Ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League group stage final game, Jonas Eidevall has admitted Vivianne Miedema’s injury altered his January transfer plans “a bit”.
The striker was stretchered during last Thursday’s 0-1 loss to Lyon after rupturing his ACL, along with fellow striker Beth Mead, who suffered the same injury against Manchester United in the WSL three. last week.
It not only further raises the question of why ACL injuries are so common in women’s games but also how it affects Arsenal’s transfer plans when the January window opens in 12 days.
When asked if Miedema’s recent absence has had any effect, Eidevall replied: “A little bit. Of course, that makes us need to be more aggressive in the January transfer window. I hope we do. can be positive, but it’s about finding the right players.
“And we have to consider that if we are successful in all competitions, then we can play 26 games from January to May.
Miedema was looked after by the medical staff for a few minutes at the end of the first half before being released
“So you need to have a squad that can handle that in a fairly limited amount of time. It’s an important transfer window for us.
“When you look at things in the short term, sometimes we have to see what’s available and the timing of that. Sometimes, I also have to adjust my ideas, but of course, whenever they are. We can have long-term goals, when we feel someone can contribute for many seasons for Arsenal, that’s a priority.
“But the most important thing is that we have a really competitive squad here in January so we can compete in all the leagues we’re in.”
Some have pointed out that the increasingly tight schedule in women’s soccer could be a contributing factor to the recent serious knee injury.
Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema was in tears as she was carried last Thursday
Last week, FIFA rejected a recent request by several international coaches to increase the squad size at the FIFA Women’s World Cup from 23 players to 26 players – as men’s teams are allowed. attended a recent tournament in Qatar.
Discussing the topic, Eidevall said: “I think the problem is with the schedule. I don’t think it can be solved with 23 or 26 players in the team.
“The problem is when you have so many tournaments in a row in the summer, the players don’t have time to rest. We finish the league at the end of May, you have a tournament in July or maybe it’s the end of May. What about August and the national league?Of course, they said we need to prepare for the tournament so they brought the players in after they had two weeks of summer break, then the players would gather with the team. country in the six weeks before the tournament.
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A variety of experts discuss the difficulties of coping with and recovering from an ACL injury. Plus, Gary Lewin, head of women’s performance at Arsenal, explains the science behind potentially career-threatening injuries
“Then club football needs to be played almost immediately – you have seen how quickly Man City need to play post-Euro against Real Madrid in Champions League qualifying, so the players are not have time to rest.
“So you can give them a break before the tournaments or schedule the tournaments earlier in the summer, then that will allow for a gap after that. I can’t really see that. so difficult.
“People need breaks and vacations to refresh. That’s something the schedule needs to look at so you can make sure the players have that time off and then I think we’ll be fine.”
‘We must be disciplined against Zurich’
Arsenal made it past the quarter-finals of the Champions League and entered Wednesday’s match as the top team of Group C.
They will need to beat Zurich to secure the top spot and possibly have an easier draw in the last eight, but Eidevall has also warned his side to follow discipline in Switzerland.
“It’s very important [to finish top of the group]but there are a lot of things that matter,” he added.
“When you’re in a competition, you want to have as much of an edge as possible when it comes to the quarterfinals. There will be eight excellent teams here, but of course, we want to come out with number one. [in the group] if possible.
“It’s also important not to get to the quarter-finals with too many yellow cards. We went through that against Wolfsburg last season. It’s difficult for us to go into these games here with so many players on the verge of suspension. We have to manage that much better and have a lot of discipline as a player, but so am I – no yellow cards this season.
“It’s as important as not conceding a goal tomorrow. First we need to win, then we need to keep our place with the yellow cards and then we’ll go into the quarterfinals. with very good conditions.”
Arsenal defender Leah Williamson also believes Arsenal must play against the strongest teams if they are to win the Champions League and has backed the Gunners to return after a difficult evening against Lyon.
Leah Williamson also previewed this week’s important Champions League game
She said: “You have to beat the best to win a tournament. You want to go as far as you can, we haven’t made it past the quarter-finals in a while, so you want to go far. than.
“Unless you win, which you can’t do without beating those top teams, you’re leaving with less than you wanted. Either way it’s going to be a tough draw. towel.
“After something like that [Miedema’s injury] happens in a game, it makes it a little bit flat, that’s how we feel when we go out on the field. But in the end, we played good football.
“We went back to the training ground immediately, everyone is recovering and ready to be back as always, hopefully this game is very important for us to win. You have seen how we recovered. After the defeat to Man Utd in the league, in this competition too. We intend to leave nothing out.”
