Jonas Eidevall opens up on Emma Hayes spat: ‘We have no relationship’
The former Arsenal and Chelsea managers clashed during last year’s Women’s League Cup final
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Your support makes all the difference.Former Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has revealed that he now has “no relationship” with Emma Hayes after the pair’s heated clash during last season’s Women’s League Cup final.
Eidevall and Hayes were involved in an altercation on the touchline during Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Molineux, before the then-Chelsea manager appeared to push the Swedish coach at full time.
Hayes subsequently accused her counterpart of showing “male aggression”, an allegation that Eidevall was disappointed by.
The 41-year-old has been appointed as the new manager of the San Diego Wave three months after resigning under pressure at Arsenal.
And Eidevall has now opened up on the lasting impact of the Hayes incident.
“Maybe we didn’t talk to each other that much, but we talked in a good way,” Eidevall told Swedish outlet Aftonbladetof his and Hayes’s relationship. “About the league’s development and players. But after the League Cup final, we have had no relationship at all.
“The reaction after the match when she gave me a little push, it was a non-event for me. I can live with that. I understand those who say that if it had been the other way around, what would have happened to me then? But it is so far from my reality, I would never have done that. So I put that aside.
“On the other hand, the comments [about male aggression] after the match, when the adrenaline has subsided, I was very disappointed by that. Very disappointed. And I’m also very disappointed that she hasn’t been able to send a message or make a call to say that it went wrong.
“We have gone from having a good relationship to having no relationship. I won’t be the one to extend a hand either, because I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong or crazy in the situation.”
Eidevall also revealed that Hayes, now manager of the United States, had not been in touch directly during his final months at Arsenal even with Emily Fox at the club.
The pair are likely to deal more regularly with one another with the Swedish manager now in charge of the Wave, who have had Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw called up for the USWNT’s January training camp.
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