Jonas Eidevall reacts to 0-0 draw with Everton
Today at 11:58 AM
Arsenal drew 0-0 at home to Everton in the WSL on Sunday in a drab encounter. Jonas Eidevall spoke to the press post-match, the first two questions are from Arseblog News.
On the ponderousness of the performance…
First half we play with too little intent, we move the ball too slow. We have quite a bit of control but here at home, we should have much higher standards on ourselves on our attacking game. When we don't move the ball quicker than that, it is really hard to break down a side like Everton who prioritise having so many players behind the ball. I think the intent and creating the momentum, we do it in the second half but we leave it too late to be happy about that. That should have been the case from minute one and if we had created that momentum and that attacking mentality from that, I can't see the game going any other way than us winning. But we sort of leave that to chance and I am disappointed with that and we need to learn from that.
On not bringing Rosa Kafaji on…
I can see that perspective, but we have had so many minutes on our back four and it is really important for us that we invest minutes in Leah Williamson and Steph Catley so we can get them going in a really heavy week for us. That took two substitutions, then the other parts were what we need tactically. In this situation we could only make five substitutions and Rosa was one of those that couldn't come on.
On Daphne van Domselaar starting and how the rotation with Zinsberger will work…
I don't know, is the short answer. We have really good competition on the goalkeeper position, like we have in other positions. This was the decision for today and we will see what the decision is for Wednesday. She will get more chances, so will Manuela Zinsberger.
On the reaction of the players at full-time…
We are disappointed, we are disappointed with the result and the performance. Now we need to look forward to an exciting, tough and challenging game on Wednesday night and it's a quick turnaround so we can't put a foot wrong in recovery and preparation, that needs to be the focus now. But no doubt about it, we are disappointed about today.
On Steph Catley and Leah Williamson returning…
It is really important for us, like I said before we have been playing a lot of minutes on the same players in the back four. Given we have five games in 15 days, that would not have been sustainable to keep piling the minutes on those players. It was really important to get those players back ahead of those big games.
On whether this result will motivate the team even more ahead of games against Bayern and Chelsea…
We are disappointed today, both with the performance and the result, with the games coming up away at Bayern Munich and at home against Chelsea, we don't need anymore fuel or motivation for those games. Those games and those opponents are fuel enough for us, so yes, we need to do our absolute best, yes they are going to be different games, yes we need to take the necessary learnings from this game and we need to look forward. No matter how disappointed we are with today, we have a job to do on Wednesday night and we can't dwell too much but we will be motivated for those games.
On whether there is a mental block against teams that prioritise defending…
The belief is there, you could see that from the team that we keep on attacking and I think it's more the case we need to play with more intent earlier on in the game, move the ball faster and if we do that we create more time and space for the players too.
On the importance of the Chelsea game next weekend…
I think it is going to be a tough, challenging WSL this season, probably the toughest one we have ever had and I think the key to being successful is going game by game and don't look too far ahead. Don't look at too many scenarios, stay in the present, prepare for the next game and do it as well as possible.
On the importance of Emily Fox…
Emily is a world class player, we are so happy to have her here at Arsenal. She attacks well, she defends well. I think she has been in a transition period in getting used to being in a different role here at Arsenal because in the Olympic team she is more of a central defender and here she is more of a full-back. But I think she is getting back into the full-back position better and better.
On what he talked about with the team at half-time…
We go through some details, with and without the ball but the main point, was that we had a good setup but we said, 'how can we play these passes with more intent? How can we play the ball quicker and a little bit harder and with more pace so we beat the line of the opponent?' Those things make a major difference when you start doing that, we constantly played the ball a bit too slow the opponent can run and match up and come across and defend by numbers and that was happening way too often in the first half for my liking. We should be able to move the ball quicker and I think we showed that in the second half.
14.van Domselaar; 2.Fox (19.Foord '64), 3.Wubben-Moy (6.Williamson '64), 5.L.Codina, 11.McCabe (7.Catley '78); 10.Little(c), 32.Cooney-Cross (13.Walti '78); 9.Mead, 12.Maanum, 8.Mariona; 23.Russo (25.Blackstenius '64)
Unused: 1.Zinsberger, 16.Kafaji, 22.Kuhl, 62.Reid.
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