The media heard from Aston Villa head coach Robert de Pauw after his side suffered a 4-0 Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) defeat at the hands of Arsenal.
Following a difficult afternoon in North London, the manager said of the Villans’ performance “Shows where we are at the moment.”
‘You cannot tell me my players didn’t fight for it’
Reflecting on the loss, de Pauw said: “We have to be honest and critical about ourselves. We played nicely, along with Arsenal. We have good moments in possession.”
“They [Arsenal] create more, they’re more clinical in the moment,” the head coach continued, “That’s the difference between a top team and us, and that is what you saw in this moment.”
The result means Aston Villa now sit ninth in the WSL table, but de Pauw insisted “Every game is big. I was coming here at Arsenal to play for the win, you cannot tell me my players didn’t fight for it or did not work for it. They did.”
Embed from Getty Images
Aston Villa ‘not good enough’ today says de Pauw
The Villans manager did not shy away from his responsibility as head coach, but also held his players to account.
“It’s my job to show them, okay, this is what we need to improve, and how to improve it. So I keep doing that, I keep supporting them.”
“In the end,” de Pauw highlighted, “They have to pick that up and show the quality they have. And if they don’t, then that’s the level that we have at every moment that it happens. And today, it was not good enough.”
Asked whether he feels Aston Villa will have a busy winter transfer window, de Pauw explained “We have to look for some, some positions that we have to improve. We always keep our eyes open to strengthen the team. my answer, yes, actually, we have to do something. But that’s also for for the technical director to say something about.”
Aston Villa will now gear up to face Barclays Women’s Championship side Charlton in the Women’s League Cup on Wednesday evening, before hosting West Ham United on Sunday for their final WSL fixture of 2024.