Following our 3-0 win over Linkoping in the UEFA Women's Champions League qualifiers, Jonas Eidevall faced the media to give his reflections on the match.
Our head coach was asked about our new signings, flexibility in terms of positions and how we managed to game to see out an important win.
Here is everything the boss had to say:
on new signing Cloe Lacasse…
It’s very important for us to have the option to play with wide forwards who can play wider and press in one-on-one situations. I am really happy with Cloe coming in because she is quite similar to Beth Mead.
That provides us with good depth and quality on the right side. Then we have Caitlin Foord and Lina Hurtig on the left side who are similar players in the way they can protect the ball and come in on their right foot. I like our options.
on how all three new arrivals integrated into the team…
I think time is essential when we try to develop quality and we haven’t had much time. So given our preparation, I thought they were all great today.
on the five subs rule...
One of the lessons we learned last season was how important it is to use the squad and how important to be able to change things during the game.
We spoke about that a lot before today about how we have a starting XI as well as a finishing XI. We thought the game was going to open up in the second half so we were able to choose player types depending on that.
on Linkoping growing into the second half…
That was a game-state thing. But one thing against Linkoping that is very difficult is when you come into a mid-block. They are one of the better teams to play against a mid-block because they play with so much width and have good passers to find the wing-backs.
From there, they are direct when it comes to getting the ball in. I didn’t like to sit in a mid-block against them and we got caught in a mid-block because our pressing wasn’t clear enough and we became a bit passive.
We started to defend crosses so I am happy with how we could change to a back five for the last ten minutes to see out the game in a comfortable way.
on Katie McCabe's switch to right-back for the last half an hour...
We are still in the market for a right-back and maybe one other position as well. If we don’t find the right fit then we have three really competent full-backs in Noelle Maritz, Katie McCabe and Steph Catley.
Then it is about how we use them so we don’t get stuck with one who can only play on the right and two who play on the left, although Noelle can play on the left as well. Katie, just like Noelle, can play on the other side.
I am sure Steph can do it as well but we just haven’t tried that yet.
on Lina Hurtig scoring against her old club…
I was happy with the goal but I was really happy with her performance. We have seen a really strong Lina returning from the World Cup.
Last season it was impossible to judge her with all her injury problems and the inconsistency that created for her, and it was a really strong 30 minutes from her today.
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