After a rough start of the season, Liverpool Women head coach Gareth Taylor believes his team is in a better position ahead of the Merseyside Derby.
Liverpool Women will face Everton Women away at Goodison Park this Saturday (March 28th) at midday in the Women’s Super League.
“We know it will be tough, but I think we have a good opportunity [to win],” said Taylor.
“I like the way the team is shaping up, the squad is in a really good place, possibly the strongest squad we’ve had to choose from so far this season.
“We really want to finish the season on a high and in these four remaining games our intention is to go out and try to win all four of them.”
Ahead of the Derby
The Liverpool boss said his team does “not do anything different at all” to prepare, and that they try to treat the derby as any other game.
“When you come into a Merseyside Derby, everybody looks forwards to the game.
“We need to try and control what we can control, our game plan the way we want to execute.
“We caused them problems in our last game, and we want to do the same at Goodison.”
He said he is looking forward to the Merseyside Derby this weekend:
“The games this season have been entertaining […]
“We played them twice this season, more recently in the FA Cup where we had a good outcome and of course that’s what we’re looking to try and do again, but we understand the challenge that is in front of us at Goodison.”
Current form and mentality
Taylor believes Liverpool Women are now in “similar form” to Everton but also admits current form does not necessarily matter when faced with the anxiety and stakes of a derby.
“What you are prepared for is when you go into these games is that sometimes your performance levels are probably not going to be what you would want from a normal game.
“It felt like that in the FA CUP. It was a game that started well, the scoreline reflected that at half time but you never feel like you are really in control of those games.”
He underlined the importance of mentality going into the last bit of the season to try and move his team into a safer position, as Liverpool Women currently sit 10th in the WSL.
“There are always opportunities that are ahead in every game, if we are not successful this weekend then we move forward to West Ham after the international break.
“For us it is about concentrating on the next training session, the game that is in front of us and managing what we can manage.”
Reflecting on Brigthon
Taylor looked back onto his team’s performance in their goalless draw away at Brighton last Sunday:
“If you cannot win these games, it is really important not to lose them. We want Jen (Jenna Clark) and our back players to do less because that means we are doing well as a pressing team.
“Most teams that do well are based on a solid foundation of defending.”
Perspectives for the end of the season
Taylor expressed his trust in his team going forward and underlined that their progression throughout the season felt “natural”, as they started to move up in the table after spending the better part of the season at risk of relegation.
He also said his team now has a lot more “confidence” than they did previously.
“We realised that we had a lot of catching up to do in the first half of the season, because we had a lot to deal with on and off the pitch.
“For me it feels slightly disappointing that we have only four league games left.
“It almost feels like we are only getting started with this team. The exciting part is we feel it can continue to grow and improve, particularly with some more additions in the summer.
“We can actually see things working, and it is resulting in good performances and results. It feels a lot better, regardless of what happens this weekend we trust ourselves to move to the FA cup.”
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