How it stands: Arsenal Women’s future as Renée Slegers continues to take over from Jonas Eidevall.
After months of fans pleading for Jonas Eidevall to resign, due to many losses and controversy surrounding the way Eidevall treated players, which came to light during the departure of Vivianne Miedema, Eidevall finally resigned on 15th October 2024 after a 2-1 loss to Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium a few days prior.
After the defeat, graffiti was painted on the wall opposite the Emirates which stated “JONAS OUT”, which is thought to have been part of the process of Eidevall’s resignation. First Team Assistant Coach Renée Slegers took over as Interim Head Coach, and has led the team to victory in all their WSL games minus one, a 1-1 draw to Manchester United, and has helped them win Champions League games too.
Slegers has been a hit with fans, but unfortunately she will be stepping back to her previous role in the near future, with the head coach role causing a lot of speculation about who will take over.
Casey Stoney was an early favourite to take over the role, a former Arsenal player who has been without a role in the football industry since leaving San Diego Wave back in June 2024. Stoney originally joined Arsenal in 1999, and continued to play with the Gunners until 2002, before returning in 2014. In her second spell at the club, she had 39 appearances and scored 5 goals. Stoney was also an England international, who played between 2000 and 2017, having 130 appearances.
Another candidate who recently denied making the move to Arsenal was former Manchester City Women’s manager Nick Cushing. Cushing has been in charge of the New York City FC men’s team since 2022, having moved to the Major League Soccer side initially as assistant coach in 2020. He led Manchester City Women to the WSL win in 2016. Cushing does have a contract with New York City FC until 2025, so this is becoming more unlikely by the day.
Carla Ward, former Aston Villa Women's manager, has recently said that she is "ready to return to coaching." Ward stepped down from her position with Villa at the end of the 2023/24 season, despite having a year left on her contract. Time was taken out to prioritise her personal life, but after having a year of spending quality time with her 5-year-old, she is now feeling "physically and mentally stronger than ever." Could Ward be Eidevall's successor?
Other names that have been mentioned include Phil Neville, head coach of Portland Timbers, and formerly an Everton and Manchester United player, Ashley Cole, former Arsenal player and England’s Interim Assistant Coach, and Jack Wilshere, Norwich City’s first team coach and former Arsenal and Bournemouth player.
Renée Slegers has said that she is not interested in the manager role, but fans and players have been pleased with the progress since she began to work more closely with the players. Before their first game against Juventus in the Champions League, in which the girls won 4-0, Beth Mead praised Slegers for “making [them] feel good” since she took over. “We’ve obviously worked with Renée for quite a while now in different roles to what she’s in now, but I think she’s took like a duck to water. It’s been an easy transition for us and the group. We know what she gives us, the confidence she gives us, we’re playing good football so I think as individuals and as a collective we’re very happy with what Renee’s doing for us right now. She deserves the credit of making us feel good and the performances that have been coming on the pitch as well.”
Arsenal’s next WSL clash is against Aston Villa after the international break, taking place on Sunday 8th December at 14:00 at the Emirates Stadium.
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