Arsenal have confirmed the departure of Jonas Eidevall from the women’s head coach role on Tuesday, 15th October. Eidevall resigned himself after a disappointing start of the new season. Assistant coach Renee Slegers will take charge as an interim manager of the team as of now. Until the board finds a appropriate candidate for the role.
In the pre-match press conference before Arsenal’s clash against Valerenga in the UCL, Slegers was asked if she wanted the head coach role permanently. But she dodged those tricky questions from the journalists. Slegers replied that her only focus right now is on Arsenal’s upcoming games this week. We all wishing her all the best as she will manage the Gunners for the first time in the big European stage. Her first game as the head coach can play a vital role for her future managerial career.
Why did Jonas Eidevall resign?
It is believed that the resignation of Jonas Eidevall was a gesture to show self-awareness. Though Arsenal’s men have started the new season on a high note, things are quite the polar opposite in the women’s team. As the Gunners have only won 2 of the 7 games they have played across all competitions so far this season. This is their worst start to a season in the last 5 years.
Arsenal women’s team are currently standing at the 6th position in the Women’s Super League. In the 4 matches they have played so far in the league they have only managed to extract 5 points from them (1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss). On the other hand their Champions League campaign also started in the worst possible way. As they got thrashed against the Bavarians in 5-2 score line.
And next up he was to face club rivals Chelsea at home. So, naturally he was on enormous pressure heading to that London derby. There was a feeling that Eidevall’s job was on a thin ice before the start of the game. When Chelsea got the lead earlier in the first half the reaction from the crowd proved it all. The game ended on a 2-1 defeat for the home side. And it was almost confirmed that Arsenal will terminate the contract of Eidevall after a renewal back in 2023.
However, the Swedish manager himself resigned from the role before anything of that could happen. This was a good decision from Jonas Eidevall, as he did not want to lose more of his respect from the fans and management.
Captain Kim Little respects the ex-manager’s decision
Jonas Eidevall took charge of the Arsenal women’s team back in 2021. He replaced Joe Montemurro, who was coaching the Juventus women’s football team until last season. Though Eidevall had won the League cup consecutively in 2023 and 2024 season but he didn’t able to beat Chelsea in the race of the WSL. Eidevall’s Arsenal finished 3rd in the past two seasons and they even reached the semi-finals of the UCL in the 2022-23 campaign.
After the departure of Jonas Eidevall, Arsenal’s sporting director Edu Gaspar have shown his gratitude towards Eidevall’s work for the club. Edu further mentioned their focus will be now on monitoring a new manager while supporting Renee, the interim manager.
Arsenal captain Kim Little has also talked about the Eidevall’s decision in the pre-match press conference of Valerenga game. She stated that they got aware of the situation before Tuesday morning’s training session. While wishing her former manager for a great future ahead, Kim said,
“It’s a bit sad, Jonas has been our leader for the last three years and he has made the choice to step away now and we have huge amount of respect for him.”
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