Gareth Taylor has labelled his Liverpool side’s ‘disappointment’ at their loss to league champions Chelsea as a ‘mark of progress.’
Liverpool fought bravely and did much of the early running before falling behind at the end of the first half in a tightly contested match. In the end, it was goals from Sjoeke Nüsken and Lauren James that sealed a 2-0 victory for the Blues.
Defeat ensured Liverpool’s wait for a win on the road in the Barclays Women’s Super League this term goes on. Following the result, the Liverpool head coach faced the press and The Halfway Line was there to hear from him.
Gareth Taylor happy Liverpool ‘played the way we want to play’
Gareth Taylor’s Liverpool had the ball in the back of the net early on, such was their attacking intent, even if they were denied by the referee due to a handball. The Welsh head coach was asked whether he was pleased with the way his side faced up against Chelsea,
“Yes, and no, I think” Taylor contended.
“Going into this game, we understood the category of game that we put it in. I think [Manchester] United, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea, I think that’s a category game where you know that you’re going to have to be really at it to get things right, to get something from the game.
“So yeah, I thought there was a lot of positives today, and I feel better than I did after the Man United game, because I felt we tried to play them at their game a little bit more and come up short.
“Whereas today we played the way we want to play, thought we had control of large parts of the game. The message at half time- we were disappointed to give the goal away, because I think that’s on us a little bit.
“Even though Chelsea do have the quality, and they always seem to like force the ball into the goal, we just felt that was on us a little bit more, and we could also be better in final action.
“We just didn’t work [Hannah] Hampton enough in the first half, we were better in that sense in the second. We certainly had some good moments in the first half, we could have exploited that a little bit more.
“So for me, it’s, yeah, disappointing, but I think that’s a mark of progress for us, that you come here and to a team that’s been really dominant here for many, many years, and to be disappointed.”
Taylor lauds his players who relished ‘going toe to toe with Chelsea’
There were a number of players who impressed in Liverpool red on Sunday. Taylor elaborated on the individuals that he felt had done well for Liverpool on the day,
“I thought Fuka [Nagano] was good as well as Fisky [Grace Fisk] a good performance from Grace” Taylor said.
“And I thought Jennifer Falk was very good today, because, you know, she is another player that is new to the way we want to play, and she fits what we do really, really well.
“And yeah, I’m sure the players will be disappointed today, but they also would have enjoyed going toe to toe with Chelsea, and at times, holding their own. It’s just that more of those duels, more of those outcomes we need to come out on the right side of.”
‘We managed’ O’Sullivan’s ‘load this week’ says Gareth Taylor
The Halfway Line asked Gareth Taylor about Denise O’Sullivan’s strapping on her leg, which she has had since the start of February,
“It might be fashion accessory for all I know!” Taylor replied with a mischievous grin.
“No, I think it’s just an underlying issue. You know, Denise is the sort to kind of strap it up and carry on with things. She’s fine.
“We managed her load during the week to make sure that she can go out and give her best. I thought she was quite good today. She did some good things.”
Alice Bergstrom also seemed to pick up an injury in the lead up to the opening goal, Taylor spoke on her condition too,
“Hopefully we haven’t lost Alice Bergstrom for too long, had to come off at halftime today.”
“It was a block challenge with Lauren James, I think [it is a] 50/50 and she’s come out the wrong side of it with her knee.
“No, no, [indication of injury time length] yet. We’ll just have to assess and find out what that’s going to look like for her.”
‘Competition levels have improved’ cites Gareth Taylor
At one stage this season Swedish striker Beata Olsson broke the record for most consecutive goals in the first five matches from a new signing in the WSL. However since returning from injury she has been limited to the bench and did not come on against Chelsea.
The Halfway Line asked Taylor if the forward was fully fit to start for Liverpool,
“Well, she’s fit to start Beata [Olsson]. Yeah there’s no restrictions on her. We obviously had additions in that area in the January window.
“I think Beata did extremely well when we were able to get time with her on the training pitch. It was one of the first international camp in October that she didn’t go away with Sweden, and it was priceless, because we just really got her up to, like, a good level.
“Coincidentally, after that she hit a really strong run of form. January came, and in one of the first training sessions back, and she hurts her ankle, which kept her out for quite a large period, and now it’s a case of putting the work in again.
“So look, Beata’s biggest strength is a sprinting capability and mentality. Competition levels have improved.”
