Jonas Eidevall is glad to be back in the dugout for another season as we continue our UEFA Champions League qualifying journey in Sweden.
Before our squad took to the pitch to train, the boss gave his assessment of our squad's first game back, the return of captain Kim Little and what's needed to progress to round 2 of UWCL qualifying.
"I was happy with the performance," he said, reflecting on the comfortable 3-0 scoreline against Linkoping. "I think in many aspects, it was a tough game: coming here and playing on a different turf than what we're used to.
"We had limited time and preparation and we were playing against a team that was mid-season, in form and with their home crowd as well.
"But I thought our team was really good. It was really nice to see a lot of Arsenal supporters in the stands as well. and hopefully, they can also turn up here on Saturday to support us."
Wednesday also provided the first opportunity to see new signings Alessia Russo, Cloe Lacasse and Amanda Ilestedt in an Arsenal shirt, as all three started the match.
"I was impressed. We know time is such an essential thing in football in order to develop relationships and develop quality in those relationships as well.
"So how they have taken across information and how they have learned how this team works has been really impressive."
Eidevall's decision to use five substitutions in the Linkoping game, including a triple substitution on the hour mark, was a reflection of the qualities needed to open a game compared to seeing out a result.
"Every game is unique in that sense. But if we look back to the Linkoping game, we expected the first half to be played against a very compact team that was going to defend in a medium to a low block. And of course, then we need to have certain qualities in order to try and open up that block, but also in order to possibly try to tire them a little bit.
"Usually, in football, when you experience a first half like that, due to both physical and mental reasons, the game opens up a little bit more in the second half, it might become a little bit more transitional.
"If we score a goal like we did, then they might also need to go up and press a little bit higher and start to engage higher, which also opens up more spaces. So that was our idea when we picked the starting XI and the finishing XI.
"We thought that the game state was going to be different between the two different halves. Sometimes we don't think that and sometimes it's going to be down to other factors. But in this particular game, that was the thinking behind it."
As for the return of captain Kim Little to the starting XI, Eidevall called it "a pure joy to see."
"It's very, very good [to have her back]. She's so tenacious in her work rate in midfield and with her recovery runs. How she picks up second balls and how she dominates the central midfield from that.
"I really liked the work that she did before the first goal we scored as well. One thing we have spoken about with Kim is getting her into higher positions on the pitch. It's not a coincidence when she's on the ball in or around the penalty area, we're creating good goalscoring opportunities."
To hear more from Eidevall, click play on the video above.
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