurt him to watch Chelsea lift so many domestic trophies in recent years, the Swede insisted revenge was not in his or his team’s thoughts ahead of Sunday’s showpiece at Selhurst Park.
“I hate to say it, I don’t know if I have seen Chelsea lift any trophy, I think I have tried to escape watching those moments! It is not about revenge or anything like that from our side, it is about what we want to achieve and what we are trying to create together and the memories we want to create. That is all we focus on.
“Chelsea has been doing it very well over the last few seasons, they have been very impressive and won a lot. But we need to focus on us and not give them too much respect.”
The game kicks off at 3pm on Sunday, live on BBC One in the UK and the FA Player everywhere else.
Let’s go Gunners!