Aston Villa Women Experts: Heartbreak at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ as January window becomes increasingly vital
We’re delighted to welcome author Freya Taylor and former academy player Lyndsey Bissell as our exclusive Aston Villa Women experts. Each week they’ll be collaborating to give their views on the biggest talking points at the WSL club…
With the Premier League on hold for the men’s FIFA World Cup, Old Trafford became available to host a true test of quality for Aston Villa Women.
Manchester United Women are fresh off a last-minute win over Arsenal Women at the Emirates last week and Marc Skinner’s side were looking confident to achieve another big result at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.
Making this head-to-head even more exciting is the knowledge that Rachel Daly who manager, Carla Ward, calls “the most exciting centre forward in the league,” is the WSL’s joint-top goal scorer with Bunny Shaw of Manchester City. But the question is, how many will this Lioness put past United’s (and fellow England team-mate) Mary Earps in order to make it a third Villa league win in a row?
Unfortunately, the Reds on this occasion proved just too strong for the current Villa side. A slow start for Villa meant United’s Katie Zelem opened the scoring in the 12th minute and the home side didn’t stop there. Further goals from Leah Galton (27’) Alessia Russo (50’) Ona Batlle (75’) and the fifth and final goal from Rachel Williams in the 92nd minute just demonstrated that Villa need more quality and depth in their squad to win against the teams at the top of the league.
The match wasn’t without moments of magic, however, and we need to discuss some of those fantastic chances. After 20 minutes, Villa seemed to come into the game and didn’t let up. It was clear the Reds were pressing hard to keep Daly quiet and although they succeeded in keeping a clean sheet, Villa did try to work their magic on several occasions.
Freya Gregory made the most of her place in the starting 11, with some fantastic crosses into the box creating chances for Daly and Alisha Lehmann. One of those crosses resulted in a terrific goal for Lehmann in the 42nd minute, but it was ruled to be marginally offside! The frustration was clear on the Swiss international’s face. If it stood, would it have made a difference to the match outcome? It’s possible. But the Villans left everything on the pitch and they did what they could against a team in fantastic form.
Contributing to this, the state of Villa’s squad is worryingly lacking in options. There are currently six players who aren’t eligible for selection, five of those through injury which made their options extremely limited, putting more pressure on the starting eleven to deliver for the full 90 minutes. This is even more striking when you see only three of four players on the bench were outfield players; compared to the eight out of nine players named for United.
The January transfer window will be vital for Ward’s side to boost their squad depth and quality to stay within the top half of the table. Villa undoubtedly have the hunger, the passion and the determination to win. They just need to find their other missing pieces, Daly being the first, to truly make themselves top contenders in the WSL. This defeat isn’t all doom and gloom however, Villa are still sitting in fifth position with 12 points, just above West Ham United on goal difference.
As always in the WSL every goal counts; and with the clear frustration on Daly’s face evident, the drought of goals won’t last for too long.
Outside of the league, Villa are at the top of Group A in the FA Women’s League Cup, so the question is, will the Villans be content with being in with a chance of gaining some glory elsewhere this season? We’ll have to see what their visit to Sheffield United brings on 7 December before returning to their own stadium of dreams, Villa Park, to face second in the league Arsenal Women on 11 December. Their last battle for points before Christmas.
Within the stadium, it was a record-breaking attendance for the Women’s Super League at Old Trafford with 30,196 fans in support of their team. As one particular banner read in the crowd ‘Change is here’ and they’re absolutely right. The women’s game is leaping from strength and strength and crowds like these are only the beginning.
In other Aston Villa Women news, Ward believes Ruesha Littlejohn can have a big impact after returning from injury.