ColumnGareth Taylor: We are working so hard to turn things around and improve

It was a tough one to take on Sunday. I thought we had the lion’s share of the game, but we would probably want to create more opportunities and be better in the final third of the pitch.

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It felt like in the last 20 minutes of the match London City started to exert a bit more physical pressure on us, and it’s such an unfortunate situation for the players, because we had something to hold onto there and we made a rash decision which cost us.

I think the defenders could have dealt with that and we don’t need Rafa [Borggrafe] to come out in that situation.

It’s a contentious one as to whether Nikita Parris has actually kicked Rafa’s foot or it’s the other way round, but you open yourself up to allowing that decision from the referee when we make that type of decision.

I felt it was a real shame because the girls worked tremendously and everyone is working so hard to try to turn this promising stuff at times and the glimpses we are seeing into a positive result.

The girls are really onboard with how we are doing things and what we are trying to do. I know it’s really tough for the supporters at the moment because we are sat with a big fat zero on the points board, but I do think we deserve a bit better.

The games have been tough for us and Sunday was definitely a hard one to take and obviously coming up the games don’t look any easier. But like I’ve said previously, this is going to take time.

We were late coming into the club and I think that stopped us from doing a number of things in terms of getting the team prepared and ready - but we are into the season now and we have to deal with what we have.

Hopefully in the January window we can get the team some necessary support. So, we are working really hard behind the scenes on that.

Since I came into the club I have played Ceri Holland further forward in the attack this season.

I think she has done well in the majority of the games and certainly playing out wide I feel she is starting to develop a really good understanding with Fisky [Grace Fisk], which is good.

There are some things we can work on for sure that will allow us to maintain attacks a bit more in the top end of the pitch. I think that is going to be really key for us, so now it’s about can we get more final-third action?

We are building up pretty well, but then we get to the final third and things are breaking down, so we need to try to improve on that if we possibly can and I know we can.

Our former captain Niamh Fahey was announced last week as the club’s first technical co-ordinator.

In my short time being here, the impact and interactions I’ve had with Niamh have been so positive. Niamh spent some time with us in Cork when we went away on a short pre-season trip.

We are getting a top human being, first and foremost, and I feel she is someone who is so passionate about this club. I think it’s an ideal appointment by the club to retain someone of that level who has that passion and that knowledge and knows what it means to represent Liverpool.

It was a no-brainer for me when Andy [O’Boyle] was talking about what he had in mind for Niamh. Just to have someone around like that and in particular someone who has recently played for this club and captained them as well.

It’s really tough when you come to the end of your playing career and it’s a nice situation for her to still be around the girls, around the training practices and people we have here.

You can see why the club has retained her services definitely and she is going to add value to what we do.

We host Manchester City in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Sunday and it will be good to be back at Anfield.

It’s a great game to play there in front of our own supporters and we know they are obviously a very good team.

They have made a good start and are second in the WSL and they have some good players who can really do some damage. But we will be there, we will be giving our absolute all and we are asking our supporters to stay with the team, as I know they will. Hopefully they can see that we are working so, so hard to try to turn this around and improve our league standing.

I am confident we will get there. It has taken us a bit of time and we are suffering a little bit in terms of some of the results we are getting. But, of course, we are completely aware of where we need to improve as well.

City are a decent team and obviously for me knowing some of their players well gives us a bit of an insight.

We feel the love and the appreciation of the supporters and we respect them so much. There’s no doubt at the moment we are in a tough situation, but please stick with us and continue with your fantastic support because it makes a big difference to us.

We want to give you something to hang on to, we hear you in the games. I can promise you we will give the best version of ourselves and play for this badge.

Thank you for your continued support.

YNWA,

Gareth

Gareth Taylor was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter