Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall is confident Lotte Wubben-Moy will be able to brush off her exclusion from Sarina Wiegman’s latest England squad and focus on the Gunners’ Champions League quarter-final.
Eidevall’s side will host Bayern in Wednesday’s second leg hoping to bounce back from a 1-0 loss in the opening fixture, with 19,600 tickets already sold for the encounter at the Emirates Stadium – a whopping increase on the 5,018 snapped up for the same round last year.
Wubben-Moy was part of the Lionesses squad that successfully defended the Arnold Clark Cup last month, but on Tuesday morning was not one of the 25 names called up to face Brazil in April’s inaugural Women’s Finalissima at Wembley.
Eidevall said: “Challenges are going to occur all around you, both during matches and before and after matches, but we challenge you to put your focus on the things that you can control.
“I can definitely understand if Lotte is disappointed by not being called up, because when she has started for us I think she has played very well, but of course the competition is also very tough to come into England.
“So in the end that is Sarina’s position, but Lotte like all other players have to focus on the things they can control, and if they do we all know what an incredible talent and character Lotte is, and I am sure she will find her way back in.”
Wiegman said the decision to drop the 24-year-old was simply due to an abundance of options at the back, admitting: “That’s a hard one.
“It has to do with the plans I have in those positions. The competition for centre-back is really high. Some players can play at full-back but also at centre-back. At this moment we chose other players.”
Arsenal remain the only English women’s side to have won the Champions League, having done so under its previous name, the UEFA Women’s Cup, in 2007.
The Gunners and Chelsea remain in contention for this year’s trophy and the Women’s Super League (WSL) title, with just three points separating Eidevall’s fourth-placed side, who have a game in hand, and top-flight table-toppers Manchester United.
The unpredictable domestic season, suggested Eidevall, also has an instrumental continental impact.
He added: “It’s competition to win the league, it’s competition to qualify for the Champions League, it’s competition to not be relegated. That means that a lot of games here in the spring are going to have an important sporting outcome, which is great for entertainment value.
“Maybe it’s not great for managers and the ability not to have your hair in a grey colour, but for everyone else it’s exciting and I think that’s building a brand that no other European league has at the moment. That’s going to be reflected in how you can build and grow the product.
“If you build things in England it’s only a matter of time before an English club wins the Champions League. That being said, I think both English clubs that are in the competition this year have the potential.
“It’s not like it has to be in a distant future, but time will definitely be in an English club’s favour as long as this progression continues.”
