8 months ago
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Photo by Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
The manager voiced his frustrations after the loss to Leicester City, throwing them out of the FA Cup.
It was a frustrating Saturday afternoon for Liverpool Women, as they unfortunately lost to Leicester City in the quarter finals of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, tossing them out of the tournament. Jutta Rantala’s double was the difference maker when the Red Women didn’t take the chances they did have.
“Frustrated for so many different reasons. I felt our use of the ball wasn’t what it has been, first half especially, first 10 minutes,” manager Matt Beard said post-match.
“When you don’t get control of the game, it becomes a bit like a basketball match – it was up there, up there. It was a frustrating afternoon. We’ve had chances to score and haven’t taken them, and obviously we’ve been punished with the two that we gifted them.”
A couple of those chances came in the first half, with Mia Enderby seeing her shot go wide and Marie Höbinger missing from the edge of the box in what would be just the beginning of the disappointment. Sometimes, though, you’re just unlucky in football.
“Mia [Enderby] clean through, pulls it wide. And then obviously Marie [Höbinger], where the goalkeeper gives it to her on the edge of the box. On another day we probably take them, but for whatever reason it’s been one of those days for us today,” Beard added.
“I felt we had good control in the first half, especially once we weathered that first 10, 15 minutes. But then everything was too rushed. I know time is against you but you just need to relax and make sure we connect the passes. But the turnovers were just too much.”
One of the biggest factors in Saturday’s struggles was Fuka Nagano’s absence through injury, in addition to Ceri Holland’s ban. The Japanese international has been dealing with a hamstring issue and was deemed unable to play on Friday afternoon. Two important midfielders missing was just something the squad couldn’t work around.
“Yeah, we lost Fuka yesterday. Obviously Ceri [Holland] suspended as well. But at the end of the day, we’ve got the squad depth here to be able to cope with things like that,” the manager explained.
“We definitely lost Fuka’s control of the ball and the game, in the sense of connecting the passes and her reading of the game. But it’s not an excuse, we’ve got good squad depth here and just for whatever reason it’s not clicked today.”
There were a lot of changes made during the match to try and get the result needed, but it ultimately only added to the frustration of the day.
“Obviously we made a lot of changes at the top end of the pitch, we ended up going to a front three, obviously to try to do that,” Beard said.
“But sometimes you’ve got to give the opposition credit. I think they defended really well, especially stopping the crosses going in. It’s a bad day at the office for us and one we have to just move on from quickly.
“We’ll be fine. Whenever we’ve had a setback we’ve always regrouped and gone again. So I’m confident in us doing that. We turn our attention to West Ham now and make sure that we’re ready and focused for that.”
The Liverpool Women next face West Ham at Prenton Park on March 17.
