‘It’s an important game for both teams’ – Arroyo previews Aston Villa’s fixture against Everton | OneFootball

Aston Villa head coach Natalia Arroyo says that this afternoon’s fixture against Everton is a big game for both clubs and that her side will be challenged with their out of possession work.

The Villans play host to The Toffees in their latest Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Villa Park.

When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Aston Villa boss Arroyo discussed the qualities of an Everton side that have not yet hit top gear this season.

“They are maybe struggling to sometimes score the goal or to avoid conceding goals in bad moments but they’re still a very hard team to beat,” Arroyo said. “They know how to manage the game and Brian [Sørensen] is a smart coach. Sometimes, if they’re struggling, they find a way to break the rhythm and find better opportunities to reshape and balance. They are a very well-organised team, they work hard and they have talent. They know how to manipulate you and they’re very dynamic.

“It’ll be hard for us to keep with the out of possession aggression across the pitch because they move quite a lot and they can move eight or nine players around the ball. It’ll be hard and it’ll be one of the big challenges but let’s see how lucky we are in the key moments of the game.

“It’s an important game for both teams, we both need the points.”

After struggling for defensive solidity last season, Aston Villa go into this afternoon’s clash with the third-best defensive record in the league. Arroyo highlighted good recruitment and tactical adjustments for that much-improved defensive record.

She said “As players and staff, we realise that you can’t be competitive if you are conceding one or two goals every game. We knew that we ended last season very positively but that was because we were able to score three or more goals. You can expect or dream of that but it’s not the best plan.

“During the summer, we focused our recruitment on adding [defensive] talent. We also reviewed our shape and determined how to make the best of that; when to be aggressive and when to defend with more energy or fire and so far, the players are committed to that. 

“They are celebrating the clean sheets, the out of possession phase, they really believe in that. It’s not just about the goalkeeper and defenders, we recognise that it’s a full team effort. From the high press and adding as many numbers around the ball, we are able to put pressure on the ball. It’s also about being smart and being more positive in the duels.

“We know that we are in a good way but we can’t relax. We are still conceding, if it’s not goals, it’s chances. We’ve been lucky but that can change, so we need to be ready to keep the energy and awareness in every action of the game. Being so solid is allowing us to compete.”

Aston Villa have drawn three of their five league matches so far and Arroyo says that her side must make more of their chances in-front of the opposition goal.

She said “We used the international break to reflect on the first block. We are proud of our consistency and how solid we are performing, preventing teams from having many chances. So far, being able to bring stability is allowing us to be competitive.

“I think we are creating chances in-possession but we are not converting them into goals which is preventing us from turning draws into some wins.

“We know that we are building something. We can’t be perfect on day one, we just need time. I’m proud of how solid we are, how consistent we are. We just need to keep going and hopefully, we can get a few more points and a little bit of rhythm before the next international break and before Christmas.”

Aston Villa’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Everton kicks-off at 12pm.