When West Ham United women’s team went down to ten players against Chelsea on Sunday, manager Rehanne Skinner saw more of a team she’s used to watching, in how competitive, committed and resilient we were.
She now wants to see more of the second-half showing when Aston Villa make the trip to Chigwell Construction Stadium in the Barclays Women’s Super League this weekend.
Both sides head into the encounter in east London vying for their first league victory of the campaign, but Villa will be buoyed by their last-minute leveller at Arsenal on Sunday, and our manager has recognised the tough test they will pose.
Skinner, who will again be boosted by a fully-fit squad in Dagenham, bar the suspension of Inès Belloumou, insisted she has seen positives in all of her side’s performances so far this term. She also discussed the importance of the fans, both home and away, and how they act as an extra player in her pre-match press conference.
Here are the main talking points from the manager’s press conferene as she sat down in front of the media at Chadwell Heath training ground on Thursday.
Chelsea reflections
I don't think we started the game too badly, to be honest, but we obviously lost our way in the spell when we conceded the goals. We didn't manage the momentum in those moments. As a learning curve, that's obviously a huge one for us early in the season.
I actually thought the response of the players was exceptional. When we went down to ten players, I thought we were a completely different team in the way we approached that (the game). We did create chances and we did get opportunities, some clear-cut chances that were great windows for us, but we didn't take advantage of them. We could have scored three ourselves in the game. The difference has been that people have taken those chances against us so far and we've not done enough with the ones that we've had.
I thought the character and resilience of the team on Sunday was much more like the team I'm used to seeing - the commitment level that everybody showed, the hard work and the desire to fight till the end of the game. For that 60-minute period against Chelsea, I was proud of the work rate and the attitude.
Positive spells in every game
The results haven't gone how we wanted, but I think there have been spells in every game where our performances have been positive and [shown] more of what we're trying to achieve. We just haven't been able to deliver the whole performance yet, so that's caught us out in certain moments.
But ultimately, in every game, there's things that you want to try and improve, and equally, there's things you do well when you lose. We highlight the things that we want to keep doing and we highlight the things that we need to cut out, and that's ultimately the way that we approach every game.
Tough Villa test
I think they've picked up where they left off, in terms of the style of play and the way they're trying to deliver that. We faced them quite late last season as well.
We know it's going to be a really tough test. We know the quality of the players they have and the directness they have within their team. That's something that everybody needs to be mindful of. We'll certainly have to be aware of that and try to mitigate as much of that as we can.
Perspective
We haven't started the season how we wanted, but we are working hard to improve that. No game's a guarantee one way or the other for anybody, I think it's important that we just keep steering the ship in the right direction, and making sure we are improving and putting in increased quality in our performances.
Ultimately, last year we didn't start particularly well, but we finished very strongly and still had loads of opportunities to finish in the top half of the table. The season's really long and we're at the start of it.
Importance of the fans
Our home form last year was brilliant and that's something we want to try and get back on track, and repeat. But equally, last year our away games weren't the strongest part of our season and that was something we really wanted to improve on. Across the board, we have to be able to turn up and deliver wherever the setting.
The quality and energy the home fans bring to us, and how loud they are is fantastic. This year, we've had even more travelling fans as well. It's like having that extra player for you.
