Arsenal boss yet to achieve Hodgson 'dream' but wants title after Champions League hurt

A little over a year-and-half ago, Eidevall went off-piste to talk about his admiration for Crystal Palace's Roy Hodgson for how he changed Swedish football from his time with Halmstads BK and Malmo.

At that time, Hodgson had just been installed as Watford manager and as luck would have it, the Hornets train right next door to the Gunners at London Colney.

Eidevall went onto add it would be a 'dream' to meet Hodgson, but as yet, a coffee with the 76-year-old hasn't taken place.

However, Hodgson's impact on Eidevall's career cannot be underestimated and the Swede also cites former Chelsea boss Graham Potter as another role model during his early years in coaching.

"No [I've not had that coffee with Roy] because now, he's getting busier," Eidevall laughs, speaking exclusively to talkSPORT.

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"I spoke to him [Hodgson] at one of the LMA awards dinners and that was after he'd been at Watford and I said: 'Maybe now you have more time,' but you know what, he's done very well and kept himself very busy in the game.

"I might have to wait for that coffee a little bit longer! He's an inspiration to a lot of Swedish coaches for what he achieved in Sweden.

"You [also] have a person like Bob Houghton, who was also in Sweden, especially in the city of Malmo, which is close to where I'm from. He made a real mark.

"Also, I think you have to mention a British coach like Graham Potter. What he was able to achieve with Ostersunds and showing what you can achieve with a combination of really good leadership and really good tactical knowledge was very inspirational."

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Eidevall was appointed as Arsenal Women head coach in 2021 and has won over the club's fans with his style of football as well as his passionate goal celebrations.

He won his first piece of silverware with the Gunners last season when they beat Chelsea in the Continental Cup final and guided the club to a third-place finish in the Women's Super League following an injury hit campaign.

They also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League but won't enjoy such a long run in Europe this season, as the Gunners were knocked out by Paris FC in the first qualifying round on penalties in a shock defeat.

As Arsenal finished in third place in the WSL, they had to partake in a mini-tournament in order to qualify for the second qualifying round of the Champions League, something which Eidevall disagrees with.

"It was definitely hurtful. We wanted to achieve a lot of things in Europe this season and it ended way too early for our liking," he explains.

"We can be hurt by yesterday, but we still have a commitment to this club and to this team to make the future bright and make the future red and white.

"The calendar needs to be relooked at and revisited in order to give players time off after major tournaments.

"As a concept of coming and playing a mini-tournament at neutral venues and just playing 90 minutes, I think it's a very under developed format in trying to decide what team is going to go through to the group stage.

"I think there is, of course, a reason why they don't do that in the men's competition [and that's] why you're playing double headed qualification runs. Of course, that's what I think you should do.

"Even if you wouldn't expand anything in the Champions League [and] even if you wouldn't change anything from a calendar perspective, let's get rid of the mini tournaments. Lets play double headed knockout rounds, so you play home, then you play away.

"It's the proper format on how to decide which team is best in Europe and it's well overdue to get that system right now in all the women's competitions at club level in UEFA as well."

Eidevall has been busy in the transfer market this summer, adding Laia Codina, Kyra Cooney-Cross and most notably, Lionesses star Alessia Russo as he aims to close the gap on reigning WSL champions Chelsea.

As such, Eidevall concedes this is the strongest squad he has had during his time at Arsenal and is delighted players of the calibre of Russo want to join the Gunners.

"Alessia has so many qualities, both on and off the pitch, so there's obvious reasons why she's been a top target for us," he finished.

"One thing is identifying a player that can fit really well into our structure. But that player also has to see how they fit into our structure and want to come to the club.

"I think that's a real strength of what we're trying to build here at Arsenal at the moment [and] that players like Alessia Russo and Kyra Cooney Cross make Arsenal their number one choice to go to and want to put their belief into what we're trying to achieve here.

"I'm not going to lie, of course we would love to win a domestic trophy. Of course, we would love to win the league, as I think that is the hardest trophy to win.

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"I think it's going to be the most competitive WSL season that we've ever seen and we're ready for that."

You can listen to the Women's Football Show every Monday from 6pm-7pm on talkSPORT 2.