Press conference

Every word as Eidevall previews Liverpool game

After the emphatic 5-1 win against Lyon in the Champions League in midweek, Jonas Eidevall and our players' attentions turn to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon as we aim to extend our unbeaten start to the campaign.

Jonas held his usual pre-match press conference ahead of the weekend's game, and here is everything he had to say:

on whether the team are still on a high after Lyon:

No, you have to go back quickly to reality. It was a very memorable night it was a great performance from us but we’re not going to be entitled to anything extra for that moving forward, so we need to prepare, recover and refresh so we can play against Liverpool on Sunday.

on whether he sees it as statement win:

No, I don’t look at things like that. I’m very proud of our performance, I thought it was a very very good performance and I’m really happy with the result but it’s three points - not more, not less.

on whether he was disappointed Beth Mead didn’t win the Ballon d’Or:

For me personally, I don’t care about individual awards in football. It’s a team sport so it’s very hard to value individual contributions for it, but for her individually and seeing how hard she works, of course I would have liked her to get that recognition. The way I know Beth I know she thought it was more important to win in Lyon than if she’d have won the Ballon d’Or.

on how he assesses Liverpool in the WSL so far:

You could clearly see last season that they were a very good side in the Championship, they came up with a clear identity and were well-organised. They have players and a coach that know what level will be expected from them and we all saw in the opening weekend against Chelsea what the team is capable of. We know we have to put in a strong performance.

on whether he’s expecting a closer match than the last encounter in the FA Cup:

I thought that match was much closer than 4-0, it was a very flattering scoreline for us in that game. Like I said, I thought they were very good in the Championship last season and I was impressed by them when we played against them in the FA Cup last season.

on Frida Maanum’s performance giving him a selection dilemma:

You have an obligation as a manager all the time to look at performances, both in practices and when we are playing games, and there is no team that can write itself. There is no player that is guaranteed to play, so it is a nice headache when we have a lot of players who are playing well. I much rather have it that way than the other way around.

on Mana Iwabuchi’s lack of minutes:

She’s not carrying an injury, she is free for selection. I think she has been very hard done by the competition in her position or positions in the team where I have chosen to play other players. When I spoke about Lotte coming in against Ajax and how Frida played against Lyon, how well they had practised and how hard they had worked on the pitch, and how happy I am for them to take their chances when they get out on the pitch, Mana Iwabuchi is no different. 

She works really really hard, and she’s one of those players I wish every bit of success. Football is fast, and when the opportunity arises for Mana, I am very confident she will take it, but to see her character going through a difficult time like this not playing, she carries herself with an enormous character, team-first and great application in training. I think she should be so proud of herself and I’m sure she will benefit from that in the future.

on Liverpool’s playing style this season:

I think there’s been a mixture in flexibility in the way they play, both with the players that they are fielding themselves but also in aspects to the opponents. I know Matt has spoken before our game here now that he’s not happy with the way they have been starting games, so we have to see what that means in what ways they’re going to change, but we expect Liverpool to be a very hard-working team. We saw them against Chelsea as very effective in both set-pieces and counter-attack.

on Vivianne Miedema being benched against Liverpool:

The good thing with playing a lot of games is there’s always the next game and a new team selection. For me, I’m always looking for how the players respond in actions, I think you could see when Viv came on against Lyon that she put a lot of energy into those minutes and really tried to help the team and I’m sure that she and all the other players from Arsenal do their very best for the team. We all know competition is very important to drive us to the next level, and that is something we should be grateful for.

on other clubs changing their white shorts:

It is a really important step for the clubs and kit manufacturers to listen to the players and what they feel comfortable in. I think that is the most important thing. I’m not directly in those conversations at the club, but I know that we have them. At the moment the players are comfortable playing with the kit that we provide, and that’s the most important thing. If that will change in the future, I don’t know but I know that I work for a club that will listen to the players in cases like this.

on utilising the momentum from the Lyon result:

It’s always about what motivates you to go forward and it’s always a balancing act. Sometimes it’s about knowing what reality looks like when we have had a really good result, but the same thing when we’ve had a really bad result. It’s about finding a way forward and acting with self-confidence but also with humility, and keeping those two things balanced. 

I feel that this group is very balanced and we’re very happy with what we did in France but we’re not getting carried away, that’s the feeling I have. That makes it easier going into here because I don’t feel like I need to downplay or up-play any part of it, but it’s up to us now with actions on the pitch to really show that we are prepared for Sunday.

on whether he watched Liverpool’s game against Chelsea:

Of course, we have seen that and all their other games as well. It’s a very good strategy if you can frustrate opponents, we try to do that also. Sometimes we don’t want them to have the ball and they get frustrated and they try to go after it and we can exploit that in their defence. I think there are many ways you can frustrate an opponent and that’s part of carrying out an effective gameplan, so we have to respect that.