De Pauw explains the new philosophy that could be the key to success for Aston Villa | OneFootball

‘I am because we are’ is the South African philosophy that Robert de Pauw has introduced at Aston Villa in the hope of finishing in the Barclays Women’s Super League’s top six this season.

The Villans kick-off the new season with a fixture against Chelsea at Kingsmeadow this evening. A new dawn is set to begin at Aston Villa and their new manager believes the philosophy of Botho may have the answer.

“We’ve worked a lot on team dynamic, not only at Bodymoor Heath but in Marbella too,” De Pauw said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “First, you set the tone and you make very clear what you expect from everybody. Botho is around people working together.”

De Pauw went on to explain that he even gave the players a book to read about how a team functions (and also dysfunctions) to absorb the philosophy further.

He said “They have to understand if you want to progress as a team, you have to get the best out of each other. We made them understand this is like building blocks that you have to have in a team; trust, commitment, holding each other accountable and being goal-orientated. If you have these blocks in order, then the chance of success is bigger. There’s no guarantee, but it’s bigger.”

The Dutchman went on to set out his intentions for the upcoming season and explained that he is surprised that some media outlets still have low expectations for the club.

He said “Top six is what we have projected. If you look at last season, it was seventh, so we want to do better. It will not be easy as there are no easy games in the league.

“If you look at some projections [in certain media outlets], they still think we are the very old squad. I think the balance is better this year and we’ve brought in younger players, so we have the routine and experience in the squad, but also the dynamic and energy that we need to progress.”

“I think we’ve brought in very dynamic players. If you look at Chasity Grant, Katie Robinson, Paula Tomás, Missy Bo Kearns, Jill Baijings is still injured sadly, but she will certainly have an impact. We had Gabi [Nunes] in training for the first time and she showed some really good stuff. I’m really eager to see what they can do in the league.”

Looking ahead to Chelsea, De Pauw feels that his side have a good chance of giving The Blues an early scare in their own new era.

He said “We’ve set up some good things in pre-season that could be a statement [of intent]. I think Chelsea will be very nervous also as it’s the post-Emma Hayes period which isn’t an easy legacy to fulfil.”

Aston Villa’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Chelsea kicks-off at 7pm this evening.