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Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall says there is “no hiding” from his side’s troubled start to the season but urged fans to give them “more chances” after a surprise 1-0 defeat by Liverpool in front of a record Women’s Super League crowd at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners lost in Women’s Champions League qualifying to Paris FC in September and endured a miserable start to their league campaign with a meek loss against opponents who had not won away in the top flight for three-and-a-half years. “We need to be better,” said Eidevall, whose side are expected to be title challengers but have now lost three consecutive WSL matches without scoring, including the final two fixtures of last season.
“Are we performing at the level we want right now? No, we’re not. There’s no hiding from that. We need to develop, and we don’t have a lot of time to do that.
“No matter about the Champions League exit or not, it’s really disappointing to lose [this] game – especially at home, with 54,000 fans through the turnstiles to give us incredible support.”
Miri Taylor’s second-half strike handed the Reds victory and ensured Eidevall suffered a nightmare start to his third league season in charge, with the Swede saying he had only been able to organise 10 training sessions with his full squad in four months because of the Women’s World Cup.
“We need to understand that every day in training and every minute on the pitch counts,” said Eidevall, adding that new signing Alessia Russo “worked very hard” on a day when the England forward managed a solitary attempt at goal before being substituted.
Arsenal are expected to play a total of five games at Emirates Stadium this season, where an expectant home crowd had precious little to cheer despite the impressive numbers.
“The disappointment is that we couldn’t reward them with a better performance and result,” said Eidevall. “The way they supported the team all the way to the final whistle was incredible. Please give us more chances and we will do better.
“In the second half we struggled to generate momentum because the game became stop-start. There were a lot of set-pieces.
“We were not successful in stacking situations on top of each other and disrupting their rhythm.” Arsenal’s first away game of the season is a testing trip on Friday to Manchester United, who came from behind to beat Aston Villa on Sunday and are likely to compete at the top of the table in 2023-24.
“Nobody puts more pressure on getting results than me,” said Eidevall. “I want to win so badly every time. Nothing changes that.”
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