In the early hours of Sunday morning, passers-by walking under the arches on Hornsey Road were greeted by the white block capitals of JONAS OUT, graffitied onto the wall just a stone’s throw from the Emirates Stadium.

After a match where defensive errors saw Arsenal beaten by London, and title rivals Chelsea, discontent towards head coach Jonas Eidevall had become audible in the stands, on social media and now, imprinted onto the architecture of N5.

Eidevall’s era started (after Champions League qualifiers) with a 3-2 win over Chelsea in front of 8,000-odd fans at the Emirates, a good turnout for September 2021. 

Four years later, 45,000 were there to voice their disapproval. Attendances have skyrocketed during Eidevall’s tenure, with records smashed and three sell-outs. 

Those loyal Arsenal fans, old and new, have pushed the team on when times have been tough, and enjoyed their successes- 2022/23’s Champions League run and back-to-back Conti Cups.

However, once the voices of 45,000 supporters turned against the man in charge of driving their team forward, it appeared that the writing was on the wall for Jonas Eidevall. At midnight on Monday, it literally was. Come Tuesday, those calls were answered, with Eidevall parting company with Arsenal.

How did this unfold, then? Eidevall’s primary objective this season was to get Arsenal back into the Champions League, which was completed despite a 1-0 defeat away to BK Hacken. The Swede’s vociferous celebrations in Arsenal’s second leg win displayed a man who knew his job was safe, for a little longer at least.

However, Arsenal’s Champions League qualifying success was far from smooth sailing tactically. Missed chances in round one against Rosenborg, in which the Gunners dominated possession, had fans worried, and the Hacken defeat was a clear backwards step in Arsenal’s attempts to break down low blocks.

Eidevall’s side were excellent in the second leg, Lia Walti and Beth Mead scoring fine individual goals, but only a few days later, Arsenal scraped narrowly past Leicester for their first win of the league season, having drawn 2-2 with Manchester City on the opening day.

The Gunners may have beaten Leicester, but worries over defensive vulnerabilities, slow build-up play and wasted set-pieces left fans far from happy at the King Power Stadium.

Those fears would come to fruition in the following weeks, with Arsenal held to a goalless draw at home by Everton in a similar display to their trip to Leicester. It was far from a shocking start to the season, but fans were left to wonder just what progress had been made from the shortcomings of 2023/24.

Up next: Bayern Munich, and Chelsea. Eidevall had enjoyed facing the so-called ‘bigger’ sides last season, and had the record to show for it. This week however, was a different story.

Arsenal looked like a decent attacking outfit in the first half away to Bayern, and took the lead through summer signing Mariona Caldentey. Conceding close to half-time was less than ideal, but the Gunners settled and had the game at 2-2 thanks to Laia Codina’s header.

Then came the capitulation. A thirteen-minute hat-trick from former Chelsea striker Pernille Harder, with all three goals representing poor organisation defensively, allowing Harder a free reign in front of goal. It was a humiliating night in Bavaria, in a game that Arsenal had toiled to qualify for but were outclassed on the big stage of the Champions League.

It was thought that Arsenal’s valiant second half display against Chelsea could have been enough for Eidevall to keep his job, but two more goals conceded that smacked of a lack of organisation and clarity meant Arsenal were punished by Sonia Bompastor’s side.

Eidevall reportedly offered his resignation on Monday, leaving assistant Renee Slegers in charge as interim manager.

The Dutchwoman succeeded Eidevall at Rosengard when he left for North London in the summer of 2021, and now has the task of rejuvenating Arsenal’s players for games against Valerenga and West Ham, before the international break.

Arsenal have begun the search for Eidevall’s replacement, a crucial decision that will shape the course of their season. Have the Gunners lost too much ground in the title race already, and how can a new head coach get the best out of a very talented group of players?

Questions remain over those figures upstairs of the managerial role, with a lack of clarity leading for fans to argue that Arsenal’s problems stem further than Eidevall. Arsenal have reached the forefront of women’s football away from the pitch, and now it is time to deliver off it. They will now do so without Jonas Eidevall at the helm.