Arsenal Women boss Jonas Eidevall has urged his team not to throw the towel in on their unlikely WSL title hopes as they prepare to face Leicester City at Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Gunners trail Chelsea and Manchester City by six points with four games remaining.
Eidevall says he wants his team to leave the season with no regrets and prepare if the unlikely happens and City and Chelsea both stumble. ‘It is about the mentality to always do your best and to never give up,’ Eidevall said in his pre Leicester press conference. ‘My assistant Aaron D’Antino is Australian showed me the video of the Australian skater in the Winter Olympics that was last in the final and then everyone slips and he goes first over the finishing line.’
Eidevall was referring to Australian speed skater Steven Bradley, who was dead last in his race at the 2022 Winter Olympics only for every single one of his competitors to be involved in a collision on the final corner, leaving Bradley to take the gold medal.
‘The thing is, if everyone else slips, are you ready? Or have you already given up because you didn’t think it would happen? That is a mindset thing. That is why it is so important to always do your best. We cannot control what other teams do, there is a lot of external factors that you can’t control but you can control your own actions.
‘In business they call that ‘return on luck.’ To make sure you position yourself if you get that luck, will your return be good? That is what we need to work with now.’ Eidevall also admitted that the final four games gives his team a good opportunity to prepare for next season too.
‘Secondly, for all that we are trying to build, this is really important for being the first chapter for next season. When we speak about being consistent and being the team that we want to be, this is an excellent opportunity for us in the games we have left, to work and showcase that. For me, there is so much motivation for the last games of the season.’
Arseblog News asked Jonas Eidevall for injury updates ahead of the final few games of the season, while he admitted that Lina Hurtig and Lia Walti are unlikely to play again in this campaign, the prognoses for Vivianne Miedema and Frida Maanum are more positive. Kyra Cooney-Cross and Laia Codina also missed last week’s game against Bristol City.
‘There has been good progress, I can see quite a few players returning to the squad but we still have two more training sessions to go. I felt against Bristol we had quite a depleted squad and it looks like a healthier, competitive situation going into this game against Leicester.
‘Lia Walti I don’t think it is realistic that she will play again this season. We have to treat the injuries week by week. The prognosis for her is still good on the injury, she will definitely recover. It is more the timeline of the season. Viv has been progressing really well and she is not far off from being able to return to the squad.
‘I don’t see there is a chance of Lina playing again this season given how long she has been away. She is still away due to personal reasons and we have to respect that and support her in the best way possible.
‘On Frida, she is on a monitored return to play protocol and everything is going fine at the moment but we need to stick to that protocol, we hope she can be available for selection on Sunday.’
Great story about Bradbury – in fact I think I remember that! I can’t see any dramatic plot twists happening with the league title, sadly.
What I can see is another great performance like last week’s – consistent in both halves, doing the basics really well and playing quickly.
And if Miedema, KCC and Codina can play a part that would be the cherry on the cake.
Yes, play like you mean it! Too often this season we appear to have been going through the motions with no urgency or enthusiasm and that is what has cost us.