Hayes recites poem in response to Eidevall over League Cup final row

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes recited a poem from Robert Frost when asked about her clash with Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall at the Women’s League Cup final.

Hayes shared a story she had with her young son following the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal last month, before reciting an excerpt from a poem by Robert Frost.

“My son said to me after the game, ‘Mummy, when you push someone in school you’re asked to go and take time out’,” Hayes said in her pre-match press conference looking ahead to the Women’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United.

“I said to him, ‘You know what darling, you can’t meet aggression with aggression, all you can do is tell the teacher, all you can do is go and explain why you think something’s unfair. That’s all you can do.’

“You cannot meet aggression with aggression. I thought it was a really good conversation to have with my son after the final.”

Hayes then added: “So when at times the mob is swayed, to carry praise and blame too far, we may choose somewhere like a star, to stay our minds on and be staid.”

When asked what her words meant, Hayes responded: “I’ve had a fantastic break, I’ve already explained an important analogy with my son and the lessons learned and my focus is on moving forward. I’ve had time to look at my star.”

The Gunners boss was involved in heated mid-match disagreements with Chelsea’s outgoing manager, Emma Hayes, who pushed the Swede at full-time and accused him of “male aggression”.

Stina Blackstenius’ 116th-minute winner was the difference between the sides on March 31, and Eidevall took the chance in Friday’s pre-match press conference to highlight his players.

“If there is only one thing that I think had some dark shadow over that game is that they [the players] didn’t get fully in the spotlight they deserved,” said Eidevall.

“It was obviously such a nice moment for both the team and the club to win the second trophy in two consecutive seasons and in the way that we did it with players performances I thought was incredible.

“But surrounding the noise, that was a real pity.”

Eidevall, who earned himself a yellow card for leaving his technical area to celebrate Blackstenius’ late winner, denounced Hayes’ post-match comments as “irresponsible”.

He said: “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. That I thought was irresponsible.”

“I think when you make comments about another person, you have to take into consideration what effects that can have.

“Especially when you’re a leader, you need to be very good with your words, you need to understand the consequences of both your actions and your language.”

The 41-year-old admitted that emotions were running high, but saw nothing wrong with his own behaviour and did not regret his actions.

He said: “Maybe I’m lucky in that situation, that everything I do is recorded. So, for me, it’s not my opinion or someone else’s opinion; everything is on video, and everything is recorded.

“I need to be accountable for my actions, and that’s what I can take responsibility for. And in these situations here, I am accountable for that.

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

The former FC Rosengard manager also had an update on Frida Maanum, who collapsed at Molineux during the final and will play no part in Arsenal’s WSL game against Bristol City on Sunday.

Eidevall said: “Everything is looking good and that’s the most important thing. She’s on a graduated monitored protocol here now to return to play.

“She will not be available for selection for Sunday but after that it looks promising for her to be available to play.

“I can assure you that the support around Frida has been phenomenal.

“The monitoring and the protocols and the testing have been on the highest of standards in order to ensure both her mental health and well-being but also to ensure a really safe protocol in return to play.”

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