Matt Beard has revealed what he said to his players at half-time as Liverpool came from behind to secure a point against Brighton in the Women's Super Legaue on Sunday.
The Reds made a perfect start at the Broadfield Stadium; Missy Bo Kearns turning home a delightful Melissa Lawley cross to give the visitors the lead inside 17 minutes. Brighton weren't behind for long, with Elisabeth Terland's header levelling things up less than five minutes later.
The Seagulls extended their lead through goals from Danielle Carter and England youngster Katie Robinson, leaving Liverpool trailing 3-1 at the break. Lifting the lid on his half-time instructions, Beard told club media : “I was frustrated, and I voiced my frustration.
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“I don’t lose my temper with the players, but it was a heated half-time because we weren’t doing what we set up to do. We trained Friday fantastically; we found the spaces and we showed the girls at half-time that the spaces were there that we had set up to play through and round."
The introduction of winger Shanice van de Sanden after the interval proved the catalyst for a Liverpool fightback. The Dutch international, who is still finding fitness after suffering an achilles injury, nodded home with 14 minutes to play before teeing up Rachel Furness for her 92nd minute equaliser.
“I felt second half when we went to the 4-3-3, put Charlotte [Wardlaw] in there [it] gave us an extra body and it allowed us to play down the sides, which we could’ve done in the first half if we would’ve got into the positions, but we didn’t," Beard said.
“They deserve a lot of credit because Taylor [Hinds] hit the bar and there’s another couple of half-chances as well and I felt we deserved at least a point, if not all three.”
Reflecting on van de Sanden’s impact from the bench, the Liverpool boss added: “It’s great to have that option. You look at the assist for Furney’s goal - that pace is tough to deal with.
“I thought Gilly [Flaherty] had an outstanding game today and [there was] a lot of good play from her... it was a good ending to a frustrating day.”
Sunday's result yielded Liverpool's first point since the opening day of the season and the Reds remain tenth in the table with a pivotal trip to 11th-placed Reading to come on Thursday.
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