Inside Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal exit: Tension over style, farewell speech and succession planning

Jonas Eidevall’s departure as head coach happened swiftly, but inside Arsenal, it did not come as a surprise. “You can see how much he cares about the club in terms of his work ethic and how professional he was every day.” Tuesday’s exit brought to a close a three-year journey that reached memorable highs — including reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League and ending Arsenal’s three-year trophy drought with two Continental Cup final triumphs against Chelsea — but ultimately ended with unprecedented pressure weighing on the Swedish head coach to deliver more with so many high-quality individuals at his disposal. Russo scored in Arsenal’s Champions League win over Valerenga on Wednesday One agent described a very talented team as looking like “a shadow of themselves”, while sources felt players appeared to stagnate under Eidevall’s guidance. As Eidevall’s tenure carried on, the dressing room became less unified, while below-par performances — particularly in big matches such as defeats in the Champions League and against Chelsea — wore down morale. The viral video of the head coach and Vivianne Miedema, which emerged following last season’s 1-1 WSL draw with Everton, has been viewed as emblematic of Eidevall’s management style.