There was a moment when Sonia Bompastor and Jonas Eidevall found themselves waiting for interviews at the Women’s Super League (WSL) pre-season media day.
Bompastor, newly installed at Chelsea, went to say hello to the Arsenal manager and they shared a joke. It was all very cordial and relaxed, even though this was, in effect, the start of the top flight’s new managerial rivalry. As the two prepare to meet at the Emirates on Saturday, the question now is how long this one will actually last, with pressure growing on Eidevall at Arsenal as each week passes.
This London derby will not be the first time they have met. Two years ago, Eidevall subjected Bompastor to one of her most humiliating defeats as a manager. Arsenal travelled to Lyon, Champions League holders at the time, on the opening day of the group stages and left with a 5-1 win.
It was the start of Eidevall’s second season as manager and a moment which showed he had put his own stamp on the team. Eyebrows were raised when Frida Maanum started over Vivianne Miedema that night, but the performance justified the selection, with Lyon unable to deal with Arsenal’s heavy-metal football.
Did Eidevall’s thoughts wander back to that night as he watched his team beaten 5-2 by Bayern Munich on Wednesday? Following Sunday’s tepid 0-0 draw at home against Everton, he had needed to see a reaction from his side. Instead, he got the opposite.
From 2-2, Arsenal collapsed as former Chelsea player Pernille Harder scored a hat-trick in 13 minutes. It was the first time Arsenal had conceded five since a 5-2 defeat by Manchester City in 2017. That loss proved to be one of the last acts of their manager at the time, Pedro Martinez Losa.
The concern from Eidevall’s perspective was how ragged his players looked.
Asked after the match whether he was concerned about his message getting through to the team, he denied that was the issue. “I don’t feel like there is a misunderstanding of the message of what we need to do,” he said. “We didn’t defend well enough in the second half and I am not happy with that, but I don’t think that is a result of miscommunication or a lack of clarity around the idea of what we need to do in those situations.
“We have no choice but to put this game behind us and take the necessary learnings from it to get ready for the task on Saturday.”
The game against Chelsea has become a must-win for Eidevall. Following defeats last season against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, the line was that Arsenal struggled against teams who sat deep against them but excelled in the bigger matches. If they lose at the weekend, they will have taken one point from their two home games against Manchester City and Chelsea. Hardly the mark of a side dominating against the best teams.
Chelsea are yet to win at the Emirates, having been consistently poor in their matches there throughout Eidevall’s reign. His celebration for his first game there, in September 2021, became iconic as he fell to his knees in joy when the final whistle blew after Arsenal had won 3-2. Harder was on the scoresheet that day, too.
It was a moment that stuck with the Chelsea players. Millie Bright and Erin Cuthbert performed the same celebration when they beat Arsenal to the league title by a point eight months later.
This meeting is a great opportunity for Bompastor to manage something that her predecessor could not by winning at the Emirates. The truth is her Chelsea side have been looking pretty stilted themselves, albeit they are picking up results. Illness in the camp disrupted preparations for Tuesday’s game against Real Madrid, but they managed to win 3-2 without needing to overstretch themselves.
After the match, it was clear Bompastor was not satisfied.
“We scored the two goals, but after these two goals we were not working as hard as I wanted the players to work on the pitch, especially when we had the ball,” she said. “We were walking with the ball and that’s not enough.
“You have to make sure you put in more high intensity. If you want to possess the ball, you have to run a lot.”
She should not have to work too hard to fire up the players for the game against Arsenal, a fixture which has consistently provided fireworks, albeit often on the sidelines rather than on the pitch.
“I’ve enjoyed matches against Chelsea,” said Eidevall, speaking at the WSL media day. “We haven’t always come out on top, but it’s been very challenging. And I hope they will continue to be challenging games this season.”
The risk for Eidevall is that, if this proves too challenging, it might be the last one he manages for quite a while.
The start of the season may have seen the buds of a new managerial rivalry, but the possibility remains that it never blooms.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
