Arsenal were 3-0 winners over West Ham in the WSL on Sunday afternoon thanks to a goal from Frida Maanum and a brace from Beth Mead. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press post-match, the first three questions are from Arseblog News.
On whether Arsenal had a plan to expose West Ham between the wing-backs and wide centre-halves…
Any team playing with a back three gets into that decision about how comfortable the central defender feels to come out and defend in that area. We came away from the Southampton game feeling we didn’t do enough of that. It was pleasing to see us get much more out of those situations today.
On whether Arsenal had a plan to press West Ham’s left-sided defenders who are both right-footed…
If it looked obvious to you it was probably part of the plan.
On the importance of a second consecutive clean sheet in the WSL and the developing partnership between Ilestedt and Wubben-Moy…
It is really important that we build those relationships and we talked about in the press conference before this game that it probably takes longer because we are trying to grow so many different relationships, we have to invest in all the relationships because we cannot only have a few, we need to get them gelled and ready to play together. It was pleasing to get the clean sheet today, today we probably had some of that luck we hadn’t had this season. They hit the post twice and there are situations where we need to do better collectively. At the same time, every time I have seen West Ham play this season they have created lots of goal scoring opportunities, so we weren’t under any illusions that that wouldn’t happen. They have top, top international players like Veki who is an incredible player, they have lots of international talent and you can see that, they can hurt any team.
On Beth Mead scoring her first goals since her injury…
It was a very good performance from her, the attitude she has in defence, you could see she was so switched on in the counter pressing moments. She reacts so quickly when we lose the ball and she gets it back and she is facing forwards, I had that feeling where it was like, ‘ok, that is Beth Mead.’ Sometimes you get that gut feeling about a player, we know that is what she can bring. We know it is there because we have seen it so much before but now we see her level coming in to play today. The first goal is brilliant, you see her confidence cutting in and using her left foot and she puts herself into good scoring positions. It’s a really good week for her to get recalled for England and hopefully she can come back and really contribute in the final block before Christmas.
On Stina Blackstenius and Lina Hurtig not being in the squad today…
Both of them have very minor injuries, I don’t think there will be any problem with them joining their National Team, it was very minor but stopped them being a part of the squad today.
On the Chelsea game after the international break…
What I have seen of Chelsea so far I have been very impressed by them, this may be the strongest Chelsea I have seen since I have been in the WSL. They have such a strong squad and they look very well organised so it is a big test but that is what we want. We want to compete and challenge and we will hopefully come out in a sold out Emirates Stadium and we will leave everything on the pitch. We are under no illusions that they will be probably our toughest opponent so far and we have to be the best version of ourselves and we are going to do our very best to do that.
On the emotion of Beth Mead’s goals…
You can see how closely knit the player group is, it’s not just that Beth Mead is happy that she scores but all the other players are and wishing her success, that is what makes a great team, that they all want what is best for each other and to challenge you to succeed and you can really see that, how much the players wanted that for her. That was really pleasing for me to see too because if Beth is successful we are going to be a good team.
On whether Frida Maanum meant her opening goal…
Never ask the author or the artist to tell you the meaning of their art! That is what makes it art, when it is not easy to explain. Art is in the eye of the beholder so you are allowed your opinion on whether she meant it and either way it is beautiful.
1.Zinsberger; 15.McCabe (16.Maritz ‘63), 28.Ilestedt, 3.Wubben-Moy, 7.Catley; 21.Pelova (13.Walti ‘74), 32.Cooney-Cross; 9.Mead (24.Lacasse ‘64), 12.Maanum (11.Miedema ‘82), 19.Foord; 23.Russo (10.Little ‘82).
Unused: 5.Beattie, 14.D’Angelo, 22.Kuhl, 27.Codina.
Do you know how many tickets are being issued?
Is being down a few hundred on the final game of last season solely on no-shows