“That’s the Villa We Want to Be” – Arroyo Praises Chelsea Draw | OneFootball

Natalia Arroyo praised Aston Villa’s resilience and work ethic after her side fought back to earn a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their opening Women’s Super League fixture.

Villa spent much of the contest under pressure from the reigning champions, falling behind to Lauren James’ early strike and requiring an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Akane Okuma to remain within touching distance.

But Villa survived Chelsea’s dominance before finding their opportunity late on, with Veerle Buurman’s unfortunate own goal securing Arroyo’s side an unlikely but valuable point.

For the Villa manager, the manner in which her players responded to adversity represented exactly the characteristics she wants her side to display this season.

“I think it could be a good reflection or a good summary of what we expect this year, or at least what we want to be,” Arroyo said. “We want to be a team that is honest in its work, that understands the different moments of the game, that searches for the pathways while trying not to get too damaged. I think we did that.”

Chelsea’s intensity caused Villa considerable problems during the opening stages. Sonia Bompastor’s side pressed aggressively, prevented the visitors from establishing possession and took the lead through James after just 11 minutes.

Arroyo acknowledged Villa initially struggled to cope, particularly when attempting to play through Chelsea’s press.

“We were shaky in possession. We were not able to connect three passes at the beginning,” she admitted. “We just needed to go through that and understand that, at some point, when you are in the middle of the tunnel, you arrive at a point where there are no more trees and you see the light. I think that’s literally what happened at the end of the first half.”

Villa gradually grew into the contest and Arroyo used the interval to encourage her players to become more aggressive rather than simply absorbing Chelsea’s pressure.

The visitors remained heavily outmatched statistically, but their discipline ensured Chelsea never managed to put the game beyond them.

“That’s the Villa we want to be,” Arroyo explained. “Honest in our work and mentality, and being resilient, which we were not at some points last year. Now we are celebrating a reward for this, so I’m so happy.”

Okuma makes her mark

Central to Villa’s resistance was Okuma, who produced an outstanding WSL debut following her summer arrival from INAC Kobe Leonessa.

The Japanese goalkeeper repeatedly frustrated Chelsea, denying Ellie Carpenter among others before producing one of her finest saves late on to prevent James from scoring what would have been the winner.

Arroyo revealed Villa had worked closely with Okuma in the build-up to the game as the goalkeeper continues to adjust to a new country, league and language.

“We had some nice chats this week, trying to know where she was at, if she was nervous, if she was having any doubts where we could help her,” Arroyo said. “She’s still settling here. She’s still trying to learn the language to be able to communicate with all the players. But it’s not a surprise for me that she can save this amount of actions.”

It was not only Okuma’s shot-stopping that impressed her manager. Arroyo highlighted the goalkeeper’s decision-making and ability to manage the game despite her relative inexperience.

“She read the game really well. With young goalkeepers or young players, you always want them to be more aggressive, but she picked the right moments. She knew when to bring everybody up and when to play short, so I’m so happy that it was a good first game. Now let’s see if she can hold this level, but we are not surprised because we know she’s good.”

‘It’s all about consistency’

The result provides Villa with an immediate boost at the beginning of the new campaign, particularly given the expectations surrounding Arroyo’s side heading into the season.

Asked whether taking a point away from Chelsea could challenge those who have already written Villa off, Arroyo insisted her focus remains firmly inside the club.

“I get annoyed sometimes, of course, with the noise outside, but I cannot control it,” she said. “We are not here to do anything else than compete every weekend. That’s just the first fixture. Of course, it’s an incredible 1-1, an incredible point that we get from here. If we can pick up points where nobody expects us to, fantastic.”

However, Arroyo was equally determined not to allow one impressive result to become more significant than it should.

For all the satisfaction of leaving Stamford Bridge with a point, Villa still have plenty to improve upon after spending lengthy periods pinned inside their own half.

“It’s all about consistency. It’s all about being as honest as we were today, and at the end we’ll see where we are,” Arroyo added. “For now, we’re happy. Let’s celebrate that for a couple of hours, 24 or 48 hours, and enjoy this good energy because you need to celebrate the good things because they don’t last too long. But then it’s back to work, analyse and continue doing. That’s a first step of a lot of steps we need to take.”

For Villa, there could hardly have been a more testing place to take that first step.

They may have spent much of their afternoon defending, but their refusal to buckle ultimately brought its reward, and gave Arroyo an early glimpse of the resilient Aston Villa she wants to build this season.