LFC WomenMatt Beard column: France trip, Melwood excitement and injury latest

We have had a really good pre-season far and it was great for us to get some minutes in the tank at Birmingham City on Sunday. I’ve been really pleased and also really happy with the fitness levels of the players.

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For the most part of the Birmingham game I thought we did OK and there was lots of key learnings for us. I feel we are probably in a position now where we can tweak one or two things. The players have got that first game under their belts as well, so I think from that side of things it was a great exercise, and we have made lots of progress.

Before our move to Melwood, which we are all incredibly excited about, we have been using the facilities at the Academy and having our lunch at the AXA Training Centre. It’s great to build relationships with the staff on the men’s side at first team and Academy level. That has been great for us as a group and the facility has been brilliant with everyone so accommodating.

It goes without saying we can’t wait to get to our new home at Melwood. I think it’s game-changing for us when it comes down to the facilities. I know the history behind Melwood too.

When I was here in my first spell back in 2013, Brendan Rodgers invited us to train at Melwood and when we won the league that year we were invited back and had breakfast with the team.

You’ve only got to look at the players who have walked through the doors there along with the different managers and coaches; it’s just an incredible place. It’s great that we can now create our own history there and obviously carry on the LFC brand at Melwood.

During the close season we have signed six players in Natasha Flint, Jenna Clark, Mia Enderby, Teagan Micah, Grace Fisk and Marie Höbinger, which I’m really pleased about. We are also still looking to bring one more player in, another attacker, and we are working hard on that at the moment.

During the close season I wanted to address the average age of the side and depth of the team and I think we have done that. If you look at the work that we did in the January transfer window we are starting to see the benefits of that now in this pre-season for sure.

At the weekend we make the trip to France to play in the prestigious AMOS Women’s French Cup and it’s a huge honour for us to go out there.

In terms of the squad, Jasmine Matthews has a slight issue. She is back running again now, but she will remain on Merseyside along with Melissa Lawley to continue treatment.

I have some good news on Mel, who is progressing really well after her hip injury. Mel is a month ahead of schedule and she will probably be back around October time, which is great news.

Unfortunately, Leanne Kiernan picked up an issue on international duty and had a bit of a setback this week. She will continue to do her rehab, while Shanice van de Sanden has a foot issue, so they will both be staying back on Merseyside.

We had the really bad news of one of our academy players Zara Shaw picking up an ACL injury during our friendly at Birmingham. She was terribly unlucky and she will probably be out around nine months with that. Of course we all wish her well and she has our full support.

On the positive side, Fuka Nagano returns from World Cup duty on Friday, so she will travel to France with us.

We will also be taking two of the academy girls with us in Charlie Chadwick and goalkeeper Cadi Doran, so that will be a great experience for them to be with the team and away with us.

Mia Enderby is back in training now too. She had a slight calf problem but is back and will be heading out with us. Teagan Micah will report to us when we get back from France after her experience in the World Cup with Australia.

With the injuries we have at the top end of the pitch we will be going to France with four forwards, but we can’t wait for the opportunity to test ourselves up against different opposition.

If you look at last year our pre-season was all against domestic teams, so this will give us a great chance to play Paris Saint-Germain first and then either AC Milan or Atletico Madrid.

It will just give us a different perspective on the games and we are looking forward to it. When you play European teams it’s completely different, we will be dealing with European officials as well, so it’s just little things like that which will be great for us and really good learnings. It’s also a chance for us to work on one or two things we’ve been doing in training.

When we get back from France we’ve then got a run of three more pre-season games against Manchester City, Manchester United and Leicester City, where we can really fine-tune everything, before we start our WSL season at Arsenal.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

YNWA,

Matt

Matt Beard was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter