Jonas Eidevall reflects on ‘hurt’ of Arsenal’s three-game winless run following WSL derby loss to Chelsea
JONAS EIDEVALL admits Arsenal have had a bad start to their season after they slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Chelsea.
The Gunners boss says he aims to focus on the things he ‘can control’ when questioned on whether he feels his job is safe.
Eidevall has come under pressure from some Arsenal supporters amid three difficult results for his side in the past week.
And a couple of defensive blips during set pieces saw his team lose their Saturday afternoon duel with Chelsea, conceding twice during the game’s first 16 minutes.
Despite a late Arsenal fightback, goals from Mayra Ramirez and Sandy Baltimore were enough to seal a significant away victory for Sonia Bompastor’s Blues.
The result led to the Gunners notching back-to-back defeats across all competitions after Bayern Munich trounced them 5-2 in the Champions League four days ago.
Arsenal boss Eidevall said: “You need to do your absolute best in every single game.
“But there is no point in hiding away from reality in saying it’s a bad start to the season.
“It certainly doesn’t help with league-winning ambitions.
“But it doesn’t change the perspective that you need to go game-by-game.”
Arsenal have netted just two goals in their last three league fixtures with their last win in the top tier occurring away against Leicester City.
And the loss to the Blues took their tally of winless results at the Emirates to three so far this season.
On if he feels his job is safe, the Gunners chief added: “I gave absolutely everything in preparation for this game.
“You can see the players gave absolutely everything on the pitch.
“That’s the part you can control as a coach. That’s what you can control and ask for from the players as well.
“I fully understand that people are disappointed when we don’t win football matches and we are also really disappointed.
“We are really hurting, I’m hurting, the players are hurting. We want to do that better so I fully understand that in that moment.”
Ramirez gave the Blues a fourth-minute lead with Arsenal caught out by a corner-kick that ended with a looped overhead strike from the Colombian dropping in behind goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.
Baltimore’s header 12 minutes later made it a tough start for the hosts before they battled back with Caitlin Foord firing in an angled goal near halftime.
The hosts upped the ante in attack in the second half with Chelsea spending large parts of the game’s closing stages defending.
But they held out to claim maximum points with USA chief and ex-Blues boss Emma Hayes, and Arsenal football director Edu, among the guests watching from the stands.
The result led to Bompastor registering her first win in the WSL against the Gunners leapfrogging Manchester City to go top before the Cityzens’ trip to Liverpool on Sunday.
The Blues boss said: “I want my team to be able to hate conceding goals and I think this is what they showed with their mentality
“When you play a game away and the team is doing good and you can hear your fans cheering for the team and supporting you, it’s so powerful.
“I’m so proud of them and so happy for them.”