Gemma Bonner “Disappointed With How The End Result Came About”
The veteran Liverpool defender was proud of the effort, but frustrated with dropping all points after leading at the half against Manchester City.
For the fourth time in four matches this season, the Liverpool FC Women scored first when the Reds took on Manchester City at Anfield. Gemma Bonner and the Liverpool defense frustrated the visitors with solid positioning and timely challenges to deny clean looks at net.
The shorthanded Liverpool side faltered in the second half, however, conceding a pair of goals to Bunny Shaw. After the match, Bonner said in an interview that she was proud of the effort, but frustrated with the result.
“Extremely frustrated. We’re definitely disappointed with how the end result came about. I think we can be extremely proud of the effort that we put in. I think [in the] first half we caused them a lot of problems.”
“But I think when we look back, defensively we know we were strong as a unit and I think it’s about probably making use of the ball better when we do have it in those times to give us a little bit more energy towards the end of the game.”
“I can’t fault the girls’ effort – every girl that came on the pitch. It was a real team performance but, of course, we’re disappointed because we’ve not won the game or not got a point. We know City are a top side but we’re definitely frustrated to not come away with a point.”
The veteran defender continued on with what makes this squad special, and worthy of challenging the top teams in the WSL. According to Bonner, it is the team cohesion that is the special sauce.
“The strength of this group is what we do, we do it together and we work strong as a team. I think our strength and our power is how we come together and how we perform as a team. I think we know that defensively we can be hard to beat and we know that we’ve got players within our group that can go and hurt teams and score goals and create goals. I think that’s the foundation.”
“We know we have to work hard for each other and get the foundation of that, and then once we’ve done that then we know we’ve got the quality within the group to hurt teams.”
Bonner also spoke about the young star Olivia Smith, who initially gave Liverpool the lead. Bonner feels that the squad can do a better job of providing support to Smith, who has been a livewire but too often been left isolated and put in positions to be hacked down. Smith was forced off at half time after being targeted with some hefty challenges.
“She’s still young, she’s so strong, she’s so powerful. She’s definitely a real asset for us and you saw what she could do in that first half. Of course it was a loss at half-time but Mia [Enderby] coming on – another young and exciting player.”
“I think it’s about managing her, looking after her in the games and probably in terms of the team in how we use the ball we can probably help her a little bit better. There’s a lot of positives but I think ultimately in the moment we’re disappointed to not have got anything from the game.”
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
Post a Comment