Eidevall wishes Miedema well but Arsenal keen to move on

Jonas Eidevall wished former Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema all the best after her move to Manchester City, as the Gunners prepare for the upcoming Women’s Super League season.

Arsenal are set to begin life without the WSL’s all-time leading scorer, who left the club after netting 80 times in 106 appearances during her seven-year spell.

Miedema also holds the WSL record for most shots (452), efforts on target (198), touches in the opposition box (816) and goals from inside the area (70).

In WSL history, only Bethany England (48) has converted more big chances than the Netherlands international (44), while Miedema has also provided 35 assists.

Ironically, Miedema’s first WSL appearance for her new club will come against Arsenal on September 22, two days after the start of the new campaign on Friday, September 20, for which Eidevall is now focused on getting his current squad ready.

Looking to start strong pic.twitter.com/4ZCNTsIY4R

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) September 11, 2024

Speaking at the Barclay’s WSL’s 2024-25 season launch Media Day, he told Stats Perform: “Of course, Vivianne Miedema has had a really good history at Arsenal, some really good contributions to the club.

“Then, you come to a point where you need to say, what does the squad need here now for the next season? We prioritise these players that we now have in the squad.

“[We] wish Viv all the best. I think she’s going to have a really good and successful season with Manchester City, but we’re really happy and content with the squad that we have.”

Arsenal are aiming to improve on last term’s third-place finish, and Eidevall wants his players to produce high-quality performances on a more frequent basis.

“We need to keep our highs that we had last season,” he added.

“I think we showed – both with performances and results against the teams that were finishing at the top of the league – that we were a really good football team, but we lacked the consistency.

“So, we need to keep our highs, but we need to raise our lows from last season. That’s not easy, but if we can do that, then we can be winning.”