Jonas Eidevall calls Emma Hayes ‘irresponsible’ over League Cup final comments

Jonas Eidevall believes Emma Hayes was “irresponsible” in accusing him of male aggression in a heated finish to the Women’s League Cup final.

Eidevall’s Arsenal defeated Hayes’ Chelsea 1-0 earlier this month but the result was overshadowed by a spat between the two managers.

Hayes took exception to a touchline altercation between Eidevall and Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert and appeared to push the Arsenal boss after the match.

Hayes will not face any sanction but, speaking at a press conference ahead of Arsenal’s Women’s Super League clash with Bristol City on Sunday, Eidevall criticised the Chelsea boss for her post-match comments.

“I thought the comments that I heard after the game were very irresponsible and they were not mirroring the conduct that I had in the technical area,” Eidevall said on arsenal.com.

“I think always when you make comments about other persons you have to take into consideration what effects that may have. That’s why you need to be, especially when you’re a leader, you need to be very good with words.

“You need to understand the consequences of both your actions and your language and that’s why I think it’s really, really important that we treat each other with a lot of respect and that we stay at facts as much as possible and don’t get too emotional.

“I’m very happy with the way I conducted myself and I wouldn’t do anything differently if I could redo it again.”

Eidevall revealed, meanwhile, that Frida Maanum, who collapsed during the cup final in worrying scenes, could return in next weekend’s match against Leicester.

“Everything is looking good and that’s the most important thing,” said Eidevall. “She’s on a graduated, monitored protocol now to return to play. She will not be available for selection on Sunday but, after that, if everything goes as planned, it looks promising for her to be available to play again.”