1.Zinsberger; 2.Fox, 6.Williamson(c) (28.Ilestedt HT), 3.Wubben-Moy, 7.Catley; 21.Pelova (32.Cooney-Cross ‘63), 13.Wälti, 9.Mead (24.Lacasse ‘63), 11.Miedema (25.Blackstenius ‘63), 19.Foord (12.Maanum ‘77), 23.Russo.
Unused: 10.Little, 14.D’Angelo, 27.Codina, 40.Williams.
—
Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press after Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham this afternoon. Here’s what he had to say.
Q: Jonas, did that match, particularly in the second half, feel like a bit of a microcosm of some of the issues Arsenal have had this season with deep blocks and perhaps the opponents not having much territory but getting clear sights of goal?
Yeah, I said that in the interview before. I think, ‘Why don’t we score a second goal in this game? I think we’ve come back, especially in the second half, to some sins early on in the season where we missed targets on our finishing, and we get finishes blocked as a result of not playing the chance a lot bigger or setting up the final pass a little bit better.
But I do get it, the pitch today doesn’t make it the easiest, the wind doesn’t make it the easiest, but still that’s the result of that.
Q: You started Leah today. In the first game, Arsenal had some success with quick switches of play, quick diagonals, early balls in. Was that part of your game plan and part of why you started Leah today?
To be honest, I expected West Ham to come out and press a little bit more aggressively than they did. But part of starting Leah today was because she was ready to start a football match. This was a great opportunity for us to do that. She couldn’t play more than a half today, so that was a pre-planned substitution. But I think she played very well.
Q: Jonas, you started out really well in the first half and then you kind of panicked in the last 20. Would you agree with that?
I wouldn’t say panic in the last 20. I wouldn’t say that. I think it’s … I think we’re playing against a team that obviously defend very, very low. And we’re trying to break down that low block. But did we start to play just long balls into the penalty area? No, we did not. We tried to set up the situations we wanted to do. We pushed them deep. Did they create counter-attacks as a result of us losing the ball too early or us starting to force things through? I don’t think so.
I do think we missed the last qualitative bit on getting a second goal there. But, no, we didn’t have it.
Do you think you underestimated West Ham coming here today?
No, I don’t think so. I said that beforehand. From an xG perspective, they’re the fifth best team in the league. I think they’ve been unlucky with their results compared to their performances. They had a very strong January transfer window as well. I think you can see they have a strong international squad, which is basically filled with first-team international players. They’re a good team and very competitive, so no, I didn’t underestimate it.
And then finally, in terms of the title race, no team has lost two league games and then gone on to win the title. Is that your race over?
No. You can’t think like that. You can only think with the things that you can control. And that’s to the next games ahead. We have a lot of league games left to play. A lot of league games left to play with teams that are closer in our region of the table as well.
So now our focus needs to be on our performances and our next games and then we’ll see what that means for the league too. and then we’ll see what that means for the league too.
Challenge over? Was it ever on? Chelsea streets better. Like the men’s team we over pass and move it to slow
Personally I was amazed we gave him a new contract
Spot on
He’s a boring coach who’ll never win the title
As soon as Vicky Sparks said on the commentary that West Ham have never beaten us in the WSL, I thought oh bother! And so it came to pass. Agree with Tim it was a microcosm of the first half of the season. Sloppy finishing and sloppy defending and we are 2-1 down. Not helped by poor officiating with a flag happy lino in the first and how the body slam on Lacasse in the second wasn’t a penalty I don’t know. Any how all that shouldn’t have mattered. Whether it’s coaching or the team still getting used to playing… Read more »
First of all, incredibly frustrated with the questions asked here. I know journalists have a limited number of questions here but I read this and at no point, did I feel any of the questions drove home the severity of the loss. It’s been 3 losses vs non title contenders this season and none of the questions addressed that neither did I see any question that let Jonas know he’s now under immense pressure (I’m sure he knows it internally but wouldn’t have hurt to drive it home today). Genuinely wondering what the club was doing renewing Jonas’ contract so… Read more »
Completely agree with you it was a horrible result and this and Spurs one were just awful, but although bad, Liverpool was understandable given the lack of pre-season training. As for the rest of your comment / vendetta against Eidevall. To say that Eidevall has done nothing to earn the trust of a new deal. Seriously, what have you been watching?! In his first season we lost the league by one point, second season we won a trophy (first in 4 years) and got to the CL semi-final for the first time in a long time. We also stuffed Chelsea… Read more »
What was the use of giving a manager a new contract at the start of a season when his contract wasn’t expiring until the end? What extra loss would they have incurred waiting till the end of the season to see how things panned out? I honestly don’t understand how this is a strange concept for you to grasp. The team had literally just been knocked out of Europe. Wait the season out and see how well we do before giving a new contract. How hard is this to conceptualise? What vendetta do I have against a manager except him… Read more »
The first two questions were mine. The first question very literally asked about familiar themes with the other two WSL defeats of the season. He was also asked whether Arsenal were out of the title race (which was not my question). I think your issue is not the questions but the answers and, I know I have said this before, but there is nothing anyone can ask him that will make him say what you want him to say (ie, ‘I am a massive idiot and I should be sacked.’) He is not going to say that whatever is asked.… Read more »
Obvs everyone is entitled to ask questions about our questions but I think, approach wise, we are always going to seek good detail like this over and above being emotive and barracking the manager (whoever it is) in a manner that is unlikely to produce anything other than defensive and not very useful answers anyway. These questions were critical and asked openly about flaws in the team’s approach but were asked in such a way that we got a good quality answer about how the manager sees the issues and how he seeks to solve them. I am convinced that… Read more »
Fact is he got the lineup wrong. McCabe with a stupid yellow card last time out to ‘sit out’ against a supposedly weaker team. And why is Miedema still starting games when she’s not a 10 and not playing well? A better manager would have brought in a replacement for Manu who constantly makes mistakes that cost goals. Leah isn’t ready to play full games so don’t waste a good start by playing mediocre players. And with is Blackstenius no starting? Why so long with Mead and no Lacasse? The fact is unless City and Chelsea start losing game the… Read more »
I totally agree….. and Manu needs to go.
Was she the reason for the loss today? Must have missed it. Russo missed at least two, maybe three good scoring chances. That was the biggest reason the team didn’t get a 2nd goal–poor finishing by her.
So did Viv but she can do no wrong in your eyes! To be fair though you are right we did not lose this game because of Manu regardless of what you think of her as a keeper.
Fair to say her mistake that led to West Ham’s goal didn’t help? I think she is partially responsible for the defeat but we should be able to score more than 1 goal vs West Ham as well.
Yes very disapointed with Russo she is not better than Stina
McCabe picking up a booking made sense because of the Gold Cup coming up and the loss of Emily Fox. A McCabe suspension would have been more problematic in that period and I think Fox and Catley should be perfectly good enough full-backs to win this game. Lacasse came on for Mead on 60 minutes. On Leah, the only way she is going to be ready to play full games is by doing 45 minutes in these games. Issue for me far more collective, far too conservative when attacking opponents, too slow and deliberate, not enough runners in behind Russo… Read more »
the Westham defense line was too deep, nobody can do runs in behind, but everybody was expecting that, Cizoko put personal cover to Foord and Shelina to Mead, we barely use the channels, is one and over again the same Jonas tactic against it, middle field was completely controlled by Gorry after Pelova leave. Why don’t try to use different players with different characteristics and skills? why Jonas is obsessed to use the same players?, Why Gio left the team if we are going to need wingers, Lina out for injury, and Lacasse for Gold Cup? what need to do… Read more »
One of the best squads in the league constantly underachieving.
He must leave.
Manu must leave
Scapegoating the keeper. Please. Russo was the player who fouled up this game with poor finishing–fact. Scored a goal but missed two/three other gold-plated chances.
For once you have a valid point it was not the goalkeeper’s fault we lost. Thumbs up where it is due!
I think the narrative of us suggesting with deep blocks is a lazy assessment because we had our chances in their box but lacked composure to finish them. It’s either we took one touch to many or didn’t take an extra touch when necessary.
On second thought, maybe that is us suggesting with deep blocks. But we did have our chances and we just didn’t take them.
Shooting against a forest of legs carries a very low percentage likelihood of success. You have to disrupt the other team’s organisation and *force* the defenders to move our of their formation through your movement and give them no time to reorganise through the speed of your passing, changes of direction, changing the point of attack, dummy runs etc. If you’re in the box trying to smash the ball through 9 or 10 players, you’re already in trouble.
I suddenly feel so disenchanted 😐
Why the thumbs down?
Honestly need to figure out how to score more goals or we will finish behind Man United and out of the top 3.
I need to give vent to disappointment and negativity. That was a very distressing watch. Has Jonas really got any strategy for beating a low-block back five? Gilly Flaherty in the commentary that there was not nearly enough movement of our forwards. Have to agree – isn’t that a coaching issue? Viv has lost that half-yard of pace and fear a repeat of what happened to Jordan Nobbs who was never the same after serious injury. Why did Vic have her least effective game of the season? The same goes for Beth – Cloé is looking much more dangerous and… Read more »
If I go to Dartford on Thursday I’m going to be 24 hours late;
Our best players were Emily Fox, a brilliant signing, Chloe Lacasse, who should be starting every game, the always impressive Victoria Pelova, and Leah Williamson, whose class was clear in the first 45. Viv Miediema and Alessia Russo, with a superb strike, were industrious too. I am always reluctant to criticise specific players, but our goalkeeper was nowhere near saving the “penalty” plus she should have caught the ball instead of punching it out, before the 2nd goal. Not at all inspirational. It has to be said that West Ham were much improved with their new signings, although they were… Read more »
I’d give Manu the benefit of the doubt against the penalty which the keeper always requires a certain amount of luck to save but that punch was an under-16’s error. If you’re not confident to catch it punch it up and out not straight onto the floor so that someone can simply blast it past you! Never mind Sarah playing at Dartford we should give her a run in WSL too as she is probably the best keeper we have at present and she hasn’t played for ages! I cannot understand the contract extension logic for Manu. I thought she… Read more »
Manuela Almunia?
Kim was a big miss
No chance of winning the league now, don’t think he can takes us any further, he should go
The spotlight is on Jonas here, in his third season (I believe) and many would argue the teams gone backwards despite the talent added to the squad, were likely in a fight for third, if he misses out on that then this expensive looking squad could well see unneeded upheaval in the top players waving goodbye, they want to be playing at the highest level. As I mentioned before he has this result in him, unfortunately he’s had three this season, he seems currently clueless as to how to beat a team setup to sit deep. He talks a good… Read more »
Win the game then bring on Leah
Three girls coming back from injury ,,, not good
Same girls starting who have not scored in the first half,, not good
Foorde needs resting :: Katie defensive midfield
KCC & Vicky start