LFC WomenMatt Beard column: 2022 has been good for us, I'm excited for 2023

As much as it was frustrating to have our game postponed on Sunday, safety always has to come first. Everyone did as much as they could to try to get the game on but unfortunately you look at the weather we are having now and it has got to be safe for everyone.

We were frustrated we couldn’t get the game played but it’s just one of those things and we will wait until it gets rescheduled.

We don’t play now until January 15, but in terms of our first part of the season I have been pleased with how well we have done. I would probably say out of all the games, the ones against Arsenal and Everton aside, I think all the other games have been close.

I do feel we could be in a better position points-wise but we are not, but we have started to find our feet and get a bit of consistency.

If you look back on the last month for us it has been good; so, it’s not easy to pick points up away from home and we’ve done that, we’ve been scoring goals. The West Ham win was a fantastic performance as well, so I do feel performance levels have got better as the season has gone on.

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I think our belief has grown since we have gone on and I’m excited for 2023. As I’ve always maintained, this league is tough and the standard gets better every season.

The investment from clubs gets greater every year and it’s been a tough transition for us at the start, especially the way the fixtures panned out for us at the start. I’m really pleased with the team and really pleased with how we have progressed.

After Christmas we resume our WSL campaign when we face two away games against Manchester United and Chelsea, and as I’ve said before, there are no easy games in this division.

You’ve got to play against all of the teams twice and you’ve just got to get on with it. I just think it’s important we carry on, we kick on, keep focused and keep working hard.

In terms of 2022 it has been a really good year for us with achieving our main objective of getting back into the Barclays Women’s Super League.

The tour of the city which we had the privilege of going on with the men’s team capped off a wonderful season for us. In my lifetime will I ever experience anything like that again? Probably not, especially when we came into the city centre – it was just unbelievable!

From our perspective, the players deserved that because they have worked incredibly hard to get us back in the WSL and they deserved that moment.

On behalf of all the squad we would like to pass on our love and best wishes to Gilly Flaherty following the sad passing of her father. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gilly and her family and we are sorry for her loss.

As this is my final column of 2022, I would like to thank my staff for all the support they give me day in, day out. They are brilliant people, all good at their job, they are a pleasure to work with and make my life a lot easier.

They know what I think of them and how grateful I am for the work that they do for us and the team, they have been spot on.

As always, I would like to thank our amazing fans for their support and I hope we are giving them a team they can be proud of. I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and we can’t wait to see you all again in the New Year.

Thank you for your continued support as always.

YNWA,

Matt

Matt Beard was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter