Beard Talk: The Pressure is on Everton at Goodison

Matt Beard looks on from the bench against West Ham United Women in the WSL. | Getty

Liverpool Women look to continue their good form in this weekend’s Derby

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Merseyside Derby at Goodison, Liverpool FC Women manager Matt Beard touched on the occasion of the match, particularly the venue:

“[Playing in stadia like Anfield and Goodison] is the way the game is going. Obviously coming back up last year there was a lot of pressure in these types of games. Obviously we’ve had a good year, we’ve performed well in the major stadiums. It’s becoming a bit of a norm for us...

“I think as time went on in the back end of last year we really got into the swing of things playing at the main stadiums, and I say this year I think we’ve performed well. We’re really looking forward to Sunday — we’ve had a really good training week, so yeah finger’s crossed.”

Beard also discussed how his side’s confidence would be tempered with the knowledge of the particular challenge of a Derby:

“We’re just enjoying what we’re doing at the moment, though we’ve obviously always responded well to a negative result. The FA Cup quarterfinal was a frustrating afternoon for us, and going back to West Ham it was a good team performance. We’re looking forward to Sunday.

“We set our targets at the beginning of the year to finish as high up as we could, and to improve on last year. We’ve obviously already done that. This is a game like no other: form completely goes out the window, so regardless of whether they’re on a poor run and we’re on a good run, it’s whoever can handle the atmosphere and the pressure on the day of the Merseyside Derby — and we’ve spoke about that in every single meeting we’ve had, so we just have to make sure that we’re prepared. It’s a different kind of pressure…the pressure is on them on Sunday when it comes down to playing at Goodison, and we can go out and enjoy ourselves.”

Liverpool FC Women play Everton at Goodison this Sunday as they hope to continue their challenge for top five — or even top four — of the WSL.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com