Eidevall running out of time despite improved Emirates showing
Arsenal boss out of luck and maybe out of time after Arsenal sink to a second defeat in seven days
Jonas Eidevall cut a forlorn figure as the final whistle sounded at Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Rather than join his players for a lap of appreciation, the Swede instead headed straight down the tunnel. Perhaps this was a subtle admission of the fact that his popularity among the Emirates faithful has sunken to an all-time low. When asked about his future in his post-match press conference, Eidevall did not respond in the manner of someone who was confident of their job security.
"I give absolutely everything today and in preparation for this game, I think you can see that the players give absolutely everything on the pitch”, he said. “That is the part you can control as a coach, that is the part I can ask for from the players as well. I need to focus on the next match and the things that I can control."
There is no sugar-coating the fact that this result caps a dismal six days for the Gunners. A turgid 0-0 display against Everton was followed by a calamitous night in Munich, where the North London side totally collapsed in the final 17 minutes of the match and eventually lost 5-2.
Arsenal's performance against Chelsea was a marked improvement from the very low bar set in the preceding days, but defeat to the champions and huge rivals surely leaves their title hopes all but over just four games into the season. Even at this early stage of the campaign, Arsenal have already dropped seven points, just one less than Chelsea dropped in the entirety of 2022-23.
Perhaps the most damning view on Project Eidevall is that his team have not only failed to improve on recurring problems, such as a lack of cutting edge and a failure to move the ball quickly, but have also failed to deliver in games that should be their bread and butter. After all, this was Chelsea's first ever win at the Emirates, one which came under a manager in Sonia Bompastor whom Eidevall had masterminded arguably the most impressive result of his Arsenal tenure – a 5-1 win away to Lyon two years ago.
Another relatively consistent theme under Eidevall is that bar the odd aberration – the 3-1 defeat away to Chelsea last season comes to mind – his team has usually been structurally sound from a defensive perspective. Last season, their expected goals against was the lowest in the league. This season, Arsenal have looked vulnerable on multiple occasions. While the Chelsea game was not quite the defensive horror show witnessed in midweek, the early goals Arsenal conceded retained the theme of displaying a lack of defensive intensity and organisation.
Chelsea’s opening goal in just the 4th minute of the game can somewhat be put down to Arsenal simply being unable to cope with Mayra Ramirez, combined with questionable goalkeeping by Daphne van Domselaar. But the second, just 12 minutes later, would've given Arsenal fans painful flashbacks to midweek.
Lauren James was able to dribble to the byline with ease, as Lia Walti and Mariona Caldentey do little to stop her, before standing a ball up to the back post.
Three Arsenal players, Kim Little, Emily Fox and Leah Williamson, are dragged towards Guro Rieten, who is lurking on the edge of the six-yard box, and they are caught under the ball as a result, while Beth Mead is ball-watching, switched off to the fact that Sandy Baltimore is free at the back post and able to head into an empty net unchallenged.
Trailing by two in just over 15 minutes was the maximum punishment Arsenal could've faced in a half where they limited their opponents to just five shots and just two on target, but it would not be unfair to say that they were all at sea defensively for Chelsea's second.
In truth Arsenal were the better side on Saturday for much of the game. In The Cutback's preview piece for this game, I questioned how this Arsenal side would respond to in-game adversity, having seen the team crumble under pressure as recently as Wednesday night. On Saturday, this was not the case, with Arsenal's players doing everything they could do force their way back into the contest.
Full marks for effort. With Bompastor opting for an attacking pair of full-backs in Lucy Bronze and Baltimore, this was something Arsenal tried to exploit – and they had plenty of joy in doing so. Caitlin Foord, Arsenal's best performer on the day, was in an inspired mood, running at Bronze at every opportunity. Across the game she produced six progressive carries and two successful take-ons (three attempted), according to FBref. With Arsenal focusing their press down that side of the pitch, she was given plenty of opportunities to get at Bronze time and time again.
On 21 minutes, with Chelsea penned back into their own half, Foord receives the ball out on the touchline and is given space to build up momentum against the isolated Bronze. Dribbling inside and then out, she leaves the England international chasing shadows and is able to win a corner, a sign of things to come.
Minutes before halftime, in the situation that leads to Arsenal's goal, she finds herself in a similar position. Once again she is out towards the touchline, though Bronze has opted to get tighter to her on this occasion. But Foord once again has the beating of the England fullback, showing her the ball on the outside of the her boot before making a quick movement inside and curling an excellent shot into the bottom corner.
With the Gunners back in the contest before the break, the second half would show both the good and the bad of Eidevall's Arsenal. On the one hand, they did an effective job off largely keeping Chelsea pegged back in their own half, as they did so well in last season's 4-1 at the Emirates against the same opponent. On the other, the speed in which they moved the ball in the final third and the lack of willingness to take a risky pass or shot left much to be desired.
Ultimately, this was a good performance by Arsenal if a bad result. If we look at the underlying numbers, Arsenal created 2.6 xG to Chelsea's 1.1 (FBref). Just at the point where Arsenal's manager could've done with a bit of luck, he got quite the opposite. How much time he is afforded to make amends remains to be seen.
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I've been to four matches this season, three in the WSL at the Emirates and the UWCL qualifier against Häcken at Meadow Park. I am struck by how fragile their confidence is. After Lia Wälti's lovely strike against Häcken relatively early in the game you could feel the surge of positivity that led to an excellent result. Similarly, Frida Maanum's early goal against City had an energising effect. However, they can also start to run out of ideas and become laboured in their approach work. Players become very conservative with too many sideways passes. When they fail to score, or even create scoring chances, you can feel confidence ebb away. Frustration can lead to anger but for this Arsenal team it seems to result in despondency. You could see how down they were at the end of the Chelsea game. I think we also have to look at the effectiveness of their strikers. Alessia Russo and Stina Blackstenius are struggling - several good opportunities were missed against City and, against Chelsea, Stina hit the bar and Lessi was largely anonymous. We must now question whether this is something more than a bad batch. Could regaining confidence turn it round? I don't know. This weekend we saw again what someone like Bunny Shaw can do. No surprise! However, I was particularly impressed by Elizabeth Terland; I couldn't help but wonder what she would have been able to do for Arsenal.
I was at the game yesterday, and was also at the City game (luckily missed the Everton one) and it felt like the atmosphere with the players was different. The City game, they felt up for it, in good spirits, enjoying playing. (As they should for their first WSL match of the season I guess) Yesterday, I thought they were the better side overall, but they were playing with an air of desperation, no doubt born from their last two games, and there was at least one animated sideline discussion between Mead and Eidevall.
Between his post match, the players post match, and Fox’s pitch-lap tears, I’d say the players were done…
I still wonder just how good Smith is as a forwards coach though. Best player does not always equal best coach, a thought I’ve had since we were seeing them fail to convert many chances in the previous season (let’s not forget that this is not a this season problem)