We expected Arsenal Women to easily beat lowly Everton on Sunday afternoon, as they always do. However, the Toffees held the Gunner women to a 1-1 draw, yet again failing to turn their total dominance into a goal-fest.
By the 90th minute, Arsenal had a slender lead thanks to Alessia Russo’s 80th-minute goal, but 16-year-old Issy struck late in injury time to salvage Everton a draw.
You can learn a lot from that game, but here are a few comments from the Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall about that game that you might find interesting.
After the draw, Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall stated: “A lot was down to external factors. It was a very dry pitch, especially in the first half, I think they watered it at half time. The wind had a big factor in the second half, they influenced the game. We still played our way into many good situations and we need to be better in our effectiveness with chances today and it shouldn’t come down to defending a corner in the last minute or not.”
He also disclosed that Leah Williamson’s halftime substitution was not due to injury but rather a precaution, and that Vivianne Miedema’s absence was not due to injury, saying: “It wasn’t a knee with Leah, but there was a concern that we could aggravate it if we continue to load it, so that’s why that decision was made.
“Then we were in a situation where we were winning 1-0 and we had a couple of players we needed to have an eye on, and we only had one substitution left and a lot of different scenarios. The players that were on the bench were able to come on, but it was about picking the right moment for it.”
Arsenal women’s pressure on opponents also results in a high number of corners. Eidevall was questioned about his team’s setpiece performance this season. He admitted: “For sure, it is a major area of improvement for us. We get the most corners in the league.”
“Those things have to click at the same time and today there were too many times, especially in the first half, where it’s the right weight of pass but not the right timing of the run and vice versa. I think we improved a little bit in the second half, but it became more difficult with the wind and it was a little bit harder to play out from their pressure, which does mean we didn’t create as many situations in sustained attacks.
“Everton is very good on their set pieces and we know it’s a threat of them, they’re one of the most effective teams in the league on that, so obviously we also need to look at the final minutes in the game to not concede so many situations from set pieces. Overall we created enough to win the game and that’s probably the one thing we need to take away to improve our effectiveness.”
Arsenal still have two games to end their 2023–24 season. They have a big clash with Manchester City next, before they end it with a clash with Brighton. Let’s hope that Eidevall doesn’t need more excuses to tell us why his team can’t put the ball in the net.
Susan N
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When teams play a block we need runners
Ford , Lacasse, move McCabe into midfield
with his squad there should only be two tight opponents for Arsenal in England.
Some managers seem to be able to lift squads and get them to exceed their value.
Eidevall is definitely not one of those people, his teams routinely drop points to lesser opponents.
I give him a bit of a break considering the awful injury record, but even with people on the bench it surprises me that his job isn’t under threat.
Some of you follow the women’s team more closely than I and may feel this is unfair.