Ahead of tomorrow's UEFA Women's Champions League qualifier against BK Hacken, Jonas Eidevall has addressed the media.
Our head coach was joined by summer signing Rosa Kafaji who will return to play against her former club just months after arriving in north London.
"First of all, feels amazing to be back," said Kafaji. "When the draw happened, I had a feeling it was going to be Hacken - just because!"
"I can't really share the advice I've given! But I have said that they have good individual players and also what their strengths are as a team. We’ve talked about Hacken and we know they're a good team, so it’s going to be a tough game."
Here is everything Jonas had to say at the press conference:
On Steph Catley and Lina Hurtig’s availability…
Specifically those two, no. They will not be available. Apart from that, we travelled here with 24 players so I have a lot to choose from. That's a really good position.
On the challenges we’re expecting from Hacken…
They're a brave team. I think they stick to their identity. They like to build. They like to play out from the back, especially when they play here at home. I think they've shown that in the Champions League as well, that they're good enough to play their brand of football against top teams in Europe. It’s the same thing if you look at their defending shape, they're definitely a team that likes to press. They like to play with intensity. They like to challenge their opponents that way, and I expect nothing less from them tomorrow night.
On keeping young players in the senior squad…
The decisions around keeping players within the squad and loaning them out have been how we wanted that to be for this period. There might be different decisions when we come into the January transfer window, but we're very content with how things have worked out so far.
On balancing Champions League qualification with the start of the WSL…
We have prepped for this period because we knew this period was going to be busy if we were successful in the mini-tournament. So everything we’ve done in preseason has been leading up to this point: to be able to deal with this period.
We're experienced, we're a skilled organisation in travelling with the logistics. So this is really business time for us, where we put everyone's competence into the hot seat, and we look forward to weeks like this. They are exciting weeks. It's exciting to be here, to be close to going into the group stage of the Champions League. It's exciting to come to the Emirates in the week and to play against Manchester City, but we need to keep our focus on the day-by-day activity. Today, it's to prepare really well and have a good training session. Tomorrow, it's to play against Hacken, and after that, we can look forward.
On whether he looks forward to these busy periods as a manager…
Of course. I think if you don't like this, you probably shouldn't be in professional football, because this is when it comes down to the margins. We had a question before in Swedish about whether we feel pressure, and I think, of course, everyone feels a little bit of pressure. For me, that's not a negative thing. It's positive. I think that's a necessity for high performance. So we're really looking forward to playing exciting games.
I think with these European games, home and away, it is two games over 180 minutes with potential extra time. I think that's what's important. It's important to have a result after those two games that you go through. There are not going to be any three points awarded for the game tomorrow. So we're going to see this as a two-leg affair, it's going to be played over 180 minutes. After the game tomorrow, it's just going to be half-time.
On the different challenges Hacken might pose…
I think they play a really positive brand of football. They like to express themselves on the ball. They invest with a lot of players in their build-up phase. They like to play with short combinations, with central combinations. They're a skilful team. They're quite enjoyable to watch when they're playing at their best. Out of possession, in defence, they like to go out and press with intensity and really challenge the other team with how good they are at keeping possession of the ball. So I think there are a lot of ingredients for a really exciting game between two teams that like to be in possession of the football.
On how hungry the squad is to qualify for the Champions League…
We’re really hungry. I expect Hacken are as well. You also have to see it from their perspective. They probably can't win the league. They didn't win the Cup. This is their chance to do anything with this season, so they're going to be really motivated as well
On whether he’s noticed a difference in Rosa and Stina ahead of this game…
The boring answer is that this is how we live. We go from game to game to game. Of course, there are always some emotions and I think for all of us from Sweden, it's nice to come here and to be able to show the team this country. And of course, it's a little bit special for both Stina and Rosa who have played for this team.
On how the group moved past the UWCL elimination of last season…
It's a really resilient team that I have the pleasure of working with. I think we're we're good at keeping a level head, both in times of success and in in times of adversity. I think that is the key to constantly controlling what you can control, and not putting too much of your attention onto other factors. Especially when you represent a club like Arsenal, I think that becomes even more important. We’ve been really good at that as a team. We need to continue to be really good at that, especially here, now going into a really busy period.
On what Mariona adds to the squad with her experience…
Mariona has been a great addition to our group. Of course, coming from a culture, both in Barcelona and Spain, that has won so much lately, and the demands that she has on herself and the players around her, it's a real joy to work with. I think it's a real privilege when you're able to get a player like Mariona into the squad, because she also shows me some situations, what can be possible to do with the way she passes the ball, with the way she moves. So yeah, it's a real privilege to be able to work with her.
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