Former Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall is enjoying a calmer lifestyle in Southern California while leading the San Diego Wave to second place in the NWSL. With two matches remaining before the playoffs, the team is riding a five-game winning streak and eyeing the championship.
Rebuilding the San Diego Wave
When Eidevall took charge 21 months ago, the club faced a significant player exodus following the departures of senior stars like Abby Dahlkemper, Alex Morgan, Jaedyn Shaw, and Naomi Girma. To unite the squad, he held a video call during his first winter and quoted a proverb about going together rather than alone. Initially minimizing tactical discussions, the team spent four weeks of pre-season focusing purely on passing out from the back. That strategy paid off, as defenders Kristen McNabb and Kennedy Wesley became the league’s top two players for completed passes this season, while teenagers Melanie Barcenas and Kimmi Ascanio also developed.
Eidevall explained that the club prioritized technical ability rather than relying solely on athleticism and transitional play, which allowed them to nurture young talent within a salary cap league. He noted that purchasing only readymade players would quickly exhaust salary cap space.
Adapting to American Soccer
The competitive nature of the NWSL presented a new challenge for the Swedish coach, who observed that even top teams frequently drop points, unlike European leagues where leaders rarely go two games without winning. Additionally, limited roster sizes and the absence of a traditional European second-team academy system mean Eidevall must frequently get creative during training sessions when injuries occur.
Despite these differences, San Diego has broken club records for regular-season wins and goals scored while recording the division’s second-highest average possession share and facing the fewest shots on target. Eidevall expressed satisfaction with achieving results through a distinct style rather than compromising their identity, telling Football | The Guardian, “The identity we have is to allow the players to be creative.”
Lessons From Arsenal
Reflecting on his departure from Arsenal in October 2024 after three full campaigns, Eidevall pointed to tactical adjustments he brought to California. He noted that Arsenal’s fluid wide play sometimes created too few central options, prompting him to focus on building stronger central connections with the Wave.
Eidevall also hopes to replicate the atmosphere of big English matchdays at San Diego’s 35,000-seater Snapdragon Stadium, recalling the historic sellout crowd for Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final against Wolfsburg at the Emirates Stadium in 2023. He told Football | The Guardian, “We want to sell out Snapdragon Stadium and in order to do so we need to do exactly what we were doing at Arsenal – we need to create special experiences at the stadium.”
Source: Football | The Guardian
