Reaction'We got our rewards' - Beard and Stengel on LFC Women victory
Matt Beard and Katie Stengel explained how tactics and mindset changes at half-time inspired Liverpool FC Women's 2-1 victory against Chelsea.
The Reds kicked off the Barclays Women’s Super League season in thrilling style by coming from a goal behind to defeat the reigning champions at Prenton Park on Sunday.
Stengel’s second-half goals sealed the turnaround as the American striker converted from the penalty spot twice, with the winner coming in minute 87.
Post-match, the manager and the scorer spoke to Sky Sports. Read a summary of their reaction below…
Matt Beard
On how pleasing the day and the result was…
This was the first game and I felt over the course of the game I think we deserved it, especially the tactical changes we made at half-time. It’s great that we’ve started with three points at home. This was a fortress for us here last year and we made it uncomfortable and difficult for Chelsea today.
On the introduction of Megan Campbell from the bench and whether it was a specific aim to use her long throw…
Definitely. Whenever we pick a team to play in a game, we’ve already got changes in mind. If you look at the changes we made – Yana [Daniels], Furney [Rachel Furness], Meg Campbell coming on, we were physically a lot bigger. Especially from that throw, it causes teams problems. First half, Chelsea played with quite a high line and they’re quite expansive so we wanted to go with Leanne [Kiernan] and Mel [Lawley] with the pace. It didn’t quite work for us. We adapted it at half-time and I think we got our rewards from that.
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On the fitness of Shanice van de Sanden and the injury sustained by Kiernan against Chelsea…
Shanice has had a bit of an Achilles problem for a while. She broke down on Friday afternoon in training. Leanne, I don’t know yet. She’s in a boot and I’m assuming we’ll get a scan or an X-ray in the coming days.
On his excitement for next weekend’s Merseyside derby at Anfield…
We’re looking forward to it, it’s going to be a great occasion for us. Obviously playing Everton is the first fixture as a Liverpool manager that you always look for. Getting back in the WSL and having that fixture again is fantastic for us. We’re looking forward to the occasion. We’ve got to make sure we play the game and obviously not the occasion. But we’re looking forward to it.
Katie Stengel
On the message from the manager at half-time…
He just reiterated we have to believe in ourselves, we could win this game and it’s just another team out there, another 11 players. We’ve prepared all pre-season, so why not believe in ourselves?
On her thoughts when taking the second penalty…
When I step up for a penalty, I have to decide before I’m going to take it which way I’m going. Take a breath and if the ’keeper moves early I can adjust, but otherwise stick with what I decided to do.
On the Anfield clash with Everton next weekend…
I’m looking forward to this derby. I think it’ll be great. We get to play at Anfield, not many people can say that. It’s a dream come true. So, we’re very excited and we’re going to make sure the city is red.