Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall spoke to the media after his Gunners dominated Glasgow Rangers FC 6-0 at Meadow Park in the opening round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers.

The head coach shared his thoughts on the role of new signing Mariona Caldentey, star of the show Caitlin Foord, and Arsenal’s preparation before facing Rosenborg on Saturday after the Norwegian club knocked Atlético Madrid out of the tournament in a match that went to penalties.

Perhaps surprisingly, five of Arsenal’s six goals were scored in the second half. The Gunners boss spoke about being 1-0 up at half time, thanks to a header from Caitlin Foord. He declared, “You can choose if you are going to worry about an outcome or if you’re going to focus on the process. For me, all we spoke about at half-time was how we are going to score the second and third goal. If there is only one goal in football it is only a moment away and we had a real reminder of that earlier today. We just focus on the process.”

The reminder the manager speaks of here is Atlético Madrid’s early exit from the contest, after Rosenborg found a last-minute equaliser and went on to win through penalties.

He said,“We put ourselves in a strong position but so have Rosenborg, now both teams need to prepare their best and we will play here on Saturday night to see who is the best team to go through,” said the head coach ahead of Saturday’s pivotal clash.

Eidevall also delved into the significant role Caldentey is taking on with the squad, and illustrated exactly how well she is doing it. The former Barcelona player provided Foord with a stunning assist against Rangers, her impact across the pitch proving impossible to ignore.

“Mariona is such a fluid player, she is a connecting player and she opens up defences. Caitlin Foord is a great player to come inside on these diagonal passes and timing runs and attacking the back post. We have seen her score numerous goals like that before but maybe today we had more service in those areas than before.”

The Swedish coach pointed out some of the Spanish newcomer’s key strengths, detailing “She can go out wide and get really good early crosses in, she had really good one-v-one situations out wide. That flexibility makes her a difficult player to defend.“

Eidevall continued. “We experienced that first hand when we played Barcelona in the Champions League. It feels like you are playing against a 12th player, because she keeps popping up in spaces and overloading areas for you. It was nice to have that for us today. She is a really good football player, and very intelligent too.”

Not forgetting to pile on the praise for the night’s ultimate achiever in Caitlin four-goal Foord, Eidevall emphasised “It is great to see a player like Foord who works so extremely hard all the time get a reward for that. It is a team effort but of course, it is individual brilliance from her.”

The head coach appeared confident that the quality of the performance they put on in Borehamwood would only continue to improve as the 2024/25 football season gets underway.

“What you can see is a great start,” the Gunners manager continued, “When you see Codi [Laia Codina] and Leah [Williamson] playing together today, they form a great relationship. They transform what they have done in training into the game but, as with any team, we need to build relationships, and my belief is they will get stronger and stronger the more we invest in them.”

Understandably pleased with his side’s performance, Eidevall warmly stated “It is an enjoyable team to watch and it is even more enjoyable to work with, and we started the competitive season in a really strong way.”

The win sees the Gunners progress on to Saturday’s mini-tournament final against Rosenborg, as they continue to push for UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification. Arsenal and their head coach are hopeful that this weekend will provide the chance to cement a place in the playoff round of the competition.