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Aston Villa’s win at Liverpool pulled them away from the WSL relegation zone - Getty Images/Aston Villa
The celebrations at full-time and the overwhelming sense of relief on the faces of Aston Villa’s players is a sign of just how far this team has fallen.
After six straight defeats in the Women’s Super League, manager Natalia Arroyo finally has her first victory.
It may be one that preserves their top flight status, but Villa should not have been in this mess to start with.
Arroyo was hired in January following the sacking of Robert De Pauw, who had replaced Carla Ward in the summer.
Villa had been steady under Ward, with fifth and seventh place finishes, and it was natural that there would be a period of upheaval. De Pauw was heavily backed in the summer transfer window, with the club spending £250,000 on Brazilian forward Gabi Nunes. FIFA’s transfer report showed that only six clubs worldwide spent more than Villa on transfer fees in 2024.
De Pauw had to wait until October for his first victory and he did not manage another before his dismissal. Shaun Goater was placed in temporary charge and oversaw a win, draw and defeat in his three league games before Arroyo’s appointment.
The Spaniard, who had spent four years in charge of Real Sociedad, has found it extremely difficult since arriving in England.
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Aston Villa manager Natalia Arroyo (left) finally gets to savour a victorty - Getty Images/Jan Kruger
Defeat against Crystal Palace earlier this month had seen the gap between Villa and the relegation place narrow to one point and last week Arroyo admitted she was “scared” by the possibility of dropping into the Championship.
This squad is far too good to go down and their struggles have not been down to a lack of investment. De Pauw, who was understood to be unpopular with some players, was clearly the wrong appointment. The jury is still out on Arroyo but she perhaps needs a full pre-season to get her ideas across and comes across well in interviews.
“It’s been hard because I consider myself a brave coach,” Arroyo said. “A coach that needs this kind of confidence of the players to try and press as high as possible, to be aggressive, to try and have the ball.
“When your confidence is not high, it’s more difficult to ask them to do that. I was trying to put my identity on the team but understanding the moments where we were a little bit lost.
“Today especially I see a team that I recognise as my team so it’s a good starting point.”
Her side needed a helping hand from a poor Liverpool team to get their first league win this year but deserve credit for the way they fought back from 1-0 down in the second half.
It had looked as though Marie Hobinger’s 57th-minute penalty, which was a mess of Villa’s own making, was going to condemn them to a 12th defeat in 18 games. But after Liverpool goalkeeper Rachael Laws came for and missed a hopeful long ball from Missy Bo Kearns, Kirsty Hanson levelled with a finish from a tight angle - just two minutes after she had been brought off the bench. There was only one side that looked like winning after that and Villa perhaps deserved the slice of luck they got when Jenna Clark converted Ebony Salmon’s cross into her own net.
Villa then had to see out nine minutes of stoppage time but Liverpool barely threatened.
“These last weeks we were feeling like we were fighting and fighting and never getting anything,” Arroyo said. “But the players were believing until the end and fighting for it.”
Villa just need to get to the end of the season and reassess ahead of the next campaign.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea to come after the international break but they will need to be a lot better than what they showed here to have any chance of getting through. After three straight wins, which included knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup and beating Manchester Untied 3-0, it appears the honeymoon period under interim boss Amber Whiteley may be over.
While they were missing key player Olivia Smith due to injury, Liverpool created little and looked bereft of ideas going forward.
Whiteley has shown her potential as a manager but if she is to be given this job on a permanent basis then Liverpool must give her the resources to compete.
Both Villa and Liverpool will have some reflecting to do on disappointing league campaigns come the summer.
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