ColumnMatt Beard assesses Leicester loss and previews double-header with West Ham
In his latest column, Liverpool FC Women manager Matt Beard reflects on the loss at Leicester City and looks ahead to a double-header with West Ham United this week.
I was disappointed with the loss at Leicester last Sunday and I felt we should have got something out of the game.
I think statistically we should have when you look at the shots and the passes we had. We deserved something out of it but the two goals we conceded were disappointing.
Their winning goal came from our throw and that is frustrating. We should have done better in those two moments.
I felt in the first half we played into their hands a little bit with too many touches and our movement wasn’t quick enough. But we tried to change things and we kept going.
It was a very frustrating afternoon overall and two moments of switching off has cost us really.
I said to the girls in training on Monday that we don’t have the opportunity to switch off because the level we are playing at, you are going to get punished and it’s happened to us a few times this season.
There are some positives. Sam Kerr got more minutes and she is getting sharper, Julia Bartel made her debut and we were able to give Sophie Roman Haug some minutes from the bench after her injury.
Julia is slowly but surely getting there but she is not ready to start just yet. What you’ve got to understand is she has only played two games of 10 or 15 minutes for Chelsea in nearly six months and only played 45 minutes for Spain.
We are just getting her up to speed from a match perspective and she is working hard in training and we have done a few in-house bits and she is getting sharper.
I also felt Herby [Marie Höbinger] made an impact for us when she came on. She changed the game for us because she is so intelligent and she is now ready to start again.
We are starting to get some options all over the field, which is so important.
We play West Ham twice this week – away in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round tonight and then at St Helens Stadium in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday.
I see this FA Cup tie as a very important game. We want to go on a good run in this competition and keep our season alive.
Staying in the FA Cup can keep everything driving and it’s important for the supporters as well. It’s one we definitely want to win.
West Ham are doing alright and they had a good win over Everton at the weekend. They have been picking results up and Rehanne Skinner is doing a very good job there. It’s like anything, things take time. As a manager when you come in and inherit someone else’s team, it takes time.
From our perspective, I think this is the best squad that we’ve had since I’ve been back at the club, and I know that sounds a bit contradictory because of what we did last season by finishing in the top four.
We’ve got players learning on the job as we go and with a young squad it just takes that bit of time.
Because of how well we did last season – and it’s not been a disaster by any means this season – we know we could be in a better position and we are not naive.
There are still plenty of points to play for in the league and we still believe that we can get into that top six with some consistency.
It’s like Jürgen Klopp said – turning doubters into believers.
Thank you for your continued support as always.
YNWA,
Matt
Matt Beard was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter
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