Aston Villa Women: Rachel Daly must be played as centre-forward for the Lionesses in 2023
Rachel Daly’s roaring success as a centre-forward at Aston Villa must now be replicated for the Lionesses, and it can’t be long before Sarina Wiegman alters her team accordingly.
Since becoming a European Champion in the summer, Daly has returned to the WSL with confidence aplenty and quickly become one of the standout players in the division.
Although starting as a left-back in the 2-1 win over Germany in the Euros final, the 31-year-old has been deployed as a centre-forward by Aston Villa manager Carla Ward this season to great success.
Perhaps the evidence was in the numbers. In the 2020/21 season, the Lioness struck 12 goals for Houston Dash. She followed this up with another 12 the following term and five goals from 12 games earlier last year before her move to the West Midlands in the summer.
The faith showed in Daly proved a masterstroke by Villa’s boss, and her belief was repaid in the currency of goals. A quite staggering ten goals in 12 games has seen Daly join Khadija Shaw atop the WSL top scorers chart – and it only feels like she is getting going.
It is not just her goals that are so impressive, but her ability to organise and dictate the Villa press to great success. With Kirsty Hanson and Alisha Lehmann beside her, Ward’s side have become a full-throttle, high-tempo team, with Daly leading the line to great success.
Talk about Erling Haaland impacting Manchester City this season after his summer move, but Daly has completely transformed Aston Villa into a team who can now start to compete in the upper echelons of the WSL.
Her club form did result in a shift of positioning for the Lionesses, as Wiegmann deployed her as a central forward for England against Norway in November, where she netted in a 1-1 draw.
Although the Lionesses are by no means short of options in attacking departments, with Beth Mead, Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly just a clutch of the names who have featured in the forward position, Daly is simply in the form of her life right now.
Ward saw the bundles of untapped potential in Daly, and now Wiegmann must surely follow suit.
In other Aston Villa news, Tyrone Mings outclasses his England teammate Harry Kane during Aston Villa’s 2-0 win v Tottenham.