Arsenal were 5-1 winners away at Tottenham in the WSL on Saturday afternoon with goals from Stina Blackstenius, a brace from Caitlin Foord, a Kim Little goal and a goal from Frida Maanum. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press post-match, the first three questions are from Arseblog News.
On the details they changed at half-time to produce a completely dominant second half…
We went into a static way in the last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half. They changed the way they pressed with two forwards and then they had a block with eight players, we didn’t engage that block well enough or utilise the width well enough so we had to change our positioning a bit. Once we did that in the second half, our performance was very dominant and I was very pleased with that.
What a goal 😱
A rocket from Blackstenius 🚀#WomensFootballWeekend @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/izU02HmPm0
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) March 25, 2023
On familiar patterns emerging in attack again…
I think you can see we look sharper and better in that again. That comes with time together, on the training pitch and playing matches together and integrating new players. A player like Victoria Pelova is very important for us today, both in the way she plays defence but also because the way she keeps possession and sets up attacks for us.
It was nice to see from a squad perspective that we changed the goalkeeper and we see the strengths Sabrina has with her communication and her distribution. That is really important for us as a squad to have that option. We have Lotte Wubben-Moy as well and she plays a very strong game today. That is important for us because it keeps the energy levels high and we have the competition in the squad so everyone needs to be on their toes.
She just loves scoring against Spurs!@CaitlinFoord 🙌#WomensFootballWeekend pic.twitter.com/hPcfkc5CLV
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) March 25, 2023
On Stina Blackstenius’ performance...
It is so important to see development with players and you see how we develop players, Stina has really improved holding up the ball and using her physicality. I like that she took the finish on the first touch, seeing the goalkeeper is out of position, that is really good awareness. It was a strong performance.
Captain Kim steps up from the spot!#WomensFootballWeekend @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/QaMgAabbAP
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) March 25, 2023
On the importance of the early goal…
It is always nice to score early, especially it was important because of the way we scored it. We know with this pitch is not the Allianz Arena! It was hard to play between the lines if it is too compact but you could see how we were constantly stretching them and that is where it comes from. It was a good way to start the game.
Caitlin Foord just loves the North London Derby 🤩#WomensFootballWeekend @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/fYzNFXpt8F
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) March 25, 2023
On whether there is any idea on the severity of the injury to Gio…
Not at all yet.
On the level of focus with the game between the two legs of the Bayern tie…
I think that is what you need to do, you can’t prioritise one or the other. We are at a stage in the league is so competitive, so you need to do your very best to win these games. An away game here is always going to be a challenge. Bayern is in the same situation, they are playing Wolfsburg today, they can’t exactly take it easy. It’s two teams with tough games and we’ll be ready to go on a slightly better pitch on Wednesday.
What a strike from @FMaanum 🙌#WomensFootballWeekend @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/JHmAEejhsV
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) March 25, 2023
On the importance of boosting the goal difference…
It is important from a mentality perspective, we are a team that likes to express ourselves so why would we stop doing that? One of our values is to be 100% all the time no matter the situation. Sometimes that is when you are having tough times but it is also when you are doing well and not to become complacent or start acting in a different way, it doesn’t matter if we are winning 4-1, when we are representing Arsenal, let’s be 100% and make the moment of every second. It is a way of showing the pride in the jersey.
On the mixture of goal scorers…
That is good, hopefully we go into Wednesday’s game with a good level of self confidence and we should have that. Against Chelsea in the Conti Cup we were very strong, then against Liverpool and Reading we were very good, our second half performance against Bayern was very, very good and now here today also strong. This is not a team who have only had one or two strong performances, we are building good momentum coming into these games against Bayern Munich and City. Now it is up to us to execute.
14.D’Angelo; 16.Maritz (26.Wienroither ‘65), 6.Williamson, 3.Wubben-Moy, 15.McCabe; 13.Walti (2.Rafaelle ‘65), 10.Little(c), 12.Maanum (22.Kuhl ‘82); 21.Pelova, 19.Foord (20.Gio ‘77); 25.Blackstenius (27.Taylor ‘82).
Unused subs: 1.Zinsberger, 5.Beattie, 17.Hurtig, 18.Marckese.
Strong performance. Hopefully, the mental mindset will preserved until the BM rematch.
Great win! Always wonderful to celebrate an Arsenal win on a weekend.
Big week ahead. Smash Bayern and City and all of a sudden, the season turns on it’s head even with all the injuries to such a small squad! That would be something.
First though, hoping City win or at the very least draw Chelsea tomorrow. COYR
Agree with every single word of the above, and the sentiment!
Lovely, great to be there in person for the first time today! Thank you Tim and the Arseblog team for continuing to promote the gals!
Foord rightly gets the plaudits but i thought Pelova did very well- i like her movement on and off the ball. The ability to dribble and break the press gives us another dimension in attack.
Hope Gio is fine.. really unlucky for her!
Well done ladies, always great to thrash the Spuds and yes I feel there are few twists and turns to go yet in this season!
On a side note does our captain ever miss a penalty? Her conversion rate must be off the chart 😁
I was there … Conti Cup group match when there’s a penalty shoot-out for an extra point after a draw .. played at Crawley against Brighton. A long time ago, 2019-20 season?
I remember during covid lockdown there was one game at MP with 1,000 fans allowed V Birmingham (I think🤔) and Kim had one saved.
She missed one at Reading this season too.
And what a beautifully placed penalty, right into the top corner!
Such a dominant win!
This team gets better and better. They have jelled together so well that Jonas may have a problem when Viv and Beth have recovered!
Loved the long pass from Leah the led to the first goal. Superb!
Looking forward to a similar score for our ladies on Wednesday.(Fingers tightly crossed)
Bloody hell, City 2:0 up 🤣
Am I right in thinking we still have to play City and Chelsea again because if we do and we win both those and the rest of our games, well as long as we end up with a better goal difference than united we will be champions!
It’s potentially back in our own hands again!
I’d prefer anyone to Chelsea.
Having said that, Chelsea looked really lethargic today. Worried we might see something similar next weekend — with City having the week off while we huff and puff in midweek.
How come we didn’t look lethargic yet we played a harder game in midweek?
Also Chelsea are not tactically an astute side. They depend on individual brilliance to bail them out. It was always going to catch up to them when the strong teams take the game to them.
I agree, that’s the case this season especially.
And we could do a lot worse than put in a cheeky bid for Villa’s Rachel Daly this summer as well! Second highest scorer in the WPL this season, another brace of goals today!
Doesn’t fit the profile sadly. Wrong end of 30.