Aston Villa head coach Natalia Arroyo insists that her players are ready to fight for a positive result against Liverpool this afternoon.
The Villans travel to St Helens to take on The Reds in their latest Barclays Women’s Super League fixture. Two seasons ago, Aston Villa finished in their best-ever league position of fifth but they now sit just one point above Crystal Palace who currently occupy the relegation spot. The Villans haven’t picked up a single point since recording a 1-1 draw against Everton in January.
The pressure is on Aston Villa as they battle to retain their top tier status but head coach Arroyo says that her side have plenty of fight left in them.
“My players are ready to fight, ready to train, ready to listen and bring on Liverpool,” Arroyo said when speaking in an Aston Villa press conference.
Liverpool are in good form under the interim management of Amber Whiteley and Arroyo acknowledged that her side’s latest test will be difficult.
She said “They are performing well and getting good results. This season, they have shown how physical and effective they are when they play direct. Defensively, they are strong and they challenge you to use your skills. It will be a difficult game; when they play at home they are probably even stronger.
“They also have their weaknesses and we will try to expose them. We will try to be as close to our second half against Manchester United [as possible] and let’s see if we can restart our game from there. They are strong, they’re in a better position than us with more confidence but I feel we are ready. We also have our strengths too, so we’ll see how they defend against them.”
With Aston Villa hanging dangerously above the relegation zone, Arroyo spoke honestly about the reality of the situation that her side find themselves in.
She said “Of course we need points, that’s the urgency of our situation but every scenario where we see ourselves being better and finding more solutions in possession, being able to hold onto the ball [is better]. If we do these things a little bit better, then it can be a little bit of light and a point of hope and we need that.”
Against Manchester United last weekend, Aston Villa conceded three goals before half-time and Arroyo knows her team can’t let that happen again if they want to be competitive.
She said “We need to perform well to stay competitive, to stay in the game, to fight until the last game, the last minute, not like the game against Manchester United and Crystal Palace that was impossible [to come back from]. When we were able to compete in the game against Chelsea, against Manchester City at some points and even the win against Brighton in the FA Cup, that always shows our best face. If we can be a bit more competitive, that will be a big, big part.”
Arroyo concluded by discussing the impact of the current situation on her players. She said that Aston Villa just need to keep aiming to be the best that they can be every single day.
She said “If we feel scared, if it’s not making us feel fresh then it’s something we need to deal with. We aren’t talking about it every day because it’s super-obvious but the key point is how can we still play while dealing with this? Playing with the pressure but not making the pressure be bad for us.
“We need to train hard, being the best we can possibly can be from Monday to Saturday and perform on Sunday. We aren’t fighting for the title, we’re fighting against not being relegated ...
