Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall criticised the Women’s Super League (WSL) for its “unacceptable” timetable following the rescheduling of Chelsea‘s match against Manchester United over player welfare concerns.
The postponement, announced only a week before the game, sparked frustration among fans, who were upset by what they saw as lack of foresight, as the Champions League group stage schedule was set last year and Chelsea’s place in it had been secured following their WSL triumph last season.
Eidevall stressed the need for the league to improve its fixture planning, pointing out the impracticality of Chelsea’s original schedule, which had them facing Manchester United just 48 hours before hosting Real Madrid in their first Champions League group stage match.
“It’s not a good situation,” the Arsenal boss told a news conference on Friday “There are 16 teams involved in the Champions League group stage. How many of the teams are playing on Sunday, the 6th of October?
“Well, we are. So that’s one that’s sort of a lead and if it only would be us, it would be an Arsenal problem, but it’s also Manchester City playing. So it tells you that the only two teams that are playing are English teams. The only other team that was scheduled to play on the Sunday was Chelsea.
“So out of the 16 teams, 13 teams were scheduled to play on the Friday or Saturday and the three English teams were all scheduled to play on the Sunday. Each team [has] a 50% chance or risk depending on how you see it to play their game on the Tuesday. That has been the information that has been there for months.”
When announcing the postponement, Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) said in a statement: “In light of the proximity between the two fixtures, the club raised its concerns regarding player welfare with the relevant parties. Numerous discussions have since taken place in an attempt to find an amicable solution to this scheduling conflict between the league and UEFA.”
However, the Arsenal manager does not believe blame can be shifted to UEFA without accountability from the WSL.
“We have a league organisation that doesn’t act proactively on these matters. It’s damaging for the fans. I think the fans are the backbone of what we’re trying to build and one of the biggest reasons to what we’re doing. I think that is simply unacceptable to have people’s money and time being treated in that way and it’s not good enough from the league.
“It’s not good enough to blame it on UEFA because everyone across Europe has had the same information for such a long time, and the only one that hasn’t acted on that information is the WSL,” he said.
Eidevall also said the league’s actions are indicative of its lack of support for English teams in the Champions League.
“Does the league want the English club teams to be successful at European level? And I would hope the answer to that would be yes, but the actions shows differently. It shows that this is not one of their priorities to have the club be successful.
“I think that is very negative for English women’s club football because it’s very important that this is the first time in the group stage that three [English] teams reach the group stage and that should be something that we celebrate, instead it becomes a problem. It’s very important for the whole league that we are successful in Europe because we can improve the coefficient.”
Eidevall further added that the postponement disadvantages his side ahead of their clash with Chelsea on Oct. 13.
Arsenal face Everton this Sunday, then travel to Germany to face Bayern Munich on Wednesday, before hosting Chelsea. Following the postponement, Chelsea now have had a free weekend ahead of their Tuesday night home fixture against Real Madrid.
“We have considerably less preparation time than the opponents,” he said. “We’ll be handling this disadvantage in two huge games for us. But what needs to change? I think the approach to the Champions League football and the proactiveness and with the respect to the supporters. It has to change.”
