ReactionGareth Taylor press conference: Head coach assesses LFC Women's defeat by Manchester United

The Reds were beaten by first-half goals from Hinata Miyazawa and Ella Toone at St Helens Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Taylor’s team therefore remain without a point after three games of the WSL season, with a trip to London City Lionesses next up.

Read a summary of Taylor’s post-match press conference below.

On the game…

We were very flat in the first half. I thought that we didn’t start the game well, we didn’t end the half well. We had an upshot in the second half of energy and a bit more quality, a lot of chances which, if we’d have taken one, it looks a little bit different. But I think the disappointing part for me was that energy in the first half. I’ve always spoken about having to earn the right to win games and that’s the same in any sport you go into. You’ve got to be there in the duels, we were getting beaten too easily on one-twos on the sides and effectively handed the game to them in the first half. Obviously we fought well in the second half and did some good things but gave ourselves an uphill battle.

On how Liverpool can avoid making slow starts moving forward…

I think it’s the impossible thing to know and what to do because we have a responsibility when we cross the white line to know that we’re going to be in a tough game today, we’re going to have to do a lot to win the game because United are ahead of us in where they are at in terms of level. So, the minimum we should be getting in order to give ourselves the best chance of winning the game would be those basics I talk about.

• Read our match report from St Helens

On the positives of creating several good opportunities to score…

Of course, but I don’t think we’ll start too many games like that. Of course, sometimes you can concede in the first five minutes but I think the manner of the goals were really disappointing. In all fairness I think United could probably have been away with the game in the first half but they weren’t and ideally we would have liked to go in at half-time at 1-0 [down], that would give us a much better opportunity, but I still felt the game was there in the second half. They never really capitalised on their 2-0 lead and we were probably the team a little bit in the ascendancy and causing more goalmouth action at their end. But there’s plenty to work on for sure.

On what tactical changes were made at half-time that helped an improved second-half performance…

I didn’t speak tactically at half-time. We had already changed the way we were pressing – more jumping with our midfielders rather than the asymmetrical press that we had and that we’d worked on – and I felt we were better for that. But that took place in the middle of the first half and I think tactically at half-time there wasn’t much said and I actually mentioned that to the players: ‘This is not about tactics, this is about the basics of football – duels, the one-twos, the competing, the sprinting.’ It’s going to take us a while to get that physical capacity that we need to be able to press in the way I want to press, but we stepped it up in the second half and I think that was [due to] a little bit more belief, a little bit more, ‘OK, let’s go after the game,’ and they fought well in the second half and probably should have got a little bit more for their efforts.

On whether it is a ‘good time’ to play London City Lionesses, the Reds’ next opponents who have lost three of their four games in the WSL this season…

I don’t really look at it like that. They’re obviously a team that is trying to do big things but so are we and I think their head coach would probably be saying the same things as myself at the moment, that it’s going to take time, it’s going to take a bit more time. They have spent heavily in the window for sure, but again, to just expect it to happen like that [immediately] is not the reality.

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