Jonas Eidevall: Arsenal 'finding best formula' to cope without Beth Mead

Jonas Eidevall has explained that Arsenal are continuing to experiment to 'find the best formula' to cope without Beth Mead.

Mead was ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL rupture in November. The forward was an integral part of Arsenal's front three, chipping in with 11 goals and eight assists last term.

Mead typically occupied the right wing role for Arsenal, and Eidevall has tried out Katie McCabe, Caitlin Foord and Lina Hurtig, plus January arrivals Kathrine Kuhl and Victoria Pelova, in the position during the England international's absence.

"We have players that are capable of playing on the right hand side, it’s more to see how we get the best out of the team," Eidevall said. "For me, the connection between the fullback and the wide forward is very important.

"For me, it is about getting that co-operation. It changes a lot when we don’t have Beth because she is such a dominant one-v-one player, so a lot of times it was better to leave her alone so she would have more space to use that.

"Now, the players we have, it is not as much one v one players so it’s going to be more combination players and we need to think more about the personnel and positioning behind to see which relationships will be the best. We keep on working to find the best formula."

Mead suffered the ACL injury in the latter stages of Arsenal's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in November. The 27-year-old has stated that a return in time for the beginning of next season is the 'sensible' target, but admitted the 2023 World Cup - which kicks off in July - was her motivation.

"She's doing fine," Eidevall added. "The reports I'm getting from our medical team are it's progressing like we hoped it would be."