Anna Patten sat down to speak exclusively with The Halfway Line ahead of Aston Villa’s new WSL season about creating your own luck, Natalia Arroyo and the injustice that forwards get all the goals.
A flurry of activity surrounds Anna Patten, she is sitting in what she describes as the fire pit of Aston Villa’s training centre at Bodymoore Heath.
In full flow, speaking to The Halfway Line the centre half is interrupted briefly by Paula Thomas. A rye smile stretches across Patten’s face as she fondly explains that Thomas is the loudest person on the team.
The charismatic Aston Villa and Ireland defender sat down to speak with The Halfway Line exclusively ahead of the new season.
Last season Aston Villa ‘created our own luck’ says Patten
Patten is about to embark on her fifth season for Aston Villa, she has only missed one Barclays Women’s Super League match in the past two seasons. Last season was an intriguing one as Aston Villa looked in relegation trouble before five wins propelled the Villains up the table.
“We changed formation a bit,” Patten explained on Aston Villa’s change in form. “There was one fixture where it was our first game trying that new formation against United, and it didn’t quite work. Then, it made us realise the cracks in the foundation, of that formation, and then we were able to solve that.”
A 2-1 victory over Liverpool was the turning point, as Patten reflects, “I think as soon as we got that first win against Liverpool, and kind of realised our new connections on the pitch and everything, we had a lot more success.”
What part did luck have to play? Patten says, “I think that luck makes such a difference in football you do need stuff to go your way a little bit. We needed that first win and then I think we created our own [luck].”
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‘She creates a real family vibe’ says Patten on head coach Arroyo
For a long time after Natalia Arroyo had been appointed head coach at Aston Villa, results on the pitch were not good, but performances were. Once the results matches the performances Aston Villa climbed all the way up to sixth in the table.
“It’s really important that we try our best to carry it [our form] onto next season,” Patten says ahead of the new campaign. “I think we got a rhythm in how we were wanting to play.
And I think if we stick with that and trust ourselves and trust in the manager we’ll be able to replicate some of the good performance we had at the end there.”
On the new head coach, Patten smiled when describing Arroyo’s management style.
“She creates a real family vibe,” Patten praised. “It’s really important to her that people feel comfortable within the group. She wants a friendly, happy environment.
“She’s like a player manager, she wants the best for players and I think that’s really important. When you feel most comfortable, you always perform your best as well.”
“She wants the kind of Spanish technical side of it, but also understands what works in the WSL” Patten explained on Arroyo’s tactical style. “I think she’s really striking a good balance.”
Looking ahead to the new Women’s Super League campaign, Patten affirmed that Aston Villa are placing strong expectations on themselves this time around.
“I think teams fear us a little bit in the best way. I think, there’s definitely targets for us and we…” she paused for a moment before softly but confidently affirming, “have high hopes.”
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‘Attackers get the fun job!’ says Anna Patten
The Irish defender is no stranger to finding the net. One of her goals helped inspire a dramatic comeback against Crystal Palace last season at Villa Park, does Patten have any goalscoring targets for this season?
“It’s a huge thing for me, especially because I’m, like, one of the tallest players” Patten tells me, “it’s something that I really enjoy, having set pieces and attacking the ball. I only got two in the WSL last year, and I think it’s something that I’d really want to improve on.”
She paused before continuing with a smile, “I want more than two this season, I’m not going to give you an exact number, but I think when I get good deliveries, I can always give myself a good chance to score a goal.”
I sense a tone of outrage creeping into Patten’s voice as she elaborates,
“The attackers get the fun job!” she playfully laments, “You know, you can make mistakes all game, but then score a goal, score a couple, and they’re the hero? Whereas it’s not the same for us. If I can bit of taste of that, oh yes, score a goal that success I will get on board with it.”
If you enjoyed this article you can read the first part of our exclusive interview with Anna Patten where she talks all things Ireland, here.