Jonas Eidevall has 'no regrets' over Arsenal exit | OneFootball

Jonas Eidevall insists he has no regrets over his Arsenal exit and handling of Vivianne Miedema's unpopular and controversial departure last summer.

The Swede initially took charge of the Gunners in the summer of 2021 following a successful spell in his homeland with Rosengard. He won the Women's League Cup twice during his tenure, beating Emma Hayes' Chelsea in both the 2023 and 2024 finals.

However, the start to this season did not go to plan. Arsenal won only four from nine games across all competitions in the opening weeks of the campaign, and just one of those came in the WSL.

On the back of a dismal defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stage and a home WSL loss against Chelsea, Eidevall walked away from his role in early October. He was replaced by assistant Renee Slegers on an interim basis, before she was handed the role permanently in January.

The 42-year-old, who is now coaching in the NWSL with San Diego Wave, admitted it was a difficult decision to leave, but felt it was a necessary one to make under the circumstances.

"I thought the easiest quick fix in this moment here now is for me to step away," he said in an interview with BBC Sport. "It was extremely tough, both for me personally - my family of course - but also professionally.

"It's a privilege to be leading a club like Arsenal. It's very special when you're there, so an extremely difficult decision to make."

Aside from a tumultuous week with defeats to Bayern and Chelsea, the breakdown in the relationship between Eidevall and Arsenal fans had already begun at the end of last season. The call not to extend Vivianne Miedema's contract, with the forward now playing for WSL rivals Manchester City, was met with extreme discontent from supporters.

Eidevall has since shared that the decision was taken as they had the budget to either extend Miedema or sign Spain international Mariona Caldentey on a free transfer from Barcelona. Having opted for the latter, he insists he has no regrets over letting Miedema go.

"I don't. I think you always take the best decisions you can make for the club at that point with the information that you know," he explained.

"You can't rethink decisions based on new information that you could not have known at that time. That's not a helpful way of thinking about life. So no regrets.

"I do think that that decision was a big part in my relationship with the supporters [deteriorating]. I never took any decision to be liked. I always took decisions because I felt they were the best for the club and for the team."

Eidevall was named as San Diego head coach in January and he is now gearing up for his first season working in the NWSL. Previously managed by Casey Stoney, the Wave finished 10th in the league in 2024 and failed to qualify for the play-offs.

The former Arsenal boss will be tasked with restoring their place at the top-end of the table, with their first fixture set to take place this coming weekend away at Angel City FC.