On Sunday, Jonas Eidevall described the performance of his captain Kim Little as “close to the perfect game.” The Scottish midfielder dominated the Conti Cup Final against Chelsea, with Blues boss Emma Hayes admitting, “she deserved player of the match, she ran the game.”
Asked in his pre-Liverpool press conference about Little’s qualities and how they allow her to put in such a landmark performance, Eidevall was in effusive mood.
“Kim does something that is very tough for many central midfielders. She can control large areas of space,” Eidevall explained. “Some players are excellent when they don’t have to move very much. They can make the most of very little space.
“That is one quality you can have as a central midfielder. Kim can control so much space but in defence and offence. When space gets huge around her she has the possibility to dribble out of situations. Not all central midfielders have that quality and that is something that is very useful.”
Eidevall suggested that Sunday’s games suited her qualities. “That quality she used a lot of times on Sunday. The other part is when you defend and the game becomes more transitional, then your central midfielders end up being the glue between the forward line and the defending line.
“Some midfielders cannot run and defend a lot of space and they become dependent on having organisation around them. She can cover so much space, both because of her physical ability because she can run repeatedly but more importantly because of her game intelligence and her intuition.
“Very early on she can read where the ball will end up and is able to prioritise where to run. Those things will happen frequently when you play a team like Chelsea. It was the combination of her performance being very strong but also the situations in offence and defence brings out some of her top qualities as a midfielder.”
Australian winger Caitlin Foord also enjoyed an excellent performance at Selhurst Park. Lyon and Chelsea have substituted their right-backs in the first half of games against Arsenal this season, while Chelsea changed their right-back early in the second half when the teams met in January.
WHAT A HIT! 😮
Caitlin Foord nets her brace to extend Arsenal's lead to 4-1 over Lyon 🔴⚪️#UWCL LIVE NOW ⬇️
🇬🇧 🎙 👉 https://t.co/fZCJCq1pLe
🇫🇷 🎙 👉 https://t.co/0VIUGFNcvS pic.twitter.com/jsDL8rr7Aa— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) October 19, 2022
On each occasion, Foord was playing on the left-wing. Arseblog News asked Eidevall what makes her such an integral part of an attack that has come under the spotlight in recent weeks.
“Caitlin is a key player for us in all aspects of the game. Of course it is a team effort but she has a very big role when we have been successful on our left side in those big games.
“Whenever the transfer window closes, there is no point in discussing what you don’t have. It’s more about discussing what you have and she is a player that deserves to be in the spotlight for the performances that she is making.”
Kim Little – Master of the Universe.
Keep the content coming, Tim! It is much appreciated.
A bit like Darth Vader then
I know and agree with all of the analysis of Kim’s play by her manager, Jonas – he simply articulated into beautiful words. Additionally, Kim seems always to be the last line of defence in the Arsenal penalty box in “emergencies” and is clearly revered by her team mates – what a Leader by Example!
Kim little has been such a big player for such a long time, and still will be for a few year’s to come, we’re so fortunate she’s been at Arsenal for so much of her career