Jonas Eidevall insists that he does not regret his arsenal output and the treatment of the unpopular and controversial departure of Vivianne Miedema last summer.
Eidevall took the lead over the Gunners in the summer of 2021 after a successful enchantment in his home country with Rosengard, who supervised 120 games in all competitions.
The Swede won 80 of those competitions at the helm (D16 L24), while he also led Arsenal to three consecutive top three Finishes in the Super League for women.
Eidevall also led the Gunners to back-to-back League Cup titles and defeated Emma Hayes' Chelsea in both the final of 2023 and 2024.
However, the start of this season did not go to plan. Arsenal won only four of their first nine games in all competitions, with only one of those victories in the WSL.
His last match came in a 2-1 defeat against long-term rivals Chelsea in the Emirates Stadium, coming days after a gloomy 5-2 defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
“I thought the easiest fast solution is currently here to get away,” Eidevall said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“It was extremely difficult, both for me personally – of course my family – but also professional. It is a privilege to lead a club like Arsenal.
“It is very special when you are there, so an extremely difficult decision to make.”
Club statement: Jonas Eidevall
– Arsenal Women (@ARSENALWFC) October 15, 2024
Apart from a tumultuous last week, the demolition in the relationship between Eidevall and Arsenal -fans had already started at the end of last season.
The call not to extend Miedema's contract, with the attacker who now plays for WSL -Rivalen Manchester City, received extreme dissatisfaction from supporters.
Miedema had been a crucial part of the success of Arsenal in recent years, scored 125 goals and gave 50 assists in 172 performances before he left for the citizens.
Eidevall shared that the decision was made because they had the budget to extend Miedema or sign Spain International Mariona Caldentey on a free transfer from Barcelona.
After he has chosen the latter, he said he has no regrets of leting Miedema to one of their WSL rivals.
“Not me. I think you always make the best decisions, as you can take for the club at that time with the information you know,” Eidevall added.
“You cannot reconsider decisions based on new information that you could not have known at that time. That is not a handy way of thinking about life. So no regrets.
“I think that decision was a major role in my relationship with the supporters [deteriorating].
“I never made a decision to be fun. I always made decisions because I thought they were the best for the club and for the team.
“But the problem is when you make those decisions, and you don't get the results, then it is of course a lot of spirals.”
Eidevall has since returned to management with the San Diego Golf and replaces former captain Casey Stoney in January former England.
The long -term vision at the Californian club really appealed to him, as well as the competitiveness of the NWSL itself.
His club is currently also going through a period of transition, after he has lost two of their biggest names – Naomi Girma to Chelsea and Alex Morgan retires.
Despite the enormous turnover of players in the club, he says that the goal of the team should still be to reach the play-offs at the end of the season.
“It feels like a complete rebuilding to be honest,” said Eidevall. “That is the challenge, but also the chance.”
Comments