Natalia Arroyo says that she is ‘especially proud’ of her Aston Villa players who kept ‘dreaming’ their Emirates plan would work.
Aston Villa picked up their second point of the season with a valuable 1-1 draw away at Arsenal. A 94th minute equaliser from Lucy Parker ensured the Villains would come away with something after Frida Maanum had opened the scoring for Arsenal.
Following the match Aston Villa head coach Natalia Arroyo spoke with the media and The Halfway Line was present to hear from the Spaniard.
Natalia Arroyo ‘proud’ Aston Villa kept ‘dreaming’ the plan could work
When managed by Renée Slegers in the WSL Arsenal have scored four goals or more in every home match, until today. Aston Villa were able to stifle Arsenal in the second half after conceding early. A half time substitution and a flurry of subs as the half went on made the difference for Arroyo’s side.
“Sometimes, just, the game doesn’t allow you to to follow the plan” Arroyo smiled.
“We try to manage the two games that we had this week in the best way. Understanding that in which way fresh legs make a difference.
“Or in what could be like the game that we had there. We had the feeling that maybe the spaces were not as much to run in behind at the beginning.
“To find the combinations that Rachel [Daly] as a striker could give us and I think that works at the beginning, to just settle a little bit, to manage the tempo, to manage our energy, and we just felt that we needed a little bit more verticality.
“So that was the first idea and then it’s just understanding that some players could be tired, like Rachel Maltby after playing almost the 90 minutes [against Spurs in midweek] and that was part of also just [to] add a little bit of a boost.
“Also Georgia [Mullett], because Ebony [Salmon] had run quite a lot, and it’s just that it’s managing what could be like the good scenario for for the players that we had, and trusting in them.
“So I’m happy. Sometimes you have good ideas and good plans, and sometimes you can just follow them, and sometimes the game is not allowing you to” Arroyo continued.
“I’m especially proud of how the players were able to follow this plan and keep working and keep dreaming in the game that we could make this plan work.”
Daly sub ‘a little bit of both’ tactical and load management
When any manager takes their captain off at half time, it raises some eyebrows. The Halfway Line asked Arroyo if Rachel Daly coming off was load management or a tactical call?
“Well, a little bit of both. I had the feeling that she could have less energy. That was my feeling” Arroyo said.
“The same with Ebony [Salmon] at some points like, wow, we are not as energetic [nor] as fresh.
“And part of the game, we knew that if you won again, every player has different skills, and also Rachel [Daly] has this verticality, this I want to be in the box.
“She’s not as fast as Kirsty [Hanson] in some actions. So it was just the game, in my opinion [that] was asking different things, and we knew that could be like one of the substitutions to manage one of the strikers.
“Then using Kirsty and using G [Georgia Mullett] so that was a little bit the plan at some point, starting with one duo and maybe using different energies, different options in attack.
“And at some point, we decided that we needed what Rachel [Daly] could give us in the first half, this dropping, these connections, this fourth midfielder. We were stable because of that, and because of how much she ran to help us defending.
“But the consequence of that was just being a little bit tired, that was one of the things we needed to manage load energy and different skills.
“And I’m very happy with the team that I have. So, yeah, that was a mix of everything, so I wasn’t told to do the change because of load. It was me, if you want to say that, but in this tactical, I have hundreds of points of view.”
Kirsty Hanson is like ‘three players in one’ for Aston Villa lauds Natalia Arroyo
Part of Aston Villa’s much improved second half performance seemed to come as a result of the introduction of Kirsty Hanson. Hanson found space in behind Arsenal that Villa had struggled to find in the first half.
“That was part of the hard decision to pick 11 and not include Kirsty” Arroyo lamented.
“But we thought that if we could have this type of game where we could have chances at the second half and we stay in the game.
“That massive change, adding her in the game when maybe they were a little bit more tired could be much more effective than starting with her.
“And that has to do with her abilities. Yes, running behind from the left, finding this crossing situation, this threat with dribbling and shooting and also holding the ball if we needed that just this way out using our strikers.
“So that was important, and out of possession, how hard she works always. And she can be like three players in one. So we needed that legs, this desire, this commitment and and yes, she understood that.”
If ‘[we] touch them [it] was a yellow card’ Arroyo on second half officiating
Noelle Maritz was sent off in midweek against Tottenham Hotspur, knowing that would mean a one game ban Aston Villa appealed. The response was an extension of the ban to three matches.
The Halfway Line asked if perhaps three games was harsh given that the WSL league season is much shorter than their male counterpart’s season.
“Yeah that’s a good point” Arroyo said. “Well, we were analysing this. I understand if you compare that with the 38 that normally you play in this 20 teams league.
“[It] is what it is. These are the rules, if they consider that this is a little bit more violent conduct or a little bit more aggressive, and it was a hard tackle. We spoke about that.
“But yeah, today, for example, I had the feeling that at some point, I don’t know what happened half time, but it was, we couldn’t even chase them and touch them [it] was a yellow card.
“And yeah, that will be something we will need to manage because I want my team to be tough in the duels and aggressive.
“At some point I don’t know if we will be needing to manage maybe if you are ready to play, because if we are losing players with yellow cards, that will be a massive problem. But yeah, it is what it is.”
Aston Villa will be back in London for their next match as they travel away to West Ham next weekend.
