Jonas Eidevall hailed his squad's competitive nature and warned there is no room for sacred cows as his team gear up for their return to the Women's Super League with Sunday's match against Liverpool.
The Arsenal manager enjoyed the luxury of rotation as his side travelled to Paris to take on defending European champions Olympique Lyon in midweek, with Vivianne Miedema making way for Frida Maanum. The 23-year-old Norwegian international had yet to earn a start this season, racking up a measly 60 minutes across four substitute appearances in all competitions.
Yet, Maanum relished one of her most impressive performances in the Arsenal shirt, grabbing a goal and an assist in Arsenal's 5-1 demolition job of the tournament's most successful side and Eidevall praised Maanum for emphatically seizing her chance, insisting her performance is testament to the success competition within his squad can breed.
"There is no team that can write itself, no player that will play guaranteed," Eidevall said in a press conference before his side face Liverpool on Sunday.
"So it is a nice headache when we have a lot of players to perform well, and I’d much rather have it that way than the other way around."
The competition for minutes has become fierce at Arsenal, with Mana Iwabuchi feeling the brunt having failed to make a single appearance for Arsenal this season, despite being free for selection.
The Japanese international joined the Gunners last summer, and Eidevall admitted strength in depth has pushed Iwabuchi down the pecking order. Nevertheless, he hailed her character in the wake of tribulation.
"I think she has been very hard done by the competition on her positions in the team, where I have chosen to play other players," Eidevall said.
"When I have spoken of Lotte [Wubben-Moy] who came in against Ajax and Frida came in against Lyon, how well they have practised, how hard they are working on the pitch, and how happy I am for them to take their chances when they get that on the pitch, Mana Iwabuchi is no different. She works really, really hard.
"But to see her character going through a difficult time like this, because it is difficult not playing, she carries herself with an enormous character, team first and great application in training."
Eidevall dismissed suggestions that Miedema might feel she has point to prove after being dropped to the bench against Lyon, with the Swede expressing his satisfaction with the Dutch striker's reaction when called upon as a substitute.
"For me, I’m always seeing how the players respond, their actions," he said. "And I think you could see when Viv was coming on against Lyon, she puts a lot of energy into those minutes. She really tried to help the team and I’m sure she and all of the other players at Arsenal will do.
"We all know that competition is really important to drive us to the next level, so I think we should all be grateful for it."
Arsenal return to WSL action on Sunday when they travel to Liverpool. The Reds sit ninth in the table after successive losses to Tottenham Hotspur and Everton and have lost all six of their last WSL matches against Arsenal, scoring three times while conceding 20 goals in return.
However, Eidevall cited Chelsea's opening day loss to manager Matt Beard's side as a warning and maintained a need for Arsenal - who are second in the table but level on points with Manchester United - to not rest on their laurels.
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