Aston Villa head coach Natalia Arroyo has called on her side to be brave as they look to cause more problems for latest opponents Arsenal.
The Villans play host to The Gunners at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.
Arsenal’s UEFA Women’s Champions League and Barclays Women’s Super League title hopes have ended in the last week and Aston Villa boss Arroyo has called on her side to be brave against the North Londoners this weekend.
“I know that Renée [Slegers] was disappointed that they gave Brighton the chance to lead and dominate at the beginning [in midweek], so I can imagine an Arsenal that will try to start the game better or stronger,” Arroyo said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “I expect a team that will look to start better than they did on Wednesday but on the other hand, you sometimes need a goal to fight more and the fact that the title is gone can affect a team.
“What I know is that they are definitely a team that can cope with playing on a Wednesday and a Saturday. I’m not sure if they will rotate or play the best team possible, but they are still fighting for things, so we know that we will play a strong team.
“We are trying to focus on ourselves, knowing that it’ll be a strong Arsenal and that they may want revenge for what has happened in previous games at Villa Park and the Emirates. We are a complicated team for them to play against, so they will give it their full attention. We need to be ready and be as brave as we can be against them.”
Aston Villa’s men’s side dazzled as they defeated Nottingham Forest 4-1 on aggregate to reach the UEFA Europa League final this week. Arroyo used the men’s achievements as an example for what she wants her own side to be.
She said “I was at Villa Park yesterday and it was fantastic; great tactics, energy, atmosphere, passion, great things on the attack and we want to be this. If that means 4-0, fantastic, if that means 5-2, fantastic, I’d take 1-0 also. Let’s see if we can be the most brave version; go on the attack, be brave, try to play against them with the ball, have the courage to build properly.
“At the Emirates, we conceded a goal trying to play against them, but the way that we continued to be brave and try good things is how we want to play and what we want to be.”
Aston Villa have the second-worst defensive record in the Barclays Women’s Super League and Arroyo said that this is an area for improvement.
She said “We have been analysing this in detail in the last couple of weeks. Yes, we are not happy with the number of goals conceded, but if you go into the details, more than 50 percent of the goals [conceded] are in the last 30 minutes which is something bigger than not defending well.
“We conceded six against Man City, seven against Tottenham, 13 in two games which were down to different details.
“It’s definitely an area that we want to improve. That comes with both individual actions and the team’s mentality. Sometimes, it’s down to the depth of the squad that we had. We need to take the analysis and produce better training, better coaching, better plans and a better squad, that’s where we are wanting to go.”
Aston Villa’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal kicks-off at 12pm on Saturday afternoon. Tickets are on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.