Jonas Eidevall departure a ‘big change’ for Arsenal, says captain Kim Little

Arsenal captain Kim Little admits the club face a “big change” following the resignation of manager Jonas Eidevall.

The Swede left the club on Tuesday following a difficult start to the season, which has included a 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League before a 2-1 loss at home to Chelsea in the Women’s Super League at the weekend.

The Gunners sit sixth in the WSL, with their only win of the season so far coming against Leicester last month.

They will aim to get their European campaign up and running when they welcome Norwegian side Valerenga to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday and Little says the squad must stick together.

She told a press conference: “He’s been here for the last four years and made the choice to step away.

“We have a huge amount of respect for him and now we need to get the players together. It’s a big change, but we need to change our focus to what we need in tomorrow’s game.

“The games are coming thick and fast. It’s hard enough to stay focused and then this added change adds to that, but we stressed with the other players to take individual responsibility and be as supportive as we can to the staff in the interim role.

“It’s challenging, but what’s more important is staying together and putting on a good performance tomorrow.

“The strength of what Jonas left is the foundations here, we move forward with that and focus and bring the group together.”

Eidevall joined the Gunners from FC Rosengard in June 2021 and led them to two League Cup titles and the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2023.

Little, 34, is one of the most experienced players in the Arsenal squad and wants to lead the team to a positive result in front of their own fans on Wednesday.

She said: “It is a responsibility of mine to step up, but we always do that day in and day out regardless of change, good or bad. We lead in the same manner and will continue to do that.”

Assistant coach Renee Slegers will take charge of the team on an interim basis.

The 35-year-old took over from Eidevall at Rosengard before following him to north London and admitted she was not prepared for Tuesday’s announcement.

She said: “I was shocked by the news.

“I was very sad because he has been a good leader for the staff and I worked with him before in Sweden and we worked really well together. I am very sad it got to this point.

“I care about the team, I care about the players. I have been here for a year now and it’s a massive club, so I am happy to help.

“I was not prepared, I was totally loyal to the work I was doing for Jonas and the team.”