Arsenal had to choose between Caldentey and Miedema, says Eidevall | OneFootball

Jonas Eidevall has admitted budget restrictions forced Arsenal to choose between signing the World Cup winner Mariona Caldentey and extending Vivianne Miedema’s contract.

Eidevall also said his decision to let Miedema leave led to such a breakdown in his relationship with the fans that the “cloud” over the club could be swept away only through his resignation. The Swede quit in mid-October and on Tuesday was named as the head coach of San Diego Wave.

Eidevall told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet: “You have a limited budget that you have to deal with, and we had the opportunity to sign Mariona Caldentey or extend Vivianne Miedema’s contract. Then you have to choose either/or. But it’s not a decision that you later stand at a press conference and talk about and say: ‘We had to choose between two players.’ The reality is we couldn’t afford both. Then I have to make a decision about what I think is best for the club.”

Miedema, the Women’s Super League record scorer, was allowed to depart last summer at the end of her deal. Salt was rubbed in supporters’ wounds when the forward, who had intimated that she did not want to go, signed for title rivals Manchester City. Caldentey joined the club from Barcelona in July.

“I think that when we didn’t renew Miedema’s contract my relationship at the time with the fans was hurting the team,” Eidevall told Sports Illustrated. “I thought [leaving] was the easiest quick fix for the team to be able to perform again. That was an incredibly difficult personal decision for me to walk away from, but sometimes you have to do that when it’s what you think is best for the team. I’m also preaching that to any team. I always preach [that] you have to do what’s best for the team.

Eidevall resigned after a string of poor performances and vocal fan discontent. Under the interim manager, Renée Slegers, Arsenal have won 10 and drawn one of their 11 matches.

“I feel that there was a cloud hanging over us,” Eidevall said. “If it had just been hanging over me, then I would have been fine. No worries. But if it becomes a narrative that affects the team, then the team’s performance in the autumn will not benefit.”

Eidevall said he and Emma Hayes have had “no relationship at all” since the then Chelsea manager accused him of “male aggression” at last March’s Continental League Cup final. Eidevall’s new squad contains players selected by Hayes in her role as the US Women’s National Team manager.

At San Diego he will work alongside a sporting director, Camille Ashton. “I really missed that at Arsenal,” he said. “It’s a lonely place being a head coach that doesn’t have a sporting director.”

Header image: [Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters]