Following the resignation of Jonas Eidevall earlier this week, Arsenal Ladies are on the hunt for a brand new coach. In our Arsenal Ladies Weekly Substack Publication on Wednesday, I wrote about how Eidevall’s appointment in 2021 corrected a number 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 in opposition to the larger opponents and enjoying successfully in opposition to a excessive press, a few of 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- had been misplaced. A firmer enjoying id will likely be a giant a part of the subsequent coach’s duty.
Beneath Eidevall, Arsenal had been very robust within the massive video games as a result of he was an excellent tactical micromanager from the dugout and powerful in making ready in opposition to opponent’s strengths. He was good at making in-game changes and adapting his staff picks in line with the opponent. After the latest 2-2 draw with Manchester Metropolis, Eidevall spoke about how a lot he loves teaching within the greater video games.
‘In a recreation like this there are completely different phases and that’s a part of what makes a recreation like this so stimulating. I hope it’s stimulating as a participant, it’s definitely stimulating as a coach…You might be always taking in data, making selections, understanding what a part of the sport plan we execute in the precise second, being good in communication and speaking issues in the precise strategy to the gamers. It’s a state of alertness.’
The problem was much more in video games the place there wasn’t a number of tactical micromanagement obligatory, 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 enjoying model and rules to interrupt groups down and Arsenal simply by no means fairly acquired there beneath Jonas. If the brand new supervisor can mix one of the best qualities of Montemurro and Eidevall’s Arsenal groups, that will be an excellent begin!
The brand new supervisor goes to must implement a firmer enjoying 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 robust muscle reminiscence in relation to model and the brand new coach might want to have that of their again pocket. For a brand new coach, that is a lovely job.
Not solely are you coping with the one ladies’s staff on this planet that averages 30k for its dwelling matches however you’ll get the chance to rebuild the staff in your individual picture. Eidevall took over a staff that was, broadly, in its mid 20s / early prime in 2021. Now the squad is basically in its late prime and meaning a rebuild will fall beneath 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 had 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 staff.
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 latest seasons with 21-year-old Rosa Kafaji additionally added in the course of the summer season. Whereas Pelova established herself as a agency fixture within the staff previous to her ACL damage, Kuhl and Cooney-Cross have needed to be slightly extra affected person and Kafaji has been an unused sub within the final two video games.
There was a way of rigidity between the longer term and the current of the Arsenal midfield however the brand new coach will, in some unspecified time in the future, must oversee that transition firmly. Generally that could be a good level to return in as a coach, the in-between eras might be tough to handle whereas there may be some worth within the new particular person coming in figuring out full nicely that they should wield the brand new broom inside their tenure.
I feel the USWNT had a comparable scenario not too long ago. In 2019, Vlatko Andonovski took over a squad in its late prime and needed to fastidiously 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 capable of carry out a a lot cleaner break within the timeline and firmly construct the staff round burgeoning youthful expertise like Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Naomi Girma, who at the moment are able to take over the staff.
Arsenal’s 4 senior broad choices are at the moment represented by three 29-year-olds and a 28-year-old. Not at all is that glue manufacturing unit territory however Arsenal do have to have not less than one youthful broad 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 had been capable of do throughout Eidevall’s reign however, like I mentioned, he oversaw one thing of an ‘in-between’ period the place a number 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 way of 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 staff 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’s going to come beneath their watch. With that comes alternative, Head Coach of Arsenal Ladies is among the most tasty positions in ladies’s soccer in the meanwhile. 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’ had been daubed in large letters on a wall near Emirates Stadium final week was one thing of a watershed second for girls’s soccer, as disagreeable because it will need to have been for Eidevall himself. Arsenal’s shortcomings are held beneath 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 Ladies and has been for many years, the scrutiny is excessive however so too is the chance. Arsenal had been prepared to smash the ladies’s switch document for Keira Walsh a month in the past, they’re nicely resourced and a rebuild is within the put up. It’s a plumb job for an bold coach nevertheless it’s additionally an appointment that Arsenal actually need to get proper.