6th November 2023
Listen
Listen
Sitting in 8th place with just 9 points, Liverpool Women are struggling to hit the standard they set last season. I have attended 4 home and 3 away league matches and watched a team struggling to find a good run of form.
I became slightly concerned for the team’s prospects when Finnish International Emma Koivisto departed in the summer. She had been one of Liverpool’s most creative and influential players. A like-for-like replacement has still not been signed. Coupled with the losses of Shanice van de Sanden, Melissa Lawley, Natasha Flint, and Miri Taylor, the club let a huge number of talented players leave.
It’s impossible to talk about summer departures without mentioning Missy Bo Kearns. Kearns was arguably the club’s most popular player. A home-grown talent and natural-born leader, Kearns had become Liverpool’s youngest-ever captain and was beginning to break into the senior England Squad after a long period with their Under 23s team. I felt Head Coach Beard underplayed Kearns throughout the 23/24 season, and could completely sympathise with her decision to leave. Kearns has been playing well for new club Aston Villa, and is a loss for Liverpool on and off the pitch.
Club owners FSG only signed 3 players in the summer. This has been met with criticism from fans. The squad currently lacks depth in comparison with WSL giants like Chelsea, as well as more close rivals such as Everton. Academy talents such as Hannah Silcock are breaking into the first team, but they alone cannot fill the gaps left by experienced players.
The three new signings have shown promise. Gemma Evans and Cornelia Kapocs have both put in some strong performances, but the stand-out signing is Olivia Smith. The Canadian International broke the club’s record transfer fee. She’s played with enthusiasm during some sluggish team performances, and shown creativity in the box. What has been concerning is the amount of time Smith has spent being tended to by the medical team, which hopefully will not result in any long term injuries.
Football is about getting results, and Liverpool women just have not been able to this season. The Reds have lost their last 4 league games, and 5 overall. That being said, 4 of these losses have been to the Top 4 Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. The loss to local rivals Everton was disappointing, but not entirely surprising as they have been a constant thorn in Liverpool’s side. Other than the bruising defeat by Manchester United, the team has had some good spells and did not give up.
Where Liverpool have been disappointing were their draws with Leicester, West Ham and Crystal Palace. The Reds wasted chances in these games, and often lacked a clinical edge. If they had managed to apply more pressure and finished better, I think we could be sat in 6th or even 5th.
Liverpool have had two strong wins in the WSL, and two in the League Cup (which unfortunately weren’t enough to see them progress to the next round). These wins were isolated. For example, facing Chelsea following the win at Aston Villa prevented the squad from gaining confidence and converting that into results.
The one area where Liverpool can count themselves unlucky has been the refereeing of their matches. All teams can point to decisions which go against them, but there have been a few occasions where Liverpool have fallen foul to particularly poor refereeing. The most obvious was the penalty incorrectly given to Everton for a foul outside the box. This won Everton the game, in part due to how demoralised the team felt.
The key issue with Refereeing in the WSL, is that officials are not professional. Many Referees and Assistant Referees have day jobs, so can’t completely dedicate themselves to training. As a result of this, it’s hard to see how VAR could be successfully introduced into the women’s game. Part-time referees will not be able to prevent the mistakes and inconsistencies currently overseen by full-time Premier League officials.
One of the most memorable moments of the season so far was spotting a Yana Daniel’s Goalkeeper shirt during the Manchester City game at Anfield. The team found themselves in a precarious position, with just one goalkeeper available for selection. Ex-Academy Goalkeeper Faye Kirby went on loan at the beginning of the season but ruptured her ACL, and Tegan Micah had a long spell out with an ankle injury. Liverpool’s academy Goalkeeper Eva Spencer was called up for the Under 17’s World Cup, where she made one appearance. This left them relying solely on Rachel Laws, who has been a great servant to the club since signing in 2020, but is unfortunately prone to injuries. She has spent a not insignificant amount of time receiving treatment on-field. There was a real fear that we could have spent a period without a goalkeeper, which thankfully did not happen.
The position where Liverpool have underperformed this season is the Midfield. Liverpool have been fairly solid in defence, but have appeared intimidated by the top 4. Most of our attack has been centred around Olivia Smith. This has been due in part to the injuries to Sophie Roman Haug and Leanne Kiernan, who have both been the source of goals in previous seasons. The attack has been slightly lacklustre, but does not appear to be a long-term issue.
The team’s key weakness has been in controlling and retaining possession through the Midfield. This hasn’t been down to the performance of any individual players, but a lack of cohesion and inability to make changes due to a severely limited squad. The team needs fresh options to sign during the January transfer window, but unfortunately, Matt Beard has suggested that club owners FSG are not willing to invest.
Liverpool Women have struggled to find their form so far this season. The current squad size has been problematic and produced some tense moments. LFC Women need reinforcements to match their performances from last season. The current crop of players have the potential to get strong results but need more teammates to support them. I will be keeping a close eye on the transfer rumours to see who, if anyone, we might sign.
For from us on sport Click Here!
For all things Liverpool Guild Student Media Click Here!
