Jonas Eidevall responds to Arsenal criticism of ahead of Chelsea ‘must-win’

Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall said he is his own “fiercest critic” ahead of a “must-win” clash against rivals Chelsea in the Women’s Super League.

The Gunners host Chelsea at the Emirates having won just one of their opening three WSL fixtures and crumbling to a 5-2 defeat at Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek.

Arsenal were in need of a performance in Germany after a dispiriting 0-0 draw at home to Everton last weekend but former Chelsea forward Pernille Harder scored a late hat-trick after netting her first in the 73rd minute.

While Arsenal are only two points behind leaders Manchester City in the table, Eidevall’s side could fall four points behind Chelsea if they lost to Sonia Bompastor’s team - with the Blues then having a game in hand.

Such margins have previously decided title races in the WSL and Eidevall said the Gunners must pick up three points when they welcome the champions on Saturday afternoon.

“Every game that is ahead of us is a must-win game,” he said. “That needs to be the mentality that we have. Nothing else should please us. We should always go out to try to win football matches.”

Asked how he would respond to criticism of Arsenal’s performances, Eidevall, who won the League Cup with the Gunners last season, said he did not mind dealing with the pressure on his shoulders.

“It’s hard for me to sort of [reply] to critics, because I don’t necessarily know what they are criticising,” he said.

“But I think the most pressure comes from ourselves. If I talk about me personally, I set incredibly high standards on myself, and I think I’m going to be my, by far, the fiercest critic of my performances, and the team performances and pressure is not only a privilege, I believe it’s a necessity.

“If you’re going to find high performances in football, and if you want to be competing in all four competitions, you need to be able to handle and deal with pressure and making sure that pressure gets the best version out of you.

open image in gallery

“I don’t mind that that’s part of the game and part of the privilege in representing this football club.”

Eidevall and former Chelsea manager Emma Hayes clashed in the aftermath of Arsenal’s League Cup final victory last season and Saturday is his first meeting with Bompastor since her arrival at Chelsea.

The French coach has won her first three matches in charge, with a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday following opening wins over Aston Villa and Crystal Palace in the WSL.

Chelsea’s league fixture against Manchester United was postponed last weekend and the Blues have had a lighter schedule to start the season while Arsenal played through multiple rounds of Champions League qualifiers.

“Obviously they haven’t played so many games,” Eidevall said. “It’s not been a lot of competitive games to see them play this season, but the games that they have played, you can see that she’s set a clear trademark on how they’re playing, both in and out of possession.

“I think they look like a really good football team, so it’s going to be a match between two really good football teams and I look forward to that challenge.”