Liverpool Women Coach Matt Beard ‘Disappointed’ with Second Half Performance in Merseyside Derby
The Reds Coach put the nil-nil draw against Everton into perspective.
Liverpool’s latest edition of the Merseyside Derby ended in a nil-nil draw at Goodison Park on Sunday Afternoon. It’s a bit of a mixed bag for the Reds on the day: failing to capture all three points against Everton but also managing to still move up the table in the Barclays Women’s Super League. The point on the day sees Liverpool vault over Manchester United into fourth place, one point ahead of their hated rivals.
Still, the take away from the coach seemed to be disappointment. Especially given a first half where Matt Beard felt his club looked more in sync and more in control of the game.
“I was really disappointed with the second half, I’m not going to lie. Too many turnovers, too many opportunities we were gifting them. In the end, it’s important we saw it out.”
That sense of just managing to at least walk away with the point felt like it pervaded the general tone of the comments. And given TLO’s own assessment, it’s likely something to say that the Reds just did enough to cling to that point.
Derbies tend to have that commonality though: frenetic and unpredictable, rarely paying much mind to the prevailing narratives being made throughout the season. And while I won’t go so far as to say that’s what happened here, I will say that it’s not entirely surprising to watch Liverpool run through another Derby Day ringer.
At the end of the day, though, the prospect of landing in the middle of a Champions League berth and seeing themselves in the middle of a fight for a spot in the top four, remains a worthy bright spot to take from the day. Coach Beard made no bones about what the priority objective is for the rest of the season.
“Two years ago, we were in the Championship. Last year, we were in a relegation battle and then we ended up finishing the campaign comfortably. The league is our only focus because we’re obviously out of the FA Cup. I think from my perspective, we just need to continue to pick points out. If you look at our run-in, we’ve got Manchester City next week, we’ve got Chelsea at home, Man United at home – big games for us still to look forward to. We just have to make sure we continue to progress and keep looking forward.”
Here’s hoping the squad can find some consistency (and stay healthy!), then deliver on the promise of this season
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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