'If we want to compete we have to be able to handle pressure' Eidevall issues rallying cry ahead of Chelsea clash

Yesterday at 10:24 AM

Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has said that pressure and criticism is all part of playing for a club like Arsenal and that he, his staff and his players need to use that ahead of Saturday's pivotal WSL clash at home to Chelsea.

The Gunners boss is under fire after a drab 0-0 draw with Everton last weekend and a 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday. Eidevall suggested that pressure and criticism are all part and parcel of being at an elite club.

Asked whether he has a response to critics, Eidevall said, 'It is not for me to talk to critics, because I don't know really what they are saying. The most pressure comes from myself. I set incredibly high standards on myself and I am going to be by far the fiercest critic of my performances and the team's performances.

'Pressure is not only a privilege it is a necessity for high performance and if you want to compete for competitions, you need to be able to handle and deal with pressure and make sure pressure gets the best version out of you. I don't mind that part of the game, it is part of the privilege of representing this football club.'

Eidevall urged his players to put the disappointment of Wednesday behind them, even though he acknowledges the performance in the latter part of the game was below par. 'We are obviously really disappointed with how we act in the final 15 or 20 minutes of the game.

'The last two goals we concede should not happen, we should not look like that. That leaves us with a bitter feeling and it's a tough learning point but we need to take that to get to where we want to be.

'We have played a lot of competitive games compared to other clubs and it feels like we have been together for a long time now. It is almost three months since we started pre-season now they have taken away the international break from mid-September.

'We know that every competition we are in it's going to be high competition it's going to be high challenges and if we are going to be successful, we are going to have to have the right focus on every game and we need to put learnings into place quickly to develop as a team.'

Asked whether Saturday was a must win game with Arsenal in 6th place in the WSL, Eidevall said every game is a must win game. 'Every game ahead of us is a must-win game. That is the mentality we need to have. Nothing else pleases us. We always try to go out to win football matches.'

'The main objective for us in pre-season was to qualify for the Champions League group stage and we did that. We want to be competing all the way in the league and there is no way you can tell me we are not in a position to do that. We are in a position to do that.

'We are disappointed with the start to the group stage, our ambition is to go through but there are five games left in the group stage and we need to put our focus on what is in front of us. We still have all possibilities open to us but we need to learn, progress and perform every single time we play.'

The Arsenal manager backed his players to show a strong performance in the Saturday lunchtime clash against Sonia Bompastor's Chelsea team. 'Training has been really good today, the players have been really focused and they are determined to put absolutely everything we have on the pitch tomorrow.

'I have a really good group of players and staff, they are resilient and bounce back from performances we are not happy about. We learn and progress as a team. What is important now is to think about the future, think about what we have ahead of us. We know what we need to do and that is always a good starting point, now it is up to us to do it.

'After the Everton game I was not happy with the energy or dedication that we played the first half with. We finish the game like we should but if we had started the game with that urgency, I am very confident we would have found the result we wanted. It is not, for me, about ranking our opponents, we need to be at our best every time we have the privilege to represent this fantastic football club.'

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