Jonas Eidevall on Arsenal Women working hard to be in starting line-up

The Arsenal women this week have won our hearts. They were seen as underdogs when they were tied to play Bayern Munich in the women’s Champions League quarterfinals, but through sheer determination, they turned a 1-0 first-leg loss into a 2-1 aggregate score, beating Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Emirates. There’s something good being created with this Arsenal women’s team, and Jonas Eidevall may have hinted at what it is in an interview with ArseBlog. The Arsenal boss has hinted that in his team, anyone can get the chance to play, but it is all about impressing and taking your chances on the field.

Eidevall has named Frida Maanum and Noelle Maritz (who has played herself into being Arsenal’s right back, forcing Laura Wienroither to warm the bench) as two of his players, whose determination to fight for a chance to play is seeing them being able to deservedly get ample game time.

“When we talk about creating a culture, we talk about how you use training and how you use your time to prepare when you get the chance; that is fundamental to build something successful,” Eidevall told Arseblog News. “Noelle is a good example of that now.

“I could use Frida Maanum as an example; she got limited playing time last spring, but one year later, where she is at and what she has produced since then, that is all due to the way she applied herself on the training pitch.

“It is the same with Noelle. The more examples we have of that, the better the training culture is, and the more people see that this is the way we work at Arsenal.

“If you don’t get selected, you get your head down, you work even harder, you apply yourself even better, and take the time to develop, and when you come back, you will help your team even more than before. If everyone can think like that, you become unstoppable.”

It is clear Eidevall values hard work and initiative, and his players are fighting for a chance to play. No one is special in this team, and that’s probably why they fight tooth and nail, like in the game against Bayern, which they won despite losing Kim Little as early as the 12th minute. If they continue to embrace this culture, then this Arsenal is headed to being unstoppable, no doubt.