Arsenal boss Eidevall highlights importance of winning culture ahead of West Ham United clash

Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall spoke about the role of togetherness in forming a winning culture ahead of his side’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against West Ham United at Meadow Park on Sunday.

A late header from Swedish international defender Amanda Ilestedt helped The Gunners to record a 2-1 victory over Barclays Women’s Championship side Southampton in the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup on Thursday evening. The victory was Arsenal’s seventh in a row across all competitions.

When speaking to the media, Eidevall explained how this momentum plays a part in Arsenal’s focus going forward in the league.

“Our focus needs to be on how we do things and there is, as always, room for improvement,” Eidevall said. “We need to focus on that and we need to take that to the next step.

“To find ways to win football matches is really important and to get that as a winning culture is really important. I think you can see that because sometimes, the experiences can help you in getting belief and we have been able to turn a lot of games around this season.”

Eidevall also discussed his decision to implement regular squad rotation across previous Barclays Women’s Super League fixtures.

He said “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. I think there is no doubt that the way forward is to go with a larger squad for it otherwise, you are not going to be able to handle all competitions and all the challenges that poses.

“You don’t only have to worry about 11 players that will play with each other week in, week out. Of course, that goes faster to implement something, but you also become a lot more vulnerable when those players can’t play. The solution to that is to implement that in the whole squad, so everybody gets a sense of familiarity, so that everybody can step in with their responsibilities and play.”

Arsenal’s next opponents, West Ham United, currently sit in 11th position in the Barclays Women’s Super League table, having picked up just four points so far. However, Eidevall isn’t underestimating the threat of The Gunners’ London rivals ahead of Sunday’s clash.

“It’s not as easy any more as you look at the league table position and you try to draw conclusions if this is a weak or a strong team,” Eidevall said. “West Ham are strong, they’re a competitive team, they’re well organised, they work really hard and they’re going to pose difficult questions to any team that plays them.

“Every derby is special of course but as a coach, it’s three points and that’s the important thing. It’s a really competitive league, it’s a 22-game season, so every game plays a really important factor into the end result.

“It’s the most important game we have because it’s the next one. Their performances definitely command respect and we need to be a very good version of ourselves on Sunday.”

Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against West Ham United takes place at Meadow Park at 2pm on Sunday afternoon.