Jonas Eidevall resigns as Arsenal Women head coach after poor start to WSL season

Jonas Eidevall has resigned as Arsenal Women head coach following their poor start to the 2024/25 campaign.

The 41-year-old came under pressure following the slow start to the Women’s Super League season which included draws to both Manchester City and Everton.

His final game was a 2-1 defeat to reigning champions Chelsea on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium, which came days after Arsenal lost their opening Champions League group game 5-2 to Bayern Munich.

Eidevall’s assistant Renée Slegers will take interim charge, with the search for a new head coach underway. The Gunners face Valerenga in their next Champions League group game at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.

Arsenal have won one of their opening four games in the WSL and are the joint-third lowest scorers with just four goals to their name so far.

The Gunners were busy in the summer window with Mariona Caldentey, Daphne Van Domselaar, Rosa Kafaji and Sophie Harwood all arriving but the Gunners did lose all time leading WSL goalscorer Vivianne Miedema to Manchester City.

Did Eidevall jump before he was pushed?

Sky Sports’ Anton Toloui:

“I’m surprised by the wording of Arsenal’s statement, which sounds like he jumped before he was pushed, to be brutally honest.

“We know Arsenal’s start to the season has been highly frustrating. We know Jonas Eidevall has been open about the fact he felt he was giving the job his all, the players were giving their all, and it just wasn’t happening on the field in big games.

“He also said he was determined to put things right. Speaking to sources around the training ground, I was told he was at Colney yesterday, so the assumption was he was taking training ahead of a Champions League game against Valerenga on Tuesday.

“Now we’ve been told assistant coach Renee Slegers will take charge of that. It does feel like that game is a must-win, and so too is the WSL game against West Ham this weekend.

“The statement is full of respect for Jonas, from sporting director Edu Gaspar and from director of women’s football Clare Wheatley, but results haven’t been good enough and Jonas has been backed in the transfer market.

“There will be rumours about who is next in at Arsenal, and there is one obvious name that jumps to the top of the candidate list, that is Casey Stoney, who is currently a free agent.

“She was at the Emirates watching Arsenal lose to Chelsea on Saturday. She’s a former Arsenal player and won a lot with the club back in the day. She will be right at the top of the list, but as of now, we have no clear indication of which direction the club is likely to go in.”

Arsenal Women’s next six fixtures

October 16: Valerenga (H), Champions League, kick-off 8pm

October 20: West Ham (A), Women’s Super League, kick-off 3pm

November 3: Man Utd (A), Women’s Super League, kick-off 12.30pm

November 8: Brighton (H), Women’s Super League, kick-off 7pm

November 12: Juventus (A), Champions League, kick-off 5.45pm

November 16: Tottenham (A), Women’s Super League, kick-off 1.45pm

More to follow…

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