Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall has heaped praise on star striker Alessia Russo ahead of the Gunners' Women's Super League clash with Manchester United. Russo joined Arsenal on a free transfer from United in the summer, just six months after Eidevall's side had seen their world-record bid for the England international rebuffed. The 24-year-old has scored two goals since making the switch to north London but has come under plenty of scrutiny following the Gunners' poor collective start to the season.
After crashing out of the Champions League last month, Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on their return to to WSL action on Sunday. But Eidevall is confident Russo - and Arsenal - can turn their fortunes around when they take on United at Leigh Sports Village on Friday night.
"It’s special when you return to play for a former club where you have all your former teammates and fans and so on," he said in his pre-match press conference. "It’s very important for us, every time we go somewhere we go together and play together.
“It’s very, very seldom that you see players that can have all the aspects. Usually in football, you have to choose between some of it and that has to be an active choice. But the standout with Alessia and why I think her potential is sky high is that she has all the faces. That also means she has to develop all the faces for it, but she has all of it and that’s quite unique.”
Reflecting on his team's response to last weekend's defeat, Eidevall added: "It’s been a very mature reaction. A lot of accountability and a lot of ownership. A team that really wants to show another version of itself and we’re so aware that we are something else compared to what we showed last Sunday.
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"But we’re also aware that words are cheap and action is what counts. That’s what training has been about and that’s what Friday is about."
Arsenal finished third in the WSL last term, one place and nine points below United. Marc Skinner's side triumphed in both of the meetings between the two sides last season. But Eidevall - who signed a new Arsenal deal on Thursday - believes those defeats only serve to fuel the Gunners' desire to get the win on Friday.
"I think [United] is a team that is very consistent in the way that they play," the Swede said. "They’re a good football team. I think we have played some really good and even football matches against them in my two seasons here at Arsenal.
"I was not particularly happy with either one of our performances against them last season, I was definitely not happy with the results. We have a lot of motivation to go up there and change those things around this time."
