Robert De Pauw’s Aston Villa side went down 4-2 to Brighton in the Barclays Women’s Super League last Saturday, and put in a spirited performance even in defeat. Despite the brave performance, the result means that Villa have only taken one point from their first three matches in the WSL this season and need an upturn in fortune to arrive quickly. The Halfway Line spoke to the Dutch head coach after the match in Crawley on Saturday.
De Pauw was asked about his assessment of the match as a whole, remarking “I think before the red card, I really enjoyed the game. It is the level I came to England for. Two teams that want to play good football, attacking football.”
Speaking on conceding the first goal so soon after his side had taken the lead, de Pauw expressed “I think it was a little focus that dropped.” De Pauw continued “I saw some players switch off for a moment, and that cannot happen at this level.”
Robert de Pauw says the club ‘are going to figh the red card for Paula Tomas’
De Pauw made it clear that he did not agree with the decision to give Paula Tomas a straight red card, saying “the referee said it was an elbow with excessive force. The fourth official, he said it like this so I asked my analyst was it like this? And he said no it wasn’t”
He continued,“it was clearly not excessive force.” Later in the press conference De Pauw confirmed his intention to appeal the decision “we are going to fight the red card for Paula Tomas.” Even with all that in mind, the Villans boss was gracious towards the referee when saying “I don’t think the referee does it on purpose, I think the referee has a good intention but it was the wrong decision in the end.”
Villans boss pleads fans to be patient
Despite the lack of points, Aston Villa have not started the season poorly under the new manager. The Villa boss said, “I told the players after you have to been your head high and stand proud because we do things in a good way.”
Feeling positive about the rest of the season, De Pauw noted “It will go our way at some point.” He went on to joke about fictional boxer Rocky Balboa “You have to pick yourself up when you are down, that’s very cliche, almost like Rocky Balboa but that’s the way it is, if you don’t like it then don’t be in this sport. The momentum football wise is there, only not in points yet.”
Rachel Daly found herself on the scoresheet once again, and the Villa boss was full of praise for his star-striker he beamed “Of course Rachel is of big importance, we have serval good strikers but Rachel has a little bit extra.” He continued to note “In Holland we say have a nose for the goal” a very fair way to sum up his striker who has three goals in three game in the WSL this season. He concluded on Daly “she is very important not only as a player but as a leader for the group”
Jordan Nobbs much like Luka Modrić says de Pauw
The Villa boss was also quick to praise another one of his English stars in Jordan Nobbs, who broke the record for most WSL appearances with 193 games played on Saturday. He said, “If you see her play in the last game and also in this game, the energy she brings and the experience on the pitch, I know she is one of the older players on the team but good enough is old enough she is like a little Modrić.” He continued to lavish praise on the WSL legend “All the respect in the world for what she’s doing and the level that she brings the experience she brings. I think the statistics speaks for itself I think she is in the top 10 of goals also or even closer to the top, I think that speaks for itself.”
