Eidevall: 'Being resilient is not a choice'

For Jonas Eidevall, resilience is a core value of our squad as we were challenged on multiple fronts in a 4-1 win over Everton on Wednesday evening. 

Although we secured another three points away from home, our head coach wanted more from the display - noting that we will face sterner tests before the season is through. 

"I think we can play better," said Eidevall, speaking pitchside after the game. "I'm happy with the result, I'm happy with some parts of the game, but all in all, we know we can play at a higher level.

"We should demand those standards of ourselves and we need to find that again on Sunday [against Chelsea]," he continued.

"We definitely need to be efficient as well. [Our team is] confident - we have reached those levels before during the season - but we can't take it for granted. Everyone needs to do their part. We need to recover now and then bring everything on Sunday."

Prior to kick-off against the Toffees, Eidevall had stated the need for us to be more efficient after winning the home fixture by a slender margin. Our aggressive high press certainly bore fruit in the latter stages of the first half as we bagged four goals in rapid succession through Caitlin Foord, Katie McCabe and Lotte Wubben-Moy.

“We're a front-footed team. We prefer to have the ball. We know that every team has a choking point where you have too little time, too little space and it's about bringing the game to that level."

Despite the dominant scoreline, our spirits were understandably dampened in the second half when Lia Walti was stretchered off courtesy of a red-card challenge from Everton's Aggie Beever-Jones. Our squad adjusted their focus to see the game through to the end, as they have on many occasions this season. 

"Being resilient is not a choice if it's a value. That's who you are. You are a person that can handle adversity, can handle challenges and can keep thinking positively even in tough situations.

"I think this is the team that we are and we need to really value and protect that going forward."

With a clash against historic rivals and current league leaders Chelsea on the horizon, Eidevall reiterated that our approach has not changed as we look to finish the season well. 

“It's still one game at a time. We've been doing that very well and we need to do that again with Chelsea on Sunday. We know it's gonna take a huge performance from us.

“Let's give it our very best. Let's bring it. We need every Arsenal supporter there as well. We need to be loud. We need to be energetic. Let's create something special.”

To hear the full interview with Jonas Eidevall, click play on the video above.