Recircle

Fair enough. I'd gathered she'd played very well in the SWPL Cup final that Rangers won - scored one and worked hard. The 'big clubs' talk was just thrown in on the basis of things developing quite rapidly with Blindkilde Brown and Park. Nice to hear she has an attachment to Villa.

Re. midfield, I remember Magill right at the end of last season being provider for a Daly goal - making a run from quite deep before nicely working a give-and-go with Daly (actually two give-and-gos, if I've got it right). I thought it might be a possibility that she could broaden her game and become a supplementary midfield option, but it hasn't happened. Getting McLoughlin back will be a plus (although she'll have seen Blindkilde Brown go to City and watched Jess Park kick on working in tandem with Hasegawa at the same club, and might be hoping to attract the attentions of a bigger club). To judge from how little she's featured, Miri Taylor looks not to be an answer and won't presumably be kept on. It feels like it might be diminishing returns from here on with Nobbs and maybe Dali. Going to be interesting to see what happens in the summer.

To judge from the radio commentary they're working hard and showing discipline at the back. Of course, you fear an Arsenal second-half switch-up, but so far they've done well. Good to hear that Daly's doing well as a string-puller in the middle; her versatility is such a boon.

[Removed after more consideration]

Scrabbling for a bit of encouragement, Arsenal will have one eye on the League Cup final being played on the Sunday following (the only trophy they can still win, unless the form of Chelsea and City in the WSL suddenly careers off a cliff); their players might be inclined to try and nick a win as economically as they can to minimise the risk of injury and reduce recovery time, which might allow for more time and space to play into. For the same final-just-around-the-corner reason, Jonas might start the game with more of a second-string side, although a) a second-string Arsenal will still be very handy, b) any lesser-played players who get picked will be using the game to make a case for being considered for the final, and so unlike regular first-teamers will regard playing at full intensity to be a necessity, and c) it'll give him the luxury of being able to stick on a Mead or a McCabe or a Russo for an impact cameo if he needs to. Ilestedt at any rate is out for the season, so Villa won’t have to deal with her threat at set pieces.

The Bescot gets talked of as though it carries a curse or something, but a properly trained and drilled football team ought to be able to perform on any pitch prepared to professional/FA approved standards. Villa obviously for the most part haven't performed well there, but the ground itself can't rationally be held responsible. (Is the Alexander Stadium still in the offing? Any atmosphere generated would be more diffuse there with the pitch being isolated by the running track and whatnot, but the wide-slung, open-plan lay-out might appeal to the players, and it would offer something visually distinct that could help create a buzz about AVWFC and help promote the women's game generally. Evening matches could look spectacular there lit up by the floodies under a big sky.)

Nice for Salmon to get a goal. It was notable how deep Rach Daly was dropping back behind Salmon and Leon; she was really helping to keep it calm in the middle, from what I could tell (only saw the second half of the live stream). She works close spaces really well, holds up, spins away, makes lots of good little lay-offs, knits play together; she's such as asset.

Three big points—the difference between maintaining pressure on 6th and being in immediate danger of being reeled in from below. Shame about the clean sheet going west. Villa, Spuds and Leicester fighting it out for runner-up-to-the-best-of-the-rest spot (dress rehearsal of the F.A. Cup semi-final tomorrow between those other two).

Doubled the lead! Salmon header from a nice Nobbs cross.

Arsenal not being able to get over the line with regard to Earps is fuelling this, but regardless: players will always place the possibility of realistically and rapidly achieving personal goals ahead of loyalty to a club, and the better the player, the more elevated the goals. (To come at it from a different angle: which current Villa player(s) do you think would be unconditionally committed to representing the club?)

The WE League team based in the same city is INAC Kobe Leonessa (the team Kitagawa plays for). They use the same home ground as Vissel Kobe. How meaningfully the two clubs connect if at all, beyond sharing a common location and the same stadium, I couldn't say.

Interesting. I touched on this possibility upthread. Villa could certainly benefit from a lock-picker/link player playing across the middle, and Japan seems notably to produce adept playmaker midfielders and flank players - the ones that have come into the WSL have nearly all made a mark. They really think on the ball, weighing up options, and can judge pass weight well. They're also very team oriented, commit to the role they've been tasked with, and work very hard off the ball (West Ham's striker Ueki does this almost to a fault, being a striker in this case who presses hard from the front and drops deep to help out); they're not greedy players (some following City have been lamenting that Hasegawa doesn't have enough pops at goal when she pushes up to support since she's got a fine eye for a shot, but she's most reluctant to waste the ball on speculative efforts; she'd rather keep the pressure on and work the percentages chance). As a leftie I tend to take extra note of those playing on the left, and Japan has got a few standouts, none of whom yet play in Europe, and of whom Jun Endo is the pick (although she's currently recovering from an ACL injury and will be out for some months). There's the versatile Hina Sugita, who tends to play more defensively for the national side and more as a roving link midfielder for her club (Portland Thorns, the club Adriana Leon had a loan spell with), and who is capable of hitting the odd stinging shot. There's also Hikaru Kitagawa, who did really well coming in for Endo ahead of Sugita in Japan's recent Olympic qualifier against North Korea. She was taking free kicks ahead of Hasegawa, and in open play was swinging in testing long-range crosses that were consistently well-shaped and weighted. Obviously I'm not saying it's possible to acquire any of those listed, but they indicate a wellspring, and there will be others.

I thought it might solely apply to WSL games. Some good news, if it didn't. (edit: you're right - the domestic cup competitions are FA affiliated, so it's logical for the ban to apply across competitions.)

Daly will still be out, won't she? Or did Villa appeal and get the length of her ban reduced?

It's not the 'in and of itself' bit that's going to have the impact; acknowledging that the move would reflect a current pattern is one thing, being concerned about the specific effects it will have on the team you follow is another. But yes, you've got to try and stay positive.