Following the resignation of Jonas Eidevall earlier this week, Arsenal Girls are on the hunt for a brand new coach. In our Arsenal Girls Weekly Substack Publication on Wednesday, I wrote about how Eidevall’s appointment in 2021 corrected quite a lot of the problems we noticed that led his predecessor Joe Montemurro to resign on the finish of the 2020-21 season.
However in correcting a few of these points towards the larger opponents and taking part in successfully towards a excessive press, among the strengths of Montemurro’s management- the liberty and fluidity of the assault and the power to beat the groups from the underside half of the desk comfortably- have been misplaced. A firmer taking part in identification will likely be a giant a part of the subsequent coach’s duty.
Below Eidevall, Arsenal have been very sturdy within the huge video games as a result of he was an excellent tactical micromanager from the dugout and robust in getting ready towards opponent’s strengths. He was good at making in-game changes and adapting his group alternatives in accordance with the opponent. After the current 2-2 draw with Manchester Metropolis, Eidevall spoke about how a lot he loves teaching within the greater video games.
‘In a sport like this there are completely different phases and that’s a part of what makes a sport like this so stimulating. I hope it’s stimulating as a participant, it’s definitely stimulating as a coach…You’re always taking in data, making choices, understanding what a part of the sport plan we execute in the best second, being good in communication and speaking issues in the best strategy to the gamers. It’s a state of alertness.’
The problem was way more in video games the place there wasn’t quite a lot of tactical micromanagement crucial, the place groups would sit eight gamers of their penalty space and invite Arsenal to interrupt them down. In these video games, you want a agency taking part in model and ideas to interrupt groups down and Arsenal simply by no means fairly bought there below Jonas. If the brand new supervisor can mix the perfect qualities of Montemurro and Eidevall’s Arsenal groups, that might be a superb begin!
The brand new supervisor goes to should implement a firmer taking part in model for the gamers to fall again on. Within the humdrum of a league season, particularly when your ambition is to win the league, gamers want sturdy muscle reminiscence in the case of model and the brand new coach might want to have that of their again pocket. For a brand new coach, that is a beautiful job.
Not solely are you coping with the one girls’s group on the planet that averages 30k for its dwelling matches however you’ll get the chance to rebuild the group in your personal picture. Eidevall took over a group that was, broadly, in its mid 20s / early prime in 2021. Now the squad is essentially in its late prime and meaning a rebuild will fall below the tenure of the subsequent coach.
Arsenal began their 2-1 WSL defeat to Chelsea on Saturday with six gamers within the beginning line-up who have been 28 or older. The common age of the line-up was 27 years previous and one of many three subs, Stina Blackstenius, was 28. The following coach will get the chance to construct the subsequent iteration of the group.
There has already been some futureproofing for the long-established midfield double pivot of Kim Little (34) and Lia Walti (31) with the arrivals of Kyra Cooney-Cross (22), Kathrine Kuhl (22) and Victoria Pelova (25) in current seasons with 21-year-old Rosa Kafaji additionally added throughout the summer season. Whereas Pelova established herself as a agency fixture within the group previous to her ACL damage, Kuhl and Cooney-Cross have needed to be a bit of extra affected person and Kafaji has been an unused sub within the final two video games.
There was a way of stress between the long run and the current of the Arsenal midfield however the brand new coach will, in some unspecified time in the future, should oversee that transition firmly. Generally that may be a good level to come back in as a coach, the in-between eras could be tough to handle whereas there’s some worth within the new individual coming in figuring out full properly that they should wield the brand new broom inside their tenure.
I believe the USWNT had a comparable state of affairs lately. In 2019, Vlatko Andonovski took over a squad in its late prime and needed to rigorously attempt to handle the transition away from the earlier star-studded squad with the likes of Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn ageing on his watch. Emma Hayes, who took over the reigns this summer season, has been in a position to carry out a a lot cleaner break within the timeline and firmly construct the group round burgeoning youthful expertise like Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Naomi Girma, who at the moment are able to take over the group.
Arsenal’s 4 senior extensive choices are at the moment represented by three 29-year-olds and a 28-year-old. Under no circumstances is that glue manufacturing facility territory however Arsenal do have to have not less than one youthful extensive choice. Jonas Eidevall tried to facilitate that with the signing of Gio in the summertime of 2022 however that transfer fell by the wayside.
Integrating youthful expertise was not one thing Arsenal have been in a position to do throughout Eidevall’s reign however, like I mentioned, he oversaw one thing of an ‘in-between’ period the place quite a lot of key gamers graduated from prime to late prime. That isn’t going to be the case for the brand new coach and overseeing each an injection of youth into the squad by the market and totally integrating youthful gamers like Cooney-Cross and Kafaji will likely be a part of the brand new coach’s in-tray.
The way forward for the group may not be coming tomorrow but when we assume the brand new coach will likely be in situ for just a few years, not less than, it should come below their watch. With that comes alternative, Head Coach of Arsenal Girls is among the most tasty positions in girls’s soccer for the time being. However with that comes a better stage of scrutiny than the overwhelming majority of girls’s soccer positions.
The truth that the phrases ‘JONAS OUT’ have been daubed in big letters on a wall near Emirates Stadium final week was one thing of a watershed second for ladies’s soccer, as disagreeable because it should have been for Eidevall himself. Arsenal’s shortcomings are held below a extra intense microscope than the overwhelming majority of European golf equipment.
Manchester Metropolis’s failure to win the WSL since 2016 and their late collapse in final season’s title race are barely remarked upon, for instance. The usual is excessive at Arsenal Girls and has been for many years, the scrutiny is excessive however so too is the chance. Arsenal have been keen to smash the ladies’s switch report for Keira Walsh a month in the past, they’re properly resourced and a rebuild is within the put up. It’s a plumb job for an formidable coach but it surely’s additionally an appointment that Arsenal actually need to get proper.
