The Women’s FA Cup semi-finals would appear to be a foregone conclusion. In the last matches before the international break, Chelsea won 3-0 at Aston Villa and Manchester United beat Brighton 4-0 for the second time this season.
Those match-ups are repeated this weekend and most expect the WSL’s top two, United and Chelsea, to book places in next month’s final.
Cup football is a great leveller and all that, but can a case really be made for the outsiders?
Villa are more likely to spring a shock. Rachel Daly’s goals have helped lift them to fifth in the WSL and knock-out Manchester City in the quarter-final. And in manager Carla Ward they have someone who has made a habit of defying the odds.
As a player the 39-year-old came back from two spinal operations and captained Sheffield FC, the world’s oldest club but also a relatively impoverished one, into the second tier of the women’s game.
As a manager she oversaw Sheffield United’s successful two-tier jump into the FA Women’s Championship and cash-strapped Birmingham City’s improbable WSL survival in 2020-21, before transforming Villa from relegation-fighters to the ‘best of the rest’.
Nevertheless, tomorrow’s task is daunting. While none of the other semi-finalists have reached a final Chelsea are seeking a third successive FA Cup crown and their fifth in nine years. They have another semi-final next week, against Barcelona in the Champions League having just knocked holders Lyon out.
When Ward took over at Sheffield United she targeted players who had “work-rate and attitude’” The standard of player has got better but those attributes remain key.
“We need to give absolutely everything,” she said yesterday. “If we can execute what we want to, and give everything we’ve got, that would be a win in itself. If it’s good enough, we get to Wembley. We need to make sure we come off with no regrets.”
Villa do have quality in their ranks. Besides Daly and fellow England squad members Jordan Nobbs and Hannah Hampton, Ward can call upon a string of internationals including vastly experienced Scotland defender Rachel Corsie, France midfielder Kenza Dali and Switzerland’s Alisha Lehman.
Women’s FA Cup semi-final details
Man Utd vs Brighton
Date: Saturday 15 April
Kick-off: 5.15pm
Stadium: Leigh Sports Village,
TV channel: BBC Two
Live stream: BBC iPlayer
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Date: Sunday 16 April
Kick-off: 2.15pm
Stadium: Bescot Community Stadium, Walsall
TV channel: BBC One
Live stream: BBC iPlayer
Chelsea, though without defenders Millie Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan, have an even more glittering squad, but Ward relishes a challenge. When she took her Uefa B licence she was the only woman on a 26-candidate course. “I quite liked being around the men,” she has recalled. “It tends to be a little bit more brutal and you know you are going to get told if need be. I learned a lot.”
Of Chelsea she said: “We should always respect them but never fear them. This is a one-off game. It is probably the biggest game in our short history. It is about taking lessons [from the 3-0 loss] into this match and trying to seize the opportunity.”
“I expect an aggressive Villa performance,” said Hayes yesterday. “When you play a team back-to-back, if you don’t do the basics well enough teams like Aston Villa will cause us problems.”
Guarding against complacency was also the underlying message from Manchester United manager Mark Skinner.
Skinner insisted of the top vs bottom clash: “We’ve got a very difficult task. We’re going into a semi-final where league form doesn’t really matter. We won’t be taking Brighton lightly at all.”
The tie will be Melissa Phillips’ first match in charge of Albion having become their third coach of the season (arguably fourth given two-time caretaker Amy Merricks oversaw more matches than Hope Powell or Jens Scheuer).
American Phillips arrived from Los Angeles-based Angel City but has experience of the English game having taken London City Lionesses to the top of the Championship before heading Stateside in January.
“Any time there is as much transition as there has been, it is going to be unsettling,” she said. “I really hope to provide that stability for both staff and players.”
Of today’s match she added boldly: “We are really going to go in guns blazing. We’re excited. It’s a great opportunity to really challenge ourselves against one of the best teams in the league and see where that stretches us and prepares us for the weeks ahead.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/asLT1Kp
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