Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall says he can't get his head around why more female coaches aren't managing across the professional game.
A recent change of manager at Arsenal's next opponents in the Women's Super League, Brighton, has seen the issue become a hot topic, as only four mangers in the top flight are female. But Eidevall feels that the issue doesn't lie solely within the WSL.
Carla Ward at Aston Villa, Emma Hayes at Chelsea, Kelly Chambers at Reading and Rehanne Skinner at Tottenham are in the hot seats at top-flight clubs, but the other eight bosses - including the Arsenal manager - are male. Speaking ahead of Sunday's trip to Brighton, Eidevall was asked about the shrinking number of female coaches in the league and confessed that the issue is a big one for the professional game as a whole.
"It is not the WSL that is the problem," Eidevall said. "The problem is when you look at all the technical staff across the professional game, particularly on the men's side, how many female technical staff do we have?
"It is incredible because you look across all other areas of society. We have female Prime Ministers, we can have female presidents, but we can't have a female coach coaching in the Premier League for some reason, why?
"It has to be, single-handedly, the most under-tapped resource in professional football - female coaches. There is no reason why you can't be female and be a top coach. You are right, with the numbers (in the WSL), it is a big problem there aren't more female coaches. But that is not the WSL in isolation, that is the whole game.
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"I can't get my head around how it is possible. Still now nothing happens and people seem to be content that nothing is happening."
Arsenal make the trip to Brighton on Sunday still on the coat-tails league leaders Chelsea after last week's 1-1 draw at the Emirates. Although Eidevall was pleased with the performance against the reigning champions, he was left disappointed with the result.
However, the Swede added that the players' disappointment at conceding Sam Kerr's late equaliser showed they are hungry for silverware.
"Ambitions are clear here," Eidevall added. "We want to go for trophies and do our absolutes best. Of course, we should be disappointed when we lose a lead in the 89th minute. Part of that reaction is natural.
"The important [thing] is to understand that from every game, there are things to learn. If we can put that into practice in the week, we can become a better team."
Eidevall also reiterated his desire to bring in a goalscorer in this window. The Gunners had plenty of chances to kill their London rivals off last week but failed to do so.
"That is still in my plans," he added. "A consequence of missing Beth (Mead) and Viv (Miedema) for the rest of the season is that we lose a lot of our historical scoring contributions. We can work on ways to compensate for that internally. But it is my idea to also to bring in someone externally, to help the squad."
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