LFC Women Matt Beard on Villa, Shanice van de Sanden recovery, confidence and more
The Reds take on Villa in the Barclays Women’s Super League at Prenton Park, with kick-off set for 2pm GMT.
Beard discussed several topics with the media ahead of the match – read on for a summary below…
On the positives from the performance at Manchester City last weekend…
I think the performance from start to finish was excellent, we put Manchester City under a lot of pressure. We have created good chances in the game as well. I said it after the game, I felt we deserved at least a point out of the game. Our performance levels have got better each week.
We always knew the start we had fixture-wise was going to be tough but I’ve been really pleased with the performance levels and how we’ve progressed. But like I’ve said after the game Sunday and throughout this week, the most important thing now is we start turning these performances into points. We’ve had a good week of training so far and we’re looking forward to the test of Villa.
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On results so far not negatively impacting confidence among the squad…
Yeah, the mood in the camp is fantastic and it always has been. We knew when we set our targets for the first half of the season, knowing the fixtures we had in the first six games, that it was going to be tough. I do feel we could be a few more points better off but that’s not how it’s panned out for us. But we’re in good spirits here and I think you can see how hard they’re working, the commitment levels.
You go back to Arsenal when we went 2-0 down – we kept going, kept going, kept going. Even after Man City going 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go, we kept going and kept putting them under pressure. The game became a little bit more open because we’re chasing an equaliser but I think we can take a lot of heart and confidence from these first games. But we know this next six to eight weeks for us is going to be a big month or so.
On looking to add points in the forthcoming games…
We can never take anything for granted, it’s a tough league with lots of good teams. We believe in ourselves, we have confidence in ourselves. We have been dealt one or two cruel blows injury-wise at the start of the year and maybe that has had something to do with maybe the chances we’ve had and not converted. But I think we’re in a good place going into this run of fixtures. Our performance levels in the Continental Cup have been fantastic. So, we’ve had a bit of balance with the league and the cup competitions and it’s about, just keep believing and keep doing what we’ve been doing and I’m confident we’ll get the results we need.
On the injury sustained by Ceri Holland…
It’s a big blow because Ceri has had a fantastic season so far for us. So, not to have her against Man City on Sunday… hopefully she’ll be back in contention for Brighton with the international break coming up. It’s a big blow because she’s powerful, she’s quick, she loves running and she causes teams problems with those runs. So, it’s a blow. But we adapted well Sunday, Rachel Furness came in and did really well. That’s what you have squads for; so, losing Ceri is a blow but it presents opportunities for other players.
On Shanice van de Sanden’s fitness and if she is close to a start…
No, no, she is going to be probably post-Brighton maybe for starting games. She has got through two full weeks of training now so it’s going to be 30 or 40 minutes this weekend. Obviously it’ll be dependent on how the game’s going and performance levels etc. Then we’ll have another two weeks of this international break really to get her up to speed.
We’re delighted that she’s back because not only is she an important player on the pitch but she’s really important in the dressing room. She’s such a good character, such a good person and it just gives everyone a lift just to have that option. If you look at that recovery run where Lawsy made that great save, we’re looking forward to seeing her running at people going the other way. It’s great to have her back but it’s going to be a process again in the next two to four weeks as we get her fully back up to speed.
On what the Reds need to do better to turn performances into points…
If you look at the chances we had against Man City, where we had a replica; Bo had the chance to score, didn’t, then Katie two minutes later exactly the same scenario, picks the ball up and scores. When we’re getting those clear-cut chances, we’ve got to make sure we’re converting them. And if I look at the Arsenal second goal and Man City first goal, they were quite similar in the sense of areas of the pitch where we got opened up – and we’ve worked on that a little bit this week.
It’s just really tightening up in one or two situations, like knowing when to press and when to sit off, and not being caught half and half. I look at the Arsenal second goal, we were quite open from when they were playing out from the back, rather than being sat off and allowing us to step forward again. It’s little things like that.
When you take Leanne Kiernan’s goals and assists we had last season – and the pre-season she had – out of the team, you’re reliant on others obviously to score the goals and help create the goals. And on top of that, we had Shanice out. So, to have Shanice back is going to be a massive help to the team. But as I say, I don’t think we’re a million miles away, I really don’t. I feel if we can get three points on Sunday it can really kickstart our season on.
If I look at the Continental Cup games, we’re probably expected beat to Sunderland; the Leicester game, I know they made a lot of changes that day but then so did we. I feel we’re in a good place and as I said, the mood around the camp is fantastic. We just need to get that second win under our belt and then we can look forward.
On the test to be posed by Villa on Sunday…
They’ve got a lot of pace in their team. I know a lot of their players from my time at West Ham. They’re a good team, they are finding their feet, they have made a lot of changes in the summer, not only playing personnel but the technical staff side of things as well. So they’re sort of finding their feet at the moment. But they press well, they put you under pressure. We’re prepared for that, a lot of teams have been doing that to us anyway and I feel we’ve got better with that as time has gone. It’s going to be a tough game. Again, they never give up either, probably similar to us with the performance levels and I think they’ve been a little bit unlucky with some of the games they’ve lost. When you’re trying to get everything to gel it takes a little bit of time.
On being confident ‘goals will start to flow’…
I’m not concerned. We’ve been creating chances and I think if we weren’t creating chances then that potentially could be an issue. But having Shanice back, it’s a big threat, especially as the games become a little bit more open, with her pace. So I’m confident we’ll start converting the chances. This has come at an important time, getting Shanice back for us in this run of games.
On the importance of LFC Women supporters’ backing…
As always, the fans are fantastic. They were great again at Manchester City, they didn’t stop singing. If you look at the reception the girls got after the Arsenal game, we’re all in it together. We knew this start was going to be tough but I think everyone can see the commitment from the girls and the performance levels. If it’s another record [crowd] it would be fantastic because it just keeps moving forward and our fanbase keeps growing.