Jonas Eidevall criticises Women's World Cup scheduling amid player protection concerns
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has admitted there is no ‘single answer’ that will solve the ACL epidemic in women’s football. But he insists that clubs need more help when it comes to the physical demands on players, citing the timing of this summer’s World Cup as a problem.
The Gunners lost Laura Wienroither to an ACL injury during their narrow Champions League semi-final defeat to Wolfsburg on Monday. The Austrian defender is the fourth Arsenal player to suffer the same injury this season, while numerous others at the highest level have also been affected.
Barcelona superstar Alexia Putellas has only just returned from an ACL injury of her own, among five of the 20 players nominated for the 2022 Ballon d’Or Feminin who suffered one last year.
Eidevall, whose squad has been obliterated by injuries – not solely ACL problems – at the most crucial moment in the season, has suggested there are things that clubs can do to help themselves. But there needs to be more co-operation between clubs and competition organisers/governing bodies.
“We need to look at that internally to see what we can do better in the future. Some parts are internal and things we can control,” he explained.
“There are [also] things we need external co-operation with. For example, the playing schedule or co-operation between clubs and national teams, or how the international match calendar is done. That requires governing bodies, clubs and national teams working together.”
The example cited is the dates of next season’s Champions League. UEFA has pushed back the group stage, will run into January 2024. But the competition’s preliminary qualifying rounds are scheduled to happen while the World Cup is actually ongoing and the first main qualifying round, which will include the third place team from the WSL, as well as from France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Czech Republic, barely more than two weeks after the World Cup final.
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Eidevall called it ‘impossible’ for clubs in that playoff round to protect their players because of the importance of getting through those Champions League qualifiers. The World Cup starts nearly two months after the end of most domestic European league seasons, arguably too much of a gap beforehand that reduces the opportunity for players to rest after the tournament.
“It really highlights the issues with the calendar, where really important stakeholders like UEFA and FIFA can’t schedule tournaments better to allow players time off,” the Arsenal boss continued.
“It is very evident from this summer that this World Cup should have been played earlier. It is evident. That would have meant the players could finish the season, have some time off, prepare for the World Cup without so much time off they lose their fitness, then play the World Cup.
“Then there [would be] a gap so they have time off again and then we can start the Champions League qualifiers and the league openers. But they didn’t get it right, hopefully in the future they can do it better.”
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Shebahn Aherne is joined by Rachel & Sophie from Girls on the Ball, Dr Emma Ross and Charlton midfielder Lois Roche on this episode of 90min Talks to discuss why female footballers are six times more likely to suffer ACL injuries. If you can't see this embed, click here to watch!