WSL 25/26 | United v Villa - 12:00 Sat 8 Nov

Too many players off the boil at the same time. Rivière looked flat and Park was too far away from her to help. George and Rolfo not surprisingly looked and played like strangers. Naalsund/Miyazawa didn't have that feeling of balance or automation that Zigiotti adds. Park and Toone looking off form, not really getting on the ball or finding each other the way they have been.

In fact that whole business of automation and partnerships went wrong. In the end, it felt like a formation change as much as a personnel change - though I'm not sure it was supposed to be.

Not sure if it was tiredness mental/physical catching up with us or a couple of key players having an off day but we had neither the energy nor the precision to win today.

Kirstie Hanson always plays well against us, she had the drive that our own players lacked today. Villa did well defensively and kept doing enough, fast enough to challenge our defence going forwards.

One eye on midweek against PSG perhaps? Maybe, but it also felt like a reminder that we don't quite have that killer instinct against underdogs that you need at the top of WSL.
 
Luckily Arsenal did not get the win vs Chelsea. if they had our chances of UCL next season would pretty much be gone. 3rd place would be an excellent result now, but more like 4th is where we finish or even 5th with the tight schedule with UCL games, not sure how that will effect us.

Villa came with proper will and fight and we came to watch, we probably have been been hyped up to the point where some thought this would be a comfortable game to win. Only Williams matched Villas desperation. Shame Rachel did not score in the 85th minute from that header that went into the keepers hands.
 
jojojo said:
One eye on midweek against PSG perhaps? Maybe, but it also felt like a reminder that we don't quite have that killer instinct against underdogs that you need at the top of WSL.
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I really hate to think so, but it sure looked like we hoped to win this one without getting out of second gear so as to save energy for what's coming -- which is not just PSG, but then City and Wolfsburg. Ack!

I worry that this is the first sign that our making it to the CL is a classic example of "be careful what you wish for." As I've said before, I really think we're good enough to win the WSL or go deep into the CL, but not both simultaneously. My concern all along has been that we would fail on all fronts rather than succeeding on any one. Skinner has re-emphasized the need for more quality signings in January, but I fear that will be much too late to save this season.
 
City next. Hemp is back and they're top of the league without Clinton even getting going so far. Will be a tough game but they do still have a slightly weaker CB and Goalkeeper area as they have young players with potential to be good there but might not be up to performing every week, or older players who arent great in those spots.
 
Juggling Europe and league finally caught up, simply have to beat City away next Saturday to keep pace
 
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