Jonas Eidevall demands positive mindset as Arsenal target cup final glory

Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall has stressed the importance of a positive mindset heading into Sunday’s Continental Tyres League Cup final against serial trophy winners Chelsea.

Eidevall’s side face a Blues outfit who, since the Gunners last secured silverware in 2019, have been Women’s Super League champions three times and claimed two FA Cups and two League Cups.

Last Sunday Arsenal lost 2-0 at Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round, the third successive time they have been defeated in that competition by Emma Hayes’ side, which includes the delayed final that took place in December 2021, a few months after Eidevall took charge.

Eidevall was asked at a press conference ahead of this weekend’s clash at Selhurst Park about the issue for opponents of Chelsea’s mentality of being used to winning, and he said: “It’s about learning and developing.

“You’re right, domestically, that Chelsea have won a lot. If you look internationally, they have a habit of losing when they play important games.

“I think if you ask Chelsea about that, they would say our next step is to grow into being a team that can win consistently on the international level, and they think that’s possible.

“Of course, we also think that’s possible for us, domestically and at international level. So that’s the mindset we have.

“If you want to be almost imprisoned by your mindset and say, ‘that’s going to be hard, it’s going to be difficult for us’, it is going to be hard and difficult, but you need to have that belief, that optimism that things can change, you can learn, you can develop, and just because it happened one way yesterday, it can be different tomorrow if you’re working toward making it different. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

The FA @ContiUK League Cup